Day 5 - Nursing Homes and Prisons

Today was an extremely early morning. We met in the lobby at 730, finished sorting gloves before packing the van and heading out. We drove for about 45 minutes before stopping at our favorite morning destination. That's right...Starbucks.after getting our fix, we got back on the road for a decently long drive. When we got to the Texas Veterans Home, we quickly set up and reconnected with our old friends. I found Samuel, and listened to his good jokes. The mimes began, all a little tired, but energized from their highly attentive audience. One man liked to whistle,so on familiar songs,

he joined the song. Although the nursing staff asked him to stop, the mimes didn't mind. It was his way of letting them know he was enjoying it. After the performance we went to talk with our friends. Samuel had just turned a proud 92. And Jim really liked our smiles. After a hard goodbye, we loaded up the band and headed to lunch. The menu was Italian at Roma. Good fun with stories and jokes. Our waitress was very good and very nice, so we were spite relaxed. Finally, it was time for the spilt. 

YOUNGER

The first performance was in a hallway. But they were solid. Even when one of the residents' dogs barked crazily at CJ during one of the songs. CJ jumped, but quickly recovered. Even with  residents walking through our makeshift stage, demanding Cokes, or coughing loudly, the mimes were like a rock. After, the residents were overjoyed to talk with the mimes. Orvis must have proposed to everyone at least twice, while Mary praised everyone. We packed up and headed to the Mraz house....aka the Tetris house.....aka the living room. We were so prepared and ready, but once we got there, we were surprised. They had rearranged, disengaged and got new furniture, and so we had a lot more room.it would still be our smallest place but now it would be comfortable. They also got air 

 conditioning.since it was not as nearly as difficult as the year before mimes described it, the new team had tons of confidence. They went into it bold and with so much energy. They nailed every song and didn't pay any attention to the low ceiling or inquisitive residents during the performance. Afterwards everyone said goodbye and we boarded up and headed out. We headed to sonic to get some nice cool drinks.

OLDER

Inside the older home, the mimes set up and  invited the residents to come join them. The residents were silent and blank as the mimes performed. That made it a little more difficult than the last home.  Most of the residents were unresponsive; there was no energy for the mimes to feed off of.  The mimes would have to worship by themselves. But there was one woman in the front that was all smiles. The mimes were encouraged; and poured even more into the set. So much so, that during "I will Rise" one watching nurse was moved to tears. At the end, the mimes received the applause greatfully and had a little time for handshakes before they could check the first text messages and calls, informing them about The fire at Waldo Canyon. This shattered the focus of the team. Many liked to hike the area, and even more many have friends and family that were mandatorily evaccuated from the area. All thoughts were at home.  They quickly repacked to meet the younger team at Sonic and reconviene. As they finished their cool drinks, some prayed over family. We went to Walmart to relax in the AC as we burned an hour before our final split for the day. We tried avenger masks and played with the toys. who was a nice time to stay in the air conditioning while we killed time. Soon it was time for our split.

YOUNGER

We went to 7 oaks retirement facility, however, got blocked by a road block when we were just down the street. I wanted to go through, :-) but there was a large tractor in the way, so we had to drive four streets down to get around it. Eventually we made it past. When we arrived, we laughed to see that the sign announcing our arrival said "'Mind' team, Saturday, June 23, 2012." We got a good joke about sound people control the mimes with their minds and Jedi sword fights.  Once inside, we waited for the residents to finish eating dinner. We then quickly set up sound and some went to talk with the residents. I got to reconnect with my friend Dorothy who had a birthday coming up. once the mimes began, I was surprised how much energy they had. As a theatre person, I am a stickler for faces. And

thier faces were full of expressions and made everything so believable and so much more worshipful. The audience was small, but were very attentative. They could feel the kids energy too. At the end, we congratulated the kids on their set, before they spread out to talk with the residents. We spent a few minutes visiting before loading up and heading out.

OLDER (no pictures in prisons allowed)

The olders quickly checked into the first prison...the prison which last year God had directed them to a comeplete different building all together. When we were driving up, we saw the building we were at last time, and surprisingly kept going. When we pulled up, we all took a collective "huh!"  Everyone distinctly remembers standing out in the parkinglot and looking for the 'blue building" only to see a field and nothing. It blew us away when this time, the building was plain as day. It was even more clear that God didn't want them there.

The first set was the faith-based dorm. This was for guys that are seeking to live a life for the Lord. There were about forty guys. The set was completely acappella. The men came in very friendly and respectful; many introduced themselves and shook hands. David started the set with his testimony. The men certainly connected with him, some clapped, some said Amen.  They  were very responsive. The set only lasted 30 minutes, but God moved. Because it was acappella, the mimes had to push. It was wonderfull to see the progression of the set. The story of praising God inthe storm, to when God - you ran can run from God, but he's always going to welcome you. "East to west"-don't let the things of the past keep you from God. I will rise -we are going to see God, and praise him.  They ended the set with "Your Great name" most joining in and singing.

The guards kept a tight schedule.  Immediately at the end, the mimes were led to the chapel. They had just a few minutes to check the set before the guys started filling in. They just kept coming, and coming until they filled the room. Every seat was filled...130ish VOLUNTARY seats to be exact. They took roll, very elementary style. "here" Quite a few had Bibles. A few of the men had just seen the mimes, and excitedly joined the second performance. One of the guys name was Thomas. He was very friendly and encouaging. David started with his testimony again, and again the men could connect. Some additional songs were added to the second set, and that kept the energy high throughout. David invited them to sing along to any of the songs that they knew....and they knew a lot. Some you could really tell were worshiping; a few had their hands raised, others whispered in agreement. Near the end, David mentioned that this was their mission field. The chaplain then said a few words and asked who had a relationship with the Lord. A majority of the room raised their hands. Awesome.