Christmas Around The World

Whew! Another Crossroads Church Christmas Production is done. We started planning it about six months ago and it far exceeded our expectations. This year's theme was Christmas Around the World. It was different than anything we've done before - with some really cool, new wow factors. Some churches choose to do the same program each year, we've always opted to try and come up with something different! It seems to be working - Over 4,200 people attended our six performances on Saturday and Sunday! Here's a sample of the 13,000 tickets passed out by members of Crossroads Church! Our folks always rise to the occasion and get the word out about our production. We appreciate their effort so much! 

As always, our Children's Ministry kicked things off with an awesome song and dance number written by our Music Pastor, Coy Watson. The performance featured a mass choir of kids in costumes from around the world, a dance team that put on some impressive moves and a Nursery parade of some of the cutest kids in the world representing kids around the world! After the Children's song we were set for the rest of the program.

The story line was about a ten-year-old girl (played by Shelby Matte) who meets up with her postman (played by Jeff LaBerteau) at the family mailbox. She's sending Christmas cards to four children she and her family sponsors in different nations around the world. Together, they begin to speculate what Christmas celebrations in those countries might be like. All this was on video produced by the always masterful Richard Gaspard and his crew. 

We began with Asia. Daphne Gaspard did a fabulous job singing Do You Hear What I Hear to a beautifully orchestrated arrangement by Coy Watson. What Coy accomplished setting these traditional Christmas songs within the context of specific cultural music genres was nothing short of spectacular! As Daphne sang, Aerialists Dillon Keith and Kimberly Adele from Dallas, Texas performed beautiful, breath-taking maneuvers on red silks lowered from the ceiling. (A true wow-moment! Hats off to Holane Davidson for tracking down these talented performers!) Next the track livened up and introduced a Chinese parade complete with jugglers, streamers, dancers and an incredible dragon courtesy of Rhett Wyatt and his crew. Rhett did an awesome job as always with the set. This year we decided to simplify things a little bit by creating five, four-sided 5' x12' shapes that swiveled, forming a backdrop for the four nations when all turned together. They were absolutely beautiful! Rhett's team, assisted by some of our Master's Commission students do a remarkable job getting props on and off the stage between scenes in a very short window of time. I'm always amazed by the way they pull it off! 

The next nation we visited was Mexico. Coy Watson, Richard Gaspard, David Baudoin and I hammed it up by covering the old Steve Taylor arrangement of Winter Wonderland Mariachi-style complete with ponchos and sombreros! Richard's verse sang in Spanish (opera-style) took it over the top. Michelle Sanchez arranged all the choreography for this scene and the following two scenes. She is a genius! Since she joined Master's Commission several years ago, our productions have really been taken up a notch each year through her involvement! She and her dancers: Mariah Hebert, Natalie Myers, Jasmine Chaisson, Carmen Calderon, Skylar Courville and Destiny Kennerson were all fantastic! 

After our visit to Mexico, we headed to Jamaica where John Charles did a terrific job covering a Reggae version of Here Comes Santa Clause. The band, made up of Coy Watson, Richard Gaspard, Beau Roy and Mark Conley were great as always. John really hammed up the song well, including his laugh and call for a few bars of Wipe Out which followed, complete with one of Michelle and her girl's incredible dance routines and a surfing Santa played by Kenneth Guidry decked out in surfing shorts and beads in his beard! Kenneth was very convincing and should consider buying a surfboard. (Or a sleigh!) Kids always get a kick out of seeing Santa in our productions and seeing him on a surfboard brought a smile to everyone's face. That's always been one of our goals: We are determined to make sure attending the Crossroads Christmas Production each year becomes one of those things families always include on their list of Holiday traditions! We've worked very hard to earn the trust of the community. We want them to know they're always going to see a spectacular production! We also want our people to know that, if they get their friends and loved ones to attend one of our productions, they will hear the gospel of Jesus Christ and get an opportunity to receive Him as their personal Lord and Savior! It's why we do what we do! 

The last nation we visited was Africa. The song began with five drummers: Val Melancon, Mike Williams, Richard Montgomery, John Charles and Stephan Clark all providing rhythm on different percussion instruments for Coy's arrangement of Little Drummer Boy. Brandy Robinson sang the lead while Neil Alfred and Monica Jean Pierre  provided backing vocals and Michelle's girls infused the performance with an exciting African dance. I've always liked the song, but I now have a new favorite arrangement! 

After our final video segment set the stage for an altar call, I stepped out to remind those in attendance that Jesus not only loves all the children of the world, He loves each one of them, individually. If only one of us had needed a Savior, Jesus would have still come to Bethlehem and He would have still died on the cross - just for that one! Many stood to receive Christ as their Lord and Savior and then I reminded them that now they will spend all eternity in the home Christ has prepared for all those who follow Him. There, together with fellow-believers from every nation, race, tribe and tongue, we will proclaim as one people with one voice that Jesus reigns! This introduced our next number by Jordy Davidson,  the old Newsboys hit He Reigns. He was joined by Master's Commission students dressed as different people's groups from around the world singing, dancing and praising God. They did an incredible job and brought the crowds to their feet!

The production ended with a stirring version of Some Children See Him by Kari Campbell. After her inspired performance, I stepped out to invite people to join us in an offering for Mission of Mercy, a ministry that feeds hungry children around the world, as well as an opportunity to pick up a child in monthly sponsorship through Food For the Hungry - Another great ministry making a difference in the lives of thousands of children every day!

The production was well-received and enjoyed by all and I am once again indebted to the dozens of people who worked so hard to give Crossroads Church and all our guests this weekend an opportunity to celebrate Christmas Around the World!