"No Ordinary Story": You have to perform this again!

The lady on the phone said in a firm voice:

You need to understand, the musical was incredible. I’ve people I want to bring to this. They need to hear this message. I’ve a list of elderly people who go to church but I know they’re not believers. Even for me, there are a few things that I’ve never understood even though I’ve been going to church most of my life.”

The lady had called because she was compelled to tell us how she felt about No Ordinary Story. The first two public performances took place a week ago. It was the culmination of three months of choir and performance rehearsals. But the musical itself stretches even further back in time—several years of conceptualization and music composition. We thank God for how far this project has come.

Perhaps the audience response can best be summed up by the standing ovation that they gave. One lady told us she was delighted because some of her family members who had came to watch were not believers yet. She said, “It’s so easy to invite unbelievers to a musical.” She went on to say she wanted her church to put up performances too.

One church leader commented, “I sat there and thought to myself… I can see this being done by other churches.”

One goal for these two performances was to see if the gospel message was presented clearly enough through the combination of the music and the story. We were very thankful to receive feedback that it was.

This was the clearest gospel presentation I’ve been through in a single sitting,” said one gentleman.

One immigrant woman explained, “In my country, you don’t understand the gospel like this. It’s so beautifully knitted together.”

Another commented, “The message was very clear… It was powerful.”

A second goal for the musical was to model for believers, a simple, non-arm twisting way of communicating the gospel message to a friend. The main character, Michael, represents an ordinary believer having a conversation with two people on a train. When some audience members watched how Michael engaged the other characters, a sense of excitement grew in their hearts.

That was so easy to understand. For the longest time I didn’t know how to share the gospel but after watching this, I know!” said a lady.

Another man quipped, “It helped me get ideas on how I can share the gospel!”

These were just a handful of the positive comments that we’ve received. During the two performances, we could see the eyes of young and old riveted to the stage. We knew the performance wasn’t technically perfect. But it was the simplicity and the clarity of the gospel message that was moving hearts.

Pray with us as we evaluate the feedback and proceed to the next stage. We are now working towards finalizing the scores and script and producing the concept album CD. With these components, churches around the world can stage performances of the musical. They will be able to use this resource as an exciting way to share the gospel.

Compared to inviting an unbelieving friend to a Bible study, an invitation to watch a musical requires a much shorter time commitment. After watching it, he or she will likely have a much better understanding of the gospel message. In fact, the person may have enough understanding to come to faith in Christ.

One audience member said, “Are you doing this again? You have to perform this again!” The Lord willing, we pray this will be the start of many performances around the world. Pray with us that this musical will be a very useful resource in bringing the good news to those who are reluctant to read or a attend a study but who will happily attend a musical performance.

(If you would like to help us complete this project, check to see how you can contribute your time and talent.