Today, we visited a local orphanage for children with disabilities. We arrived about a half hour late but with being outside in the heat, we still completed the show pretty quickly so it worked out.
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At the beginning of the show, we have been starting with “Chicken Dance” so all of the clowns can get the audience attention and start to make them laugh. I used to hate the long version of the song but I have found it has enabled me to get prepared for the next 3 skits, put on my clown hood of the “Haircut Skit” and for me to give all of the supplies to Vlad for the haircut skit. The last few times we have been doing the “Haircut Skit,” I have been having Vlad (Robert’s son) part of the skit. Originally, because he was amusing at the role. But I realized today that the last time I saw my grandmother do the skit was with Robert in 2003. She “cut” Robert’s hair, so I guess it’s only fitting that Vlad cuts mine. Anyway, today, I had the clowns chase me stating I need a haircut as I screamed “No.” At one point they let go and I made a break for it and ran around the little gazebo the kids were sitting in to watch the show. When I ran back into the center of the gazebo, I slipped. Since I am a clown, I decided to go with it and fall. Which delighted the audience and was just enough time for the other clowns to catch me and place the bag over my head.
Following the show, the clowns handed out candies and made balloons. There were two kids with autism that were sitting in the gazebo with no one else around them. Most of the other children were outside the gazebo asking for balloons so they could pop them. Anyway, I asked a worker if I could make them balloons and they said we could try. I made a simple sword balloon for each and they both lit up as I handed them each “their balloon.”
On the way back from the orphanage, the clown caravan went back to the church. What was so amusing was watching Vlad with a blow up hammer prop use it to hit the ground outside of the car at stoplights and capture the attention of other drivers. Following which they would pass out ready-made balloons to other cars, sometimes while both cars are driving parallel to each other. At one point, they saw a crowd of kids and pulled over to make a bunch of balloons before completing the drive back. I was so proud of them.
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After the afternoon break, we walked around the neighborhood. I don’t know why but I completely misunderstood the purpose of walking around the neighborhood. I thought we were handing out stickers, making balloons, and adults would be handing out Bibles and talking with people in the area. Again, unsure why. We jumped in a van and drove around the neighborhood, occasionally dropping clowns off in various parts of the area to talk with people. Again, I thought we were just talking to people so couldn’t figure out why I was being asked to go back into the van before making balloons for some people.
At the end of a dead end street the clowns were dropped off and Nelutu, the driver, and Bob the Clown drove off. I thought to go talk to people in other areas. We were dropped off in an area where several Roma children live, including Mahaila, who had helped us clown on Tuesday. A small crowd began to form around us and Vlad Dinca stated we should start the show. To which I replied,
“We aren’t doing a show.”
“Pretty sure we are.”
“No, we aren’t. All of the props are at Maranata.”
Turns out we were supposed to do a show so I had to send Abby back to get the props while the clowns continued to make balloons. They were troopers, continuing to hand things out and make balloons while waiting for the props to arrive. As we made balloons, we explained we would be giving a show in a few minutes. One of the boys stated “Wow! This is from a church? What church.” I told him we were from Maranata and he asked where was the church. At that point, I had to have one of the other clowns take over because I couldn’t tell you which direction to go. But it was great to see interest in Maranata and openness to God.
Finally, the props arrived and the show began. One of my highlights was Vlad and David worked as a 2 man team and closed out the magic portion of the show, making a simple magic trick extremely amusing to the kids. I always love seeing something “simple” become something that creates laughter.
When we arrived back at the church, Ana Dina greeted us. I, quite loudly, said Buna (hello). At that point, she pointed at the door and I realized that Wednesday night service was still going on. I immediately apologized believing that I had accidentally disrupted the service. However, it turns out that the congregation was waiting for us to return and provide a mid-week update about how the week was going. I shared a couple funny stories but mostly how the clowns have grown a lot since the year before, the neighborhood was intrigued by the idea of clowns at a nearby church, and (especially) God’s love and joy was being spread.
