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!

Sharing Love in the Heart of Minnesota

Ten years have flown by since the UniShow last partnered with West Central MN Youth For Christ. We thoroughly enjoyed our previous tours with them and were privileged to return for another week of events in and around Willmar, Minnesota.

The YFC staff are very connected and present in the area public schools and have great relationships with faculty and students. They arranged 5 assemblies for middle and high schoolers where we encouraged students to persevere through life's challenges so they can use their abilities to help others and impact the world. Then we were able to invite students to the evening outreach a few hours later.

During the evening outreaches, we shared openly about God and even led students in a prayer of surrender to Jesus. It was so exciting to see students take bold steps of faith and publically stand for Jesus among their peers. Over the week we saw around 30 indicated new decisions!

YFC staff were ready to connect with new believers at each event so we know these students will be discipled in good hands.

We heard from principles and students that the UniShow Universe was the best assembly they have ever had! Teachers told us later that their students were blown away and couldn't stop talking about it. Administrators also told us they saw students listening more attentively than usual to the message as we wove the speaking among the action. We learned of a student who was so inspired she got out her violin and began to practice after seeing Misun in action during the assembly.

Annual Albania Outreaches

For the 9th time in 9 years, the UniShow did an outreach tour in the beautiful country of Albania.

From 16 August to 2 September, 2019, our team of 10 from Australia, USA and South Korea unicycled, danced, painted and played music during our hour and fifteen minute show.  We partnered with local church planters as we presented the Gospel for 4,750 people during 11 events around the country.

The harvest is truly plentiful in Albania.  It has been a joy to work with strategic Albanian church planters for nearly a decade and see over 20 churches planted, grow and even plant other churches through our outreaches.

During this tour, we again had the privilege of openly sharing the Gospel during each event and it was always exciting to see people respond to Jesus during Dustin's invitation.  Our Albanian partners let audiences know about the existing church in the area or one about to start.  Contact cards were filled out by those who were interested in learning more about what we shared.  The follow-up by the church planting team was excellent and they didn't let a day pass before they called each person to connect with them personally and plug them into Christian fellowship. 

After our show in Lushnja, we met a 16 year old who was at our event there 2 years ago where he had raised his hand and given his life to Jesus during Dustin's invitation!  He said his life has dramatically changed and he's never going back; he's on fire for Jesus, serving with the church and wants to be a missionary!  It was exciting to be able to pray with and encourage him!

During our show in Rrogozhine, an angry Muslim, supposedly sent by the local Imam, came to pull the plug mid-show, but our power source remained intact at the cafe since the owner was the Mayor's wife and was a fan of our show!

We had several shows in and around Tiranna.  After our first one, we met friendly 10 year old Melvin, who spoke perfect English he learned by watching YouTube videos.  He became one of our team's biggest fans and came with his grandma to the next 3 events we had in other parts of the city because he said he really enjoyed our show and liked talking with us.  As a result, he connected with our local partners and has begun to attend their church.

We presented in another village where we were told the Gospel had never been shared before.  What a privilege to be the first!  We shared openly in another city considered the seat of Islam in Albania.

Albania is an exciting place to serve because we see so much encouraging fruit, immediately and over time.  Thanks for helping us share the Good News with those eager to receive it!

Typical older Albanian men looking distinguished while hanging out at the park.