Monthly Updates

It’s been a while since our last newsletter article, but WAASUP has some things worth sharing again. As we wrap up our Stand Firm tour, we have a few “farewell” shows left.

Since Kyle is at school in St. Paul, it has become a little more challenging for the team to get together for practices or performances. However, he has a long Christmas break, and as you can see below, we’re making good use of it!

On December 12, Lutheran Island Camp had us back for another one of their Christmas dinners (a special thank you goes out to Timothy Helland for helping fill in as a puppeteer). On Saturday, January 9, we’ll be at St. Edward’s in Henning (EDIT: This performance has been postponed). The following Saturday, January 16, we’ll be at Peace Lutheran Church in Ashby. The next morning, Sunday, January 17, we’ll be returning to Calvary Lutheran Church here in Fergus for their Sunday School/Adult Bible Class time. Watch the bulletin for exact times.

We’ll also be performing a song or two for the Valentine Dinner here at Trinity on February 14.

The performance at Calvary will mark WAASUP’s 14th full performance of our Stand Firm production. If you have a really good memory, you might recall that we actually started the tour at Calvary back in January 2009.

It’s been great to watch Stand Firm grow from our original “concept meetings” in the back room of the church, where we’d draw out our ambitious dreams and ideas in the somewhat infamous green notebook, to puppet and prop construction at talented and willing puppeteer’s homes, to our first practices, to finally hitting the road and sharing the show with hundreds of people. We’ve been blessed with churches and venues, host homes, and audiences of all ages. There’s no way for us to measure or know the impact our performances may have had on people, but we know that God’s Word never returns to Him void, and that it will fulfill its purpose. We’re just ecstatic and humbled that we got to play a little role in getting that word out there.

Speaking of that word, we’d like to leave you with the two theme verses that fueled the Stand Firm tour.

Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourself fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor is not in vain.
1 Corinthians 15:58

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
Galatians 5:1

In Him,
The WAASUP Team

This past month, the majority of the WAASUP team was in Canada (eh?) with the LAMP mission team from Trinity to teach Vacation Bible School to First Nations children in remote areas of Manitoba. A handful of of some of our more “travel-friendly” puppets came with us along with 3 custom-built Pelican Pete puppets made by one of our own puppeteers, Olivia Becker. Just as we had heard and hoped, the kids really responded well and listened to the puppets more than they’d listen to one of us alone. The Pelican Pete at each of the VBS sites did everything from helping enforce the day’s theme to teaching the kids the Lord’s Prayer. It was great to see that the puppets are received as well there as they are here. Besides, now we can finally say that WAASUP has gone global!

We have one more parade left this summer. We’ll be in Vining’s Watermelon Day parade on Saturday, August 15th. As of right now, we’re also trying to get into the Vining Community Center to do our full Stand Firm production during the day.

The very next day, we’re hoping to be at Zion Lutheran Church in Little Falls. If that date ends up working for them, we’ll have just enough time to finish the parade in Vining, head to Little Falls, set up, spend the night, and perform that next morning!

We also have a great previous host in Henning who’s trying to book the Henning Community Center for us to perform there sometime soon for a more city-wide event!

As if that wasn’t enough, Pastor Lange has mentioned something about India…

In Him,
The WAASUP Team

That’s right, parade season is here again! As you’ll see on the Tour Dates page, we’ll be in the Fergus Falls Summerfest parade on Saturday, June 13. If you’re near Fergus Falls, MN, come out and see us in the parade…you might even catch a piece of our candy!

We have a bunch of other parade performances being lined up, so we’ll keep you posted!

It’s late in being posted here, but this was our May Update:

Well, as you probably heard since the last update, the puppet festival was great and the competition went really well! The judges gave us a silver award as well as an award for Outstanding Originality. It was a great, albeit a little nerve-wracking, experience for the whole team, and we’re looking forward to performing this new “finale song” at future performances. And, one last time, a big thanks to Chris Beighley for all the help!

Speaking of future performances, we’re lined up to return to St. John’s Lutheran Church in Park Rapids, MN for the second year (last time we were there we were doing our Christmas show). We’ll head there on Saturday, May 9, set up and spend the night at the Sorknesses’ grandparents’ house, and perform the next morning, Sunday, May 10, for the Sunday School/Adult Bible Class hour.

Then, like we said in the last update, we’ll have a “home performance” at Trinity on Friendship Sunday, May 17.

As always, if you know of anyone else who would like to host us for a performance, let us know!

In Him,
-The WAASUP Team

Since our last update, we’ve had two more performances of Stand Firm. On Saturday, March 14, we performed for a third time at River Bluff Apartments (home of Vi Frees). The very next morning, March 15, we were at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Henning for their children and adult Sunday School hour. Both performances went extremely well!

A huge thank you needs to go out to Chris Beighley. As this is being written, Chris is working on the puppet for our “finale song” (the song we’re going to use in the competition). We are building a human-size, bunraku-style (“Japanese-style”) puppet out of foam and fiberglass, among other things. Originally, Chris was only going to lend us some advice on the airbrushing, but he was gracious enough to volunteer many hours and his incredible artistic talent, and we’re sure this puppet will be an amazing part of this song. After the competition, we plan to add this song to the end of Stand Firm so that we can perform it everywhere we go. Thank you, Chris!

Some people have been wondering when WAASUP is going to perform the new show at Trinity. It looks like the date has been set for Sunday, May 17. That Sunday is Friendship Sunday, so there will only be one worship service, and WAASUP will perform for the Sunday School/adult Bible class hour. We hope to see you all there!

We’d write more, but we’re too busy getting this song ready for the MN regional puppetry festival March 20-21!  We’re having practices every day this week to get ready and we’re burning the midnight oil to finish the puppet and all the props. We can’t wait for you all to see it!

In Him,
-The WAASUP Team

In our last update, we reported that our December performance at Lutheran Island Camp was canceled and that we were trying to line up another date at camp. We got an email from a pastor and his wife from Montevideo (they were members of Pastor Deterding’s at one time) who said they were trying to start a puppetry ministry at their church, had heard about WAASUP, were going to be at L.I.C. in February, and were wondering if we could perform for them to get an idea of what this ministry is all about. So, on Sunday, February 8, we had our second performance of Stand Firm and, after the show, had some of the older kids in the Montevideo group come backstage to try their hand at puppetry (pun intended).

But that’s not all! We’ve also lined up a performance at L.I.C. on Saturday, February 28 for their annual Polar Plunge, where we’ll perform Stand Firm for all those people brave crazy enough to jump into the freezing cold lake.

If you were at the Valentine Dinner at Trinity, you already know that we performed just one song from our new production. Like we said, consider it a “teaser” of things to come.

We’ve begun calling people on our “waiting list” and trying to get out and perform this new program we’ve been working on for so long now. Maybe you know of someone that would like to host us for a performance. We’ve been to churches, schools, retirement/nursing homes, apartment complexes, and other places and are willing to go almost anywhere we can. Here is some info on the new show as well as a few new requirements that come along with it.

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Group Name: WAASUP (Worshiping An Awesome Savior Using Puppetry)
Production Title: Stand Firm: A Puppetry Musical
Theme: We need to put our trust in the solid Rock of Jesus if we are to stand firm through all of life’s storms.
Runtime: About 30 minutes
Target Age: Everyone from children, to teens, adults, and the elderly
Space needed for stage: At least 19′ wide by 14′ deep with at least 10′ ceilings
Lighting: Room must be able to be made completely dark as most of the performance is lit by spotlights and we use blacklights. We can bring curtains or black plastic to cover windows (including stained glass).
Sound: We have our own equipment, but could use a microphone for speaking before and afterward if needed.
Cost: We simply ask to help cover the cost of gas to out-of-town performances. Anything beyond that is just a free-will donation (we will sometimes have a basket sitting out).
Contact Us: Call Kyle at (218)739-5838, email contact@waasup.org, or visit us online at www.waasup.org for more info.
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Also, in case you missed it, WAASUP was featured in The Daily Journal again! Our picture and article, titled “WAASUP? Puppeteers find positive message,” appeared in the Friday, February 13 issue. A short video of us performing is also supposed to appear on the Journal‘s website (www.fergusfallsjournal.com) sometime soon.

By the time you get our next update, we will have attended the MN regional puppetry festival in the Twin Cities, where we are going to enter the song competition for the first time. Pray for our diligence in getting the song put together in time!

In Him,
-The WAASUP Team

“It has begun.”

These words were said from one puppeteer to another in a sort of anticipation-filled whisper (to add dramatic effect) as we were setting up for our premiere performance of our new production, Stand Firm. The next morning, we kicked off what we hope will be a very memorable new “tour” for WAASUP – memorable for the audiences and for us as a team.

This premiere was not as Lutheran Island Camp on December 20th as it was planned though. It took place at Calvary church here in town on January 4th for their Sunday school. The L.I.C. performance was canceled due to the weather, and although we were somewhat disappointed, it did give us more time to get the production ready and Ken at L.I.C. is already getting us lined up for another event this year instead.

In other WAASUP news, we are excited to be registered for the MN regional puppetry festival in the Twin Cities on March 20 – 21 for the second year. There we’ll attend workshops, learn about new resources available, meet other people in the puppetry ministry, and watch performances and competitions. We’re also very excited (and somewhat nervous) to be signed up as part of the competition for the first time. We’re starting work now on a new blacklight song that will take place entirely outside of the stage with some forms of puppetry and performing that we haven’t done before. Besides using this song for competition, we hope to add it on to the end of Stand Firm as something of a “finale song”.

Lastly, we plan to perform a song from Stand Firm for the Ladies’ Valentine Dinner, which will be done by the Trinity A.C.T. youth group this year.

In Him,
-The WAASUP Team

Often, when we find ourselves entering a new year, we pause for a moment to reflect on the events of the year past. If WAASUP was to do that, it would probably look a little something like this…

January – Last Countdown to Christmas performances at a pastors circuit meeting in Wadena and at the Broen Home in Fergus.
February – Two children’s messages and Ladies’ Valentine Dinner at Trinity. Our first ever bridal shower took place at Bethel church in Fergus.
March – With help from donations from Trinity members, we were able to attend the Minnesota regional Christian puppetry festival in Bloomington.
April – Started groundwork planning on our new production, Stand Firm.
May – 4 new puppets and 1 new puppeteer.
June – Worked on “Jesus Is Life” parade song.
July – The parades began! We performed “Jesus Is Life” at the Erhard (our longest parade ever) and Battle Lake parades. Kyle was on the Dream Team at the International Festival of Christian Puppetry and Ventriloquism and, with help, taught puppetry at Lutheran Island Camp. Our website (www.waasup.org) was launched.
August – Vining parade (we called upon the “Honorary WAASUPeteers” for help). Children’s message at Trinity. Pastor D’s suprise 50th (our first completely originally scripted and recorded program).
September – Dalton parade. Grand re-opening of The Promise Shop in Fergus. The German Heritage Festival at Trinity.
October – Morning Son’s fall festival in Fergus (doing 4 shows was the most we’ve ever done back-to-back).
November – “Nose to the grindstone” on Stand Firm.
December – Premiere of Stand Firm at one of Lutheran Island Camp’s Christmas Dinners was canceled due to snow, but the January premiere at Calvary was soon to follow.

Now, obviously, those were only some of the biggest events to take place over the past year. We met once a week, every week of the year (minus one or two) where we honed our puppetry skills, did an incredible amount of planning and work “behind the scenes”, and, most importantly, grew in our faith through devotions and prayer and grew in our abilities to share that faith. As you can see, we had a lot of firsts and new experiences and we were definitely kept busy! We praise God for all the ways He blessed us in 2008 and we look to Him for guidance and direction in 2009.

Regarding our upcoming performance, we will be at Calvary church for the Sunday school here in town on January 4 with our first performance of Stand Firm, but we would actually encourage you to wait to see our new program until we have it completely finished the way it was planned. It won’t be a long wait…we’re very close!

Happy New Year!

In Him,
-The WAASUP Team

Well, we didn’t quite get that new song we mentioned in our last update ready in time for our performance at Morning Son Christian School, but the shows went very well nonetheless. We did four 15-minute shows for kids, parents, and anyone else willing to spend the tickets it took to get into the sanctuary to see us.

So although the new song wasn’t ready in time, we will have it ready for the first performance of our new program, Stand Firm. On December 20th, we’ll be at Lutheran Island Camp for one of their Christmas Dinners. You might remember that we were at camp last year with our Countdown to Christmas program, and they’ve asked us to come back again.

Other than that, there isn’t a lot of news to relay as we’re really focusing on getting this production put together. We’ve made our weekly practices a little longer and we’re already “outsourcing” some of the work, but that deadline just keeps getting closer (as most deadlines do)!

Merry Christmas!

In Him,
-The WAASUP Team

Busy, busy, busy! Like we said in last month’s update, we performed for the grand re-opening of the Promise Shop Christian bookstore here in Fergus and the next day we were at the German Heritage Festival at Trinity. Both of those performances were “mash-ups” of past songs, all strung together with some custom scripts fit for the occasion. While we’ve enjoyed putting those programs together, there’s something bigger that we’re even more excited about coming just around the corner…

If you were to scan back through past updates from WAASUP, you’d notice that there’s been mention of a new production being in the works since last June or so. As a group, we’ve found that being in parades and putting on workshops and performing for children’s messages, surprise birthday parties, bookstores, and festivals takes a lot of time! Busy though we were, we were actually working slowly and steadily on the planning and groundwork for this new production, Stand Firm, and we are now happy to announce that one of the new songs is coming together nicely as props and costumes are being designed and built, probably as you read! It’s our goal to have this new song, “Build Your House Upon the Rock”, a sort of old rock-n-roll song sung by a very familiar-looking character, ready for our next performance.

What is that next performance? We’re glad you asked! We will be at Morning Son Christian school here in town for their fall festival on October 24th. The way we understand it, we’ll be doing 4 shows between 5:30 and 7:30 that festival-going kids can come watch for a certain number of tickets. We always love these chances to reach out to our own community and we’re just hoping our song is ready in time!

Once we’re done with that performance, we’re planning on really putting our nose to the grindstone in November to try and have Stand Firm ready for Christmastime performances. Because we wanted to have a non-seasonal production, Stand Firm won’t be Christmas-themed, but we think our holiday hosts will enjoy it nonetheless. We already have one date lined up at Lutheran Island Camp for their Christmas dinners (Sat., Dec. 20th).

We’d like to take this paragraph to thank those who have recently made donations to our ministry. Obviously, in putting this production together, we come across a lot of “up front” expenses with all the prop materials, set pieces, costumes, and puppets that we need to just get the show off the ground. We’re also stepping into some new territory with this production as we look into blacklights and other lights and “special effects” that we haven’t used before. So thank you again for your much appreciated and well-utilized gifts!

In Him,
-The WAASUP Team