of tornados, theatres, and prayer.

if you will remember a couple of weeks ago my mother, some friends, and i all traveled to joplin, mo to volunteer there for a couple of days. 

ever since then...the people of joplin have remained on our hearts. 

julie and i made a video documenting our time in joplin. 

very recently, my mother made a connection with a Christian theatre in joplin that was not only completely destroyed in the tornados, but who's director and several other members were killed and injured. 

because of my mom's connection with theatre (being the director of our own theatre group), she felt a strong pulling from the Lord to join with them in helping rebuild not only their theatre, but their livelihoods, and lives.

go here to read a testimony of the tragic day written by a 17-year old girl who had just finished performing a show that afternoon.

to make the long story short...after much prayer alone and with friends, the wheels are now in motion to mobilize the residents of our county and around our nation to raise $50,000 for 30 families of the stained glass theatre who have experienced traumatic injuries, lost loved ones and/or total loss of home and possessions.

JOY drama group will be doing a benefit production of "the importance of being earnest" to help support this theatre in joplin. 

ALL income from the show will go straight to them.

we are SO excited to, not only be doing this show, but doing it for such a good and worthy cause.

we can already really feel God's hand in it...and we cannot wait to see what the future holds.

meanwhile...can i ask you for your prayers?

they mean MORE than i can possibly say!

for more information on the cast/location/ways to help...go here.

three days in joplin, mo.

as i mentioned in the previous blog post...my mom and i (plus two friends) took an impromptu trip to serve in joplin, missouri for three days. i cannot tell you what i have seen these past few days. such devastation and damage. but one things they have...is hope.

pictured above: joplin high school. the j,p,l,i&n were blown away. h and e were added. "hope"

spending two days serving and ministering in joplin was a life-changing experience. i've never seen things like this in my life. brief snigbits on movies and the news...pictures here and there. but those could NOT have provided me with what i saw. mattresses shredded. roofing wrapped around trees. metal poles broken in half. glass broken. cars smashed. and houses non-existent. and it went for miles and miles.

pictured above: metal roofing wrapped around the bare trees.

the first morning we got to the "samaritan's purse international relief" building late so we were unable to attend orientation until that afternoon. so we were sent to work in the relief station where clothing, food, toiletries, etc were being donated by others, organized by volunteers, and given out to victims. me and my friend julie were able to work in the toy section and help take care of small children as their parents were finding household necessities. they got to take whatever they wanted home with them (there were OODLES of donations) and the sheer joy of getting toys was such a pleasure to see!

pictured above: one of the thousands of homes destroyed in the tornado

that afternoon, after the long awaited orientation, we were sent off to a team to start working in the field. we got on a bus and for the first time got to actually see the damage. it was heartbreaking. it was overwhelming. where to start?! we had been assigned a home that wasn't too terrible. as in, it had to be demolished but some was still standing. we were told the owners of the home were looking for the family Bible (very old). so we spent all afternoon clearing the front of the home and going through the house looking for anything the family might want to keep that wasn't destroyed. we ended up finding the Bible (very exciting!) and we got to give it to the owner and prayed with her and her husband. samaritan's purse also donated Bibles for all of the workers to sign and give to the owners. it was very special and we got to hear their story (they were in the CLOSET and survived!) about what happened during the tornado.

pictured above: a church not ready to give up even though completely destroyed. they're still meeting!

today was spend cleaning rubble all day. there was a lot of raking, shoveling, sweeping and picking up of branches and logs. we cleared several yards of homes not quite destroyed and the foundation of a house which had been COMPLETELY destroyed. interesting things of the day: an egg still whole with no cracks and a butterfly amongst the rubble (who loved me and would not leave me alone).

pictured above: even after all of the troubles and struggles, american flags were flying EVERYWHERE. i loved the patriotism that could be seen on every corner.

i shall end with this.

1. please keep ALL of the people of joplin (and the volunteers) in your prayers! there are so many needs and problems that still need to be addressed.

and

2. if you can, try to go and volunteer for a few days. there were people from ALL over the US. it was such a beautiful thing.

pictured above: a map with all the samaritan's purse volunteers and where they were from. support was coming from EVERYWHERE!

of snow, microphones, and a famous lady.

three days of working at casa manana. oh it's been such fun! 

tuesday i went up there...and i will confide in you...my stomach had such butterflies. i was simply terrified. i didn't know what to expect. i didn't know what i would be expected to do. i didn't know anyone else that would be there. and if you know me...i don't do well in situations like that.

so i got there...went through the backstage door (THE BACKSTAGE DOOR AT A FAMOUS THEATRE!!!!), and sat down in the green room. luckily there was another intern already there. and i found out she was also going to be working in the costume department. *sigh of relief* another intern entered as did the "main guy" in charge of us. 

we went backstage and saw some "set guys" working on taking down the set of their last show "wizard of oz." we were told to grab screwguns and start unscrewing some wood panels on the stage. the other girls started...and i was left in a confused state of panic. holding a screwgun. and yet knowing nothing about how to use a screwgun. luckily one of the "set guys" noticed the confused look in my eye and asked if i knew how to use a screwgun. i shook my head. he responded by showing me how.

I NOW KNOW HOW TO USE A SCREWGUN! HURRAH!

the rest of the day was spent in all manners of unscrewing, sweeping the stage (oh how i dislike the man who invented snow machines), and working upstairs in the lighting booth labeling light gels. 

we were told we could leave early. an hour and a half early. unfortunately my mother had not been told this. we live an hour away. so there i was. sitting in the green room. preparing for an hour long wait. however, "main guy" came and saw me and realized his mistake. he asked if i would mind coming back onstage and helping pull up tape and sweep (that fake snow will NOT be swept!) since i was still there. of course i didn't mind! it was actually quite a bit of fun. "lighting guy" was still there too. and he and "main guy" started peeling through the layers of paint on the stage and telling stories of each show they'd done there. i laughed quite a bit.

day two. wednesday. more sweeping. oh me oh my. however after an hour of that "costume lady" (EEP!) came and asked if there were interns available to help. SCORE! we spent all morning in the fabric trailer (THEY HAVE A TRAILER SIMPLY FOR FABRIC!) going through some old curtain fabric that had been donated from the prop department. 

that afternoon, however, was spent doing a spring cleaning in the costume warehouse!! she was literally throwing out (for goodwill) all of these old costumes they didn't want/use anymore. it hurt my heart as i filled up trashbag after trashbag with costumes. she saw our faces and said we could take whatever we wanted they they were throwing out. me = "AAAAHHH!!! YES!!!"

i brought home three costumes that dearly needed a home.

day three. thursday. i woke at 5:30 am. i left the house by 6:00 am. we got there 7:15 am. what was the game plan for the whole day? a giant awards show rehearsal in the morning...and the actual show that night. i was assigned to "costume lady" all day! DOUBLE HURRAH! 

the betty buckley award show. named in honor of the tony award-winning actress, the betty lynn buckley awards celebrate excellence in high school musical theatre. all local high schools that produce a musical are eligible to participate in the program. a panel of judges votes for a winner in each of 16 award categories. each school nominated for "best musical" is able to perform one of the numbers from their show at the awards show.

each high school was allowed to use ten microphones for the main singers/performers in the number performed at the awards show. there were rehearsals that morning/afternoon and then performances that night. i was given the opportunity to help tape microphones on the performers for rehearsals and shows.

one. i had no idea what i was even doing at first.
two. i'm far too short to be taping microphones on tall people.
three. putting tape on stranger's faces...is awkward.
four. I LEARNED SO MUCH! what an awesome learning experience.

and you know what made the day even better...? BETTY BUCKLEY SMILED AT ME!!!
oh, happy sigh.

longest day ever (after returning home at midnight)? possibly. but such fun! since then i've been resting up. however, today i started a whole new adventure. my mother and i (and two friends) decided on an improptu road trip to joplin, mo to help the tornado victims from the devastating storm last week. please keep us and the residents of joplin in your prayers this week as we work in the debris.

xo,
rebecca jane

5 happy things - royal wedding style

the royal wedding...oh what a fairytale-ish day...

no i did not wake up at 3am...that's what DVRs are for. 

however. i *did* watch as much as i could the second i awoke!

sigh.

what a beautiful event!

priceless.

that TRAIN!!!

this is the sweetest thing.

b&w shots...sigh.

 i LOVE the grace kelly-esque of kate's dress! oh my goodness!

what a fairytale...