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!

Boring UniShow and Beyond

The UniShow was as close to Boring as it's ever been on 24 January 2018.  We presented at Barton Community Church in Boring, Oregon for their Family Night.  Church members were amazed by Dustin's presentations at Mission Connexion in Portland last year and were looking for an opportunity to bring him to their own church event.  This was the night and the UniShow was a hit.  During Dustin's Gospel presentation and invitation, at least 5 people indicated they were giving their lives to Jesus for the first time.  Jesus isn't boring and apparently the UniShow wasn't either!  Afterward we heard, "This is not some hum-drum show!" and "Even the 'cool' teenagers were eating it up!"

The next morning, on 25 January 2018, we rolled on over to Cherry Park Elementary in Portland for a school assembly.  The gym was packed with 600 in attendance and the students could hardly contain their excitement as Dustin performed on one exciting unicycle after another.  They quieted down enough to hear Dustin's challenge to persevere even when things get tough and use what they have to help others.  Before the assembly was over he had them shouting in unison, "Never Give Up!"  Afterward, staff enthusiastically told us that this was the best assembly they have ever had.

During our training week in Georgia when we joined OM in 2008, we met a couple whom we've stayed in touch with over the years.  They have now settled in Portland and have kids attending Cherry Park Elementary.  They had passed along our information to the principal, thus the assembly on 25 January 2018!  We are thankful for personal connections which lead to expanded opportunities to impact people's lives.

To complete our Oregon shows, we presented at Elmira High School for a Sunday afternoon community outreach on 28 January 2018.  It was encouraging to see multiple churches and ministries collaborate to bring their community together to hear the Good News.  About 250 came and heard the clear Gospel message and several responded to the invitation!

Thanks Oregon! Now on to California...

Unicycle for Fitness

During a recent conference in Portland Oregon we met a doctor from Grants Pass Oregon who is promoting fitness in his local schools through unicycling. He told his school district about our UniShow assembly and, though it was short notice, Redwood Elementary invited us to present for their students on February 10, 2017 during our visit to the area.

Grants Pass was where Katie grew up so it was exciting to share in this community and even have friends and family come to watch.

The students were very enthusiastic and it seemed like all 500 of them were screaming with excitement most of the time. They did quiet down long enough to hear Dustin challenge them to never give up so they can develop their abilities to help others.

We saw a beautiful rainbow over Grants Pass after our show.

Yujin Gakuen

Our second assembly of the day on January 27th, 2017 was at Yujin Gakuen Elementary. They share a campus with Corridor Elementary so we were able to do both assemblies in the same location. This Japanese Immersion School was the first in the country when it began in 1988. Many have opened since, using this school as a model.

They packed the students in and we again had a fun and enthusiastic time, leaving students with a challenge they repeated in unison, "Never Give Up!".  どうもありがとうDomo arigato (thank you very much) for welcoming us to your school!

Just around the Corridor Elementary

We were enthusiastically welcomed to Corridor Elementary School in Eugene Oregon for a UniShow assembly on 27 January 2017.  Students could not keep quiet, screaming and cheering with excitement while Dustin performed on different unicycles.  The message of never giving up seemed to sink in as they quieted down to listen to the message.  A teacher overheard one student say during the presentation, "This is the best day of my life!" 

Students love to meet Dustin after the show.

Mission ConneXion Northwest

It was a privilege to participate in the 16th annual Mission ConneXion Northwest in Portland Oregon.  We represented Operation Mobilization and the UniShow in the exhibit hall and connected with many people.

The first plenary session was a night for wheels.  Joni Erickson Tada was the main speaker, powerfully sharing from her wheel chair how God allowed what he hates (her paralysis from a diving accident in her teens) to accomplish what He loves (drawing her close to Him and helping her point others to Him).  Then, Dustin performed a freestyle unicycle routine, demonstrated his ultimate wheel and made a few people nervous by juggling fire on his 6 footer. Then he shared his story of how he surrendered to God what he loved to do (unicycling), agreeing to serve Him however God saw fit. Never did he dream God would give it back to him to use as a tool to share the Gospel around the world. 

What a privilege to meet and share the stage with Ken and Joni Eirckson Tada!

Then, during the last plenary session, Dustin tore up the trials course on his unicycle before taking things 10 feet high.  He shared encouraging stories of how God is at work around the world through the Creative Arts. He also shared about the RefugeRide and how God used it to provide hope and help for Syrian refugees as we crossed the USA on unicycles.  We received positive feedback from many after both presentations about how inspired people were to use what they had to share Jesus around the world. 

Rolling in the Holidays

The Wallowa Valley presented itself as a winter wonderland. It's always a treat to make this a stop on our west coast travels. With family in the area, there's an extra strong draw.

For the second year in a row, Building Healthy Families sponsored UniShow events during our visit. On Thursday, December 15th, amidst frigid temperatures, we set up in the Enterprise high school gym for an elementary school assembly.

Several hundred students took a break from their class Christmas parties and joined us in the gym. With a festive feel in the air, a good time was had by all on this last day of school for the year.

Feedback for the assembly included the following:

"Your show was so fresh and vibrant that it seemed you just invented it."

"I just wanted to thank you for inspiring my son yesterday at school. He was most inspired by the message you had and your boldness to share in a school setting and the creative manner you used..."

It was great to be able to leave our equipment set up overnight for our community family show in the same place the next morning.

Friday, December 16th was even colder and the snow kept coming down. People still braved the elements and started off the first day of Christmas break with a UniShow.

A teacher who came from a nearby school said she wished they had known about the assembly the day before and would have bused their students over to join in on the fun. This was our last UniShow of the year and a good finale.

Some of Katie's brothers, large and in charge, tend to trees in the area with their stellar company, Sinclair Brothers Tree Services.

They're Already Rolling Around the Bend (Oregon)!

We had the privilege of helping Pine Ridge Elementary in Bend, Oregon start off their last week of school for the year. On Monday, December 14 we joined their unicycle club practice before school. It was amazing to see 50 kids riding and learning to ride around the gym.

  


The coach has been running the club for 6 years. She said on club practice mornings, kids are up early, excited to go to school to practice unicycling. Dustin shared briefly with the students and demonstrated a few tricks before helping kids individually with specific skills.      





Next we presented the UniShow in an all school assembly for 520 students. Dustin told the students there were enough of them in that very gym to change the world if they never gave up and used their abilities to help others. Afterwards students lined up to meet Dustin and get his autograph. Hopefully when they see his signature later they will be reminded to press on and never give up.        

Dustin with a class from Pine Ridge Elementary School.