Bridges and tunnels

We're grateful for all the many forms of transportation that keep the millions moving.

We pray for safety and efficiency!

Former labyrinth

I saw on an old Google image that this dancing water fountain (closed for the winter) used to be a prayer labyrinth.

We're grateful for the Christian heritage of this city that is now having a huge growth spurt of church plants. May they continue to multiply and flourish!

Tourists

We're grateful for all the tourists that come to New York from around the world. We pray they will encounter God's great Love here and bring it back to their home countries.

The Hudson

We're grateful for the Hudson River and all those that risk their lives to defend us. We're even grateful for New Jersey. :)

We pray for safety for bodies and souls all across the US.

The Chinese Consulate

This is where we got visas for our trips to China We're grateful that it's steps away from our apt., and Hopeful for all Good Things to flow into that land.

Prayer walk

Joyce and I are starting a prayer walk of gratitude through midtown Manhattan, starting at our own apartment with a view of the Empire State Building.

If you don't know the miraculous story of how we got here, check it out: http://RichDrama.com/MP.

To follow our prayer walk on your Facebook wall sign up here: http://Facebook.com/RichDrama.

Charles Walker

I was grieved to read of the death of Charles Walker. He saw a performance of Beyond the Chariots at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, after which he told us how he found Eric Liddell's grave in Weifang, China, which started the ball rolling on the establishment of a massive monument there in Liddell's honor. That conversation led us to interview him in our documentary, Olympic Hero in China: The Story of Eric Liddell.

Here's Walker's obituary in The Scotsman: A Liddell claim to fame.

The impact of Eric Liddell

I just came across the obituary of a man who entered ministry after an encounter with Eric Liddell: Alexander Holmes. Who knows how many lives have been touched by Liddell's life.

Bring in your gold

When I told my friend Leo I'd be coming to Memphis he set up workshops and performances at the University of Memphis and Second Presbyterian Church. He said, "The preaching is going to cover Revelation 21. Do you happen to have anything that would match the theme?" That night I got to share a section from my play, The Revelation (http://RichDrama.com/Revelation), which draws from that very passage of scripture!

The Blind Side with Sandra Bullock

The Blind Side is really a fabulous film about love in action. I can't recommend it enough!

The film is based on the book of the same name and the true story of Michael Oher, who was a First Round draft pick in the 2009 NFL Draft, selected by the Baltimore Ravens. Sandra Bullock plays Leah Anne Touhy, who took him in as a young boy (a very big young boy) who had been kicked onto the streets of Memphis. The life transformation in his life and that of the Touhy family is profound and far-reaching.

There are some elements parents might need to talk through with younger kids, but, as the rating suggests, this is for kids as young as 13.

The Reason for God

I'm LOVING this book!

Tim Keller addresses the greatest objections to Christianity, and then builds on reasons we all know God exists, even those not ready to admit it. It will increase your faith and make you feel smarter for it!

Skiing without the lift

Mt. Bachelor wasn't scheduled to open its lifts until today, so when I was there last week I hiked up. Didn't make it to the top, but it was a fun, if brief, descent.

Reflections on A Christmas Carol

I have a friend that posted a great review of A Christmas Carol on IMDb...

Begin forwarded message:

Hey, Rich!

When I think of Jim Carrey, I always think of you too, because I think you resemble him. So, anyway... I was just thinking again about the new version of A Christmas Carol that he was in and I thought you might like to read my reflections on it. I saw it a couple weekends ago in 3-D and thought it was excellent. I posted some thoughts on IMDb after I saw the movie, and you can find them here:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1067106/board/thread/151489117

--
Joy Freschly

A clarifying decision

While visiting my family in Oregon I ate at the pizza parlor (mentioned on November 16) where I ate many lunches in high school.

One day I had to leave before my friends, and I was going to ask them to get up so I could squeeze out of the booth, but I realized that I didn't want to grow up entirely, and I crawled under the table. I believe that decision was one of the things that prepped me to be a full-time actor I think I've been a pretty responsible adult, but I hope I never lose the ability to play!

Back in NYC

Landed at Logan

Gorgeous flight to SLC

What are the chances?

We were having lunch in the pizza parlor where I ate many lunches as a student of Phoenix High School, Phoenix, Oregon, a town which had a population of 2,000 when I was a kid. Who should be having lunch there but Jon Davis, the lead elder at the Beijing International Christian Fellowship, who arranged for me to perform an excerpt from Beyond the Chariots there during the Olympics!

Joyce and I went to bed at about 10pm, and just before midnight Joyce asked if I was okay. She thought I was sobbing, but I was laughing my head off thinking about the chances we would have connected with Jon where we did. She woke up thinking of the same thing, just before my uncontainable giggles.

Now us theatre folk aren't known for our mathematical prowess, but if someone were going to calculate the probability of our encounter with Jon they'd have to consider the following:

View Larger Map

*the vast distances between Beijing, Phoenix, Oregon, and New York City
*the relative size and populations of Beijing and New York City
*the fact that, even after doubling in size since my graduation, the population of Phoenix could fit in an average apartment complex in Beijing or New York City
*the distance between Phoenix and the closest city with at least a million people (about 280 miles)
*all the decisions that factored into placing Phoenix, Oregon, on Jon's itinerary at that point in time
*the fact that last May George Fox University chose me, a Nazarene, as one of the featured presenters for their Quaker Heritage Week, which was what brought me out from New York City
*the fact that this was one of a handful of trips to Southern Oregon on which I didn't set up a performance on a Sunday (Since I've never performed in Phoenix since graduating from high school the probability of me eating lunch there before or after a performance would have been minuscule, and I can only remember eating at the pizzeria a handful of times since graduation.)
*the probability that each in our party of eight would contribute to our conversation in such a way that our 8am breakfast would extend until after 11:30
*the fact that Joyce and I didn't hesitate to stay with family past the starting times of every local church we knew about because on Friday afternoon we "happened" to walk into my grandmother's residence at the exact moment they were starting their only weekly church service, which we enjoyed immensely
*the fact that my dad's cousin mentioned the Phoenix Historical Museum and could let us in for a tour
*the duration of each person's time at any given display
*the fact that my dad's cousin recommended Angelo's Pizzeria
*the fact that my dad's cousin recognized the pastor and his wife who were hosting Jon and his wife and mentioned he was hosting people from China (Though we shared two hour-plus services in Beijing Jon and I only spoke for about a minute that day. For the rest of the services I was either watching him interview Olympic champion Madeline Manning Mims from backstage or he was watching my backside as I performed.)

If any of these things hadn't been in place we either wouldn't have been in the pizza parlor at the same time or, if we were, wouldn't have recognized each other.

It's been a long time since I've studied probabilities, but the way I understand it, the probability determined by each factor is multiplied by the next to determine the final probability.

Then multiply that by the possibility of also having sat one row behind a gal who graduated from Phoenix High School three years after me in the Bird's Nest Stadium just over a year earlier during the Olympics: Out of 90,000 Seats. I'd been invited to perform for athletes in the Olympic Village that day, but the night before a dignitary flew to Beijing unexpectedly and needed the pass I was going to be given. 

Early flight

I'm heading out to JFK, then to Minneapolis, then to Portland, OR, then to Redmond, OR, then a drive to Metolius, OR: about 14 hours door to door. Hoping for stamina for tomorrow's performance of Big Fish Little Worm (www.RichDrama.com/BigFishLittleWorm).

Soaked

This morning we had breakfast with John Kasica.  He and his wife have roomed with us several years at MasterWorks. He was in town to play percussion at Carnegie Hall with the St. Louis Symphony. They were a part of the Asian series on offer at the moment. He played a piece in which he and two other percussionists "played" with water. They were drumming above, below and on the surface of the water, so the first three rows were not sold, so as not to splash patrons. The instruments of the orchestra were protected by plexiglass. John was soaked.

As were we while "having church" in a local cafe and while worshiping, sharing and praying back at his hotel room.

He's starting a church this coming Sunday in St. Louis. It started out as an artists fellowship, and now they're inviting non-artists to receive and share their own giftings.

Looking back @ NYC

My Carnegie Hall Debut!

My friend Liz called to see if we could use some complimentary tickets to a concert of the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra at Carnegie Hall. Joyce couldn't make it, but my friend Fritz was in from Portland to shoot a wedding, for which he used me as his "second shooter." That was great fun!

At any rate, we went to the concert, and upon entering the hall we were given Chinese hand drums with beads on the ends of two strings. They pound each face of the drum simultaneously when you spin it. Everyone was "warming" up before the concert began, which could, at one point, be heard from the lobby according to the NY Times reviewer.

What the reviewer didn't say was that we called for three encores! The first was for the cellist, Trey Lee, the only one to play a Western instrument. There were many erhus (which I reference in Beyond the Chariots) and various other stringed instruments, plus Chinese percussion and wind instruments, all set up in a Western orchestra fashion. Lee's emotional connection to the piece, first performed in Hong Kong by Yo Yo Ma, was exquisite! I recently taught a Graceworks seminar to the music department at the University of Memphis in which I urged them to envision a story as they play a piece. Whatever story Lee was telling was compelling me to the edge of my seat!

Leaf Peeping on the Hudson

I'm checking out the fall foliage this afternoon with Mac Nelson, who was a master class instructor last year at MasterWorks.


Click here to see the album.

Fritz Photo

My friend Fritz Liedtke (FritzPhoto.com just flew out from Portland to photograph a wedding. He asked me if I knew anyone out here that he could hire as a backup photog. I told him I'd love to do, so away we go!

He just published an article in Rangefinder Magazine/Wedding and Portrait Professionals International, which is making me feel the pressure: A Wedding Photographer Must Be Everything A brief defense of the modern wedding photographer’s multifarious talents.

It reminded me of the professional life of someone who performs one-man plays!

Outdoing the leaves

Leaf peepers in MD

The climbing stump

The youth of the church where I'll be performing Beyond the Chariots (www.RichDrama.com) tonight were dismayed to discover that their climbing tree (and some of their parents' climbing tree) had to be taken down because it was dying of disease. It will live on in woodwork.

Tonight's performance will be at 7:30pm: www.WoodsChurch.org.

Performing in Maryland this Sunday

I'll be performing Beyond the Chariots this Sunday at Woods Memorial Church in Severna Park, MD.

Lots of beauty in New York this time of year

Afterschool Alliance, Lights on Afterschool

Tonight the Empire State Building is lit all in yellow to commemorate the Afterschool Alliance, Lights on Afterschool. It's quite cool to have been a part of something celebrated by the ESB!

Graceworks with Kids

One of the things I do when I'm not performing or writing is coaching architects on their presentation skills through Graceworks (www.GraceworksInc.com). We're about to share some of our concepts with kids at Abundant Waters (www.AbundantWatersKids.org). It's an after-school program which is hosting America After 3PM, a group that raises funds for after-school programs. They're sharing facts from a study they've sponsored. They found that there are 15.1 million kids with no place to go after school in the US. Abundant Waters is giving kids something fun and helping them to grow. One of their students gave one of the best speeches of the program, and she said Abundant Waters is her favorite part of the day.

It's great to plug into what they're doing.

Good Grief!

Friends at our church recently posted the following:

Here is Joshua saying a line from his favorite video--The Beginner's Bible: Creation.

It's fun to note that our good friend, Rich Swingle, did the voice of Adam in this video. And seeing as Adam is the one who delivers the line, we saw it fitting to let Rich in on his far-reaching influence.

So, here it is..."Good grief!" Enjoy! :)

From ChewFamilyAbundantLife.Blogspot.com (9/27/09).

For a list of all the characters I performed for the series, visit Beginners Bible Video Series.

Compassion Australia

Some time back, while a theatre student at MasterWorks, Irene Kao sponsored a child through Compassion. When she returned home to Australia she went online to see if she could correspond electronically to save international postage. While she was there, she discovered that Compassion had an Australian branch...and that there was a job opening. She's been working for them for about three years now, and she arranged for me to perform for their national headquarters while I was there. As a bonus, I got to lead some enacted prayers for their team. Some of them were quite powerful.

If you don't already sponsor a child, you can do that right now by clicking here.

The Butterfly Circus

I have a friend who performed a minor role in Butterfly Circus, which won $100,000 for first place at The Doorpost Film Project Competition. It was also recently featured the Searching for Sanctuary Film Festival at Biola University. It's a profound look at hope despite unfortunate circumstances.

It's now being made into a feature film: "The Butterfly Circus" To Get Full-Length Treatment

Hungry for a Tiger

Graeme and Neryl, who arranged our trip to Australia, introduced us to an Aussie meal called The Tiger, a meat pie covered with mash (potatoes), mushy peas, and gravy. I was telling friends at church about it, and I got such a hunger for one that I made them for dinner. There was no sign of meat pies at our local grocery store, but they did have Jamaican beef patties, which actually came pretty close. Yum!

The Beginners Bible Video Series

Rich Swingle has provided several voices for The Beginners Bible video series. This series, produced by Sony Wonder and Jumbo Pictures, is taken from the popular children’s Bible entitled The Beginners Bible.

Rich provided the following voices for this project:

The Story of Creation
• Adam
• The Serpent

The Story of Noah's Ark
• Shem
• Villager

The Story of Moses
• Pharoah
• Slave Master
• Young Moses
• Advisor to Pharaoh

The Story of David and Goliath
• Shammah
• Hebrew Soldiers
• Philistine Soldiers

The Nativity
• Second Shepherd
• Third Wise Man
• Advisor to Herod
• Centurion
• Villager

The Story of Easter
• Jesus
• John
• Pharisee

Jordan Hubacz was First Assistant Director on "There," a short film produced and directed by two of Rich's students at the Rocky Mountain Christian Filmmakers Camp. Jordan shared how he grew up hearing Rich's characters in The Beginners Bible videos.

Overcoming Stage Fright

Here's a poster for a workshop I'll be doing at the University of Memphis next weekend:

Miraculous Tales from Down Under

This Thursday at Thirst, we'll be sharing some of the miracles that took place surrounding our performances in Australia and New Zealand as a kick off to the study of the miraculous Exodus. Hope you can join us for Aussie snacks at 6:30pm: WestchesterChapel.org.

Here's a brief report from Sunday:

Crescendo Retreat postponed

This retreat was postponed until the spring.

I'll be performing The Acts and Big Fish Little Worm in addition to speaking.

A baker's dozen at Prayer on the Square

We thought it quite significant that we brought twelve from our church (Westchester Chapel) to Prayer on the Square.

Here's Joyce's report:

We at WCCC ended up with twelve people -- the Disciples' Dozen -- which seemed entirely from the Lord. There was a mix of praise and prayers of repentence -- for the church and the various sectors of our society. Bloomberg spoke and we ended in small circles of prayer for each other on the streets.

We felt hand-picked to bring prayers only we could bring to join with 60,000 others.

If you counted us up, you noticed there are 13 of us. That's because Mike, on the far right, who attended our church before moving to Manhattan to study, noticed us from atop the bleachers reserved for pastors. He's leading a Bible study at Coopers Union, so organizing that group got him a place to sit.

A Taste of Oz

Brooke and Ash Sellers came up to NYC from Australia for their honeymoon. We had them over for waffles with Vegemite. I was actually the only one to try that tasty combo, but the sweet and savory effect was delicious! We offered to bring out the TimTams, but they honored our limited stock.

This is an amazing couple, with huge potential for Kingdom work. They're both at the top of the list of soloists for The Sydney Staff Songsters, which was the group that brought us Down Under for their 20th anniversary.

It was an honor to spend time with this new couple, and pray over their new life and ministry together. We're expecting great things!

Back on the right

I composed this a week ago, but i'm sending it now because I just had to seriously think about which lane to choose on the jogging path!

Sept 15, 2009
I went cycling today and pulled into the left lane.

Praying against racism

Kathy Lee Gifford's brother, Rev. David Epstein, led us in a prayer against racism, including a prayer for President Obama and his family. Rev. Epstein cited John 4 and the Woman at the Well, which was the scripture in our youth Bible study this morning!

During the main service, I slipped away to read to our nursery from some cartoons I picked up in Australia called The Agents of T.R.U.T.H. (The Real United Transformation Heroes). I just had the idea this morning, but when I walked in they were gluing macaroni to signs saying, "Jesus is Truth!" After I was done I led them in prayer. After I said, "Amen," a three year old said she wanted to pray, so she led us in The Lord's Prayer. At the same time our worship leader started leading the adults in singing The Lord's Prayer. I told that to her, and later she told her grandpa (who's one of our drummers), "Papi, the Holy Spirit connected us!"

We were pleased, but not surprised when we sang The Lord's Prayer on Times Square as well.

The Holy Spirit was connecting us all day long.

264 churches

Mayor Mike Bloomberg brought correction to the number I reported earlier. He also said people are praying corporately as far away as Kenya.

Praying for the economy

The people praying have been from a broad spectrum. They've had the pastor of the largest church on earth, a teacher from the Bronx, a flight attendant, and now a Wall Street executive.

Praying against human trafficking

We're praying on Times Square against human trafficking right now, specifically that police will take action. This was an enacted prayer we did at a drug rehab in Sydney a couple of weeks ago.

Lord, hear our tens of thousands of prayers!

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.