Manlius Methodist Church

On May 12th, Light of the World performed “The Crown” for a mother-daughter dinner at the Manlius Methodist church. We were sad to realize that this was our last performance of “The Crown” with the full cast for this year. Miss Ashley was surprised when she first stepped forward to introduce everyone, and saw her chiropractor sitting right in front. One of the ministers in attendance was kind enough come forward when we finished and graciously spoke a blessing over Light of the World. We also taught some of the young girls there some ballet steps- they were all so adorable in their beautiful dresses! It was a blessing to get to know the people at that church a bit, and hear about their heart for the local community. I hope there are more open doors to see them again! God bless! ~Cayla

Faith Heritage

On Wednesday May 2nd, we performed Living Hope at Faith Heritage Christian School. It was the first time we performed Living Hope since January. We knew before hand that this might be a tricky performance. First, it was going to be pretty tight in terms of spacing and we also had a smaller time window in which to perform. However, we have dealt with these challenges before and the Lord always provides grace. We were able to get everything set up with six minutes to get into costume. The performance itself was fairly good considering the circumstances. The bell rang before the program was over, but we were informed that would probably happen. When we finished, I was able to briefly share my testimony. The kids were a very pleasant and attentive audience! I pray that they were encouraged. Light of the World has danced at Faith Heritage on several other occasions and each time we are blessed by the staff there. They are such wonderful people! I hope we will continue to have an open door at Faith Heritage and be able to see how God is working in the lives of the students and faculty. Abi-

LWB Professional Ballerina Day

On Saturday, May 3rd, LWB had a Professional Ballerina Day for girls to come experience a day in the life of a professional ballerina! They participated in devotions, took a mini Ballet class, learned how to do a nice bun, learned some things about pointe shoes, and how to do performance make-up. They also got to see an LWB performance of the Crown, as well as some pieces that the Ballet 5's from the school put together. We all got to the studio early to decorate and set up for the evening. It was so much fun to make the studio all pretty in pink to welcome the girls and their families! Somewhere around 50 girls came, along with some parents and siblings. They all seemed to love the experience! The performance went well; the Ballet 5's did great with their pieces and the Crown also went well! We were dancing very close to the little girls who were sitting on the floor, and they were fascinated with how close we were. There's one part in particular where Karissa (who plays the part of Bitter) points at/accuses me and I fall on the floor. I fell very close to a couple of tiny girls and they were giggling at how close we were and then I felt my crown move! I thought it pretty funny that they touched my crown :) We were all very excited that Amy was able to dance her solo in Hail to the King with us!! Her injury is healing and she is slowly but surely able to do more dancing. It was great having her back :) All around, it was a great event! All the girls were so adorable and we all had fun getting to show them the things "Ballerinas" do! :) Love, Ashley

Golisano Children's Hospital

On Monday, April 30 we packed up our van for a morning performance at Golisano Children’s Hospital. This performance being the first one back in Syracuse after our NYC trip/tour we were not concerned about doing the Crown once again. The oddly shaped small space and carpeted floor made for a different feel than any other time we had performed the Crown. One tiny 6 month old girl was so smiley and attentive. I was so blessed to see such a young person drawn in by the story, colors, and movement. Sadly, not many kids came to the performance, but we were broadcasted throughout the hospital so that any child could watch us from their room. Although we were not able to give a testimony or the gospel in this setting, our message was made clear as we did Healing is in His Hands. I truly believe that God did soften the hearts of some of the staff members present. Blessed by His Light, Karissa

Mohawk Valley Christian School

At the end of our NYC tour, we went to perform at the Mohawk Valley Christian School on our way back to Syracuse. We were somewhat tired from the weeks schedule, but the Lord provided grace and energy! We performed the Crown for the elementary school students there, which is always fun to perform for kids. After we performed, on the spot one of the teachers asked if we would share about developing and using your talents to glorify the Lord. As this is a subject that Lord has been speaking to me about recently, it was awesome to get to encourage these students! We also got to pray for some of the students afterward as well. I'm praying that the students and the teachers were really blessed by what they saw and heard that day! ~Gwen

Children of Promise

On April 23rd we danced in Brooklyn, NY at Children of Promise. It’s an after school program for kids who have a parent that is incarcerated. We danced on the fifth floor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle Deliverance Center. Thankfully there was an elevator so we didn’t have to carry our marley up five flights of stairs! This performance took place in a very large gymnasium. It was a fantastic space, but there was nothing on the walls to absorb the sound, so it was difficult to hear the narration because everything echoed. We performed The Crown and the kids were very attentive. One of the workers told us that they had had other groups in to perform and the kids would get easily distracted. But when we performed they were excellent! I attribute this to fervent prayer. There is a part in The Crown where Gwen and I fight over a tambourine. During this exchange, poor Gwen cut her finger on it. It was bleeding like crazy and, of course, we didn’t have anything backstage to put on it. So, we were praying that the kids wouldn’t notice, which got answered thank the Lord! The kids were so wonderful! After The Crown, they all came up and gave us hugs and talked with us. They wanted to know what was in the money sack! :) You could tell that they longed for someone to truly love them and that some had been starving for this kind of love. When Miss. Ashley spoke, she gave an invitation to receive Christ and several children raised their hands! Mr. Rollinson also led one of the staff members to the Lord after the performance. The Lord’s hand was over that place and it was a very fruitful time of ministry. I pray that there will be other believers who come into the lives of those who made decisions for Christ and that there would be growth and blessing in their lives.

Abi-

The Walter Hoving Home

On Tuesday April 4th, we performed at the Walter Hoving Home in Garrison NY. The Walter Hoving Home is a home for women who are going through rehabilitation from different addictions. They provide a place for the women to come to learn different skills, as well as parenting classes, getting their driver's license, and much more! It is also a Christian organization that helps these beautiful women to find a relationship with Jesus Christ and experience His salvation and incredible love for each of us. I so enjoyed getting to know some of these women while we were there; they were such a blessing and it was a good time of refreshment on their beautiful property. We performed Alive, Lifesongs, and The Crown for them, Amy shared her testimony, and then we led them in arm motions to Healing Hands at the end. It went very well and I think that it really touched the hearts of everyone there. A couple of the ladies told us that the arm motions felt awkward at first since it really took them out of their element, but that it toched them deeply. It was great to see many of them in tears as they came out of their comfort zone to worship their Savior. It was a good lesson for me to remember to get out of my box for Jesus. Miss Ashley gave the salvation message and there were at least 4 of them that raised their hand saying that they prayed to receive Christ for the first time!!! It's so exciting to think that, as we danced our final dance, we were dancing and rejoicing at the same time as the angels in heaven over these women who were saved! All the glory goes to God for a fruitful and powerful performance! Praise Jesus! Love, Ashley

Mt Pleasant Christian School

On Monday, April 9th, we performed The Crown at Mt. Pleasant Christian School. We were all concerned for Amy’s calf injury; the day before she had performed for the first time since getting injured. She had done great the day before, but after three back to back performances, her calf was not holding up very well (we later found out the it had been re-strained). After warming up, she decided it would probably be safest to alter some dances so she would be dancing less. After re-working some spacing to work without Amy, we spent some time in prayer, and prepared for the performance. The company opened with Lifesongs, a short worship ballet, and then we presented The Crown. Everything went fairly smoothly, and Amy’s calf made it through the whole performance! We got to pray with several audience members afterward, and got to know them a little bit. Some of the people who came to the performance had been part of the missions trip to Israel that the company members went on this past fall, and so they were very excited to see the company and the Rollinson’s again. We were so blessed by Ruth, who arranged the performance and organized a dinner for us for afterward, where we got to know her and her daughter a bit more. I am so glad we had this opportunity to minister to the people in Virginia! God bless! ~Cayla <3