Day 15: Performance at La Crête

The joke I was going to make here got vetoed by Blaine (my dad) for being off color. It involved an Old Testament story. Just use your imagination.

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Since our billets lived across the street from the church which we did not have to be at until 10:00 AM, Kapriel, Yusvae and I slept in. Based off the stories I got from the other kids, we were the lazy ones that morning, as the others engaged in some rather interesting morning activities.

Well, I still think I made the right call sleeping in.

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The day marked the most downtime the team had before a performance. We met at La Crête Christian Fellowship Church at 10:00 AM and we did not have our performance until 7:00 PM. That was a lot of time for the kids to goof off.

The kids started off by playing in the gym, where the boys and girls both played rather rough with each other. At one point Veasna was on his back and Leah threw a volleyball at his head. He laughed it off despite the rather loud smack. The kids also discovered a small roller-cart which became a popular toy for some rather dangerous games. Kids were often flung into the wall at high speeds. I cannot confirm or deny reports that I was involved in these incidents.

The kids burnt themselves out after an hour or two. They changed gears and decided to watch movies and do crafts in the youth room. A song and prayer were done shortly before they settled down, in dedication to members of the team who were dealing with health issues. The kids ended up watching the newest Ice Age film and Kung Fu Panda, with the latter providing big laughs.

While Kung Fu Panda was on, Shelly and Sokthon were taking Moses to a dentist. While Moses' facial swelling had gone down, his toothache was still bothering him. The dentist discovered that Moses had two teeth that were badly infected and needed to be removed. Moses was a trooper the whole time, showing great bravery for a kid having a dental procedure done in a foreign country. After the procedure, Moses said that he was starting to feel better. He does not seem to care about losing teeth.

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It was interesting to listen in on the audience for the performance, as many were unfamiliar with Rescue. This was a new experience for me, as I have become accustomed to hearing from attendees about how they know my grandmother. It was refreshing to see people hear about the work that she does for the first time.

Despite their general unfamiliarity, the audience was a large one, likely becoming the largest we have seen so far. It posed a bit of a challenge for me when getting footage, as I try not to get in anybody's way or be a distraction, meaning I had to take pictures and videos from further away. The large audience size did not faze the kids as they danced without issue. Even though he had just had teeth removed, Moses still performed!

One rather funny moment occurred behind the scenes. As the boys and girls were in a backroom together, Sany noticed an issue with some of the girls' costumes. Rather than send the boys out, she told them to turn around as she fixed the girls' costumes. Shelly snapped a picture of Kapriel looking out the window during this time, which looks humorous with or without context, as his posture suggests that he is deep thought.

The performance showed that the kids have become very used to the routine. All twelve children show no signs of nerves or forgetfulness. As strange as it may sound, I actually find myself hoping for some kind of small blooper to occur so that I could have something to blog about. If the kids keep giving equally good performances, then my blog is going to get really repetitive really fast! Silly issues aside, I am very happy that the kids have already ironed out the kinks of their performance so quickly into the tour.

The time after the performance saw another large amount of donations made and sponsorships signed. As of this writing, the number of sponsorships is at 88, which is just two short of our goal of 90. Barring some kind of mass outbreak of Scrooge-like miserly behaviour, we will make the goal with just one more performance. There is talk of upping the number, since we still have a whole month left of touring. If there is such a thing as a good problem to have, it is this one!

God bless & Jesus saves