I-Fest 2015 -the Family of Ministry

And just like that, my favorite week of the year has ended: the 2015 International Festival of Creative Arts Ministry (#IFest2015)... WOW! What an incredible week it was.

I will never forget my first I-Fest. I had attended a Regional Creative Ministry Festival and met an absolutely wonderful workshop leader that just raved about I-Fest, the 200+ workshops they offered and the experience you would have.

I was only 17 but I determined that I wanted to attend I-Fest. I flew out by myself and little did I know what expected me. I met wonderful creative people who have poured so much into me, I was spiritually challenged and I had never before witnessed such excellence in ministry. My life and ministry was forever changed.

A week of encouragement and inspiration 

I haven't missed an I-Fest/MAX conference since. Each summer I arrive tired, low on spiritual and motivational juices. Yet, each summer, I leave encouraged, challenged and beyond pumped to continue in ministry.

This year was no different. Each jam-packed day consisted of this dynamic formula (which really is dynamic, you have to GO to experience it for yourself)

Christy Watkins lead several
hands-on performance
 workshops

Morning

• Breakfast on-campus with attendees that share your passion and experiences in ministry
• Morning Chapel with Pastor Lenny Corliss (anointed pastor that will encourage and challenge you) and workshop presentations
• 2 Mid-Morning Workshops (variety of seminars ranging from puppetry, drama, painting, blacklight, sign language, and more!)

Afternoon

• Lunch on-campus with, yet again, those amazing people you can network with in the morning or maybe make some new friends
• 2 Afternoon Workshops (includes "hands-on" workshops where you can learn by doing: puppet building, prop construction, learn a human video or drama, stage a puppet song)

Virtuous Reality Blacklight
Theater debuted Langston
Hatch's "the Suprings"

Evening

• Dinner on-campus with more amazing people! Maybe even have lunch with that workshop leader who really struck you or who's brain you want to pick?
• Evening Programs that feature exceptional performances from the workshop leaders (who range in backgrounds from senior pastors, ventriloquists, jugglers and so on) and local ministry teams
• Night-time Competitions where ministry teams and individuals can receive feedback from an expert panel of judges to continue to polish their technique and ministry
• Bedtime... if you can manage to sleep from all the ideas buzzing in your head and your excitement for the next day!

Be challenged: creatively and spiritually

The 2015 Creative Ministry Dream Team

Now I know I cannot call everything a highlight... but a big highlight is always the "Dream Team" finale performance that closes I-Fest. The Dream Team is a special team formed of talented youth from across the world under the direction of highly creative and seasoned directors. Members submit an audition video and application for consideration. 

They come together on Monday as strangers... and  leave Friday as friends that have impacted all the attendees with a powerful message and exceptional program... that they learned in just 5 days!

This year's Dream Team was directed by Sheri Brubeck of Buffalo Grove, IL and Carrie Murphy of Rapid City, SD. Their production, "Finding Foreverland," told the story of Wendy's visit to Neverland to teach the Lost Boys about God's Heavenly Family in Foreverland. 

Remove "M-Y" Part From "F-A-M-I-L-Y" & We "F-A-I-L."

I could write a novel about the I-Fest experience but, really, I hope this gives you a glimpse of the special week it is and encourages you to consider attending yourself or recommending this conference to someone.

I'll close with words from Pastor Lenny Corliss, our Conference Chaplain. Each day, his message was centered around the theme of the "Family of Ministry." We are a "FAMILY" and should each do our part.

We are each given talents, skills or attributes that we can contribute to the Body of Christ for the benefit of the kingdom. For some, it's teaching. For some, it's preaching. For some, it's reaching. Maybe for you it's using a puppet, or being an usher, or writing a song. Whatever it is, let us work together to expand the Kingdom and give God Glory. 

I challenge you to not be a Christian spectator, or consumer, but one who contributes to the Body and teachers others to do the same. Remember 1 Corinthians 12:25-26:

"so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it."

You can learn more about I-Fest by visiting Creative Ministry Solutions

View more pictures from I-Fest 2015 on our Facebook page

The Original Love Story now booking Spring 2015!

Create, Minister, Teach! is now taking bookings for March and April 2015!  This year's Easter program is titled the Original Love Story.

The Original Love Story is an interactive musical that tells the compelling story of God's mercy and love for humanity. Weaving together storytelling, illusions, puppetry and drama, the musical delves into the Creation, the life of Jesus and Modern Time.

Partner with us as we remember the greatest expression of Love the world has ever seen and discover what it means for you and me. This 40-minute program can be adapted to fit different time constraints and is available
in English and Spanglish.

To book a presentation of the Original Love Story, please contact gabriel@CMTministries.org

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8 (NIV)

Heavenly Street now booking for Spring-Summer 2015!

Create, Minister, Teach! is now booking for April through July 2015!

Heavenly Street tells the story of Paco, a rat living in a trash can, who’s kind neighbor, Maria, flips his can around with music, scripture and wonder. Join Paco as he learns how “whatever” God offers is much more valuable than what the junk of the world.

This 60-minute musical features all forms of creative arts, including puppetry, music, blacklight, drama and flags, to illustrate a message audiences of all ages will understand. The length of the program can be adapted to fit different needs. Languages available are English and Spanglish.

Please contact us if you are interested in bringing Heavenly Street to your next event at gabriel@cmtministries.org.

"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." Philippians 4:8

How to get to Heavenly Street

The last few months have been incredibly busy with rehearsals, puppet building and prop making with "Create, Minister, Teach!" It's all about to pay off though as we hit our final stretch before our new musical debuts at the end of June.

"Heavenly Street" focuses on Paco, a packrat that lives in the trashcans and has been trying to fill his life with the wrong things. Through the help of the a friend (and a few convenient musical numbers), he learns that there is much more to life when we take our eyes off the junk of this world and onto the things of God. The program features a variety of art forms, including puppetry, drama, blacklight, dowel rods, dance and flags.

Create, Minister, Teach! is the youth ministry of Iglesia Jesucristo Es El Senor (Jesus Christ is Lord Church) in San Bruno, CA. The team has 9 pre-teens through adults this year and we rehearse 2-3 hours per week.

 

"Heavenly Street" debuts on:

Sunday, June 29 @ 11 am

Iglesia Jesucristo Es El Senor

251 Citypark Way

San Bruno, CA 94015

Admission is FREE!

We are also touring this musical throughout the Bay Area this summer and plan to take a weekend  tour in Central California. If you or someone you know would be interested in hosting a Christian musical, please contact gabriel@CMTministries.org.

Remembering that God works "Then & Now"

Wow! There is something to be said about how inspiring and energizing it is to see your team growing and blossoming as they use their gifts for God. We had the blessing of staging a new bilingual musical for the winter and the even greater blessing of seeing this kind of growth take place in our youth.

Our production was simply titled "Then and Now." The idea behind the musical began after listening to a sermon one Sunday on the demon-possessed man that Jesus freed from Legion. This planted a question in my head, "What would it be like to have a conversation with this man? What would it be like to experience this first-person?" This led to wondering about other figures that Jesus touched throughout ministry.

In prayer and planning with my assistant director, we decided to focus on 3 narratives: a child and mother that went to see Jesus, an ill woman and a youth raised from the dead.  We re-purposed some songs we had just learned while also including new material to weave it all together. The songs we used included:

• "Hold Me" by Jamie Grace (featuring puppetry, props and live actors)
• "Me Dice Que Me Ama" by Jesus Adrian Romero (featuring blacklight hand mime)
• "Beautiful" by MercyMe (featuring sign language and painting)
• "You Are Being Loved" by Steven Curtis Chapman (featuring human video and choreography)

The way we structured the narratives were as monologues and dialogues. In writing the scripts, we decided to incorporate elements from both the history of the characters and the testimony of the actor. This created a deep personal connection between the actors and the characters and made the production feel "real" for everyone involved. My goal was to free my team from the burden of "acting" and just let them be themselves.

Our goal was met and I was blown away. The team, though trembling from nerves, not only shared their stories but drew us into them. The audience's response was incredible. People laughed, people cried (and I laughed, I cried). People were also moved as they realized that God didn't just work then, he also works now.

→ If you are interested in the script and director notes for this musical, please feel free to e-mail Gabriel@CMTministries.org

Taking Puppetry, the Arts and Creative Ministry to Panama

From August 31 through September 8 I had the incredible opportunity to return to Panama City, Panama, with Ministerios IR and Hands of Peace, to train children, youth and adults in the art of puppetry, sign language, hand mime and drama.

This year, I was asked to direct a team of 19 youth from the host church, Comunidad Evangelica Monte De Sion (COEMONSI) to prepare a program in 5 days to take out into the community for children's crusades. As daunting as the task seemed, I felt prepared and optimistic with the musical I prepared, titled "I AM" and was dead set on using all 19 youth in all 4 songs.

Imagine my surprise when I arrived and learned I now had 23 youth to work with! We went straight into a team meeting Sunday evening and began our rehearsals on Monday morning. For the next 4 days, I worked relentlessly with youth from 9 to 21 years old on "I AM" with rehearsals beginning at 8:30am (with some time for prayer, team building and devotionals) and ending around 3:00pm. I'll admit, there were moments of "What was I thinking!?"

This, in addition to teaching performance workshops in the evening for conference attendees, created a very busy and tiring yet rewarding week. Thankfully I had the support of the other artists and people that were volunteering on the trip, including Gene Cordova (a talented Christian ventriloquist, balloon artist and much more) and Judy Buch (a wonderful Christian ventriloquist, puppeteer and author). They taught workshops on puppet construction, puppetry, ventriloquism and other topics.

My team’s dedication and hard work impressed me though; as was their willingness to sacrifice their weeklong vacation to serve their community and the God they so dearly love. Work was so hard in such a humid environment (what I would’ve done for a rehearsal space with AC). Their effort paid off as they nailed all 4 songs.

Songs included Spanish versions of:

•  "Indescribable" by Chris Tomlin (featuring blacklight hand mime)
•  "In Christ Alone" by Owl City (featuring human video)
• "Superhero" by Hillsong Kids (featuring blacklight puppetry)
• "Don't Let Me Miss The Glory" by Gordon Mote (featuring dowel rods, sign language and flags)

This all wove into a story about a little girl's curiosity about God as she and a woman admire the stars of the heavens. Together, they learned about God the Creator, the Redeemer, the Father and the Promise.

All in all, this summed up into an incrediblly blessed week. My team grew closer together and many of them called it #LaMejorSemanaDeMiVida (translation: #TheBestWeekOfMyLife) on Facebook. More importantly, several little ones turned their hearts over to God and these little lights returned to their dark homes. 

It’s always a true pleasure to be able to pass on to others what we are passionate about and to share this in another country was tremendously rewarding. Passion, pass it on. Your artistry, your faith. Pass it on.

 

You can view photos and videos from this trip by visiting: facebook.com/CMTministries


→ If you are interested in the script and director tips for this musical, please feel free to e-mail Gabriel@CMTministries.org

Pushing Creative Ministry to the MAX at Ministry Arts Xtra

I just returned from another week of incredible blessings, inspiration and fellowship at Ministry Arts Xtra (MAX), an international festival sponsored by Creative Ministry Solutions at Grove City Church of the Nazarene in Ohio. Again, all I can say is “Wow! Thank you God!”

If you aren’t familiar with Ministry Arts Xtra, it’s an amazing 4-day conference that dives into a variety of creative ministry topics through workshops, performances and competitions. The Creative Ministry Dream Team is a select group of 15 attendees that audition to be part of the team and come together for the 4 days to put together a program to present as the finale of the conference.

This year I had the blessing of being able to fill a support role for the Dream Team’s directors, Christy Watkins and Carrie Murphy, as well as the Dream Team as they worked to bring together an ambitious program set in “Heavenly Street."

The program followed this year’s festival theme “Whatever,” inspired by Philippians 4:8. “Whatever” tells the story of Max, a pack rat that fills his trash can with the junk of this world, while his friend Sally shows him there’s much more to life than just trash when we set our sights on God and “whatever” he has in store for us.

 

The script and songs were woven together beautifully and the program featured puppetry, ventriloquism, sign language, dowel rods, dance and much more. The story drew delightful references to Sesame Street, such as Yip Yip Martians discovering the audience and “which of these is not like the other?” Everything came together to create a charming, humorous and meaningful program that was a joy to be a part of.

 

Songs included:

·         “Heavenly Street” (Sesame Street Parody) by Mark Bradford – featured out-front puppetry

·         “Where I Belong” by Building 429 – featured chair choreography, sign language and dowel rods

·         “Hold Me” by Jamie Grace – featured live actors, puppet choreography and umbrellas

·         “There Is A Way” by NewWorldSon – featured blacklight Stringbean puppets

·         “When He Saved The World” by Mark Bradford – featured hand mime

·         “I Surrender All” by Crystal Lewis – featured flags

·         “Feelin’ So Fly” by tobyMac – featured dance choreography

·         “Don’t Let Me Miss the Glory” by Gordon Mote – featured dowel rods, sign language and banners

Rehearsals were long, lasting up to 12 hours a day, to polish the hour-long program in time for the end of the week. The hard work paid off though as the Dream Team presented a beautiful, diverse program that not only made the audience laugh and smile but also applaud the glory of God.
 

The opportunity to work with the Dream Team again but on the directorial side was also an amazing opportunity to learn from the example of the two very seasoned directors. Their servant leadership, creativity and humility was a wonder to watch in action!

All in all, I’m grateful for the wonderful opportunity I had to jump back into creative ministries after 10 months of sabbatical. We are going to start gearing up the ministry team soon for the 2013-2014 year and I have come back not only eager to serve but also inspired and blessed!

 

 

For more information about Ministry Arts Xtra and the Dream Team, please visit http://www.creativemin.com/category/max