Tuesday

Wow…today was a full day, meaning that you, my dedicated readers, have plenty of reading to do. This morning at breakfast, John Long made his amazing baked oatmeal with raisins. It’s one of those meals that the only reason you stop eating it is because you can’t possibly fit anymore (with the exception of a few people who aren’t raisin fans). It was a good thing too, because once we were done, we were hoppin’!

The first stop was Head Start, the same YMCA-like place we went to yesterday, only we had a much younger crowd (ages 3-6). The kids were so adorable and responded really well. Kenny, Tori, Ariel R., Christiana, Chelsea, and Christian all shared their testimonies; albeit a much more simplistic version for the younger group they were sharing to. The kids were so adorable when we put on Shackles and danced with the kids again. Photos to follow, and I know I owe you photos from yesterday, too. Anyway, it was a wonderful experience on both sides.

The New York Tour Vans made stop number two at Peer Ministries, a home for mentally impaired adults. While it was a relatively fast stop with only three dramas and just a few minutes of visitation, but it was impactful nonetheless. One particular noteworthy story here was that while Pastor Kevin was doing his intro to one of the songs, one resident called out, “hurry up, I’ve got things to do and places to go”. During the second and third songs, she actually got up out of her seat and joined the drama teams on the stage! While obviously she wasn’t doing the same steps as we were, she was fairly in sync and didn’t cause an immediate danger (although it did shake up some members a bit and the director rapidly escorted her back to her seat). The team did a wonderful job interacting with the residents. Some of the girls showed one of the members the dance steps. Shae was great in that she carried on a conversation with a resident about her stuffed animals and did so at a level that the woman was able to follow, but without being condescending.

Stop three on the hit parade was Crossroads Success Academy, an institution the natives dub an “alternative school”. What happens is that kids who get elongated suspensions from their schools due to behavioral problems, drug issues, and the like, go to alternative schools as a kind of ‘second chance’ kind of thing. This was a particularly unique scenario for our group twofold. First, in addition to presenting our dramas, the team served lunch to the students, a pork teriyaki dish as prepared by John Long. It was a humbling experience for the team; most of the students they served were around the same age as they were. Second, the very nature of the institution meant that they weren’t going to be as immediately receptive to the Gospel as some of the other groups; add to that the fact that the vast majority of the students we saw were boys and it’s pretty simple to see how there wasn’t a lot of emotion flowing while watching through the camera lens. Actually, it was the first stop we went to where we had kids smiling and laughing during “Everything”. But God. During ‘Everything’, there is a scene where Alexis plays a model, symbolizing the unattainable image that society expects girls to emulate. Shae, who symbolizes mankind, mimes bulimia in a vain attempt to attain that image. While some kids were laughing, others were simply eating, one particular girl caught my eye. Once Shae mimed the binging and purging, this girl put her hand over her mouth, blinking rapidly. I could tell that Shae had struck a chord with her. Another kid, who I incidentally stood next to most of the time while I was filming, didn’t take a bite of his food until we had finished all of our dramas. While at first I was wondering if he wasn’t big on pork, I then realized that he was intently watching everything as he quickly made up for lost time once we finished the dramas. Another kid I spoke with told me that he’d attend our show the following night. Sure there were walls in place, but our stop wasn’t in vain.

Our last performance stop for the day was a place I like to call satan’s stronghold – a public school. Crossroads was at least willing to let us make a brief mention of God, but despite the beliefs of the people in charge of the school, their hands were tied. The content of the songs wasn’t a problem (We got to do “Pray” in a public school!!), but Pastor Kevin couldn’t mention God, Jesus, etc. Here too was an interesting dynamic that happened – some of this came through the camera lens, some through the grapevine. First off, it was lunch hour, so attention was divided in most cases. Kids were talking to their friends, eating, and watching us. There were kids who refused to do anything more than acknowledge that we were there. Some kids were trying to do classwork. One group of kids jeered at Shae as her character contemplated suicide in ‘everything’ saying “do it!”, among other things less-than-G-rated. But God. One girl dropped her fork as Shae mimed cutting herself; this girl was also wearing long sleeves. Another girl was obviously holding back tears. A whole group of guys were sitting at their table intently watching the drama in total silence amongst themselves. My favorite story was how a table of professed atheists walked out of the room. What made it my favorite was that they didn’t leave during the ‘opening credits’ when Pastor Kevin introduced himself as being a pastor, nor did they leave during Irene. They left during ‘Everything’ right around the time when the group enacts the separation between God and mankind that sin makes. Problem with the fact that there’s a church in their school? I think not! The school provided us with free lunch coupons so our group ate there at no cost.

Our group has now done four performances, and it’s just passing 2:00. By most accounts, that would constitute a full day. But we’re on a missions trip, and where I come from, missions trips don’t have anything less than a 12-hour day! Our next stop was at Pastor Lenny’s church where we did various manual labor tasks. Some of the guys helped put insulation up on the roof. Some team members helped clean up Pastor Lenny’s house; their basement carpet was heavily soiled by the red clay that comprises much of the ground our team walks on. Other kids raked leaves. Some grabbed screw guns and hung sheetrock. Other kids followed them and put spackle over the screws. A few kids got the coveted job of mowing the lawn – in Pastor Lenny’s riding mower! Still others helped move some tree branches that were left in the yard after the trees were cut down. For four hours we did this, and we’ve got battle scars to prove it. We’ve got spackle on our clothes, sawdust in our hair, Rug Doctor fluid on our hands, leaves in our shoes, fiberglass between our fingers, and splinters and cuts on our arms. The view was awesome through the lens. The teamwork was impeccable. Kids were stretching themselves on their own. Two of the ladies while operating the Rug Doctor learned that there are 16 cups in a gallon, not 8. Other ladies put up entire pieces of sheetrock with only limited help in lifting it up and aligning it properly. Ashley and Sharon made me laugh a bit. They were in the log-moving group, and they insisted on moving “manly logs” (their words) – those logs that were rather heavy and awkward to carry. There was one particular tree trunk that was extremely heavy and took nine of us to move. Kerry took video of us moving that log; it was a wonderful example of the teamwork that is happening – I just hope it’s in focus!

After a day of hard work and plenty of energy exertion, it was time to head home. After dinner, we had a team meeting and prayer and worship time. It was wonderful to watch the team worship God and have a real encounter with the Holy Spirit. It was a powerful, personal time for the group. It’s difficult to describe; I did take a few video shots of it but it got to the point where I was questioning the appropriateness of filming. Suffice it to say that those of you who have ever been at the Winter Retreat on a Saturday Night have a pretty good idea as to what it was like tonight – just a wonderful time of immersing ourselves in the presence of God. What was supposed to be a 1-hour meeting brought us all the way to 11:00!

Okay it’s 1:48 in the morning, and Pastor Kevin doesn’t give me much leeway on sleeping in =). I know I promised you all photos from yesterday and today and I will do that, but you’re gonna have to wait until sometime tomorrow when I have sifted through the hundreds of photos we’ve taken to get the good ones that will effectively illustrate our days. It will happen though! To the individual who commented that they check the blog constantly, I’m flattered. I tend to write the blog at the very end of the day so that I can describe the whole day in one shot, then do photos the next day on the van as we’re shuttling between destinations. Ruth, you're a rip. The whole crew burst out laughing with your Panini party line. Oh yeah, speaking of comments, so that all the readers are aware, at the end of the day we have a 'mailbag' kind of time when I read off the comments posted here. Since it's the only means of communication for the team, it means alot to them to hear from you, so if you're reading this, I encourage you to leave a comment! Also, be aware that the comments are read aloud in a group setting. We haven't had problems so far, but just keep in mind that everyone will hear your comment. Comments for specific team members are fine, but just realize that it's not a private message, it's quite the contrary. We do exercise discretion, so things that are truly personal will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis as determined by the leadership here. Inappropriate comments will not be regarded. Again, we haven't had any problems with this, but I just wanted to let you all know how much the team appreciates your kind words, and that this is merely a proactive reminder as opposed to a reactive response. Okay it's now 2:13 and I'm sure that you get the point by now. Be Blessed!

Joey

Tuesday