“Feet Speak” Dance 2020
Dear Partner,
As you know Feet Speak Dance continues to operate serving in national and international missional endeavors. Due to the recent global occurrences related to Covid-19, our scheduled European May 2020 Dance Tour has been canceled and our focus has been shifted, like many to online operations.
We are thrilled to say that Feet Speak is still in full swing! The global impact of Covid-19 may have proven to set back many, however, due to our collective drive, passion, creative endeavors, and faith, Feet Speak Dance has been able to start our missional outreaches prior to our expected May 7-31, 2020 feet on ground tour dates. With the guidance of the Lord, we have and are making the most of the combination of circumstances and opportunities afforded to us now.
Over the past weeks we have coordinated and led zoom gatherings and workshops. We have begun a weekly series on Saturday am and Sunday afternoon entitled, “Let Us Worship”. These are virtual gatherings intended to provide a safe and creative environment for anyone who desires to participate and freely dance, pray and worship. You can view a sample “Let Us Worship” gathering here https://youtu.be/5ck1XMPkY5M
Thus far, we have engaged over 400 participants from over fifteen different countries. The virtual global reach already is exceeding the expectation of our original planned European Tour. For this we are extremely thankful and know God has a plan to use Feet Speak Dance for more global connections!
We have also been able to lead two workshops for a Louisiana based Christian Youth Theater Arts program entitled, “In Motion”. These were successful as children engaged in a learning environment of physical activities, an embodiment of scriptures and shared joyfully about their experiences. One child is quoted, “I have never danced to bible passages before and it was really fun and I want to do it again!”
Another event organized by our Feet Speak Dance director, Cynthia Newland titled, “Dancing with Faith – Hope for Uncertain Times” occurred on Sunday, April 5th. This was an incredible gathering of Christian dance professionals in the industry providing encouragement for believers and non-believers how to maintain or find faith in God in the uncertainty of our new reality. You can watch that recording here http://tiny.cc/DancingWithFaith4-5-20
Our plans for the month of April and May include more of these types of virtual offerings as well as other online engagements and presentations. Here are some examples of possibilities;
Workshops for Children, Youth and Adults – providing educational opportunities enriched by biblical concepts and truths that are engaging and fun, boost self-confidence, involving physical activity, and strengthening faith.
International Present and Share Day – Feet Speak will host a day or days where artists in a forum can present their creative projects and dialogue about their purpose and process.
24 Hour Day of Worship, Dance and Prayer – An international online gathering where artists and worshipers from around the world register for a designated allotted amount of time to dedicate their gifts to God.
Artists Supporting Artists – Encouraging and enriching individuals of various genres as Feet Speak Dance provides devotions, presentations, admonishments, prayer and blessings for artists.
As a part of our original intent, the dance ensemble will continue to have a variety of occasions to share our gifts and talents as Christian artists. We are confident more than ever that the Lord will continue use our offerings to impart the love of God through our ministry, presentations, worship gatherings, teachings and discussions with participants, and fellow dancers.
We greatly appreciate and need your partnership. Although our international ministry trip has been placed on hold, we are still operating from a missional perspective. Feet Speak Dance has and will continue to incur costs for our work which includes operational expenses involving new platforms, applications, software, video editing equipment and other personnel resources due to the shift of the online demands of our virtual presentational work.
Thank you for partnering with us. Thank you for your prayers and support. You are welcome to invite others to join our endeavors and please follow us on FaceBook as we make posts of our ongoing activities and ministry opportunities. https://www.facebook.com/feetspeakdance/