Lewiston, Maine is our state's second largest city. It is an old mill town that has never really recovered from so many of the mills shutting down over the years. I have heard it described as a post-Catholic city, in that, while most of the residents would claim Catholicism as their religion, the past one and a half generations haven't been practicing this or any faith. more interesting, Lewiston has the highest population of Muslims per capita of any city in the United States. As a city of 60,000 or so, it has nowhere close to the highest Muslim population, but, regarding the percentage of the city's overall population, no other city is close.
On Thursday, Rose and I did a show at the Root Cellar, which is an inner city mission in one of the poorest, predominantly African neighborhoods in Lewiston. Consequently, our audience reflected these demographics. In a room of twenty to twenty-five kids and teens, most were first generation Americans, and many of the girls had the traditional Islamic head dress. I always enjoy a multi-cultural audience, and this group was fun.
During "Jesus is Victor", a juggling routine in which the audience participates, one first grade boy got up on stage and started dancing. Pastor Fred would be happy to know people are still moved by his signature song even though he moved into eternity a month ago.
The audience loved the doves and rabbit, of course, and as we usually do, we brought them out after the show for everyone to get a closer look. Rose, as always, was spot on with her juggling and magic. She has a big personality that lights up a stage to be sure.
I respect what Joel and the rest of the Root Cellar staff do in their neighborhood. They epitomize friendship evangelism. Like Francis of Assisi is credited with saying, "Preach the Gospel always. When necessary, use words." The Root Cellar crew do this by providing homework help, a safe place for youth to hang out, employment counseling for adults, help getting around the city, community meals, and once or twice a year having us up to do our program.