The Circle of Life

I know I haven't blogged in over a week, but because I had two blog posts in a single week previously I'm hoping you'll forgive me. Now, let's get down to business...

I am quite intrigued - almost on a daily basis - at how life works it's self out. The purpose-filled connections we make, and the opportune timing of events. I mean if you think about it everything that has brought you to this moment here has been meticulously calculated up to this very second. The people you have come across, the career path you chose, the events in your life, and even the minor activities that you plan over your weekends. Everything has some form of significance somewhere. If you don't understand what I'm saying then rent a movie called 'The Adjustment Bureau' starring Matt Damon and that should give you a lead.

For those of us who are accelerated, let me fill you in on what got me thinking about this. Last week Saturday I had the coolest privilege of watching my very first Broadway production, The Lion King. In the moment right after I purchased my ticket from the box office I then realized that, oddly enough, The Lion King was also my very first movie way back in 1995 as a 6/7 year-old kid. Significance? Well it's nothing that will change your life forever, but The Lion King is also a production I had auditioned for back home but having not known very much about the world of Musical Theatre at the time. Needless to say I did not get cast. Now, as the circle of life would have it, one of my instructors at the New York Film Academy, Thom Christopher Warren, is a part of the cast and has been a part of this Broadway production for the past nine years. Maybe it's just me, but the dot's I'm connecting are pretty cool.

Anyway, after the show I get a personal backstage tour from the the man himself and I have the opportunity to also say 'howzit' to some fellow South Africans who are a part of the cast. Throughout my tour Thom drops statements such as 'when you're a part of the The Lion King...' in an attempt to spur me on and encourage me I guess. Two words: it worked! Here's a dot I'm already seeing: next time The Lion King holds auditions I will already have a good word on the inside as long as I continue to work hard prove myself in the days of learning.

Similarly, my housing woes in the city have come to an end and I attribute it to this very Circle of Life. I now live with a friend of mine who has followed a totally different journey to me in life, but yet here we are together in New York City in the same apartment at the end. In short, Willem is a virtuoso pianist/composer/arranger who was a school mate in Bloemfontein, later became my vocal coach in our chamber choir (glee club) at school, we then became friends and kept contact through the wonders of technology such as Facebook and Skype, and now after almost ten years we are roommates in New York City and are both in the same industry. How cool is that?

If you haven't noticed, a lot of my posts are loosely based on scriptural references and are over-simplified (sometimes over-explained) versions of things a guy much smarter and wiser than I will ever be once said. As I write this, here is what comes to mind:

 "And we know that God causes EVERYTHING to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them" - Romans 8:28 (NLT)

P.S In the next post I'll tell you more about the amazing show I watched yesterday! WOW! Look out for it.

"We Will Never Forget..."

These are the words on almost every single American company's branding as you walk the city streets. These are the words that describe what every American feels at this time. What are they referring to? The lives lost ten years ago on 9/11. The brave men and women who came to the fore to provide emergency services and care for those who had had everything ripped away in a single instant. A nation that was brought together by terror.

I remember where I was ten years ago to this day. Walking in my local Spar to shop for snacks for the school trip we were taking the following day I noticed people watching TV with images of crashing planes. I paid little attention to this commotion - as a 7th grader would - until I got home to see our TV on the very same channel. Those crashing planes weren't fiction anymore. This was very much real life and, in fact, was going to be a reference point in history for everyone who was alive on planet earth at that time.

Fast forward ten years and I could have never guessed that I would be sitting in that exact once terror-strikken city myself. 

I sat in a church service that made me so emotional, yet also made me feel like a proud and resilient American (which I am not). You see, it's one thing to hear about people hurting and those that have gone through hardships, but a total other thing to live in their world. Their pain becomes your pain. You bleed when they bleed. 

In the beginning of the service, Ps Carl Lentz asks all those that have been directly affected or have lost someone by the happenings of 9/11 to stand up so they can be honoured for their resilience. My eyes tear up as I realise this is real right here, but at the same time I sense a tangible presence of God's unending love in the room as worship music plays in the background. It's in our times of desperate need that God is closest to us.

I honour every single American for their strength. I once might have thought that the events of 9/11 get over-reported, but being in the middle of it all ten years on, I also say 'we will never forget'.

"Now all I am, I lay at your feet. I'm humbled by the wonder of Your majesty. One thing I know, I find all I need in your unending love. In your unending love."

- Unending Love by Hillsong Live taken from the album God Is Able

Lights. Camera. Action!

It's Wednesday morning and I am buzzing with excitement. The weather doesn't seem to be on my side as it pours down with rain outside, but nothing can stop the spring in my step today. Nothing can get me down - even if I don't have an umbrella. It's the official start day of my Musical Theatre program at NYFA.

It started with the regular formalities of registration, collection of my file and orientation program, an international student debriefing session followed by a general debriefing session, and then... nothing. Yes, nothing. I psyched myself up so much and all I got was mere formalities and then we went home. Did someone say anti-climax? It was at least a thrill to see the buzz on campus when the entire starting class arrived but because everyone was in a different program it made it so difficult to connect with anybody. Now I was looking forward to the following two days as printed out on our orientation programs.

How do you know that you're part of a cool industry? When your Thursday starts out with a photo shoot. Wooohoooo! No, but seriously this is how my Thursday began. With head-shots, which was so cool. The photographs get used by those studying in other programs, like Film Making or Producing, when  they need to cast people for their projects. Right after head-shots we headed into auditions with the Chair of the MT program. I thought I had already gone through this process in order to get into this school, but clearly they don't play at NYFA. I chose to do 'Seasons of Love' in F (from Rent) and 'The Flesh Failures/Let The Sunshine' In  in Am (from Hair). Got good feedback and well, I'm just glad to still be in the program after that.

Now Friday was just off the charts! Granted I knew that going on a guided student tour of the city would spell pure awesomness, but never could I have guessed to what degree. Our tour guide, Kevin - what a cool name, is a faculty member at NYFA. However, what he neglected to tell us was that he is a lead in the hot Broadway production 'Book of Mormon' which has recently won 9 Tony's including Best Musical. He took us on a tour of New York City the way a NYFA-MT student needs to know it through Soho, Times Square, Broadway and the Lincoln Centre. The most amazing part though was when he organised for us to have backstage access to 'Book of Mormon'. As I went through the doors and eventually ended up centre stage in the Eugene O'Neill Theatre I had so much vision stirred up inside me. It was a moment of perfect alliance. The future, the big dream waiting on the present menial dedications. The law of seed and harvest. Kevin Singleton - another awesome name - says this: "...the harvest is always later, but it's always greater!"

This week I start with my classes, finally. I got my schedule on Friday and all I can say is if you're looking for me just make sure it's never between 09:00 and 18:00. Oh, and that is Monday to Friday. I have two kinds of dance this semester, ballet and jazz, and I have both those classes on my first day. Haven't danced a day in my life, but that's one of the things I'm most excited for. It's a brand new challenge so it is a little scary, but so exciting though.

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous,
talented and fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other
people won't feel insecure around you.

We were born to make manifest the glory of
God that is within us.

It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine,
we unconsciously give other people
permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fear,
Our presence automatically liberates others."

—Marianne Williamson

Sink Or Swim

New York City is not for the faint at heart. There is no time to 'find your bearings' and there's no time to ask too many questions. You move it along and if you get it wrong the first time, you do it again until you get it right. No one is going to help you out. No one cares that you're not a local. And no one is interested in your personal situation.

As grim as this opener might sound, I still rate this as one of the best places in the world. I have totally fallen in love with this city and it's personality. The fact that things are so fast-paced and people seem cold is exactly what drives you to figure things out on your own until you get it right. In physiology, the phrase 'fight-or-flight-response' is often used to describe the body's reaction and general adaptation to stressful situations and this is, psychologically, exactly what I have had to do in the past couple of days. I have only been here for a little under a week, but it feels as though I was born here now simply because I had to discover everything myself.

I have had a really great opening week and have accomplished so much in this week alone. I have totally mastered the New York City subway system, I have found a really nice apartment in Brooklyn, I have opened a US bank account, and I am on a US cellular network. Heading into orientation week I still need to move in to my apartment and get furniture for the place, but hopefully I can handle that smoothly.

I haven't had the opportunity - or the time - to do any touristy activities while here, but as time goes on I'll do my best to get around to doing that and posting about those experiences.

I'm really über excited to start classes this coming week and the enormous privilege and blessing this is has only just recently sunk in. I have had a little preview of the kind of things I'll be getting up to from a friend of mine who studied musical theatre as well. I'm going to be totally immersed in dance, music, voice instruction, and film craft. With that total immersion, though, comes little time for anything else apparently so I'll take this opportunity to apologise in advance if I don't come up for air very often. 

Tomorrow is my first Sunday in New York City and no prizes for guessing where I'll be headed in the morning: CHURCH! I have a short list of 3 churches which I will be visiting before ultimately joining one. I am starting this week at Hillsong Church in Irving Plaza which is cool because I have already met a volunteer from there on the streets of Manhattan during random conversation. Coincidence? Maybe not.

Untill next time...

Umuntu Ngumuntu Ngabantu

For one day every year we each have an opportunity feel über special, completely loved, and get extremely spoiled by the people around us. It's a day where all the focus and attention is on you and is normally accompanied by tangible gifts as well. It's called a birthday and for me, this day was yesterday.

This birthday was undoubtedly one of the best birthdays I have ever had. Not because I was inundated with gifts, but because for the first time in my life I had the opportunity to publicly share a faith testimony with a number of people. As I prophesied in the previous post about the coming rain, here I stand writing this post exactly a month later with the rain pouring down. Project 177 has been a HUGE success and God has delivered on every part of His promise. In fact, He exceeded every one of my expectations.

There's a long and short version of this testimony as I realised last night while sharing it. Unfortunately, I was only able to share the short version because I became emotional while I was speaking (who would have thought?). The full version has to be heard to be fully appreciated - because it is that involved - so I will be uploading a video pretty soon that tells of God's goodness.

Today, though, I'd like to honour and thank very important people in my life that have helped me on this (almost) year-long journey, and induct them into my 'Hall of Fame'. I by no means intend to leave people out, so please forgive me if you feel I have done so.

Thank you always to my spiritual leaders who have always been there for guidance, encouragement and support: Pastors At and Nyretta Boshoff, Rhulani Garrine, and Yvette Schoeman.

A major shout out to the PROJECT 177 BLIKSKUD crew who were willing to become the least and become, for lack of a better word, beggars for me. You didn't mind how people would perceive you even though you knew you were going to come across thousands of opinionated people. You bore some of the worst rejection from strangers I have ever experienced. You supported me from beginning to end and most noble of all is that expected nothing in return. You are: Tharina Viljoen, Craig Jackson, Simon Menssink, Lisa-Marie Johnstone, Earl Grobbler, Cindi-Lee Johnstone, Refilwe Masopoga, Maiphephi Mamaribe, Ruan Lishman, Lizaan Human, Henry Human, Nomhle Masuku, Annelize Sherman, Christelle du Plessis, Carina Otto, Dale Hyland, Jessica Katane, and Marnus van Heerden.

To everyone who made financial contributions to the project - THANK YOU! We had aimed for around 1000 contributions and we barely got 100, yet still managed to raise R54 000. This just tells shows me how generous you people are. Thank you for every single contribution, from the least to the most. You are: David Holmes, Karlien Minnie, Lisa-Marie Johnstone, Alexia Johnstone, Lyndon Johnstone, Mduduzi and Lindiwe Hlongwana, Stefan and Christine Smit, Thato and Poloko Mohono, Ruan Lishman, Schalk and Sorien Vermeulen, Felix and Carin van Zyl, Jaco and Franli Meintjies, Henry Meyer, Golda Schultz, Tinyiko Siwele, Rache Oosthuizen, Pierre du Plessis, Henk Craig, Liezl Craig, Anieke Hooman, Talita Herbst, Cobus Linde, Benita Bollers, Ntokozo Nhlapo, Lesitsi Moremoholo, Bonginkosi Hlefana, Kirsty Adams, Zee Kumalinga, Lee-Anne Benjamin, Daniel Smit, Damiane van Reenen, Tshwane Rakaibe, Sarie Wiese, Marius and Adrie van Heerden, Thando Jama, Geraldine Murray, Laetitia le Roux, Theresia lessing, Morongoe Namane, Khangwane (surname), Shumi Madima, Linda Semela, Beverley Dickason, Thelma Hugo, Carolina Koornhof, Jaco Steyn, Magda Higgins, Johan Human, Lerato Mvasa, JP Knipe, Amanda Herbst, Janie Roos, Stephan Meyer, Lee- Anne Visser, Willie van Wyk, Robin Fernie, Dirk Snyders, Ntsatsi Phatedi, Kaygee Molapo, Rich Huang, E Grové, Martin and Rhoda Moeti, and 3 more unnamed individuals. Also thank you to the random individuals who made contributions on the road during our Blikskud campaign.

Last, but definitely not least, i want to make special mention of a couple of people. Niel Higgins for your constant support, advice and for helping me to get my auditions in to the NYFA. Morne Andrews for the video work on my audition tapes. Leanie Brynard (neé Baben) for the on call script read-through sessions and practices. Clinton Powell and Seth Winkler for shooting, editing, and helping me in getting the initial Project 177 video out. Sorien Vermeulen for all the ideas and readiness to use her skills and know-how in any way you could help me raise funds way before Project 177 was a concept. Shumi Madima for tirelessly getting the word out on Project 177 and eventually nabbing a press release. Christopher Coetzee for organising a massive R5000 discount on my flight ticket. Misha Joyce for helping me finish those 1800 flyers in a short amount of time. And finally, Lisa-Marie Johnstone for being a solid foundation throughout everything. No matter what needed to be done, however it needed to be done I always knew you had my back. All the energy and resources you sourced and directed to helping me is unthinkable. A lot of times it felt like you were more involved and working harder on this than I was and for that I thank you. It is so hard to believe that we only met about two/three months ago.

Look out for the video on my testimony and be encouraged to trust God in your own situation, whatever it may be. Believe me when I say that if God can work miracles for me, He can do it for anybody... including YOU! I pray that faith be stirred deep into your heart and that you know that whatever the mountain is, it will be removed in the name of Jesus.

Peace!

A Little Cloud - A Great Rain

If you have been reading any of my blog posts thus far you know that I am in a pressing situation at the moment trying to raise funds for my studies and living expenses in New York while studying at the New York Film Academy. In this post I want to tell you some great things that I have witnessed throughout this stressful time and also share some encouragement.

Well, at this stage of the year I was hoping that all my financial obligations for this NY journey would have been met, but alas they have not. Three weeks ago, when I realised that I'm cutting it pretty close, I had a choice to make: either sit down and wait for God to do a 'miracle' or actively use my brain and exhaust all the resources available in order to accomplish this mammoth financial task. The former is easy and assumes that you have faith while the latter is a lot more difficult and proves that you have faith in God.

"For as the human body apart from the spirit is lifeless, so faith apart from [its] works of obedience is also dead." - JAMES 2:26 (AMP)

So I took the difficult step and started Project 177 which I blogged about in my previous post. However, with little time left it hasn't all been a smooth emotional and mental journey to undertake. Until this past Sunday, that is. 

Early in the morning while sitting 'backstage'at our church I distinctly heard the spirit of God telling me that I need to get rid of my beggar's mentality. While our pastor was busy preaching on key life principles from Romans 8, God was dealing with me simultaneously on a very personal level. At first it seemed as though He was telling me that I shouldn't approach people for contributions to fund my study, but then as I sat there listening, it became more clear to me.

It is so easy for us as people to have an apologetic attitude when something good happens to us or when we are blessed with success. It's almost as though we don't know that we were actually created and destined for greatness so when it happens we don't know how to react. The first emotion that society teaches you to have is that of humility or, should I say, false humility! This is exactly what God was dealing with in me on Sunday morning.

There are two distinct things that got me during this little meeting on Sunday: 

1) "Stop apologising for my blessing!"

2) "If I didn't keep heaven's best from you when I sent Jesus, then what is money that I may keep it from you"

The second one is actually taken from scripture (paraphrased a little) and the first one was actually a direct reprimand to me. Where do we get off feeling sorry for ourselves when God blesses us with his favour and with good fortune and with success? Yes we might not deserve it, but hey we get it anyway. The cool thing is that we need to realise that because God has blessed us, other people around us are automatically also blessed. You are blessed to be a blessing so there is never an opportunity where you need to put on a beggar's mindset and feel you don't deserve the blessing. Receive God's blessing with boldness and joy because there is something that God wants to do through you with that blessing... It NEVER ends with you!

The thing I changed in my mind immediately was the notion that people are paying for my tuition or getting me educated. I am EXTREMELY grateful for everyone who has supported me financially and those that continue to do so, but I have realised that God is the source. Even if He uses people, He is still the source and that glory will NOT be shared with anybody. Thank, honour and respect people, but never think in your heart that it is people who get you where you need to be in life.

By now you might be bored or very intrigued. If it's the former then tough luck because that concludes only my introduction. What I really want to divulge since my previous post is the mighty hand of God that has been working in my financial situation. I am not where I need to be with my obligations as yet, but I have no doubt in my mind that all my needs will be met.

From the day that the very first person deposited money into my account, this scripture has been ringing in my 

heart 1 Kings 18:41-45 (NLT):

⁴¹ Then Elijah said to Ahab, “Go get something to eat and drink, for I hear a mighty rainstorm coming!” ⁴² So Ahab went to eat and drink. But Elijah climbed to the top of Mount Carmel and bowed low to the ground and prayed with his face between his knees. ⁴³ Then he said to his servant, “Go and look out toward the sea.” The servant went and looked, then returned to Elijah and said, “I didn’t see anything.” Seven times Elijah told him to go and look. ⁴⁴ Finally the seventh time, his servant told him, “I saw a little cloud about the size of a man’s hand rising from the sea.” Then Elijah shouted, “Hurry to Ahab and tell him, ‘Climb into your chariot and go back home. If you don’t hurry, the rain will stop you!’” ⁴⁵ And soon the sky was black with clouds. A heavy wind brought a terrific rainstorm, and Ahab left quickly for Jezreel.

Elijah saw a miniature cloud and told his servant, Ahab, to tell the leadership about the coming rain. In other people's mind's it might not seem enough to justify rain because everyone wants God to show them a HUGE sign, but Elijah saw a cloud as small as a man's hand. This cloud was by no means the miracle, but it was a 'sign and wonder'of the miracle that was to come i.e the terrific rainstorm. 

Similarly, i see the same daily, I wake up with a couple of deposits for R177 reflecting on my account and it doesn't seem like much, but this is just the cloud. Other clouds that I have witnessed is that, just yesterday, the New York Film Academy has decided to increase my scholarship from $4000 per year to $10 000 per year. No that was not a typo! Additionally, I was approached by a friend who freely offered to contribute $300 per month toward my living expenses. These are just signs and wonders that assure me that God has been in this from the very get go. It also excites me to see that I have grown so much in faith that I can trust God for these  great amounts of money.

There is about two weeks left for me to meet my targets and pay all outstanding fees in. I would like to ask you to continue to share Project 177 on Facebook (facebook.com/project177), Twitter (twitter.com/project177), Youtube (youtube.com/project177), and the latest addition IndieGoGo (indiegogo.com/project177). Project 177 has managed to raise $3000 so far. Thank you once again to all that have helped out so far and all that will still contribute in the future.

I think there is a lot of good news that can be taken from the stories I have told, but this testimony is not even complete. In two weeks time I'm going to have one of the coolest stories to share so check back in then.... or earlier... you never know!

Thanks peeps!

I'm Back

So after months of no postings I think I am back and that I am back for good. I won't even try make excuses for why I haven't been blogging because the honest truth is that most the time I have just been lazy. This time though I am a man on a mission and through this blog and my other social media sites I am hoping to accomplish a great feat.

In about 7 weeks'time I need to board a plane that is headed to New York City, but there are millions of things to do before I can do that. One of the major things that still need to be done is sourcing complete funding for my tuition, accommodation and living expenses. All together that is approximately US$60 000 for one year.

Enter Project 177. If you haven't heard of Project 177 you need to be more active on social media sites and look it up. The premise of this project is that if I can get 1000 people from across the world to contribute R177 toward my studies then that would cover my entire year's tuition. Another aspect, although wishful, is that if 1000 people could contribute R300 then that would cover both my tuition and accommodation for one year. So if you are reading this blog I ask (but more earnestly expect) that you share this through every social media network on which you are active. I have no doubt in my mind that somehow, somewhere, some way, 1000 people can join and rally together for this one cause. I mean who doesn't have R177 to donate?

As time draws closer for my departure to the Big Apple I will definitely be blogging more. I will especially be blogging a lot more when I'm actually in the Empire State because I think it will make for a much more interesting read. From my days in class to tours of the city... expect to read it all here!

In other news, I am so happy to actually mention that numbers 3,5, 6,7, and 8 are all either accomplished already six months into the year, or are ongoing successes.

Looking forward to many more interesting posts, especially from New York City.

Adios

PROJECT 177: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Project-177-1000-for-Arts-Education/106284699467386