Bumpy Bulgaria

The UniShow returned to Bulgaria for our third tour. From 1-16 August 2019, our team of 12 (from England, Australia, South Korea and America) traveled Bulgaria, sharing the Gospel among Turks in villages.  It was a privilege to perform with an amazing, professional jazz musician, extremely talented drummer and other great artists.

It was an interesting tour with many challenges throughout. Venues were very difficult due to our events being in Turkish areas which are not maintained like the rest of Bulgaria. Children were also plentiful and unrestrained but we know they are precious in His sight and Jesus said to let the little children come to Him.

Turkish Bulgarians are looked down upon in Bulgaria and often feel ostracized in their own country. The program was presented and translated into Turkish and we distributed Turkish literature, hoping to connect better with them in their heart language.

We worked with local believers and churches and many said they were inspired by our bold presentations. Some in the city of Partizanin loved all of the show's exciting elements, as well as how we shared, but asked why we didn't use Christian worship songs in our show. We explained that public worship, although beneficial, can turn away people who are not looking for God. Yet, our goal is to draw these people into an encounter with Him. When we present the Gospel through an entertaining show, we build a rapport with those people and they are more open to listening. After hearing this explanation, the believers were enthusiastic about this method of evangelism and thanked the team for coming.

  

Several areas we presented in were still healing from painful events where "Christian" leaders broke trust and left the faith. We prayed God would use us as a healing salve and it seems God did encourage and strengthen believers, as a result.

We were able to share the Gospel openly and give invitations during events and saw much openness and interest in the Gospel. After one show, a teen approached Dustin asking what we were doing, since he had just arrived and missed the show. Dustin shared the Gospel with him to which he responded, "That is the smartest thing I have ever heard!"

After the show in Sungulare, David prayed with a man who's family approached as the prayer was ending. David had the opportunity to share more about Jesus with the whole family. After this the daughter approached David separately and said she wanted to know how to have a personal relationship with Jesus. He went through the points of the Gospel and how forgiveness is only available through Jesus when we repent and believe. She prayed along with him to accept Jesus into her life, connected with the local church leader and received a Gospel of John.

In all, we did 13 presentations for 2,750 people. Despite the challenges, we saw God at work in and through us. Thousands of Gospel materials were distributed in addition to the words shared from stage. We pray those seeds will be cultivated into lasting fruit that remains. Thanks for praying with us!

UniShow Universe Bulgaria team at it's finest.

Here is a recap of our Bulgaria tour. We had some quality musicians accompany the UniShow:
https://vimeo.com/355298617/17d583153b

Paris Je t'Aime - Paris I Love You

After Regeneration, we again boarded a train which took us from Lausanne Switzerland to Paris France to join another YWAM outreach.

It was a great privilege to serve with YWAM Paris Connect for 2 weeks of ministry at République Square...

And Trocadéro Plaza in front of the Eiffel Tower...

  

We were a mighty team of 208 who spread out around the city to share the love of Jesus. In the afternoons, teams ministered to the homeless, vulnerable women, children and families, distributed Bibles, refreshments and so much more. In the evenings we gathered to present open air performances and share the Gospel without restrictions, thanks to the Mayor's permission! 

It was exciting to be able to share openly to so many people from Paris and those visiting from around the world. People were so open to hearing about Jesus and very few left when we shared testimonies and the Gospel from the stage. 

  

We had the honor of presenting outside on the hottest ever recorded temperature in Paris: 108.7F / 42.6C. God's strength got us through!

In all, we presented to 3,850 people during 7 presentations. The Paris Je t'Aime team served 1,122 people with an act of service. People received 3,458 pieces of literature, including 2,500 UniShow Universe Team story cards. 1,367 people received prayer and 38 people indicated a surrender of their lives to Jesus!

We really do love Paris and it was a privilege to be able to share Jesus openly in this beautiful and influential city! Paris Je t'Aime!

A sneak peek of our Paris outreaches: https://vimeo.com/354018365/9799ba8cc8

Come Alive

It was quite an adventure for the 4 of us to travel with 12 cases via bus and train from Seewis to Vevey to begin our next outreach with YWAM. Thankfully Swiss public transportation is as smooth as they come and with the help of a few kind strangers, we made all of our connections and arrived hot and sweaty but with all of our luggage.

It was a privilege to participate in YWAM Lausanne's 12th Regeneration outreach for our 9th time. They run a very organized and intentional outreach, where they creatively lift Jesus high among the thousands who attend the Montreux Jazz Festival (second largest in the world).  Regeneration's theme this year was Come Alive and we shared how only through Jesus can we truly come alive.

Each night for 2 weeks, our team of 60 from around the world shared Jesus with people from all nationalities, vacationing in Switzerland and attending the Festival. Some from our team painted faces and led kids games while encouraging parents. Others offered refreshments, prayer and Bibles. We, along with other amazing performers, presented shows.

Though we were restricted from openly sharing about Jesus from stage, we spoke about The One who has changed our lives, the Creator of all things, and the fact that there is only one thing that has filled the emptiness in our lives. It amazed us how many times people would approach us afterward wanting to know more about what we shared and learn what did fill our lives with hope.

Island Breeze.

Korean Fan Dance.

Paradosi Ballet Company.

In all, the Regeneration team had Spiritual conversations with 804 people, prayed for 537, handed out 575 Bibles and 2,606 drinks, presented 95 performances and saw 25 people surrender their lives to Jesus!

Highlights from our month of outreach in Switzerland:
https://vimeo.com/352938577/4e8690bd8d

CREA and More

Switzerland has held a piece of our hearts ever since we first set foot in this uniquely beautiful and organized land 10 years ago. June 15th began our 13th Switzerland outreach tour (3 with Operation Mobilization, 9 with Youth With A Mission,  and 1 with Salvation Army).

We hit the ground running, presenting two times at the 27th annual CREA youth outreach in Bettingen which hosted over 1,500 youth. We really enjoyed meeting these students and working with student leaders. It was a wild time and exciting for our team to finally perform new material we'd been practicing for months.

OM also coordinated with several churches in Landquart and Davos for UniShow outreaches. Unfortunately the outdoor Landquart event was cancelled due to rain. Thankfully church members were able to join us for the outreach in Davos the following week.

We were kindly gifted a stay in a holiday house in the beautiful mountains of Seewis between events. We thoroughly enjoyed the amazing views, quaint village and peaceful setting for a refreshing time of work and play.

Highlights from our month in Switzerland: