Birmingham, England report by Tracy Warneke

 I think Psalm 133 could really sum up the spirit in which David and I were able to work together during the mission in Birmingham. The scripture says that the Lord commands a blessing where there is unity and I think we both felt very blessed and humbled by what God did during our time in West Bromwich. Having never met before and having very little time or space to choreograph, from the very beginning we were both reliant on God to inspire and energize us.

On the first night as we were all divided into our teams, the pastors who lead churches in the area that we were going to be dancing in, got up and very plainly stated that it was a real “dump”. I just remember thinking, “Oh Lord, what have you got me in to, I don’t want to dance in a dump!”

 I have never done ballroom before, but we decided that it would definitely be a crowd puller, so David and I put together a Jive and a Samba in record time. I can only say that it really was the Lord guiding us because the challenge of learning the steps and the choreography so quickly was not something I could have done in my own strength. We both felt that because we were in such a spiritually dark area, it would also be fitting to choreograph a praise piece. David and I literally had forty five minutes in a narrow stairwell to come up with something. We prayed earnestly for God to give us what was on His heart for people to see and experience. Forty five minutes later we had all we needed and for the rest of the week whenever we did this particular piece, we would start off with no one around and by the time we finished there was always a crowd of people and not a bird in sight! Both of us felt it was very powerful and that it was affecting the spiritual climate of the places we were dancing in. 

 On the last evening, I gave a testimony of how I almost didn’t make it onto the mission for all kinds of reasons. I had said to God before I left that I felt as if my hands were empty, but I was turning over what I had to Him for His use and His glory. I had no clever choreography thought out, only a willing heart. I felt God say to me that everything I needed was already in my hands and that I just needed to trust Him. What a faithful God we serve! I was truly a living example of “in our weakness He is strong”, because David and I were really able to work well, and communicate the heart of God through our dancing.