Long time no blog! We’ve been very busy spreading our message and I’d like to let you know that our first two shows went fantastic! Small groups are pretty much set and everyone is settling very nicely. New members have been worked into the mix of Set-up and Tear-down and are doing a fantastic job. It was great to see many our parents and friends at our public show at Teen Challenge and things only got better for us as we went to Northwestern Academy!

Northwestern has been said to be one of our harder shows over the years. With the audience we have here, we typically expect little to no reaction from during our performances. This time was a little different.  The members, new and old, were prepared with God by their side to perform to all but a brick wall, but that wasn’t the case this time. The show started out a little rough but we didn’t get discouraged. Instead, we pushed through, sharing the message of hope and the message of Jesus. By the end of the show the boys were very interactive and eagerly participated in our first talk time of the season, we even performed an encore at their request! One of the boys had seen us three times up to date and was now in the CPP part of Boot Camp only a few months away from returning to his home!

As we get into to swing of things in Shining Light it can be hard to keep all of our focus on our message. Hours of dancing and singing really being to fill our heads up. Jeff and Kelly are doing a great job of keeping every one’s eye on the prize (Jesus, of course!) this season, but hearing from a peer who went down the wrong path but is almost back on His path was such a great reminder of why we do what we do. We can never worry about those things that we have no control over. We need to give them to God and keep moving forward.

This weekend we have our first Nexus of the year with a theme of the 60′s! Spread the word, this is a great ice breaker for prospective members. Remember: It’s never too late to join! There will be no practice Sunday night so be sure to come in your best 60′s outfit. Next weekend we have our Chicken BBQ so stop by New Covenant between 9am and 1pm to pick yours up! Following that we have our last rehearsal before Riker’s Island.

This one was a little short, I’ll be sure to post again before Riker’s to keep you updated on the success of our upcoming events! Until then, thanks for reading and have a blessed rest of your week!

Brightest blessings,

Kimberly

What a great season kick-off we’ve had this year! Members, returning and new, have already shown an immense amount of dedication and hard work. During our rehearsal last weekend we were blessed to spend six and a half hours with a choreographer we worked with last year, Darius. Six and a half long and painful hours most would say, but at the end of the night we had done something that seemed impossible! We had learned the choreography to a 5 minute song, which may not seem like a difficult task but I’m sure everyone in attendance last week would tell you it was. Learning to dance and sing to this new song was a great reminder that sometimes out of our greatest struggles comes our biggest calling. I’m sure it was a lot for new members to take in, but I promise it will more than pay off as each person discovers the effect they have on the individuals we have the opportunity to share His word with.

When you are driven by a calling or a deeply personal quest and you allow that calling to inspire action, you live in the world differently. You might notice that you act and interact with more confidence. The way you carry yourself and the way you speak changes. This is when you come alive. You begin to radiate the quest. Such a calling comes from unyielding faith and deep conviction. Nothing more, nothing less. I can only hope that everyone is beginning to feel this sensation and that we’re ready to embrace the beauty that will surely come this season.

This week we have our first solo auditions! I’m so excited to learn of the new talent that has joined the group, and to see the growing talent our returning members provide! Before we know it we will be on stage at Teen Challenge and no one will be able to tell the difference between our new and returning members! Our first performance seems a little out of reach currently but with God by our side, I know that we will have no problem making it there!

I find it always amazing when you can see God working in the people around you. I am so thankful that He can be so close to us as we begin our new season and deal with the growing stresses of school and work places. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” John 14:27

Hopefully Between Eva and myself we can keep everyone updated with more frequent blogging this year.

Have a wonderful weekend! And as you begin another week try to remember that prayers go up, and blessings come down!

Brightest blessings,

Kimberly

My name is Kimberly Spike. I am a first year member of Shining Light and was the videographer for tour this year! I’m not in any way an experienced blogger, in fact, Eva helped with most of the wording in the tour videos as well as editted the blog you are about to read. I was feeling risky and full of knowledge one day and this is what happened, I hope everyone enjoys and takes something away from this!

It’s a crazy world that we live in and being removed from it all for 10 days I thought I would’ve been able to at least forget about the madness for a little while. The truth is I have never been more aware of the destruction and damaged lives in the people around me each day. Each and every day is another story of a broken home, an abused woman, and or a drug addiction — everything negative. Not a single person in any detention center we have visited has told us about how they walked their dog or had a delicious ice cream dessert before they were in jail or rehab because quite frankly, that isn’t reality. I was nervous about Tour for many reasons, just as every other newbie probably was. My biggest fear was being locked into such a tight community for 10 days. Ten long days, with 75 other people… it still seems impossible. As the days began to pass I realized that there was nothing to fear within the group. We represent the fearless and we are in a place where most people are craving to be. Not only people in jail or rehab facilities struggle to walk into a life for Christ but also Christians or nonchristians you may pass on the street. We are in such a blessed place and it is even more of a blessing that we can help the people we meet on their journeys. My biggest fear now is moving away from tour. Alone. All of us going on our separate paths, back into this imperfect world with as many, if not more, nonbelievers as there are believers.

So how do we stay strong?
More times than I can count this week I have reflected and pointed out to people the main point of Angel’s testimony. For anyone who has not heard about Angel, he fell into Shining Light’s lap at our performance at Life Church in PA in April. I used to be a strong believer in coincidences but friends and family, it is no coincidence that Angel is travelling with us. Each show he tells his heartbreaking story of a troubled childhood rampant with harmful decisions.  Angel begins and ends his testimony with a quote, “We are not born winners or losers, we are born choosers.” He shares a lesson for all of the residents of the various facilities and for every member of Shining Light on how important choice is. Jeff pointed out in group time a few days ago that sometimes it seems as though we are all on autopilot for set-up, the show and tear-down and I couldn’t agree more. We could get up on that stage every day for the next straight month and pass the word of Christ to thousands of different people and they would surely get the message. But is getting the message the same as believing the message? With the craziness of tour and 70 people always in your space I think it is so easy to ‘choose’ to do a show because we have to –not because we’re choosing to believe.

Our speaker from the FBI, Mark, really hit home with his story for a lot of our members. He was an average guy walking through life noticing things falling apart and seeing the problems right before his eyes, but he never thought to pray. The same way that Mark had spent most of his life not praying and instead standing there watching his life crumble around him, we can spend some of our time not choosing to believe or live a life for God and seeing the repercussions of this choice/his choices.

I also don’t think that it was a coincidence that most of the members are only now feeling the power of our group and the presence of God and the seriousness of the things we choose to do. As we try to wind down from the amazing and breathtaking experience we have all been living, I only ask one thing of everyone at home. Try to find time in your sometimes busy schedules to look beyond the things you think you need to do and realize what it is that God needs you to do. For any parents of returning members, I’m sure know that it will not be easy for any of us to walk right back into life outside of tour. I ask that you pray for each member in their return to everyday life and ask God to help guide each one of us down the path that He has set for us.  The experiences we have had on tour will be ones that we will hold in our hearts forever as a friendly reminder of the glory of God whenever we’re feeling a little lost. I personally have never had an experience such as this and I believe it is exactly what I needed to realize the appropriate changes I need to make in my life to live for Jesus.

We have been on an unbelievable journey and I know that all of us aren’t ready for it to end but I think God is ready for it to end. He is so ready to let us expand from this wonderful community and help spread the word of Christ.

So how exactly do we stay strong? We don’t. Because you are never weak with God on your side and in your heart. All of the support from home has been a beautiful thing while we have been gone and I can only hope that it will remain the same now that we’re home!

God bless and it’s good to see everyone in PA!

In His service,

Kimberly Spike

Even though its just beginning I already feel like the group is being pushed and stretched in all new ways! We’re growing in fellowship and community with every passing day. The first day was semi uneventful, just a nice road trip out to Pittsburgh. Once we arrived at Eden Christian Academy we had a delicious dinner and a tour kickoff followed by the launch of our tour devotionals that we will be going through in small groups while on the road. Our devotionals are called Made To Make A Difference, and it’s a series by Max Lucado. It is challenging us to be a generation that follows the callings in our lives despite our age or inexperience. We are continuing to learn about our peers all over that have made up their minds to do something big, and succeeded.

After some brief covering of the rules and expectations of tour conduct, we set up for bed and it was lights out!

Day 2 was at Scioto JFC some 3 hours away in Ohio where we were greeted by Chaplain Dunlap–A kind and generous man with an encouraging smile. Three years ago on our Tenessee tour, I had the privledge of preforming in this same facility when I was only a first year member. Being back in the auditorium really brought back some wonderful memories of friends that have, since then, moved on from the group to do wonderful things.

But instead of comparing this season to that year, I was blessed with the opportunity  to make all new memories with all new people. And boy did we ever make memories! We had a double performance, almost one immediately after the other. The first was an all girl audience, which was fun since we rarely get to preform for women. They were very supportive and we got the sense that they were really following along with everything we were trying to get across.

The second show went off without a hitch for our male audience. The only set back of the whole day was the rain, and thus a resulting leak in the auditorium making the backstage area a little bit slippery. But we managed just fine without any major damage or injuries! We got everything packed up and loaded thankfully while there was a break in the storm! We headed back to the bus/vans and headed to a local high school where we quickly all fell asleep from exhaustion.

Today was quite an adventure from the get-go. We all woke up and packed up real early tin hopes that we could hit the road for our 5 hour trip to Grand Rapids, Michigan and Kent County Juvenile center . But before we could even get off the ground, Dave, our amazing bus driver extrordinare noticed one of our tires in the bus was flat! Our staff immediately began calling around to get local reinforecments and to see if we had any hope of getting to Kent County on time. Ever-dilligent, our staff really preformed today! They immediately drew up an emergency plan and had it underway by the time the repair man came to replace our tire!

We sent some of our group ahead of us in the vans to prepare for the arrival of the rest of our crew once the bus was fixed. Suprisingly after the five hour drive to catch up with the vans, we were greeted by Penny the program director. She was so happy to see us and cooperated  graciously despite the several inconveniences of the day. When we entered the gym, to our surprise, the two vans worth of people had achieved the amazing feat of setting everything up without any of the normal set up teams! We only arrived an hour after them, and they managed to complete set up in that time. Without a doubt, God was on our side today. We had a tight schedule without the unexpected, and despite the flat tire, we still got to do two programs today. It was wonderful to see everyone really band together as a team to get exactly what we needed done.

Our first show got a great response despite a quiet audience and our second show was more shy initially but later opened up to ask us questions. This morning, our group was tired and somewhat beaten down, but we were energized by the spirit and God provided the focus, excitement and enthusiasm to get through both shows with sincere delight. After our preformances were over, we all excitedly tore down and packed up.

Currently everyone is nestled in bed as I finish up this blog. We are excited for a free day tomorrow! In the morning we are off to Mars Hill Church and then Indiana Dunes for our first look at Lake Michigan!

More updates on the way!!

And check out our tour videos on YouTube!!

Until then, be good to one another!

-Eva

That’s right; it’s a new season, and a new writer! I’m Eva, and you’ll be hearing from me a lot this season! I am 20 years young and a junior at Messiah College, studying Psychology. This is my fourth year in Shining Light and my third year as a small group leader.  

Though we already miss our retired members, we wish them all the best and our prayers follow them in each of their respective directions. We have confidence that they will thrive and continue to grow in faith through all their pursuits and look forward to their potential return to see our public shows (HINT HINT)!  Personally it has been an adventure just staying in the group when so many of my close friends have come to the end of their SL journey. A challenge, but an exciting challenge that is surely helping me grow as a member and a leader. Those who remain will not forget the memories we built together. Together we all added to the great growing culture that is Shining Light, and are forever a part of this ministry. 

I digress, we’re already two rehearsals in, and the new energy is infectious from our new members! The first rehearsal was lots of fun and helped us get to know our new peers. I was impressed with how quickly all our members (new and old) picked up on the choreography and vocals for our exciting new celebration song!  It’s awesome, and I am excited to see how it all works together in the show! 

This Sunday we brushed up on some of last season’s songs. Though the new members are clearly feeling overwhelmed, it was comforting and encouraging to see those among us continually supporting them and reassuring them that it gets easier. It was also great to see that even though it was completely foreign to them, they were still trying! Our new guys are still being timid but that’s understandable. 

This Sunday at rehearsal we also had our first small groups session. It was wonderful to get back into that type of community! I’ll warn you, it will be evident in my writing that I have a huge love for small group time. So after a summer of Shining Light withdrawal (so to speak) it was awesome to get introduced to my new group of girls! I am hopeful that the season will be fruitful and a real place for them to feel comfortable. After all that is a crucial part of Shining Light– being a safe place to really bounce ideas around and wrestle with the hard things in life, and to hold each other accountable for our choices. I am eager to jump into the lessons this year and really challenge the girls to think and assess their faith and how it affects their lives every day. 

This coming week we have our auditions for the dramas as well as solos! I am so excited to see our new members or maybe returning members (who’ve finally worked up the courage) come out and help contribute specifically to our show! I am eager to see what each person brings to the roles, or songs. In only a few short weeks we’ll be on stage in front of Teen Challenge, which is so exciting, but hard to see at this point. There seems to be so much left to do before it is possible! Thankfully God always provides all things, especially time! 

I’m sure that we’re all mutually thankful for God’s provision, especially now that school has begun and some of us students are already beginning to feel a little stressed and stretched thin. Time is one thing we can all continually pray for and be thankful for! 

Sorry for the lengthy post! I’ll be aiming for one post a week and to keep them relatively short, though with the business of life, I will promise neither. 

I hope everyone’s week is going splendidly! And you are all finding joy and peace in the beautiful weather we’ve been having as fall approaches! 

Peace & blessings, 

Eva

Before I continue, I would just like to clear one thing up: I was not in any of those places because I was “doing time” or addicted to a substance. I have been incredibly blessed to not have to go through those things thus far in my life. My family is wonderful and the circumstances in my life have kept me on a safe path. I was there because when I was in 9th grade, I discovered a man named Jesus Christ—a man who walked the earth, was crucified on a cross, and ascended into heaven to live with His Father. That’s not the end of the story though! He’s coming back to get me one day, and I want to do His work until that glorious day comes. So how does Shining Light tie into that? I don’t want the first time I saw all those men and women to be the last time I see them. I want heaven to be their eternal home. I want them to experience the same joy and hope I have found in Jesus Christ! So that’s why, when I was a senior in high school, I personally chose to begin to walk through the locked and heavily guarded doors into the places in which I was absolutely certain His name was not being spoken, and praises were not being sung to Him. I have never been so happy to be wrong! God, with His great care and gentleness, showed me the errors I had made in my rash thinking. Middle aged men at a drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility in a small little town in Pennsylvania hopped out of their chairs and stood with raised hands and open hearts as we worshipped together in song and praise to the Lord. Things only got better at San Quentin. As the men sat in our audiences wearing sweatpants that read “Prisoner” down the leg, and were recognized as 25 years to lifers by their shirt color, the Lord showered His love and forgiveness down on them. As one man in our audience said with great delight, “Hell is tremblin’ tonight!” Our worship with those men moved me to tears.

There are 3 iron gates that lead into San Quentin State Prison. They, along with the plethora of security guards, have keep thousands of people out since the prison opened in 1852. They almost kept Shining Light out for more reasons than I will ever know. They didn’t. We went in there and we did our thing and I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that during our two performances for the men in that prison, seeds were planted. Lord, let it rain on those seeds.

At San Quentin, they call the 3 iron gates “The 3 Gates that Lead to Hell”. From the inside of those gates, I have only one more thing to say: those gates have done a terrible job in keeping the Holy Spirit out.
Thank you for a wonderful season. I appreciate your faithful reading. Please come back next season. I know that God will provide, and you will not be disappointed.

See ya! =)

It was a very cold day, but we all survived brining in the equipment. Set-up went well, and we had small groups in some the classrooms where we discussed the possibility of going to California. I am very excited about it and sincerely hope we go! What an awesome opportunity, and from what I understand it would be our first time going there as a group. After some chit-chat in small group we had cold cuts for supper.
We introduced a new beginning for our show, and it seems like a really cool skit that will defiantly connect with our audience.

I was impressed with the audience. There were a few members who seemed disinterested, but most were paying rapt attention.  I would say that they were one of our better audiences.  Sharing a prayer time was truly a blessing at Northwestern.  One of the guys said he had never really thought about Jesus before, but said he was going to pray when he go back to his cabin. Seriously, praise God for how He is using us to change lives!

Most recently, Shining Light went to Glen Mills School, which is, “the oldest existing residential school for court referred young men in the country.” (Taken from the http://www.glenmillsschool.org/ website.)   It was our first time there as a group!  The beautiful campus is spread out over 80 some acres and looks very much like a college campus.  But as the website states, this is not a normal school.  The school houses delinquents who were issued to come by the court, leaving the teachers with a difficult task ahead of them.  The school focuses a lot on sports to help shape the kids.

We had the opportunity to meet the head of athletics and the Chaplin, Wayne who are both dedicated Christians, and had the chance to hear their story.  Wayne helped lead and mentor the athletic director in his relationship with Christ. In 2005, Wayne began having breathing problems and finally went to the doctor.  The doctor told him his kidneys were failing and he needed surgery and put him on dialysis.  Wayne and his family began praying for God to provide for them.

Later, Wayne saw his friend, the athletic director at lunch; he said his heart started pounding.  He sensed that God was pressing on his heart to donate his kidney to Wayne.  He shared this with his friend, and they prayer together and proceeded to go through and check and see if he was a match.  Not only was his kidney compatible; they were a perfect match.  Because of one man’s willingness to listen to God, he used him to save his friend’s life while giving glory to Jesus.

After meeting those two godly men, we set up for the show and got ready.  The guys filed in and we began.  I began observing the audience and saw them really draw into the message and focusing on us.  They seemed to really understand, and they were such a respectful audience.  While sometimes when we do shows, the guys can be sometimes obnoxious and distracting, these acted like they really cared what we were sharing with them, and it was so encouraging.  The sharing time was also uplifting, as they encouraged us to continue on in our work for God.

I had the chance to go to Manheim Brethren in Christ today, where I attended youth group in high school and occasionally visit.  It is a God-filled church and also the location of our next show, on March 7.  Dustin Sauder, the senior high youth pastor there, interviewed Jessica Charles, Alyssa Nissley and I about Shining Light and what it means to us.  The church seemed really excited about us coming back, so I’m expecting a big group!  I’m looking forward to Shining Light practice tonight when we will be having a guest speaker! I can’t wait to hear what they’ll have to say.  I pray that God will bless everyone this week in new ways!

I can’t thank you all enough for keeping up with Shining Light’s happenings. I’ve had a number of people tell me that they enjoy reading our blogs, and although I don’t know each person who has read my words, I feel a special connection with you all, knowing that you are getting a sneak peak into why I hold this ministry so close to my heart. You all rock

I often find myself in awe when I think about Shining Light. The intricate details that make it such an encouraging and fulfilling ministry are delicately woven into every Sunday rehearsal and performance. What a pleasure to be part of such a unique ministry; I don’t know of any other production quite like Shining Light, and it’s in my own backyard. Because I am financially able to be a member of this ministry, my ultimate goal is to allow myself to have an enriching experience every time I set foot on our stage for a performance, on the gym floor at New Covenant Christian School for a rehearsal, or in a small cafeteria at a youth detention center to pray with my small group.

With electronics, relationships, school work, and a job surrounding me on all sides, I have found it to become incredibly easy to lose focus on the purpose of the ministry. Instead, I find my thoughts entertained with pride, such as getting the part in a feature dance that I auditioned for, or my friends and family coming to see one of our local performances.

God saw that I needed a little nudge, and that’s just what I got when I looked up at the wall in the gym at New Covenant two Sunday evenings ago, where an artist had painted these words: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.” Colossians 3:23. With God’s help, and after a careful evaluation of my thoughts regarding my purpose in Shining Light, I was able to recenter my focus, setting aside my pride and admitting that I had lost focus on my purpose for devoting so much of my time and energy to this ministry; I had taken my eyes off God and placed them on myself.  I was relying on my own strength, but my tank was nearing empty.

In prayer, I’ve asked that God be by my side as I move forward. I have no doubts in the promise He has made to never leave me and carry me if I need carried. For it is His strength, and not the strength of man, that can pick us up as many times as we have fallen. What an encouragement it is that He is honored by the work of this ministry; may we praise Him and Him alone!

God Bless,

Katrina