Our Not-So-Little Actor

Last week E. spent his days acting.  He had the privilege of being part of a drama camp put on by the Academy of Arts, based in South Carolina.  A team from the Academy traveled here to help a group of homeschool students put a performance together in a week.  And what a week it was.  I'd call it intense, but Eli loved every minute of it.  The team taught the kids how to do every aspect of the whole show (including mixing up the chocolate-based recipe for fake blood in the battle scene!).  E. has also developed a new appreciation for the people who change the scenery and props during performances.  (Not only did the students have lines to memorize, but after each of 14 scenes had to change out scenery and props, remembering what and where to put them!)

Friday night E. and a few other highschoolers helped with the musical that the elementary children put on, The Tiny Train That Tried.  The guys filled in as clowns to help with some of the larger props.  Saturday afternoon found him playing Man #2 (a townsperson) and a Soldier with three costume changes in April Morning, a play set during the Civil War.

Watching Eli perform was sheer joy.  There is no doubt in my mind that God has gifted him in this area.  I loved watching his enthusiasm, his interaction with the little kids and his joy in what he was doing.  He told me that he had so much fun performing, but that one of his favorite aspects of the camp was the many opportunities he had to help others.  He recounted how he taught one of the girls to cry by having her twist her nose!  And how he spent an hour keeping little ones entertained while they took turns getting their make-up put on.  And how one little girl in his prayer group told her mommy that she wanted his autograph because he was so nice to her. 

What I loved most was that the primary goal of the performance was all about God - to use the medium of performing arts to glorify Him, call people to repentance and challenge the students to a deeper walk with their Savior.  And each day of camp included chapel time with excellent teaching and student prayer groups where the kids prayed with one another about the performance.

We viewed the drama camp as an opportunity for some training and experience in the field that Eli believes God is calling him to.  But what he got was so much more.  A chance to serve and grow and shine.