One of Those Days

One of Those Days

Yesterday was the technical show from hades. Mics didn't come on, some of us forgot to turn them on, light cues were all over the place, Liz was so worried about sound that some other things fell through the cracks. My lines can be summed up by: "pththththtb." Everyone seemed happy with the show, and tear down went 15 minutes faster than usual, but at the end of the show, all we could do was shrug.

Apology

Apology

To all those who offered to pray for me this term:

Sorry you've had so little direct contact from me. My funds have been so limited, combined with a check card that was cancelled and reordered in January (Which arrived two days ago) and a purse lost a few weeks ago, my money is limited and access to it almost non-existant. All this to say, I can't afford to buy stamps. So, if you would mind letting me blog these, because I could use some prayer for a few things:

1. My eyes are still infected, I've been through a rather costly prescription to get rid of it, and it didn't work. Two days ago my glands started swelling. So, I'm not feeling so hot, and I'm getting tired of being onstage blind every night because I can't put my contacts in. Not only might I fall off the stage, and I can't see what anyone else is doing, so I'm reacting every night to nothing.

2. After tour I'm praying about taking another year off to finish paying off my debts. That was a huge goal of mine before coming on tour, and God has allowed me to keep up with most of it, but I've reached the end of my savings and need to take a break and finish. So far I'm feeling at peace about quitting for now, but I want to make sure it isn't just me making this decision.

3. Money while on tour. Wycliffe gives us an expense allowance, but it doesn't go very far. Our paychecks haven't been very regular (the last one was three weeks late due to confusion at the church office, and arrived the day before two automatic deposits came out of my account).

4. And the usual, patience and grace for my team working under me. Pray that I would "encourage the timid, help the weak, warn the idle, be patient with all..."

And then for the Junior High

One Time Youth Ministers

Last night the team, minus a couple, went to a Junior High youth group and spoke. First though, we had to play water balloon basketball, ending with the balloon getting caught in the net, Torrie climbing on Austen's shoulders to get it, and the balloon bursting all over both of them.

We introduced ourselves, and what we do on tour. The we led them in a few of our warm up exercizes, and a game of Zip Zap Zop. Torrie won the championship round. We demonstrated 'What are you Doing?' but didn't have time to play with the kids. Then Tasha modified her speech from the missions conference about the importance of drama ministry, plus a bit of the talk from the last school we talked at about the unreached people groups in the world. (It all fits on one hand. Spell thumb. T=tribal, H=Hindu, U=Unreligious, M=Muslim, B=Buddhist) Vanessa and I did a scene from the show about the difficulties of bible translation cross culturally. And then we ended with a bit of Q and A. I got to answer the question about who Wycliffe was, and where the current day Wycliffe started.

All in all the kids were really responsive. Squirly, but attentive. I'm glad we went.

Samaritan's Purse

Samaritan's Purse

Samaritan's Purse is doing an additional shoebox drop for those children and families affected by the Tsunami disaster.

" We need thousands of people to pray and pack shoe boxes for our special Easter collection of shoe box gifts for children left destitute by the tsunami. Even if you can’t prepare a box, please prayerfully consider
a financial gift to make this life-changing outreach possible. Shoe boxes need to shipped by April 4 to our international headquarters at 801 Bamboo Road, P.O. Box 3000, Boone, NC 28607. To learn more, see the enclosed brochure, call 1-800-353-5949."

Tsunami Relief

Tsunami Relief: part II.

Twelve of us went yesterday. The church was cooperating with a mennonite organization to fill relief buckets with towels, toiletries, laundry soap and feminine hygene products. All were carefully crammed into 5 gallon buckets that can double to carry water.

It was really neat, and we were all blessed by the experience. Sometimes, as touring ministry, we can get so caught up in what WE are doing, we forget to look for ways to bless others outside the drama. And sometimes we can be selfish, too. These are OUR days off, and we have left our families, and our stuff, and gone on the road with pittance, and work 10 hour days of pretty hard labor, and then have to go back to a total stranger's house and entertain them when all we want to do is sleep and check email. I'm guilty. Last tour was very hard, and we did need our days off to recuperate. The tour before was similar to this one. We have 2 1/2 weeks more free days this tour. And last spring tour the group began praying for ways to volunteer to fill some of that. We really don't need this much time off. We certainly don't need to "rest from a hard week of shows" when we have three days off before, and two days off after each one.

So we are looking around. And praying for opportunities and keeping our ears open. And then this comes along, and we were all blessed by it. Most of us would have liked to volunteer more time, and several would like to go back sometime this week if we can. We don't have to meet for our show until 1.

The coolest quote from yesterday came from Jonathan, who hadn't been part of the original 11, but decided to tag along.

"I could have sat at home all day watching tv, or I could come and help someone."

Tsunami Relief

Tsunami Relief: (aka: What to do when you discover that you have far too much free time)

The Wycliffe Dinner theater, due to a two and a half week longer tour in the spring, and a few shows cancelled, have found ourselves with far too much time on our hands. And with limited finances (our daily expense allowance doesn't stretch very far), and shopping out of the question, we've decided to donate our time where we can.

Today we're going to our latest venue to help pack relief boxes.

The church secretary's jaw dropped when we asked if we could join.

Jean Patching

More creativity with dying jeans

People, homestays and family especially, keep asking why I don't just buy a new pair. Almost every week I spend a good portion of my days off mending tears, patching holes, and finding something to do about seams that are worn.

Two reasons I suppose: It gives me something creative to do, and it feels good to keep mending and patching instead of throwing things away as soon as they look worn.

One hundred years ago your average person didn't toss something just because it was out of style or missing a button. Faded clothes were turned inside out and remade. Styles were refreshed. Several ratty bonnets were ripped apart and turned into one nice, new one. Granted, clothes then were made to last and of better quality, but the principle is the same. Even though I can sew, I often get rid of things that don't fit, or sent to the thrift store clothing that has a small tear or a missing anything. But on tour I can't. Partly because I can't afford to get anything new - so I have to make do. And mostly because I put so much wear on my clothing, it seems silly to buy a new pair of clothes to half-destroy by the time tour is over.

So I'm going to keep tearing and mending the clothes I brought. It's fun. And my hand sewing skills are improving daily.

Volleyball

Exorcizing Old Demons

Today I played volleyball.

I know.

But the group was hanging out, and I wanted to be a part. So I brought a book and some crochet and watched happily from the sidelines. I'm not much for organized sports, and this one particularly has bad memories. My grandfather (well meaning, but very competative) kicked me off his volleyball team at the family reunion because I kept hitting it into the dirt. So I haven't even wanted to join in a game since.

But I watched, and nobody seemed to be taking the game seriously. And everyone was messing up now and then. And those that couldn't hit the ball consistantly were being encouraged by both sides. Seemed pretty safe to me.

So I borrowed a tank top from Jessica, tossed aside my flip flops, and took Johnny's place in the fourth game. Did I mention I was wearing a jean skirt? I hit the ball five times total, and dodged, shrinking a bunch. But three of my serves went right where I wanted. And I think I bumped it once. Then my wrist got tired, and I couldn't hit straight to save my soul. It went over though. Vanessa made some amazing dives. Once, she fell and Torrie dove right over the top of her. Tasha tried to be everywhere at once. Aaron hit more than his share for the other team. Merry and Pippin did well for themselves, when they weren't distracted by rims. Whatever the heck. Jules hit several lovely shots. Liz had the worlds most consistant serve. Jessica could pop the ball just barely over the net, so you would think it was on their side, and not even go for it. Angie had two great serves right at the end when they were needed. And Austen hit some nice ones, when he wasn't fighting for Tasha over the ball. "Mine! This one's mine. Touch the ball and I'll kill you. The next one's mine, too!"

Then we were down to the final ... whatever it's called. Round I suppose. And we were tied. 14-13, and my team was up. We volleyed a bit. It came to me, and I hit it over. And they missed it.

I won the game point.

Another day off

Bakersfield has been described as the armpit of California. Not in the spring, apparently. Though the sun came out for the first time today. The low pressure off the coast needs to go away. We've been following this same storm front all over California.

It makes me very sleepy on the off days.

Yesterday we went to Tasha's homestay and played Volleyball (I watched), then ordered Chinese takeout and played cards. Aaron and I played Speed, then Austen, Liz and Adam joined us for another game. Jonathan, Tasha, Angie and Torrie played Rummicubes. So a good day off was had by all.

It's going to be an odd week, though. We have one or two shows, then a day or two off from now until spring break. Tonight we begin the first of two shows. That means stage crew doesn't have to tear down tonight, but kitchen crew does our normal days work. Tomorrow will be work projects...

Living the Play

Living the Play

In the play, there's a scene where Anne and Jo are learning how to speak Balangao. Tekla teaches them the parts of a loom, and then asks if Jo wants to try it. Anne eggs her on, and Jo weaves successfully for a moment, then makes hash of things.

A homestay a few days ago had a large pillow covered with thread and long spindles. She was making thread lace, a skill she'd learned in Belgium. She laid it on the floor, and demonstrated how to weave the two main threads back and forth across the others. Then she looked at me and said, "Would you like to try?" I looked at Angie, who grinned and nodded. "Ok." I picked up the threads and started weaving. Then it hit me. I was living the play. Line for line, nod for nod, grin for grin. So I looked at Angie and said "Cha'a manafar!" And we both laughed.

Only I didn't make hash of it...