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!

Just When You Thought Utah It All!

Nestled in the beautiful Wasatch Mountains of Utah is Layton Christian Academy, an international boarding school. Apparently LCA is also excellent in sports since our assembly began with a senior college signing for University of Minnesota Morris on a football scholarship! We were able to pray with international students afterward who were experiencing the challenges of being so far from home.

The elementary principal told us, “The UniShow was more than I anticipated it being. The transparency of the cast was awesome! It gave the students people they could relate to and identify with their struggles.” And the high school principal said, “It was amazing and the students absolutely loved the show! This is a show that is highly entertaining and has a dynamic spiritual message all in one!” One of the teachers, Mr. Musil, gifted us with some great photos of our assembly (see below).

At Vista Elementary in Taylorsville, Utah, select students were rewarded for good behavior with a UniShow Universe assembly. Apparently it was a hit as the feedback we received from the principal afterward was, “I can't imagine the performance being any better. It was the best assembly we have ever had. The message was perfect. Thank you!!”

In Riverdale, Utah, we helped kick-off Read Across America week with an assembly for Riverdale Elementary students. Impressive student leaders introduced our show then followed it up by presenting us with gift bags before they lead the students in songs as they dismissed.

East of the Rockies

After our James Bay Canadian adventure, we crossed back over the border, continuing our tour with our next event at Rohan Woods School in St. Louis, Missouri. Afterward, the PE teacher of many years raved that the UniShow Universe was the best assembly they have ever had!

We then had the privilege of presenting for 500+ students at Eisenhower Middle School in Topeka, Kansas. The bright purple gymnasium with a vivid eagle covering the back wall made for a fun setting to challenge students to persevere through life's challenges and be on the lookout for ways to help others along the way.

University Academy in Kansas City, Missouri invited us to present a middle school assembly. The principal told us afterward, "The program was excellent and helped reinforce the messages we push our students to use in their everyday life."

During a quick visit with Katie's sister in beautiful Colorado Springs, we were able to connect with a family we had met in Kenya last February who happened to be visiting Colorado Springs at the same time. After their son had seen the UniShow Universe in Kenya last year, he found a unicycle in their attic that someone had left after learning to ride following our visit to Kenya 7 years ago! Their son was also inspired by Dustin and has learned to ride unicycle remarkably well in this last year. The family surprised him with an early birthday gift of a new unicycle delivered by Dustin Kelm himself in Colorado!

UniShow Universe at the University of LeTourneau

What an honor to present the UniShow at LeTourneau University for the second year in a row! The beautiful, state-of-the-art Belcher Center was packed for this all school chapel.

Students were very responsive and we had a great time. Afterward, the director of Fine Arts was highly complimentary about our presentation and message delivery. Katie and Misun even had students wanting to know how to get their costumes.

Here's our new promo video where most of the footage came from our event at LeTourneau:  https://youtu.be/zYBwl4c4ULg

UniShow Universe Launches in Florida

Down the road at First Baptist Church of Belleview Florida, we presented a community outreach event. There was a great turnout for this UniShow Universe Spectacular and we received much encouraging feedback afterward about the creative delivery of testimonies and the Gospel.

This church has a serious follow-up program and will be contacting each person who indicated a response to the Gospel invitation.

Navajo Nation in New Mexico

New Mexico is so beautiful and varied in scenery. We thoroughly enjoyed our time in this desert state and the Navajo Nation.

We stopped first in Gallup and had the opportunity to share in Rehoboth Christian School's senior Bible class about our experiences among the persecuted church. That evening we had the privilege of being half-time entertainment for Rehoboth's home basketball tournament final.

Dustin wowed the crowd on his 10 ft. unicycle then, before dismounting, shared his story and hope of the Gospel to a captivated crowd.

Something about speaking from 10 feet in the air with only one wheel beneath, gives extra credence to one's words. Many people afterward commented on how powerful the message was. In an area where suicide is 3x the national average, it was very special to have this ministry opportunity.

Next we went to Newcomb High School for a morning UniShow Universe assembly. The administrator loved it so much they wanted us to stay and present to the Middle and Elementary schools too. Due to their testing schedule, we weren't able to fit them in this time but will do our best to return in the future.

Inspire School Programs is a ministry that teaches Biblical principles in public schools through mentoring and classes. They hosted a few events for us in schools where they are working in the Four Corners area.

Koogler Middle School in Aztec was one of the Inspire sponsored connections. We did 2 assemblies in a row since the bleachers were too small to fit all 550 students at once. The students were very encouraging and thankful afterward and we even had a few students offer to join us on tour.

Inspire has only been working in Bloomfield Middle School for a few weeks so it was great to partner with them to bring more awareness to their presence on campus during the assembly we did there.

We also returned to Rocinante High School where we presented 2 years ago. It was great to be able to share in this alternative school and challenging students to persevere through life's challenges. Students again said how inspired they were following our presentation. Faculty who saw us 2 years ago expressed amazement at how much the production value of the UniShow has increased with our expanded team.

After each of these Inspire sponsored assemblies, leaders and mentors told us, some with tears in their eyes, how much students needed to hear the important message we shared in this creative way. They said our message tied perfectly into what they are teaching the students.

Before we headed east after a wonderful week based in Farmington, we played tourist and ate Fry Bread from a Navajo Flee Market in Shiprock. Then we stood at the Four Corners Monument where Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Arizona meet.