237 churches+

We're on Times Square right now with a perfect 12 from our church with 237 (I think that's what Pastor Conlon said) churches from the Tri-State area. There are hundreds of churches and colleges watching as groups via webcast. If you're reading this now Sept 20, 3-4pm EST, join us: http://NYCPrayer.org.

Answered prayer in every city!

We facilitated enacted prayer (http://RichDrama.com/Workshops/#EP) in Sydney, Newcastle, Melbourne and Auckland, and we just heard a report indicating prayer has been specifically answered in all four cities!

What a mighty God we serve!

Prayer on the Square

Joyce and I are bringing folks from our church to be a part of a prayer meeting on Times Square estimated to draw over 30,000 people. Endorsed by Mayor Bloomberg, it is calling all churches from the city (and the globe through a live webcast at 3pm Eastern Savings Time through NYCPrayer.org) to pray for New York City and the world.

The Prodigal available on DVD

Ken Wales just told me that The Prodigal, which he produced for Billy Graham, is now on DVD...

Flight

We stopped at a shop where they blow glass out of local lava. The name of this piece is "Flight".

Most dangerous bird

Joyce and I walk past a flock of geese on the way to church each week. They can be intimidating, but we're glad they aren't equipped with knife-like claws like Australia's cassowary.

Most venomous snake in the world

We were blown away by the animals of Australia!

One bite from this Inland Taipan has enough venom to kill 100 humans

We saw 130 species only found natively in Oz in this wildlife park located right on Sydney's Darling Harbour.

The last leg

As we touched down at JFK, Joyce said, "There and back again." We've seen the wonderful land of Oz and Middle Earth on the same glorious adventure. Bilbo would be proud.

So many prayers were answered on this journey, and so many times we saw God move more mightily than we dared Hope.

One small miracle was that, despite the fact that we booked all of Joyce's legs with frequent flyer miles and we were rarely told (or offered a choice) of seat assignments on any of the seven flights we took, God always answered our prayer that we sit together. Now that we're back in NYC it's been about 31 hours since our last shower, so you'll get no proof of this last miraculous seating!

The only exception was that flight to Taupo, where there was only one seat on either side of the aisle. But we could still smooch across it and see the other's coastal view as we treasured times away from the performances as our 13th honeymoon.

Contraband

To our friends Down Under,
We're in LA, and we've never been so pleased to have had a delayed flight! It reduced our layover at LAX from 9 to 4 hours. Much better.

Coming through customs an officer asked us if we were carrying any TimTams. We told him we were, and he said, "They're illegal. You must give them all to me."

Grateful for humor at immigration, and a stock of our TimTations (which will run out all too soon) we're glad to relive Saturday. With all the delays we're not sure when we actually lifted off, but we arrived about six hours before our scheduled departure. It makes up for that Wednesday we missed heading over. How's that for fun? We exchanged a weekday for an extra weekend day!

But oh how we miss it Down Under! The flaura and fawna were amazing, but it was the people that made it such an absolute joy!

Thanks for your part in making this the trip of a lifetime!

Can't wait to get back!!!

In Christ alone,
Rich & Joyce Swingle

How we'll miss New Zealand

We're boarding our flight to leave this remarkable land.

One of our hosts said that when God created New Zealand He took the best of all He'd done, put it on two little islands, and started the day there.

That's a pretty good description.

Thanks, God!

Last night Down Under

We're going out with a bang! Youth groups from all over Auckland are gathering for a night of games (can't wait!), worship (can't wait!!), Big Fish Little Worm (pray for my throat to hold out!) and enacted prayer (can't wait!!!).

Greetings from Hobbiton

Just before our friend, Malcolm, was about to snap this photo in Matamata, New Zealand, my "camera" had an incoming call from my commercial agent in NYC. She asked if I was in town for a while, and, with mixed feelings I told her I was in Hobbiton.

TimTam Slam

One of my lowest points this year was when the Theatre Department at MasterWorks received a box of TimTams, an Australian cookie, from MWF alumna Irene Kao, and by the time the box reached my eager hands it was empty.

We were told there may not be TimTams in New Zealand, so we stocked up in Melbourne. There are TimTams aplenty here on the North Island, by the way.

Our friends in Newcastle, Australia, told us how to do the TimTam slam: you bite off opposing corners of the cookie, and use it like a straw. Last night I was given a different strategy, which was to bite off the full ends. I tried both approaches last night with warm milk, and found that fuller saturation levels were achieved by the latter method.

I tried it again this morning with coffee. Oh, yes, they're delightful for brekky (breakfast).

Since experimentation was put to rest I was overjoyed to discover that a second take was necessary, since the first picture didn't show my TimTation.

Maori church

We just poked our heads into the Maori church at Rotorua. It was quite lovely. We were impressed by the fact that we had to kneel in order for the image of Christ, sandblasted into the window, to appear to walk on the lake outside. Photos weren't allowed, so we bought a book with the image of Christ dressed in a Maori chief's cloak, adorned with kiwi feathers.

Best landing ever!

Last night we landed in Taupo, New Zealand at sunset. It was the most spectacular landings I can recall. My Treo's camera couldn't do it justice at all, but I will post more photos when we get back to the States.

Together but apart

This was the first flight of our journey on which we haven't been able to sit next to each other: there was an aisle between us. Then again, we both had window seats over some of the most breathtaking landscape on earth. For the first leg of the flight we both had coastal views.

God cares

When we were in Sydney we performed at the William Booth House, a drug rehabilitation facility. I performed Sheepish and led a bibliodrama and some enacted prayer, while the Sydney Staff Songsters blew us all away with sweet music. Graeme Press, who leads the Songsters just sent me the following quote from one of the pre-believing residents: "I didn't know that anyone, including the Salvation Army, could care enough for me to succeed in this program so much that they would give us a night like last night." Succeed, my friend, succeed!!!

Down Under update

Thanks so much for your prayers! Things have been going miraculously well
down here in Newcastle (2.5 hours north of Sydney).
I got a text requesting me to teach a couple of workshops in a Christian
school here. Though I only had about an hour's notice I felt the Holy
Spirit guiding, and both classes went quite well by the grace of God.
Last night's performance of The Revelation was well received, and someone
spoke to me about extending our trip a bit for some additional
performances. Follow http://RichDrama.com/Itinerary to see what develops.
A number of young adults went out after The Revelation, so the ministry
continued. It wasn't until then that it was confirmed that I'll lead a
workshop on sociodrama and enacted prayer tonight, so that should be fun!
In a few hours we'll lead devotions for the staff at Compassion's national
headquarters ( http://RichDrama.com/Compassion ), so pray that these
advocates for the world's poorest children will be encouraged by the
stories of Jonah and Gideon.

We LOVED Sydney!

We were blown away by Sydney's aquarium, saw 130 Aussie species at an animal park, looked down on Sydney from The Tower, and watched The Mikado at the Sydney Opera House.

But the real highlights were performing The Revelation with the Sydney Staff Songsters on their 20th anniversary celebration in downtown Sydney, performing Lazarus and a bibliodrama with them at a local corps (Salvation Army church), and performing Sheepish: the story of Gideon, at a Salvation Army rehab center, The William Booth House. The residents, and Songsters, brought some very touching requests to us for enacted prayer. After we prayed for the end of human trafficking and snuff films (people are paying to watch people killed) a police siren went blazing past, and one of the residents yelled out, "God's answering our prayer!!!"

The Songsters are such a high caliber choir, which performs all over the world. They're getting ready to tour Hong Kong. They gave their all at Congress Hall in downtown Sydney, at the Rockdale Corps, and at the William Booth House. They are a shining example of excellence. When they finished the main section of the program (many residents came back for more enacted prayer) with "We Are Not Alone" most of us had tears streaming down our faces. What a privilege it was to partner in ministry with such amazing group of people on and off the stage. We will forever be grateful for Graeme and Neryl Press for forging this group into such a mighty Weapon in God's arsenal, and for bringing us out to partner with them.

Chasing the sun

We had a bit of a delay (though no worries about a connection since this flight goes all the way to Sydney), so we took off at sunset. This shot was taken about two hours into our leg to LA.

Seats together!

Because Joyce is flying to Oz on frequent flyer miles we weren't able to choose seats together before getting to JFK. Prayers were answered, and we're together all 20 hours to Sydney!

Now we're praying for seats together on 5 more legs, none of which offered a choice of seats for either of us.

The future of the Army

Those at the alter have come foreward to express an answer to a call to leadership in the Salvation Army. The Divisional Youth Secretary, Captain Chip Johnson, said if you can steam up a mirror in the morning God can use you. I was blown away by all the potential!

Success has many fathers

Commissioner James Osborn addressed four soldiers (members of The Salvation Army), who are about to enter their School for Officer Training. The Commissioner pointed out how many in the Division had encouraged them to take this step saying, "Success has many fathers. Failure is an orphan."

NEOSA Family Camp

I landed in PA, had lunch in WV, and performed in OH, all within 8 hours.

I performed The Acts, Sheepish: the Story of Gideon, and taught Enacted Prayer at Camp NEOSA for the Salvation Army's family camp.

As a bonus I was able to reconnect with several TAM alum (scroll down to see more about TAM).

Clawing our way home

I'll only be in NYC for a bit over 24 hours before we're in the air once again, this time bound for Australia and New Zealand!

We'll take off from JFK Monday at 07:10 PM and will arrive 22 hours, 15 minutes later (20 hours, 35 minutes of flying), which is 07:25 AM on Wednesday, their time.

By the way, that's not a PhotoShop effect. My Treo's camera stops the prop in midair.

Follow our adventures here or get updates on your FaceBook main page by signing up at www.FaceBook.com/RichDrama.

Coming back will be worse. It will only be 17 hours, 15 minutes of flying, but we'll have a 9 hour, 15 minute layover in LAX, making it 26.5 hours, tarmac to tarmac.

The Halo Affect

We got to connect with MasterWorks alum, Bobby Nicholson, the other night. He was passing through NYC after returning from a tour of Europe with the Halo Ensemble (HaloEnsemble.org), a group made up of MasterWorks alum and faculty. They performed at a European version of MasterWorks in Hungary as well as in Finland.

Bobby told us that many expressed how blessed they were through their music At a coffee house in Helsinki two women said the music moved them in a way they had never experienced before. It gave them opportunity to share the Source of their inspiration.

Commissioned

The closing sermon at TAM was preached by Commissioner Moretz, who oversees the Eastern Territory of the Salvation Army.

He preached from Collossians 3, and sent them out challenging them to:
*Remember your identity (Col 3:1)
*Renew your thoughts (Col 3:2)
*Recognize your old life is dead (Col 3:3-7)

Move from the shadows to the substance.
*Release past habits (Col 3:8-11)
*Replace them with new ones (Col 3:12-14)

Identity

Lois Garcia preached on Jesus' struggle in the Garden of Gethsemene.

She said that, as performers, we need to place our identity in who we are, not what we do.

1 of 3 performances in Melbourne

Unmasked

Here's my team! Out of the 80 performers in Unmasked I got to direct these students for two scenes.

We're done

Jolene Cox and her mask are as wiped out... and as exillerated as the rest of us.

Tetelestai

Major Kevin Stoops preached on Jesus' last word on the cross, "Tetelestai," whis is translated, "It is finished."

It's what merchants would stamp on a receipt if something had been paid in full.

Kevin pointed out that, in Jesus' time, a carpenter's last step of preparation was to wipe the sawdust off. Then, he would fold up his cloth and rest it on the work of his hand to show that it was finished, and the one who had commissioned it could pick it up.

When the disciples ran to Jesus' tomb, all they found was the grave clothes neatly folded and lying where his head had been.

Through his word and action Jesus was saying, it was finished.

He accomplished what He came to do: to make a way for sinful people to be acceptable to a Holy God

So, though we wear our masks, and hide our worst from others. Our the Lord sees the good, the bad and the ugly, and He loves us just the same, because, for those who have received this amazing gift, He paid it all. Telestai.

Tech Rehearsal

We're in our tech rehearsal for tomorrow night. It's such a unique production! We're praying for it to have a powerful impact.

Unmasked
Friday, August 14th, 5:30 & 8pm
Salvation Army Montclair Citadel Corps
13 Trinity Place
Montclair, NJ

No charge.

Hope you can join us!
Rich

We're here!

We've arrived at our venue, a brand new corps (Salvation Army term for a church). One more day!

Preview of Oz

A couple of us are sneaking off campus for dinner with the Stokers. Chris was on the TAM faculty for a number of years, and he has a really cool salt water fish tank. We won't end up having time while performing in Australia to get to the Great Barrier Reef, so it was cool to see Nemo and friends in a small community. And the Stokers make amazing fajitas!

Thanks, guys!

Come and See!

It's coming together

Tomorrow we move to the venue.

Don't miss Unmasked

The students are performing their scenes from Unmasked. If you are in the area you really shouldn't miss it!

Details posted on August 4.

Un-masked

Steve Ditmer, one of the faculty here at TAM, read how Peter denied Christ, and then the rooster crowed, and his mask came off. He read how Jesus told Judas to go and do what he planned, and his mask came off.

Then he pulled up images of an article which reported how a drug ring was taken down near Albany 30 years ago. Then he blew up one of the paragraphs to show that he, at 22, was one of those arrested. His mask came off and everyone at his corps (Salvation Army's term for church) knew that he was only putting on a show on Sundays. In handcuffs he prayed, "God, if this is all I can do with my life, I want You to take it. Now he's a respected officer (Salvation Army's term for pastor), based at their Territorial Headquarters.

I'm praying his example will ignite a Fire in the students at tonight's improvised worship and enacted prayer.

Fish Eyes

Jonathan Shaffstall and Ian Evans just performed a two-person play about the life of Christ, called Fish Eyes by Ted & Lee. Jonathan was a student of mine at TAM in 2001, and Ian is a current instructor. It was hilarious, poignant and is available at a church near you!

You can book them at www.theTAMjam.com .

Self consciousness

Carole Jeanne Bate gave her testimony this morning. She said she pulled away from the arts for a long season because she was so self conscious. Then one day someone told her self consciousness wasn't part of the curse, it was the curse. As she has grown in her relationship with the Lord she has unapologetically returned to the arts, sharing confidently who God created her to be.

I got my mask

Instructors get to perform, too!

Do you feed your spiritual self?

Lincoln Hawk is one of the leaders of a prayer walk we're doing this morning.

He asked us all if we spend 30 minutes a day prepping our physical bodies by taking care of our appearance or eating. Then he asked if we spend that much time developing our spiritual selves. He challenged us to develop spiritual disciplines so we can be spiritually strong.

Doug Berky

Our featured guest artist this week (www.RichDrama.com/NewsBlog 8/8/09) is Doug Berky, who was a master class instructor at MasterWorks (www.MasterWorksFestival.org) last year. Last night he shared his testimony. He came to the Lord while he was studying at the Del Arte School of Physical Theatre. He was so impacted by Jesus that, like me, he thought he should be a pastor, until he discovered that God wanted him to express His Truths through the talents God had given him.

CAST

The Creative Arts Service Team, which I got to work wih just before MasterWorks, performed a powerful choreodrama they developed with Becky Phillips, who's been an instructor at TAM longer than my six years.

08/08/09

One year after the Beijing Olympics began, we're in the opening ceremony of TAM Conservatory ( http://theTAMjam.com ).

Carol Jaudes (CATS on Broadway) has directed this program for nine years. Check out my post on August 4 to see how cool it's going to be this year!

It was jus announced that we'll have 80 masks on stage for the entire performance.

Unmasked

Next week I'll be teaching and performing at this...

...if you're in the area, I hope you can join us.

Living Water

This fountain is created on what used to be a prayer labyrinth two blocks from our apartment. I've been blessed by a number of labyrinths around the world. As you journey to the center you focus on drawing closer to God. On the way out, you pray that you will more effectively take the presence of God to the world.

We were eating dinner next to the fountain tonight, and we decided to make it an enacted prayer: That as people splash in its waters, the Spirit of Christ, honored in the former labyrinth, would wash over them, making them long for Living Water.

The Amazing Month of MasterWorks!

We had an amazing month at the MasterWorks Festival!

Ken Wales (far right), producer of Amazing Grace, Christy, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and the original Pink Panther films, among many others, met with most of our students to help them see how their unique giftings can help them fit into the entertainment industry. This was his fourth year, and the reason he didn't get to every student this year was because he was hard at work on another film he hopes to shoot in Winona Lake, just before MasterWorks.

John Kirby (next to Ken), acting coach on The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Count of Monte Cristo, Déjà Vu and about 20 others, shared about his work as director of The Word of Promise: Next Generation and directed us in Our Town. People were saying our production was better than renditions they'd seen at Notre Dame University, New York and London! One faculty member attended at least two performances and told me that the third act of the play got him thinking about eternity years ago. That was what started him on a journey toward Christ, and we're confident our four performances planted and watered a lot of seeds.

Bev Holloway (next to John), casting director for Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius, The Ultimate Gift, An American Carol, and about 30 others, did a casting session with our students, and some of the roles they read are for two upcoming films! A man who lives in the community came up to me with tears in his eyes and shared that he's always enjoyed MasterWorks, but when he attended Bev's workshop and watched her giving direction and the students taking that direction and instantly making great adjustments, it finally dawned on him: MasterWorks is really training up the next generation of professional artists!

Patricia Mauceri (center), called us the week before she arrived, saying that she'd been given a script she couldn't perform. She made rewrites, but they were refused, and the role was recast. Her bold stance was a great witness to our students.

All four of them participated in one of two panel discussions, set up to answer questions the students had. Both panels were recorded for Romanian radio by one of our students, Krisztina Fekete, far right in the photo below.


This panel featured (from left to right), myself, Kohli Hessler Calhoun (dialect coach at NYU and the Stella Adler Studio, and our first master class instructor who attended the program!), Susan Sommerville Brown, and Harvey Johnson.

I was so thrilled with all that Harvey, Susie and Kohli brought, not only to this session, but to each one-on-one and class session they had with our students. The level of artistic and spiritual growth that was achieved because of their efforts is mind-boggling.

The only master class artist who wasn't around during a panel was Mac Nelson. He shared stories from his work with Liz Taylor and Jerry Lewis, from his most recent book, Memoirs of a Hollywood Adventure. He also shared from his first book, Waiting for my Fingers, about how he was healed from near-paralysis of both arms through surgery and the Lord. After the surgery he only had one note in his vocal register, but during a faculty recital he sang with his full range and tap-danced, swinging both arms with full-strength, to the Glory of God!

One of the spiritual highlights of the festival was when Joyce, my bride, led our students in a foot-washing. After we finished, the presence of the Lord was so palpable that I didn't want to lead them in anything. I just said, "Do whatever you want to do." They chose to wash each other's feet.

By the end of the month, one of our students asked to be baptized. Since Joyce is an ordained minister, we made plans. Another student had been taking baptism classes but had never been able to follow through to actually being baptized. She was delighted to do it with the close friends she'd made over the month. We went down to Winona Lake, the site of our festival, before church on Sunday. Their parents read scripture and prayed over each of them. Joyce baptized them officially, and then I got to dunk them. As we were walking off the dock singing, "Down To The River To Pray," Joyce yelled, "We've got another one!" The friend of one of our students was so moved by the service he asked to be baptized, too.

Photos from top to bottom by Nathan Nesbitt, Rich Swingle, Bernie Bernhardt (last two).

To download a PDF of this article, click here.

To audition for MasterWorks 2010 visit MasterWorksFestival.org.

Happy Fourth of July!

Wishing you a great Independence Day from Winona Lake, where we're at the half-way point of the MasterWorks Festival.