Near the end of the summer, 2007, Jane Auge, our dance teacher, received a diagnosis of Arthritis in her legs, knees, and hips. Needless to say, this came as quite a blow, both to our dance ministry and to Jane personally. Here we sat, with a dance studio, a whole bunch of kids, and no teacher. Meanwhile, God (as always) was at work in the heart of Joni Prince, director of Arts In Action, a performing arts ministry in Hurricane, WV, some 20 miles from here. Her ministry had done an Arts Exploration Camp at one of our sister churches here on the west side last summer. God had broken her heart for our neighborhood, but she had no idea where to begin to reach the children with her gifts and talents. God orchestrated a meeting at a community event where 4th Wall (one of the Arts In Action teams) performed and we were in attendance. Lots of prayer, tears, laughter, and a meeting resulted in the re-energizing of our dance ministry- now called URBAN STAGE! Mrs. Joni and her daughter, Mrs. Cookie, are now teaching ballet, tap, jazz, and hip-hop with all honor to God! Mrs. Jane is still in prayerful support, coming by when she can to love on her students and give lots of praise and hugs.
Isn’t God good!?!?! He is Jehovah-jireh: the God Who provides!
Our dance ministry has been active since 1998, when God burdened the heart of Jane Auge, one of our members, with the need for free dance instruction in a Christian setting. We had no idea, when we started with 3 little girls and a bathroom mirror, that this ministry would grow to include 4 classes a week, with some 50 children enrolled. We now have a dance studio and our classes share in ministry in numerous locations each year.
