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:

Georgia on My Mind

After being part of OM Arts for almost 3 years we finally made it to the home office near Atlanta to connect with our team.  We visited Operation Mobilization several times during our application process, but since officially joining we haven't had the opportunity.

On March 20th, through fellow OM connections we were able to serve at Oak Hill Baptist Church in Griffin, GA for their Sunday morning Missions service.  It was exciting for Dustin to be able to share the Gospel and give the whole church a powerful challenge to use their beautiful facility and resources to make a difference for Jesus across the street and around the world!  We heard from many that this was a Missions service people won't quickly forget; we pray it's the Mission that stays with them and motivates them to use whatever God has given them to make a difference.

That same Sunday afternoon we packed up and headed across town to Grace Evangelical in Fayetteville for an AWANA program.  After the beautiful sound of students reciting verses and Christian pledges, we started the UniShow.  The students were challenged to keep on seeking all God has for them and use their gifts and talents for Him.

We are looking forward to a few weeks in the Atlanta area doing various outreaches and connecting with OMers.

Aboard the Logos Hope

As soon as we discovered Operation Mobilization’s Logos Hope ship was going to be in Kingston Jamaica at the same time we were, we made arrangements to jump on board. They happened to be sailing to Nassau Bahamas the day after our team from Grace flew back to MN from Jamaica so the timing was perfect.

Our goal was to personally experience the ships ministry in order to communicate and promote it to others. We worked in the galley, the book hold and the book fair, getting a taste of regular ship’s crew life.

We also had opportunities to share the ministry of OM Arts International. Dustin braved the slick and windy outdoor Deck 9 in the middle of the Caribbean Sea, performing for and encouraging the crew during our 4 day sail from Kingston to Nassau. Dustin led the drama group’s weekly session and Katie met with the dancers to share her experience dancing in 10 countries. Once in the Bahamas, we both rode unis in a parade through downtown Nassau during the ship’s official opening ceremonies. Dustin was preshow entertainment for 2 cultural hours in the ship’s Hope Theatre for visiting locals. We also rode unis around town with other ship’s riders and enjoyed connecting with them in this way.

This was our first sailing experience and once we got past the first day of wooziness due to rough water, we fared well and thoroughly enjoyed our experience on board. It was great to connect with over 400 OMers on board and see how they use the “World’s Largest Floating Book Fair” to share Jesus in the world’s ports and beyond.