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...

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. 

Portland - "The friendliest big little city in America"

Faith Bible Christian School in Portland, Oregon hosted the UniShow for their Elementary and Secondary School chapels.

The students were very attentive and responsive. Many approached us after the shows sharing how thankful they were that we came and stating how much they got out of it. One student said, "Dustin is the real deal." We found out later that the two students that Dustin randomly choose as volunteers to try out the unicycle at the beginning of the first show were the children of Andrew Palau and Kevin Palau.

Since we were in the neighborhood, we stopped by the Luis Palau Ministries office. It was great to reconnect with our Palau Ministries coordinator that we worked with in Jamaica earlier this year.