Dustin for President!

2018 marked the 52nd annual Jazz Festival along the promenade of Lake Geneva in Montreux Switzerland.  For 11 of those 52 years, YWAM Lausanne has organized an outreach called Regeneration where they creatively share God's love with thousands from around the world who attend this Festival.  It was a privilege for UniShow to return this year for our 8th Regeneration.

In recent years, Regeneration has become part of a larger collaboration called Open Up which includes a group from England who minister to kids and parents each day of the Festival through games, bouncy castles and conversations.  Also in Open Up is a key partner who has a permanent Kiosk by the Lake where Bibles and Christian literature are available in many languages all year long and is a great spot during the Festival for performances, witnessing and to get the cheapest cold bottled beverages at the Festival. 

This year, Regeneration again hosted a team of nearly 100 people from dozens of nations who took to the streets of the Festival to share the hope and love of Jesus with attendees and vendors.  Each evening from 1-13 July 2018, a hospitality team provided refreshments, smiles and a listening ear.   The evangelism team roamed the festival praying for people and leading them to Jesus.  A children's team painted faces and blew balloons.  The performance team shared music, unicycling, dance, drumming, acrobatics, clowning, mime, drama, slam, spoken word and testimonies with the crowds who gathered.

  

We were a bit more restricted in what we could do from the stage this year due to complaints from nearby vendors.  We had to keep sound decibels down and sharing about God to a minimum.  But truth still went out, many of Dustin's tract cards with the Gospel on them were distributed and many personal conversations were had. 

  

Dustin had many fans at the Festival.  One of our favorites was super animated and cheered loudly throughout a show one evening.  When Dustin was sharing about what led to him pursue his world championship and said he wanted to be the best unicyclist in the world, she shouted, "You are!!!"  Then when he rolled out his 10 foot unicycle for the grand finale, she yelled, "Dustin for president!!!"

During another show when Dustin said only Jesus can fill the emptiness in our lives, a man shouted sarcastically, "Ok fine show me what Jesus can do!"  A nearby team member sensed a witnessing opportunity and shared with the man what Jesus did in her life.  He was very moved and said he wanted to cry.  What a privilege to be able to point people to the Answer they are looking for.

In all, our group presented 126 performances for over 15,000 people, had conversations about God with 870+ people and prayed for 442 of them, handed out 134 Bibles and 1,460 drinks, and saw 24 people give their lives to Jesus and one was even baptized right there in Lake Geneva!

Please pray for each seed scattered to grow!  Especially pray for a lady from Iran who surrendered to Jesus after hours of conversation with a team member.  She could face the death penalty if she returns home as a Christian.  Pray for protection, wisdom, fellowship, and growth for our new sister in Jesus!

Some of Dustin's faithful fans came to every show. Filipino and Indian workers caring for an elderly woman vacationing with her family from Saudi Arabia.

Click here to watch Regeneration 2018 recap video.

Lausanne is the VERY FIRST YWAM training location established in 1969 and has historical significance in our personal lives as well.  Katie's parents served here in the early '70s and were discipled here as new believers.  It is amazing to be following in their ministry footsteps through a continued partnership with this YWAM base!

Swiss Bliss

The 44^th Montreux Jazz Festival on Lake Geneva has come to an end. Dustin performed several times each evening during our 10 day outreach with YWAM Lausanne. His finger is healing nicely (praise the Lord) and didn’t hold him back for long.

The Gospel was shared at each presentation by Dustin and Heartbridge (YWAM Kona Hawaii’s Creative Outreach). Even though the audience was very fluid during this type of outreach, we know many heard the clear message that Jesus saves and brings hope. We had the opportunity to pray with people after the events, many on holiday from the Middle East. Katie connected with a local Christian girl who was a God-send and provided translation as they together talked and prayed with people.

As we were loading the van one evening, someone was holding Dustin's 10 foot uni straight up in the air preparing to load it when a couple young local unicyclists rode by! Needless to say, they excitedly came over and through translation, visited with Dustin. They came back to the festival several evenings following to show their amazing trials skills and watch and hear Dustin in action.

Please pray with us for all the seeds that were planted among the large audiences and the individuals with whom we shared Jesus. We pray He will take these seeds and multiply and grow them!

What a treat to work with YWAM Lausanne again! Their hospitality, love and passion for Jesus, encouragement and inspiration is some of the finest around. We felt like we were serving with family. Thanks God and YWAM for another great Regeneration 2010.

Check out the YWAM Lausanne site for videos and recaps of each evening outreach. If you can only watch one video, watch Day 1, but we welcome you to see them all and even join YWAM for this outreach next year!