Alexander High School FCA

In just three short years, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes at Alexander High School in Douglasville Georgia has grown to over 250 students who meet every Friday morning bright and early before school starts.  This is apparently the largest FCA huddle in America.  

On October 23, the UniShow had the privilege of joining in on the fun.  Though the students started out a bit bleary eyed, it wasn't long before they were clapping and cheering, engaged and excited.  Dustin's acts just fit into the short half-hour meeting, with enough time to challenge and encourage students to use their abilities to change the world for eternity as they surrender all to God.  We heard afterward that this was one of the best FCA meetings they have ever had!

The students at this high school have a track record of strong spiritual leadership, with students in recent history praying in the halls before school and asking teachers for prayer requests.  It was super encouraging to see this many students, sacrificing sleep and coming early to school to learn more about how to follow Jesus.

Middle School time at Trinity Christian

Middle schoolers are such fun!  Our October 20th chapel at Trinity Christian School in Sharpsburg Georgia for nearly 300 middle school students did not disappoint.

The fun started before the show as we set up in the noisy gym where students gathered after being dropped off before their first class.  We were busy pumping up tires and setting up our backdrop, sound system and structures.  It was very entertaining to overhear comments thrown around by on-looking students: 

"Is this a dog show?"

"Are there unicorns?"

"I heard we had a guest speaker; this is more than speaking!"

The students cheered, screamed and fist pumped the air at all the right exciting times and sat in attentive silence while Dustin spoke from the Word and his heart.  He challenged them to not do what he did as a student sitting in a Christian school back in the day and only give God part of his life.  He encouraged them to surrender their entire lives to God and then be blown away by how God will fill them and use them to change the world around them.

We learned afterward that the students were not the only ones excited about the show.  A school security guard told us that he had walked in to the control room mid-show and his coworker rewound the security tape from the gym camera saying, "You have to see this!"

It is our prayer that this day will be a defining one in these students lives, marking a deeper commitment and complete surrender of their lives to Jesus!

Sharing the Good News

On March 23 we joined the Good News Club after school program that meets every Monday throughout the school year at Crabapple Elementary in Peachtree City, Georgia.  It was thoroughly encouraging to join about 50 kids plus dedicated volunteers who meet regularly to creatively learn about THE Good News of Jesus at this public school.  

A recent survey of public schools hosting Good News Clubs in America shows that over half of school principals reported noticeably improved behavior in students who attend the Club.  One of the responding principals said, “…the students who are in the Good News Club rarely receive discipline referrals to the office. Undoubtedly, the club has been a successful part in our curbing bullying and classroom disrespect for the children.”  Students learn that God loves them and it helps them to love others.  

Dustin challenged the students to follow Jesus and live for Him, using their gifts to make an impact in the world around them.  It was awesome to hear many repeat a prayer of commitment to follow to Jesus.  We pray these students continue to grow in their understanding of how great God is and how much He loves them!

  

So many happy faces!

Fake-out fall gets them every time!

Reviewing Georgia (the state not the country)

Our 3 weeks in the Atlanta area were certainly not boring.  We did 10 events and networked with many for potential events for next years GA tour, Lord willing.

One of the best parts of our tour was, for the first time, connecting with our OM Arts International team (see photo below).  We got in on several regular team prayer meetings, a monthly team breakfast with a business agenda, and numerous meals and meetings with OM groups and individuals to learn and share and deepen our relationship with OM as a whole.  We feel so much more connected and unified with OM and have learned lots about the organization and more of how we fit into this ministry with which we serve.  It is a humbling privilege to be linked to this amazing organization that now has 6,100 workers serving in over 118 countries!

It was also wonderful to be able to connect with family and friends in the area and check in with our sponsor, Unicycle.com. 

Ride On

We partnered with SOUND Student Ministry at Peachtree City Christian Church Wednesday, March 30 for a fun and inspiring evening of the UniShow.  Several fellow OM families attend this church so we were blessed with a team effort for set up and tear down.  Dustin shared his testimony and challenge that God never leaves us in our trials but grows us through them.  We heard afterward that this is just what the students needed to hear.

Thursday, March 31 we were able to present the UniShow for all of OM USA at the headquarters in Tyrone.  It was a privilege to be able to give a visual explanation of the UniShow branch of OM Arts International and demonstrate how we might be able to serve in greater capacity among other OM ministries.

UniShow in Fast Forward

We are keeping busy here in Georgia.  It was great to minister to a hundred middle schoolers bright and early before school on Friday the 25th at Bennett's Mill in Fayetteville for Fellowship of Christian Students and Athletes.  Dustin wowed them with a few unicycles and challenged the kids with stories from our fall tour in the Middle East and what our friends there are willing to endure for Christ.

Sunday the 27th was a whirlwind with 3 presentations back-to-back in 3 different locations.  On Friday, we set up most of our structures at the first location and had visited the second location to get a feel for how to make the quick transition.  This early prep made the day much more manageable.

We began at New Hope Baptist's North Campus for the 9:15a Awakening service, did an abbreviated UniShow and shared the Gospel.  With 3 helpers, we packed up as the outreach continued and drove 20 minutes to New Hope's South Campus to share the UniShow and Gospel for the Awakening outreach there already in progress.  After the 2nd program we packed up and headed to a nearby high school for SouthCrest Church's afternoon 3 on 3 basketball tournament youth outreach for yet another UniShow demo with Dustin's testimony.

It was a crazy day but such a privilege to partner with all 3 of these outreaches where the focus and goal was reaching students with the pure and simple Gospel of salvation in Jesus!  We heard that at the morning outreaches there were youth that had never even been to a church before.  We heard that at the afternoon outreach only about 20% of the students attending were part of the regular church youth program.  There were also quite a few police officers and sheriffs for security at the tournament outreach and we pray the truth they heard will make an eternal impact on their lives.  Please pray for the hundreds of students we had the privilege of ministering to this weekend.  Pray that God will continue to Awaken their hearts to surrender completely to Him!

 

Jesus loves the children of Atlanta

We had the great privilege of partnering with NightLight Atlanta for 2 evenings of outreaches in the intercity.  This is a ministry that reaches out to women and children exploited in the sex industry.  We joined the kids club outreaches in two "neighborhoods" of Atlanta and shared a UniShow and Jesus with the children.  At each event Dustin shared the Gospel and led kids in a prayer to receive Jesus.  After leading prayer at one outreach, Dustin explained that those who just prayed to receive Jesus are now children of God.  One boy who had prayed threw his fists in the air and said, "Yes!"  These kids desperately need to know they matter and have a heavenly Father who loves them extravagantly.

It was heartbreaking but we are thankful for the opportunity to share the love and hope of Jesus with these precious kids.  Please pray for the ongoing ministry of NightLight and their follow up weekly with these kids.  They will be leading the kids in a baptism service soon and we pray many kids will participate and take a bold and radical stand for Jesus and find His healing and love.

For the safety of the kids, we are not able to post any photos of these events.