Adventures in the Forest

 

I forgot to mention our exciting Sunday night program at church! I’ll try to explain the whole thing, but you can look at the pictures, too, as they are self-explanatory.

Many years ago, João wrote the lyrics to a children’s cantata, but he never found anyone to compose the music for it.

About 6 or 7 years ago I began work on a VBS program here in Brazil. As it progressed, I began to wonder if it wouldn’t be possible to work around the cantata. As I consulted with my editor and publisher, she felt it would be a good thing, since the cantata fit perfectly with the theme.

The cantata, that originally bore the title of “THE FALL”, was re-entitled “Adventures in God’s Forest”, also the name of the VBS. The music was written by a friend, who made an effort to write VERY Brazilian type music. The CD and book were published in 2008. They have since sold out. I received reports from many places in Brazil where the musical was performed. The concept was to study God’s creation and also learn about God’s redemption of creation. The musical tells the story of the perfect creation and all the love, and of the serpent’s temptation, mankind’s fall and how Jesus is the way back to Paradise.

I dreamed of the musical being done at my church. It finally happened, on a small scale at the end of last year. With the advent of our children’s minister, the decision was made to “upscale” the production and present the musical on a Sunday. This was the Sunday.

It was a cold evening on a long holiday weekend and we felt sure there would be few people. The church was packed, and that was amazing, especially since so many were small children who take up so little space!

The set design was amazing. The band that accompanied them was wonderful. The lighting and everything else, like costumes were perfect. The children in the choir were amazingly well behaved for such a long performance. I was impressed. And surprisingly I was emotionally moved by the story I know so well. When Eve came in like a bride with flower petals falling from the ceiling, singing “my love song”, I cried. When the nasty serpent (played by the state WMU leader!) tempted them, I hissed and called out for Eve not to fall for that line.

When they were all banned from paradise, and the wars began, I was so sad. It was a triumphal experience for me to see the “old, old story” told in a very new way. It was a dream realized and I was walking on air when it was over.   

I don’t have a lot of dreams anymore, so the few I do have are precious to me. It’s great when I see one of them actually happening while I am awake. I wonder how many more moments like this I will still have along the way?