 We're in tech for the simplest staging and most provocative piece of our theater festival, "Convergence of History: Four Anniversaries, One Faith."
So, I'm eager for and wary of how the audience will respond to "Freedom Song: The Amazing Grace/Uncle Tom Suite," the Reader's Theater piece Vikki and I are presenting Saturday, April 11 at the Schaumburg Township District Library. The reading begins at noon. Our time together, including the post-show Q & A, is an hour. Unless people want to hang out and keep talking. Given the racial, political, spiritual and emotional intensity of the last month -- not to mention the last 15 -- it may not seem wise to read excerpts of the novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin." in public. Yet, it's perhaps because of the current climate that we sense a different type of pertinence to this program. There are three discoveries we've made as we've woven the narrative of John Newton's transformation from slave-trader to the pastor who composed "Amazing Grace" that we believe will make this hour worth attending: 1) The intriguing way Newton came to experience "grace" as an act of God to be replicated, not just discussed and sung about. 2) How author Harriet Beecher Stowe was affected by the lyrics to the extent she was to use them and adapt her own as an integral element in her novel's storyline and the protagonist's decisions. 3) That Stowe's prologue and epilogue, which we highlight in our adaptation, are a more frightening message to the those who claim Christian faith in the United States in 2026 as when she penned them in 1852. Her message, in the same vein as Frederick Douglass' speech, "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?", challenges professed Christians to live the tenets of the Christ rather than leveraging selected passages to justify personal positions. This last discovering surprised us because, a) because we didn't include them when we created the script in 2019; b) I only found these passages after last Saturday's rehearsal when Vikki and I felt a section of the script needed more context. Reading Stowe's bookending words was a gift of grace. And a plus of Reader's Theater. We're hopeful you will grace us with your presence Saturday. We have no agenda other than to entertain, educate, equip and empower Safe-Faith Conversations and a closer living the grace of The LORD God. Yes, we still have seats: tinyurl.com/GraceTom2026
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 Migrants arrived in Chicagoland in buses similar to this; but transportation within the communities is scarce. Volunteer assistance with transport or housing through Elk Grove Village government community outreach. In September 2022, the government of the State of Texas began sending migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. to northern cities, including Elk Grove Village, IL, where Kingdom Impact Theater Ministries is based. Since then, KIT Ministries and the Elk Grove Interfaith Council have monitored progress assisting the original 85 migrants, and the hundreds of others in the Chicagoland area, in the process of being physically and spiritually safe and secure while legal matters are resolved.
Five months later, many matters remained in flux between federal, state and local officials and the individuals awaiting answers. At the February 2023 Interfaith meeting, the Council resolved there was one path to take to overcome the obstacles and repeated ball of confusion: Intercessory prayer. Thus, several pastors participating the council agreed to encourage individual congregations to intervene in prayer. Here are eight specific items of prayer: 
Reading, meditating and living scripture passages early in life can plant seeds for future comfort in difficult situations. -- Photo by Samantha Sophia on Unsplash
by Michael Edgar Myers, Founding Director
Cami Myers, an intern with Kingdom Impact Theater Ministries, has been compiling resources and recommendations for individuals managing mental health challenges and posting them in a series of online essays we call “A Collegian’s Guide to Mental Health.”
We outlined Cami's background and how these essays came to be in an earlier post, "College, Ministry & Stress." Today, we provide access to the essays themselves and Biblical connections the KIT Ministries staff made while editing them. Although the essays are not “Christian” in nature, reading them revealed parallels between the practical concepts and Bible basics. There are seven scriptures related to the contents of the four essays themselves, and three other principles that provide perspective on Cami’s spiritual health journey summarized in the four essays. 
George Friderik Handel's "Messiah," is a Christmas classic that began as an Easter concert.
 "O, Holy Night" by Danny Gokey: From worship leader to recording evangelist. This carol is one of 61 on the playlist of "Carol Story," a 10-minute play that tells the story of Christ solely through lyrics of Christmas songs as dialogue. Learn More. "O Holy Night" is an English translation of the French carol "Le Christien Minuit" that was translated and became a rallying cry of abolitionists during the Civil War. The third verse of "O Holy Night" was a direct Christian call to eradicate slavery, a sentiment that led to the song begin edited or outright banned in some sections of the country. We address this story more in our production, "Freedom Song."
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