"If I were not upon a stage somewhere else I'd rather be *clap clap* if I were not upon a stage..."

Wow! what a crazy few weeks it's been here at base.
we've been frantically preparing for outreach, fundraising money and buying plane tickets and learning skits... we found out our locations typically a bit later then most schools so we're a bit pressed for time. the fact that we were gone last week also meant that we had 6 scheduled outreach prep times left as of sunday, which has now gone down to 4. we leave in approximately 16 days for outreach, (april 5-6 ish) so things are getting tight!
this afternoon, we learned two skits to use as tools while on outreach. we'll be based out of one location but going around to do different things in different areas, and so one of the things that people typically experience on YWAM outreaches is the locals saying "Oh white people! can you sing /do a skit for us?" so we now have 2 in our arsenal in case that happens.
the first skit is called "If i were not upon a stage" (which is where the title comes from). basically there are 6 of us standing in a line on the stage, and we start off saying "Iiiiiiif i were not upon a stage somewhere else i'd rather be *clap clap* if i were not upon a staaaage" and then each person steps out in turn and says a different occupation. "A policewoman i would be." or "a dance instructor i would be." altogether there's 6: a policewoman (me), a dance instructor, a painter, a carpenter, a washerwoman, and a ballerina. so then after they say "a _________ i would be" then they do something with that action (eg. the painter would paint, the dancer would dance) and the rest of the line sings "And as s/he walks a long, s/he sings her/his little song". then it gets a little confusing. each person says a line about their job and they do an action. so the policeman says "stop! come here! get back on the pavement!" and gestures to the front and to the side, etc. the painter says "dip the brush, stir the paint, slap it on the wall." with the appropriate accompanying gestures. the funny part for the people watching (who haven't seen it ten billion times before like us) is at the end when all of them are doing it at the same time. each person is doing their own action while narrowly managing to miss the people beside them so it works! ... it's confusing but i can see how it's going to be such a good tool! then at the end, we all start arguing because we want to be the painter and the painter goes "it's okay! we can all be the painter!" and so then we sing it again with "a painter we would be" and then when it comes to "dip the brush, stir the paint, slap it on the wall" we all turn the same way and everyone gets hit by each other's brush and falls over. the point being that we all have our own gifts that work well because we're different. when everyone tries to be the same things don't work out.
the second one was a little more simple... it's no talking, just set to music. Funny music though, and then everyone acts really silly so it's just lighthearted. one person walks out to a chair in the middle of the stage and starts "painting it" and then puts a sign on it that says "do not sit" then walks off. the next person comes on and, pretending to be tired, ignores the sign and sits on it anyway, getting stuck. the next person that comes on is a "strongman" (or woman in our case) and tries to get the one stuck off the chair, but doesn't succeed so leaves. the next one is too busy to talk (in our skit this is so funny because the girl doing this part is married to the one stuck in the chair so the look on his face when she ignores him is priceless), and the next one is a flirt, trying to tease the stuck one off the chair but they can't follow. then someone with a Bible comes on and prays with the stuck person and they get off right away. the idea is that God is the only one that can get you out of stuck places!
so needless to say, we had an extremely entertaining afternoon.
prayer requests:
-health! my stomach has been bothering me lately :(
-patience for leadership as they book tickets and do visa stuff
-that the price of the tickets will stay down
-team unity
-that God will move through EVERY SINGLE circumstance!
-specifically for our outreach leader... our school leader is getting married so isn't able to come with us on outreach, so one of the staff on our school is our outreach leader. pray for him as it's his first time leading outreach, that he would have wisdom in every circumstances and peace leading up to our departure.
-for the staff staying behind, that they wouldn't be too disappointed and that they would be praying and interceding for us!
thanks so much for reading, and keep us in your prayers :)
-Cailey