Urban Impact Choir: Click Here for Video

This is a great little video that one of our volunteers put together. It is of the Urban Impact Choir at Atria's, a local North Side restaurant that sponsored our Choir Christmas party. I hope you enjoy it!

Prayer Requests:

• PAA Students auditioning for CAPA (Creative and Performing Arts school)
• Grant writing for the PAA and UI Choir
• Finishing strong the Fall PAA semester and gearing up for the spring semester.
• Praise for great volunteers

Thank you all for your support and prayers!

Top Secret: Please Read Aloud

One Bible story that has constantly stuck out to me throughout the process of working with Urban Impact is Matthew 25:14-30. In this passage Jesus tells a parable of a Master who goes on a journey and leaves three workers in charge of certain shares of his business. Two go out and invest what was given them and the other basically stuffs it under his mattress. Later the Master comes back and asks how the business is going. The two investors doubled their money and the Master says, "Well done my good and faithful servant!" This good mood does not last long though. The Master soon turns and sees his last employee returning only what was given to him. Of course the poor guy tries to make up some excuse about why he didn't do anything with it, but the Master will not have it. Some harsh words are thrown back and forth and what the guy put under the mattress is taken from him and given to an investor.

This is good financial advice, but I think Jesus' parable symbolizes more than money management. I was thinking about this the other morning and wondering, "Am I acting as a multiplier or a bum on a log?" Then I realized I am very blessed and continually blessed and very busy and continually busy. I know I could invest my time better, but it is very encouraging to know God has not given up on me yet and still challenges me everyday. If God continues to challenge me it must mean he hasn't taken away his investment from me... Blah, blah, blah and now for the --

PAA Story of the Week:

We last left off with the Elementary drama class learning a little cheer that I'm pretty sure is not found in the Bible. Since then the class has been going really well with the occasional escorting of students to "Mean" Principle Kelly. The other classes in the PAA are also going well, each with their own small hurdles and fun stories. Musical Theatre has a really strong class who are all getting along very well and bringing up some of the deepest questions during Bible study. Elementary Visual Arts has gone well with the exception of some splattered paint mishaps. (Washable Paint: check.) Middle/High School Visual Arts has three boys in the class and they love to paint, draw, and create beautiful pictures of wars, armies, and other people with guns. Improv is improv. I have know idea how or what dancing is doing, but it looks good. And Miss Laura runs a tight ship with the Middle/High School Acting class. She has many stories to tell of her own exciting PAA adventures.

My favorite story happened last week in my Elementary Drama class. Don't worry it is short and sweet. In the class Miss Karen, a volunteer, has been receiving several Top Secret letters and packages, which she ironically opens reads aloud to the entire class. Each package has a different color paper and verse (think Sunday school beaded bracelets). Over the weeks these verses and color have illustrated how God loves us, created us, sent his son Jesus as a sacrifice for us to conquer the sin/ooey, gooey, icky, nastiness in our lives. Last week marked the end of the Top Secret packages and everyone received their own bracelet as a reminder of the gift that God has given them. After we reviewed what the bracelet meant, we closed in prayer and 9 girls accepted the gift and asked Jesus into their hearts! For those of you who don't realize this is awesome let me just tell you how awesome it is... Oh wait, I can't; it's that awesome. Awesome, awesome, awesome. But the real kicker and cherry on top was after the class when one little girl came up and said she already accepted Jesus into her heart, so prayed for those who were accepting Christ instead. And she's only eight. That sure beats ending class with a skirt shakin' cheer.

Prayer Requests:

• Our students who will audition for the Creative and Performing Arts School (The best public school in Pittsburgh)
• The 9 young girls who recently accepted Christ into their hearts
• Praise for sending some great volunteers to the PAA!
• Dec. 17th PAA Parents' Open House
• PAA Grant Proposal that they have asked me to write (EEK!)
• The North Side families this Thanksgiving and Christmas Season

I am thankful for all of your prayers they mean so much to so many.

Happy Thanksgiving...

"My name is Eric, and I'm here to say..."

I humbly apologize for the long absence of blogging. The past month has been a busy time for Laura and I, but God has been so good in making sure we have time to sleep most weeks. Lets get everyone caught up:

• Wrote an Urban Impact Musical Theatre Camp Proposal to the Pittsburgh Public Schools: It's long and not to fun to read, but hopefully something will come of it.
• Started the fall semester of the Urban Impact Performing Arts Academy: I now administrate the academy and also teach Improv and Elementary Acting
• Spoke at Laura's home church: We had a wonderful time in Westfield and Laura made Apple sauce
• Helped with and went on the Urban Impact Choir Retreat: Nothing like spending the weekend with a cabin full of gassy middle school boys.
• Said goodbye to a few Performing Arts staff as we welcomed on new staff and friends.
• And have now almost, possibly, may have, fully raised most of my support! This is still depending on few things, but it is so exciting.

Since the Performing Arts Academy has started back up so has the PAA story of the week!

This story happened on first day of class at the beginning of October. I was finishing up with what had been a very long but productive day. The academy had just about finished up its first week as a success. At this time I was teaching the elementary class and we were reviewing what we had learned in class that day. "We are all God's creations,"said several of our little kids. One girl read her memory verse and another said, "We don't have to be afraid of who we are especially on stage." And I think one girl even said, "It's fun to create characters just like God created us."

By this time I am beaming. I look over at the other two volunteers, Mr. Rick and Ms. Karen, and I can tell they feel the same way I do. The feeling of using your gifts to bring glory to God's name makes all the stress and running around of the busy day worth it. If only I'd closed in prayer and sent them home right then, but for every mountain top there is a valley.

We had a little extra time at the end of the class so as we were about to close in prayer two of the little girls in the class asked if they could go on the stage and perform a cheer. "Yeah, sure why not?" I thought, "This is what acting is all about, performing." WRONG, WRONG, WRONG. Silly ol' me thought they would get up and say a cheer like "Here we go Oliver! Here we go! Woot! Woot!" or even "Bump, set, spike", but no.

The girls got up whispered to each other around the corner and then came on to the stage to perform. One little 1st grader stood at the front of the stage look forward out into the audience and starts cheering:

My name is Madea

And I'm here to say

I'm gonna shake what I got

In my skirt today.

I'm gonna turn around

And drop it real low

And shake what I got

In my skirt today.

This of course has spinning and twisting moves to it and repeats and the other 1st grader joins in the singing. I am in shock and really have no idea what to do. I look over at Mr. Rick and he is staring down at an empty chair and Ms. Karen has her jaw slightly dropped probably very similar to my own. Thankfully it stops before everyone starts to shimmy and shake. The two little girls on stage want to do another cheer, I say it's time to pray.

I learned my lesson, but the damage was done. Instead of going out talking about how God created them and how they can create characters, the students left humming "Shake what I got in my skirt today."

Prayer Requests:

• The Proposal to the Pittsburgh Public Schools
• The last itty, bitty, tiny bit of support raising (this is also a big praise!)
• The next step for this past Summer's Young Men's Bible Study
• The Performing Arts Academy

North Side Neighbors

Laura and I are finally moved into our apartment! We are now in the process of unpacking ,organizing and reorganizing and reorganizing. Within the first few days of living on the North Side we had a few very interesting observations: Trash trucks sometimes operate very loudly at 3:00 in the morning, one way streets are merely suggested, and people (for the most part) on the North Side stop and say, "Hi." The last observation interests me quite a bit. Already Laura and I have interacted more with our neighbors in our building than we did our entire time at our previous apartment. Lola, a little old black lady on the floor below us, showed us how to correctly carry a desk up the stairs, Fransisco, the nice Hispanic man who lives above us, has a bad back, and the lady who lives beside us stopped us when we were moving in and apologized for her boyfriends music. It's pretty amazing to think that even though we have moved into a high crime area with boarded up buildings all around that people on the North Side are more interested in saying "Hi" then the "nice family" borough of Pittsburgh. Another perk of living on the North Side, I now live close enough to walk to Urban Impact. In the short ten minute walk I get to pass by several different bus stops and corners where people congregate. At each of these places it's nice to stop and visit; I hope to be able to use even these short moments to build relationships.

At Urban Impact things are shaping up really well for the fall. The choir continues to grow and the Performing Arts Academy, which I am now in charge of administrating, has more students pre-registered than ever before and we still have a month left. The day after we hung posters around the North Side a mother came into our office and started crying. She had seen a poster in the local barber shop and wanted to get her kids involved but couldn't pick them up after class. At this time Meghan, our dance instructor, simply said she could take her children home after class and the mother broke down in tears and made Meghan give her a hug. The Performing Arts Academy starts October 1st.

Prayer Requests:

• For volunteers for the PAA
• Final planning for the PAA
• Nate, Shiniqua, Shiquala, Breann, Valarie and Alicia as they start college and associates school
• As we look for a new staff member to fill in for Principal Rick
• To finish strong with support raising

Thank you all for your prayers and come and visit anytime in Pittsburgh.

August Catch-up

The summer programs have all finished, and now August gives us a chance to get caught up and prepared for the long winter months ahead. Before I get to busy planning and envisioning upcoming programs I thought it would be nice to reflect on the busy summer. So here is a short video with pictures of Tuesday Nights, Summer Day Camp, and other summer events.

Prayer Requests:

• My Grandma
• Fall Choir Retreat
• Planning for the Performing Arts Academy
• Students returning to school and graduated students going into the workforce and college
• Transition time from Summer to Fall program

Praise Report

• Support Trip Across America went very well and it was a huge blessing to see many friend and family and tell them about Urban Impact and the North Side
• Moving onto the North Side next week!

On the way, by the way.

Laura and I are now a little over half way through our Support Raising Trip Across America. It has been quite a journey getting to see old friends and family and let them know all the amazing things that are going on at Urban Impact. Thus far we have stayed in four different cities, five different beds, and Laura got to play with one dog, one cat, and a stuffed cat. The last part of our trip will take us briefly into Wisconsin before ending our journey in Kansas City and taking the very long 14 hour trip back to the 'burgh.

Speaking of getting back to Pittsburgh praise is due. Laura and I recently found an apartment on the North Side! It is very close to Urban Impact and to where many of our kids and students live. There are many great things already about this apartment but one of the biggest blessings we found came from a misquote in the rent. The landlord's sister quoted us a price that was a less than what the landlord was asking, but when we called the landlord said he would stick by the quoted price! I felt that God had given us a Monopoly card that said, "Bank error in your favor: Pay $100 less in rent." So... That is pretty amazing. Thank you all who were praying for our housing.

Prayer Requests:

• God would continue to guide us and give us safe travels.
• That we could be able to quickly get back into the swing of things in Pittsburgh.
• Transition time between Summer and Fall programs.
• One of our students trying to learn how to be a good father.

So much has been happening that it's hard to keep up with it all

Urban Impact's summer programs are now in full swing and the days and weeks seem to go by faster and faster. This means to things: We're keeping busy and having fun. For me this summer has been composed of a smattering of programs. I have been teaching two drama classes one for "Tuesday Nights" (which rocks) and one for the Summer Day Camp as well as starting a young men's discipleship group and coaching a Leadership team called the Servant Team. These have all been great and through them I have been building deeper and deeper relationships with the students on the North Side.
In the midst of all this Laura and I have also been planning a support raising trip across America (really just toward Kansas City) for the end of July. We start out in Pittsburgh and then weave across Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and even a little bit of Wisconsin. We will end the trip with an eight hour jaunt to Kansas City to meet the Anderson clan for rip roarin' fun at the Anderson Reunion. We are very excited to see many friends and family members and hope that this will complete a large chunk of support raising.
Speaking of family and friends Laura and I were very blessed by the chance to go to Camp-of-the-Woods with the whole pine cone aka Brautigam family. (For the reason why they are called the pine cone family you would have to ask my niece, but I don't know if you would get a straight answer out of her.) Camp allowed for all things summer related. We had s'mores, played sand volleyball, ate ice cream, and hung out with family. This trip was a huge blessing to Laura and I, not only to see family but also to slow down a little bit and gear up for the second half of summer.
The second half of the summer and the second half of the summer Blog should include highlights of "Tuesday Nights" and Summer Day Camp. With clips from the student written story of Shadaracha and Meshaka and how they stand up to Queen Nebuchanesia and won't worship boys, and the reason why "Tuesday Nights" rock! All of these great stories and more will arrive in the weeks and months to come.

Prayer Requests:

• Support Raising Trip Across America
• One of my students who is grieving the loss of his sister who was hit by a car just weeks after his girlfriend committed suicide
• My Grandma
• Laura and I finding a place to live on the North Side
• Summer Day Camp and Tuesday Nights

The Adventures of Steely McBeam

If you don't know Steely McBeam is the mascot for the Pittsburgh Steelers. If you don't know the Pittsburgh Steelers you have probably been living under a rock for several years or in Cleveland and choose not to give them a second thought. But this blog is a place to set all partisanship and rivalries aside and play ball for kids.

Although I often tell stories about the Performing Arts Academy I think it is important to recognize the breadth of Urban Impact and all of its programs. As some of you may know Urban Impact primarily started out as a youth Basketball outreach and soon encompassed all major sports. From this growth a relationship with the Steelers was forged and a football clinic was born. Over the years the football clinic has grown and evolved into something really quite spectacular. A task force of Urban Impact-ites with the help of a local high school football team transform Oliver high school's field into a magnificent a NFL training camp. (Of course as the theatre guy they asked me to set up the stage and help put table skirts on the community group tables. Sadly the putting on the table skirts proved to be quite difficult for Principal Rick and me.)

After all the set up and hot dogs and hamburgers were thrown on the grill, the fun really began. Soon kids of all ages flooded the registration booths and poured into the stadium playing warm up games ranging from Steelers flash card trivia to push up competitions. This was all fine and dandy but what was really great was the emergence of none other than Steely McBeam. This was great for me because I was appointed as Steely's bodyguard and right hand man. I also got to be his interpreter because despite having a rather large mouth Steely is mute. For the most part this required me to walk along side him saying, in an excited and surfer-esque tone, "Hey everybody look it's Steely McBeam! Show Steely some Steeler love." And then loads of kids would mob him while he high fived them and beat them off with his foam steel beam. The latter sometimes required my assistance. Then Steely McBeam almost passed out, so we stopped challenging kids to push up competitions and he guzzled down three water bottle in a matter of seconds. Apparently you sweat a whole lot when you are in 80 degree weather wrapped in layers of black and gold padding.

All of this was tons and tons of fun. The little kids ran the drills laughing while some of the older students ran the drills with intensity that matched the Steelers players running along side them. With all of this in mind the most amazing part came at the end of the night. Several of the Steelers stepped up on the stage and told hundreds of north side kids how despite winning several Super Bowls the biggest moment in their lives came when they accepted Christ into their hearts. How despite all of their strength and all their money they still need help and God is the only one who answers and fill their hearts.

I may be a Cleveland fan, but I thank God for those Steelers.... and Steely McBeam.

Prayer and Praise Requests:

• For "Tuesday Nights", our summer youth program will start June 16th
• Urban Impact Summer Day Camp starts this week
• Please pray for our graduating kids
• That I will not spread myself to thin
• My Grandma
• Support Raising

Thank you all. It means a lot to me.

Monster Foot

This post is not a normal post, but my wife has bugged me to write about it. I will write about the football clinic with the Steelers and my andventures with Steely McBeam soon.

This is the story of Monster Foot

It all started a little over two years ago. It was during finals week at the end of my junior year of college and some of my friends and I went on a late night hike around the reservoir. It was a beautiful night for a hike... or so we thought.

I walked along with my friends laughing and reminiscing about the year that had seemingly flown by faster than the year before. As the night wore on we decided to return back to school and get a few hours of sleep before our final finals. On our way back we came across a large swampy mud puddle with a thin board laying across the murky mess. One by one we stepped onto and off the board. Everyone seemed to to this with relative ease, but when I stepped onto the board my foot became stuck. I lifted my foot and the board rose into the air. The board was nailed to my foot. This is not a figure of speech. A nail sticking out of the board was now in my foot. In more shock than pain I placed my other foot firmly on the board and pried the nailed foot off the board. I immediately went to the ER and they performed an x-ray, gave me a tetanus shot and assured me my foot patched up nicely. But little did they know a monster was born beneath my skin.

Now fast forward eighteen months. In this time I married and moved to Pittsburgh; all the while a monster slowly grew in my foot. Starting out I barely even noticed the little lump on the bottom of my fat foot. It never impeded my walking, but if I poked at it I could feel a little hard speck under the skin. Thinking it may be a wart I decided to attack the little guy with some good ol' Dr. Scholl's. This battle went on for several weeks each day taking off a little more skin, but each day the little speck remained buried in my foot. The little speck persisted until I ran out of Dr. Scholl's. Getting fed up with the whole process, I stopped attacking my foot and hoped the speck would remain just a speck and leave it at that. But I was sorely mistaken.

The speck did not remain speck but soon grew, slowly taking ground and ravaging my foot. What was once my foot now became the lair of a monster which bulged under my skin. It soon felt like an alien trying to rip through my flesh. I could only imagine the devastating havoc caused if I did not redouble my efforts and attack it once again. With my imagination firing off images of my foot slowly devouring the rest of my body, I went and bought another box of Dr. Scholl's, Compound W, and Duct tape. Over the next couple of week I strategically advanced on the monster peeling off multiple layers of skin at time. Through many a sweat and tears I finally came upon the eye of the monster. Now when I looked at the bottom of my foot my enemy looked back at me. I saw a little white ball peeking out at me surrounded by a trench of skin, but that was only the tip of the iceberg. I continued the good fight and the eye on my foot got bigger and bigger. Soon it began to move around in my foot like the little track ball on a blackberry. With this development I knew it was now or never. My wife now came along side me. As I pushed down on the skin built up around the monster my wife pulled at it with a pair of tweezers. Grinding my teeth and turning my head away my wife gave one mighty tweeze and out popped the monster (and a little blood). The monster in my foot was no more. A little white, rubbery ball a centimeter in diameter is now dead.

Epilogue
My foot now feels great. It feels like new and the crater left by the monster has filled in nicely thanks to some off brand Neosporin.

Planning, blah, blah, blah

I started to write a post last week but soon realized it was not necessarily the most interesting or exciting. It kind of went something like this:

Planning, planning, blah, blah, blah, planning, blah, blah, blah...

I am still in the planning process, but I wanted to update everyone with whats been going on here in Pittsburgh. It has been a strange time of ups an downs. While my life has remained rather steady in the past few weeks, family, friends, and some of our Urban Impact kids' lives have been rocked. Rocked by great things like my little niece and the sudden barrage of lots of little nephews (all of which I am trying to instill a love of Star Wars), but also rocked by many unexpected health problems and deaths. All the while I have been an onlooker, while crying at times, but really spending a lot of time listening and mulling over what's happening. Although this is a time where I have seen the fragility of life I have even more overwhelmingly seen the strength of God in those who know and trust in him...

In this spot I tried to write something really "deep", but it sounded really cheesy. So this is the bottom line: knowing that I will see someone again in heaven, after death, comforts me. Yes, I still grieve and probably cry more than most other men, but I know what God has promised to be true. This is why I am here.

God's promises make all the planning blah, blah worth it.

Prayer Request:

• Summer Programs: Tuesday Nights and Young Men's Bible study!
• Summer Concert at my College Church
• My Grandma
• North Side Neighborhood Renewal Project (The Urban Impact Drama Team will be Performing Thursday Night)

Thank you,

eric

"I'm just a chicken with a bow tie" --- Ben Doohan

The past couple weeks have marked the end of the winter/spring Urban Impact Programs. This includes Global Impact, Play Ball for Kids Luncheon, Performing Arts Academy Parents' Night, the Urban Impact Choir singing at Christ Church at Grove Farm, and the Urban Impact Arts Gala. Usually these events are spaced out over a month but this year four of the five landed in the same week! So it has been quite the happening place here at Urban Impact. My part in these events have varied from directing theatre students, making graphics for tee shirts, to dressing up in a chicken costume and dancing for youth groups arriving at Global Impact. Yep, nothing says being a missionary like being tackled by a bunch a kids because they thinks that's the correct way to greet a giant yellow chicken. As interesting as sweating profusely inside a wrap of yellow fur and latex is, most of you are probably wondering how the PAA Parents' Night went.


PAA Story of the Week
If you have been following the North Side Stage you have probably noticed that Parents' Night has been one of the top prayer requests. Every Thursday night and many Tuesday evenings North Side students came and fine tuned their creative and artistic gifts. This all came to a beautiful conclusion last Thursday night at the Parents' Night. The children displayed artwork , performed to a very enthusiastic audience, and made all their teachers and parents very proud.

By far the coolest moment of the night was when the high school students performed the Lifehouse "Everything" drama (it is a popular gospel drama that can be found on youtube). During the drama the audience was yelling at the stage, cheering, and some even crying. It was like a rock concert (minus the fog machine). The kids did a really great job even our little elementary drama queen held it together only taking five extra bows leaving the stage. All in all thank you to everyone who was praying for the event God was very gracious and hopefully very happy with the event.

Prayer Requests:

• Planning for Summer Programs (Urban Impact Singers and Tuesday Nights)
  
• Summer Small Group Bible Study
  
• My Grandma
  
• Macy's commercial audition
  
• Support Raising (The business of the past weeks have put me a little behind)
  
  God certainly hears your prayers! Parents' Night is a testament to that.
  
  thank you

MusiCalifornia

Every couple of years Tammy, my supervisor, goes to a christian music conference to try and find some good christian, urban, youth choral music. This is apparently hard to do, but every once and a while something pops out of the Brooklyn Tabernacle or Nashville. All this to say this time she decided to go to MusiCalifornia which also has a drama track which means she brought me along.
The day after Easter Tammy, Sherri (A local church's choir director), and I hopped on a plane and landed in the MusiCalifornia. During the next few days I went to lots of theatre and video seminars and an occasional music seminar if Tammy needed to be in two places at once. Most were good, some were great, and others left something to be desired. Now, at the end of the three day marathon event I get to reflect.
I discovered church dramas are one of two things: short skits or slightly longer short skits about Christmas/Easter. Of course there are some full length plays/musicals out there, but they are pretty cheesy. (At this place some may think I am going to rant about how awful christian theatre is, but that is not true. They have there place and purpose but they fail to ring true with relevance to my urban kids.) I even asked one of the seminar instructors if there was anything out there which urban kids can relate. She said she didn't know of anything but she would look for me. The next day she said she thought of a great idea for me, "You should write the show." ......................... what?! This was first reaction, but I get it now. I should write a show. I just expected her "great" idea to be something more along the lines of, "I found you a great show" or "there is a great passage in Matthew that deals with inner-city youth." This would have been a little easier, but hey, why not write a show! (footnote: in college I wrote a show called the The Tinker's Toy and the play was worse than the title.)
I am now praying, reflecting, thinking about how to run with this. I know God wants to be glorified through these young kids. I know He wants them to understand how much He sacrificed for them. How the giving of His son frees them from the guilt of the disturbed lives they've been suckered into living. How can a play do this? What play can do this? This is what I ask God.

Prayer Requests

• For guidance and discernment about script material for students
• Continued growing friendships with the guys I take home after choir
• Car situation
• My Grandma
• Support Raising
• PAA Parent's Night this Thursday!

Thank you all. It encourages me to know that you care enough to read about life on the north side, and to know you pray.

eric

The Little Drama Queen

I am sorry I missed writing to all of you last week, but life just never seems to slow down.  Laura and I have both been constantly going and so much has happened since I last wrote.  It's hard to know where to begin.  Where better to start then with the PAA Story of the week.

PAA Story of the Week:

This is a story about our littlest child who is our biggest diva.  First, to give a little history.  This little girl was the first person I met when I came to check out Urban Impact Performing Arts Academy.  She sat outside the room waiting for class to start twirling an empty plastic mug around.  Written on the mug with big puffy rubber letter were the words "Drama Queen".  I now know this was a sign from God.

Don't get me wrong this little girl is incredibly cute and knows how to behave; it's just that she chooses not to.  Two weeks ago Ms. Laura had to escort her to Mr. Rick because she would not stop rolling around on the stage.  In the middle of running through Sir Humphrey's Honey Stand (our elementary drama) she would run up and lie down right in front of whomever was on stage.  Why?  I don't know.  

The next week, her antics continued and I really didn't want to send her to Mr. Rick, because she needed to learn her part in Sir H.  As a side note she plays Beyonce the Police Officer; she picked the name herself.  So, to keep her from constantly rolling around on stage, she was punished.  For her punishment she had to hold my hand.  Although she found this to be more amusing than punishing, it kept her from bursting on to the stage and flopping on the floor.

---------

In other news Laura and I have kept busy with theatre.  A couple weekends ago we participated in a 24 hour theatre marathon.  With in 24 hours six 10 minute plays were written, cast, rehearsed, tech rehearsed, memorized, and performed.  This was an annual fund raiser for a small theatre company and Laura and I were asked to participate as actors in this constructed mayhem.  

The following weekend Laura and I also performed in SWAN (Support Women Artists Now) day.  We once again performed in a couple of 10 minute plays, but this time we had more than a few hours of rehearsal.  Both of these events were wonderful to participate in but also sucked up most of our weekend.  With the time that we had left we went to Muskingum twice, and performed with the Urban Impact Choir at the local Church on the North Side. 

Prayer and Praises:

• Praise: One of our High school girls just got accepted into Messiah College
• Praise: God is good
• Prayer for our upcoming PAA parents night
• And the many other things that need prayer....

 Laura and I are very blessed.  Thank you for your prayers!

Kids Can Really be Adorable... when they're not calling you hoopty

As a follow up to my last blog, after choir on Tuesday when I got off the bus several students ran up to me yelling, "Hey hoopty! Wheres ya hoopty at?" It was nice, but it makes me wonder, "Were they calling me hoopty and if so what does that mean?"

I also want to take this time to follow up on a few prayer requests I have posted.

I innitially asked for more young men to be involved with the drama classes on Thursday nights. Since then young men have been coming back and even inviting their friends. I think some of this is because they like improv, but I know God is moving in their lives.

One of our students also had an audition for Hope college. His audition went great, and he got some great feedback from the professors. Overall he didn't like the college (a little too "Hippyish"), but he felt he nailed the audition.

I have constantly been asking for prayer about raising support, and God continues to provide for us. In less than three months over half of the support has been raised, which is a huge, huge, huge blessing. I know I have much more to go and it will still be tough, but that has been an incredible encouragement to Laura and I

Overall the drama classes have been going very well and I love being here. God is really doing some amazing things with these kids and it is a trememdous pleasure to be a part of it.


Thank you God!


PAA Story of the Week:

This week in the elementary class we read through Sir Humphrey's Honeystands, clearly based on the parable of the unmerciful servant. Suprisingly the kids took right to it and really enjoyed going through the show. But what made me really smile was when I looked over and two of the little girls who had some trouble with the larger words were sitting on either side of my wife, Laura. Laura would occasionally lean over to one and help them with their lines and by the end both of them were resting their heads on her. It was very cute. Kind of like the Ewoks taking to Han Solo, but a little different. Later Laura and I were talking and she said one of the little girls noticed her wedding ring, and Laura told her we were married. The little girl looked up at her and said, "You musta thought he was crazy when you first met?" Laura said, "Yes."

Prayer Requests:

• The "Everything" Drama Laura and I are working on with the high schoolers
• For God to encourage me on this second half of support raising
• Some of the students in the choir are really going through some troubles
• the Urban Impact Singers (The summer group)

Hope you all have a wonderful week!

"Hoopty"

Highlights in brief:

• I am Carlo
• I am Rorschach
• I drive a "hoopty"
• Daylight Savings Time

A lot can happen in one week. In fact a lot happens every week, but this week did not disappoint. This week I will start off with the Performing Arts story of the week

PAA Story of the Week:

So after choir on Tuesday nights I usually take a few kids back to their homes. This usually entails several younglings anxiously ready to get home, and every week is a different experience. I have taken kids home, who have not realized they lost their key to their house and had to wait for their Mom to get off work, kids who think it's hilarious to give me directions to their house first leading me in the complete opposite direction before guiding me back through dark, skinny alleys. My favorite happened this past week when upon seeing my car one student moaned, "Aww man, I gotta ride in 'at, you got a hooptie." Later looked up hooptie on urbandictionary.com to find hooptie means, "A piece of junk* car." (For those of you that don't know my car is a 1990 Dodge Dynasty and is huge blessing to me, even though the ceiling is sagging, the odometer stopped working, the airbag doesn't work, and it takes two people to open the hood.) I know my car is old and may in fact be a "Hoopty", but I never thought an Urban Impact student would be embarrassed to ride in it. Despite the jabs at my beloved car the rides home also provide some great time to get to know the kids a little bit more. Even if some of that time is spent driving in the complete wrong direction of their house.

*junk was not the word used by urbandictionary.com

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Other exciting news. I signed with a talent agency called "The Talent Group". This came after a series of events/major blessings the latest of which was an instructional video for EDMC, Education Management Corporation. I played Carlo a minor leauge baseball player. He had damaged his knee running into a player and now worries and slows down while running the bases. I spilled my guts and deepest fears of never making it to the majors to my "Psychologist" (A man named Tom who played the real estate agent in The Mothman Prophecies). This has all been a whirl wind, but most of all it has been a tremendous blessing.

Besides playing Carlo I also had a brief stint playing Rorschach from the Watchmen. By playing I mean dressed up in a costume to go see the movie, and I say brief because I was asked to take off the mask. Although the true Rorschach would have probably broken one of the managers fingers, I instead gruffly said "Someone's pickin' off costume heroes..." He didn't really get it so I said "okay" and went to the car and took off the costume.

All in all it was a busy week. The PAA is going very well and Laura and I continually excited about the progress of the students. We are now working on our scenes and short plays for the Parents' Night on April 23rd. You are all welcome to come that night to see these very talented younglings.

Prayer Requests:

• Building deeper relationships with the students
• PAA Bible Study this week (I am leading it)
• To continue to walk through the doors God has opened form me.

I thank you all for your continued prayers, and when I invited you to the parents night I really meant it. If you are interested let me know.

eric

I can never think of good titles

After a busy January and February Laura and I looked forward to a more relaxed March. Of course now March has almost completely filled, and it hasn't even started yet. This being said it was a huge blessing that I did not have to go to Hope College this weekend, giving Laura and I our first free weekend of 2009.
If you have been following the blog you know I was supposed to chaperon one of the U.I. students to an audition at Hope College because his mom was unable to take off the weekend. Don't worry the student still attended the audition, in fact he is there right now, but I didn't have chaperon because Hope College is great. The college said as long as we got him on the plane they would take care of all the rest, so they picked him up from the airport, arranged a college tour, got him to the audition, etc. I know he arrived safely last night, but I have not heard anything about his audition. I will post again any news I hear.
Also updating from last blog I had a wonderful time going back to Muskingum. I had some very encouraging support meetings as well as some unplanned but just as encouraging run-ins. It was wonderful to see so many of my friends I hold so dear and to catch up with the latest in the "Long Magenta Line". I had an eventful night spent at the REAL house (the men's christian house) where I felt right at home. The next day before heading back to Pittsburgh I stopped in on a Fish Out of Water improv rehearsal where it was great to see so many new faces. Laura and I hope to go back soon because one day in Skangum' in never enough.
In other news Laura and I have both been asked to take part in the Pittsburgh SWAN (Support Women Artists Now) festival. SWAN day is an international annual event on the last Saturday of March, Women's History Month. All sorts of activities supporting women artists take place in cities around world. This will be Pittsburgh's first year participating, and No Name Players will present and evening of plays, poetry, dance, music, and film all by local women artists. Laura and I have been asked to act in two of the short plays performed at the event.

PAA Story of the Week

Praise God, this week was a great week in the Performing Arts Academy. The high school students auditioned for the parent's night, the middle school class blew me away with their open scenes, and the elementary kids are starting to catch on to projection and diction. Although each of these classes had some praise worthy moments the story of the week comes from the brand new improv class we just started this week.
The improv class is made up of high school students and is designed to let them have fun playing games while secretly helping them gain confidence and create great public speaking and acting skills. Well... that's what it's supposed to do. So last night we started to play a game called Freeze where a lot of little scenes are created by to actors improving a scene and another troupe member yelling out "Freeze" and replacing one of the actors on stage and beginning a completely new scene. Surprisingly the high schoolers picked up on this really well and created some great little scenes. Everything was going along pretty well, and I was enjoying the scenes.
Then a scene starts with, "Oh no, your the baby's Daddy." and very quickly escalates into nothing comedic but a very loud argument. (Keep in mind I know this is acting because both of the actors on stage are female and are not anyone baby's Daddy). All the students erupt in the room like something off of Jerry Springer a few of them cheering and a few of them yelling "Freeze", but they don't hear them and keep on going. And boy they were really getting into it. All the while I am sitting there watching this partially impressed by the realism in the scene but mostly scared stiff thinking, "Oh God, what do I do with this... We are going to get kicked out of the church... Someone in the lobby is going to call the police... I am going to get fired from being a missionary." Luckily the actors finally froze and I took a moment to teach a brief lesson about controling and focusing your energy. They actually responded really well to this, and I am excited to see how the troupe will mature over the next few weeks.

Prayer Requests:

• Student's Hope College Audition
• Support Raising
• Urban Impact Singers

Thank you all for your prayers!

eric

Going back to College?

Wow, what a week.  Since last Friday life sure seemed to speed up.  Valentines day, Birthday, closing a show, Urban Impact all played a part.  This week has shown me two things: how busy life can be and how blessed I am for that busy life.  I have also been working hard on getting and making materials for my first UI (Urban Impact) support meeting.

Tomorrow I am going to Zanesville to meet with my college pastor and his family.  After that I will be speaking at Muskingum College's Campus Crusade meeting.  Both of these are very exciting for me, but in the same way a little nerve wrenching.  Hopefully they will go well and it will be the start to many more God glorifying meetings.  Most of all I am excited to be back in the company of great, great friends.  If you are around the Muskie area and do not have any plans Monday night, I invite you to cru at Kelley Coffee house at 8:00.

Other news headlines:

• Laura got the part of Nina in Chekhov's The Seagull
• Another sister-in-law is pregnant!
• I had an audition for a Time-Warner cable commercial
• I am now 23 (I got four different cakes for my Birthday)

Performing Arts Academy (PAA) story of the week:

Ms. Jill, the previous PAA drama teacher, put in a good word for one of our graduating students at Hope College Michigan.  Now Hope wants to have him come and audition for their program and scholarships.  This is very exciting, but there is one small problem.  His Mom is unable to take him to the audition.  No worries God plans in advance.  Next weekend is actually one of the first weekends that I am free, so I am now going to take him to audition at Hope College!  The young man is very talented and Laura worked with him last week on his monologues (she is very good at monologue/audition coaching).  The audition is on Feb. 27th so please be praying for him.

Prayer Requests:

• Student's Hope College Audition
• Muskingum meetings
• God to continually to open and close doors

Have a wonderful last week of black history month!

The snow has melted! This may not sound like a big deal to readers in St. Croix or Florida, but for me it is quite wonderful. Last Saturday it got up into the fifties and was the first day in a while that I had a morning free. Laura and I took advantage of it and enjoyed the day by walking to the grocery store. We picked up off brand Q-tips! (They clean our ears just as well.) The rest of the walk include going to Walnut St. and looking for people walking their dogs. If you did not know this already Laura loves dogs. When we first got married I almost got into an accident while driving because Laura yelled "PUPPY!" every time she saw a dog to which I thought she meant, "Slam on your breaks, a dog is about to run out into the road." I now know it is her own little I spy game she plays in hopes of seeing a dog and not a warning to screech to a halt.

The rest of the week has also had a few fun highlights as well. On Monday I had an audition for a show at the Pittsburgh Playhouse. The audition went very well, but I didn't get the part. This may seem like an upset to most actors, but I know the show was not right for me. Even better than not getting the part was the positive response I got from the Director. She actually sent me an email saying how happy she was to meet and she hopes to work with me in the future. This may not seem like much, but usually after an audition you either get the part or never hear from them again. So, to hear back at all is very encouraging.

This Thursday at the Performing Arts Academy went well again. The kids had a lot of energy which is a double edge sword. This inevitably made Laura and I very tired by the end of the night, but it was well worth it. Some of the kids miss Ms. Jill (last year's teacher) a lot and are having a difficult time allowing Laura and I to teach, but I know we just need to work harder to gain their trust. This being said there were still some very encouraging moments. In the elementary school class we were praying after our warm up, and one little girl asked if she could pray. Once we started to pray she popped her head back up and said she didn't know how to pray. I told her to thank God for everything he has given us, and so she bowed her head and and said, "Thank you God for everything you have given us."

This makes it all worth it.


Prayer Requests:

For God to guide the transition from Ms. Jill to Laura and I

For the students auditioning for CAPA

For Laura and I to be a light in the secular world of theatre


Hope you all have a wonderful Valentines Day!

Performing Arts Academy

Last night Laura and I taught drama class for the first time, and it was great. First of all thank you all who were praying for the classes. We had three classes last night: Elementary, Middle school, and High school. Over all we had more than 30 students which is great for the first week, and hopefully more and more will come as the semester roles along. A lot of the young men were absent from the High school class which was a little bit of a bummer for me because that's the age group I feel I can really relate with. The Elementary class was surprisingly fun. I say surprisingly because in the past they have been a little rowdy, but the group really seemed excited to return, although many were sad Ms. Jill did not return this semester. (Ms. Jill helped to start the program a couple years ago but decided to step down because of her jam packed life. She also makes great cookies.) In the Middle school and High school class we also handed out a questionnaire to find out what interested them. Laura and I found the responses very encouraging, and many of them wrote they were interested in auditioning for Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA), the Pittsburgh Arts school, which is has great educational program not to mention a phenomenal drama program. One of the girls in the Middle school class is now fourth on the waiting list and another auditioned in December and just got her letter of acceptance. Laura and I know there we have our work cut out for us, but we are bot incredibly excited to have the ball rolling.

As for other theatre endeavors, Laura and I are both very blessed. If you have been following the blog you know I opened a show last weekend and the response has been pretty positive. If you want you can check out the review:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09034/946449-325.stm

I also have an audition for another show at the Pittsburgh Rep on Monday that will go up in May. Laura will start rehearsals for Steele Magnolias in March.

All in all, we thank you for your prayers. God is good.


Prayer Requests:

The young girl on the waiting list for CAPA.

For the young men who are supposed to attend the High school Drama class.

My audition on Monday

Next weeks Performing Arts Acadamey

The week, the work, and me

This week has been very busy, but I'd rather be busy than bored. Laura and I have been working hard to create a fun and productive curriculum for the spring semester of drama classes. Laura has been doing a great job of reading tons of plays and narrowing down the list possible source material. We are both very excited and optimistic about the future of this program, but the responsibilities of a teacher are immense. (God bless you if you are teacher of any kind). We currently have short parable plays we've written for the younger students and some David Ives, Gospel dramas, etc. for the high school students. This leaves the middle school group. They are a hard group to find decent material for, so if you have any suggestions let us know. All this while continually support raising.

Support raising has been fun and aggravating all at the same time. I love asking for prayer support, but find it horribly difficult to talk about money. My co-workers have been great encouragers through this process, and God continues to provide for Laura and I in so many ways. So if you're reading this and haven't gotten a call from me it's probably because every time I pick up the phone to call you I press 9 to dial out then sit there dreading the idea of mentioning money. I know God wants me here and I see the need all around me, but then I hang up. Someone told me it might be because I am man and we have a hard time asking for money. If that's true I'll have my wife call you. I think God is just growing my faith and conquering my pride. I mean I grew up in Cleveland hating Pittsburgh and now I'm thinking about rooting for the Steelers in the Superbowl, talk about God breaking down walls.

Outside of Urban Impact Laura and I have both kept busy with theatre. I am currently finishing up a Children's Show of Sword in the Stone at the Gemini Theatre and opening a Quantum theatre show called Mouth to Mouth. I go from playing Merlyn, an ancient white bearded wizard, to Phillip, a young careless 15 year old. As for Laura she has been working with The Pittsburgh CLO's educational theatre going to schools performing the innovations of Pittsburgh. If you ever wonder what great things came out of Pittsburgh just ask her and she can sing you a song about the Polio vaccine.

Prayer Requests:
Feel free to pray for more things than these

Thursday we have our first drama class.

Support Raising.

Middle School material for drama class.

How I got here and a glimpse at the story.

In August I was married to my beautiful wife and soon moved to Pittsburgh. On arrival I felt like illegal alien, hiding my Cleveland heritage from the now Super Bowl bound Steelers Country. Not knowing a soul other then my new wife and our Great Aunt Dot, I began praying for God to open and close door for me. And this is where the journey began...

We started going to church on the North Side, an area stricken by poverty and crime. Soon after we began attending my wife got wind of a drama organization in need of volunteers. The Urban Impact Performing Arts Department sent a call to local churches asking for volunteers to help with their Choir and Drama classes. With time to spare, my wife and I answered and began volunteering. As the doors opened and God guided volunteering became leading and leading became working.

So now I am a missionary! In Pittsburgh? Yes, on the North Side of the Steel City. I am blistering with excitement about the impact God is going to have on these kids and how he is already using my wife and I in the process. I am now planning and teaching four Drama Classes at the Performing Arts Academy, designing for the performing arts, continuing to volunteer with the choir, and raising support for Laura and I while we are North Side missionaries. This is exciting and God has already blessed so much of it, and I am happy to say I am almost 1/3 of the way through support raising.

You may ask, "What can I do to help?" First of all PRAY, PRAY, PRAY. This is the best place to start. To know that you are praying for my wife and I and our ministry blesses us more than a money ever would or will. If you want to give, it will help, but please remember us in your prayers. If you want to give some time, money, equipment, etc. let me know I'm sure Urban Impact will put it to good use. Also if you have any questions or want specific prayer requests from me or Urban Impact this is a great place to ask for them.

All in all, keep in touch and us in your prayers.

Thank you all

On this page I will show and tell you the latest and greatest updates in my life from working with Urban Impact, professional theatre, life with the wife, and everything else that happens. I will also be posting ways that you can help in Laura's and my ministry: prayer requests, finacial support, volunteering, etc.

enjoy and be blessed