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:

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!

Chocolate, Cheese & Jazz

We joined a team of 100 people from 20 nations in Switzerland for outreaches at the 51st Montreux Jazz Festival. This Regeneration outreach began 10 years ago by a small team from YWAM Lausanne and has grown into a powerful presence at the Jazz Festival.

From July 2-15, 2017 we shared the love of Jesus with people from all over the world. Our team played music, danced, unicycled and acted on 3 different stages throughout the festival, all along beautiful Lac Lèman where vendors and buskers busied crowds.

The original "stage" of Regeneration is next to the Bible Kiosk which is a permanent fixture in Montreux and open year round. The driveway to the Euro Hotel right in front of this Kiosk provided a nice open space for our performances. We were interrupted only occasional by a car driving into the underground hotel parking. We also sometimes had to work around handicap vehicles parking in the nearby spots.

TrEd making noise for Jesus.

The Covered Market, or Marchè Couvert in French, is the other venue we presented in each night. At the end of the length of the festival, and elevated just off the beaten path it was difficult to draw crowds at times but the roof did allow us to continue performing and sharing even on rainy days.

    

MoMo the Eskimo wows crowds with her unicycles, too!

During the middle weekend of the Jazz Festival we were able to use a great stage out in the thick of things where we drew the largest crowds.

Luzanne lighting up the skies with her ribbon dance.

We personally had the privilege of meeting and praying with many families vacationing from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, a lady from Egypt, a clown from Italy, Syrian refugees, local Swiss people, a couple from our hometown Edina, guys from New York, England, Sri Lanka, Azerbaijan and Russia, to name a few.

Throughout these 2 weeks, our team gave out 120 Bibles in many languages, distributed refreshments, prayed with 325 people, painted faces, manned bouncy castles and much more. The best part was that almost 40 people prayed to surrender their lives to Jesus for the first time! We are so thankful for this amazing opportunity to share God's love with so many people and we pray seeds scattered will turn into much fruit.