BAAAAAAA I'M TIMMY!

Timmy was born on Good Friday. He was the last of the spring lambs born on Katie’s parents’ farm in the Coastal Mountains of Oregon. He spent a few days frolicking in the pastures with his cousins before 2020 hit him much like it has many of us. He was attacked by an animal and left for dead. If that wasn’t enough, his nursing mother and the other sheep rejected him because he was lame.

With his injuries, Timmy was unable to stand. A regimen of penicillin shots and bottle feeding was begun. After a while, Dustin took over Timmy’s care. At this point, Timmy’s wounds were beginning to heal but he was still unable to stand up on his own. Dustin began taking Timmy outside for physical therapy. He would stand Timmy up and Timmy would fight to stay upright as long as he could. He knew that when he fell over, he would not be able to stand again. How many times have we felt like that this year? That if 2020 knocks us over with one more thing, we might not be able to get up.

Timmy was a fighter and he didn’t give up! With Dustin’s help, over and over he was able to get up. Timmy got stronger and was able to stay on his feet longer between falls. Each day Dustin would put Timmy out in the field and bottle feed him a couple times. Throughout the day, Dustin would go out to help Timmy stand up again and each night he would take Timmy into the barn for safety. This went on for months until Timmy was strong enough to get up on his own.

Timmy finally graduated to the main field with his much bigger cousins. Having spent most of his life alone, he struggled to figure out the grazing thing and was still quite small next to the other sheep. Dustin kept bottle feeding Timmy to supplement his growth. Every day when Dustin would go out to the fields to check on Timmy, he was the only sheep in the flock that would come running at the sound of Dustin’s voice!

John 10:27 says, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” Maybe you’ve found yourself cruising or crashing through life and realize you’ve forgotten what the Shepherd’s voice sounds like. It’s our hope and prayer that each of you will pause this season and hear the voice of the Good Shepherd! Not only is He calling you, but He’s ready to pick you up again and again.


“Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! For He is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of His hand.
Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts...”
Psalm 95:6-8a

The Tour That Terminated

What a joy to head to Oregon for the next stop on our North America tour! For the third time we partnered with Building Healthy Families to present in the beautiful Wallowa Valley of eastern Oregon.

This time, we presented an assembly for Enterprise Schools and then for the community the following day in the same location.

It was special to have family nearby to see the UniShow Universe for the first time. The Sinclair Brothers Tree Service crew even came to support. Family owned Hurricane Coffee kept us fueled on the daily with their amazing lavender chai, Mexican mocha (aka churro mocha!) and other amazing drinks! 

  

On the way from Enterprise to Grants Pass we visited one of the snowiest places in the US which averages 45 feet of snow every year. Crater Lake did not disappoint! 

We presented a chapel at Vineyard Christian School in Grants Pass, Oregon. The last time we shared here was in 2005. We were amazed when students showed us a photo album the school still has with photos of that presentation 15 years ago! 

Little did we know that Grants Pass was our last show of this North America tour. As we all know, the world changed in March 2020 and our remaining 4 weeks of events in Oregon, Washington, British Columbia and Montana were cancelled as well as all of our domestic and overseas outreaches through July. We look forward to rescheduling all these events as soon as things are up and running again.

The beautiful Oregon Coast!

Just When You Thought Utah It All!

Nestled in the beautiful Wasatch Mountains of Utah is Layton Christian Academy, an international boarding school. Apparently LCA is also excellent in sports since our assembly began with a senior college signing for University of Minnesota Morris on a football scholarship! We were able to pray with international students afterward who were experiencing the challenges of being so far from home.

The elementary principal told us, “The UniShow was more than I anticipated it being. The transparency of the cast was awesome! It gave the students people they could relate to and identify with their struggles.” And the high school principal said, “It was amazing and the students absolutely loved the show! This is a show that is highly entertaining and has a dynamic spiritual message all in one!” One of the teachers, Mr. Musil, gifted us with some great photos of our assembly (see below).

At Vista Elementary in Taylorsville, Utah, select students were rewarded for good behavior with a UniShow Universe assembly. Apparently it was a hit as the feedback we received from the principal afterward was, “I can't imagine the performance being any better. It was the best assembly we have ever had. The message was perfect. Thank you!!”

In Riverdale, Utah, we helped kick-off Read Across America week with an assembly for Riverdale Elementary students. Impressive student leaders introduced our show then followed it up by presenting us with gift bags before they lead the students in songs as they dismissed.

East of the Rockies

After our James Bay Canadian adventure, we crossed back over the border, continuing our tour with our next event at Rohan Woods School in St. Louis, Missouri. Afterward, the PE teacher of many years raved that the UniShow Universe was the best assembly they have ever had!

We then had the privilege of presenting for 500+ students at Eisenhower Middle School in Topeka, Kansas. The bright purple gymnasium with a vivid eagle covering the back wall made for a fun setting to challenge students to persevere through life's challenges and be on the lookout for ways to help others along the way.

University Academy in Kansas City, Missouri invited us to present a middle school assembly. The principal told us afterward, "The program was excellent and helped reinforce the messages we push our students to use in their everyday life."

During a quick visit with Katie's sister in beautiful Colorado Springs, we were able to connect with a family we had met in Kenya last February who happened to be visiting Colorado Springs at the same time. After their son had seen the UniShow Universe in Kenya last year, he found a unicycle in their attic that someone had left after learning to ride following our visit to Kenya 7 years ago! Their son was also inspired by Dustin and has learned to ride unicycle remarkably well in this last year. The family surprised him with an early birthday gift of a new unicycle delivered by Dustin Kelm himself in Colorado!

Over the Frozen Rivers and Through the Woods

On February 1st we donned our winter layers, pointed our truck and trailer north and hit the road for our first tour in 2020.

It's been 10 years since the UniShow presented among First Nations communities in Northern Ontario and it was so great to be back! This time, instead of loading all our equipment onto the train for a 5 hour ride up to Moosonee, we took the other option available only in winter. We drove 8 hours along the snowy winter road carved through normally swampy bogs and over frozen rivers. We have never experienced such a winter driving adventure before. Dustin did an amazing job navigating our truck and trailer over the frozen rivers and through the woods.

  

We had the privilege of working with incredible organizers who live in Moosonee. Some of them hosted an amazing UniShow tour in Brazil a few years ago and others we've performed with in a dozen countries over the years. This team did an amazing job preparing all the details and logistics for these events to run smoothly.

We did a couple events in Moosonee and Moose Factory, including the first ever UniShow presentation in a Teepee at the Healing Lodge for residents recovering from addictions where we were able to share openly about freedom and healing through Jesus.

Then we continued north along ice roads which have been flooded to freeze over more swampy tundra, allowing seasonal access to remote unreached First Nations communities further up the James Bay coast.

  

These remote villages are very difficult to get to most of the year so it was special to have this unique opportunity to bring them joy and especially the hope and love of Jesus. 

  

Most days we did an afternoon school assembly followed by an evening community outreach. Our organizers involved local churches and even facilitated surveys for audience members to fill out where they could request a pastor's visit, prayer or more information about church or God. Through these forms, local believers were able to connect with many interested people for future follow-up.

From eating Canada's finest poutine, to speeding down frozen rivers and snowy trails on Skidoos, to loading and unloading in temperatures down to -30F, to sharing the life-changing Gospel with those who have never heard before, we loved every minute of our wintery Canada tour.

A glimpse of our James Bay Tour.