by Jim Fanning
In January of 1998, Mark Bloyer called and asked me if I would be interested in going on a mission trip, with Visual Truth Mime Troupe, to Tennessee that Spring. Although I did not know anything about mime it sounded like a good trip to take and accepted his invitation. My oldest daughter, Sarah, joined the team that January. I found the ministry of Visual Truth to be quite exciting and I enjoyed the trip very much. On the way home from Tennessee, the decision was made to increase the number of times the group made presentations. During the next few months we scheduled over 30 mime programs. In April of 1998, for various reasons, much of the team left. To help us fulfill the schedule we were already committed to, Tracy, my second daughter joined the team, Within the next few months two other young ladies, Jennifer and Shellie, from Dexter had joined the team. Through the leadership of Mark and one of his daughters, Hiedi, the new members were incorporated into the team and it was an exciting year of mime. During that first year, Visual Truth performed 110 times. It was too exhausting of a schedule and we decided to cut back on how many programs we would do. Over the next two years new members joined and some of the older leaders of Visual Truth moved on. God blessed the team through many difficult transitions and the team continued to grow. In May of 2000 we decided to branch Visual Truth into two teams and formed Visual Word. Visual Word was based out of Dexter, KS and Visual Truth remained at Hackney, KS.
To help the mime team members learn more mimes and work on their mime technique, Mark hosted our first Mime Camp at Prairie View Christian Camp in the summer of 1999. Mark brought one of his daughters (Tess) and her husband (Jory) in to run the camp. Tess and Jory Rolf are the leaders of Action Ministry. One of the the prime goals of Action Ministry is to train youth to do mime, but even more importantly, they bring a message of being excellent for God. With Tess and Jory's help, Mark's first camp was a tremendous success. Every year since that first camp Tess and Jory or representatives of Action Ministry have come to Kansas to help train local mime teams. All of the mime teams in our area owe a great debt to the work of Mark Bloyer and Tess and Jory Rolf and their ministry. It was Tess that started the original mime team in our area back in the early 90s.
In the years since 1998 God has brought many opportunities through the mime team to come to know Him better. He has blessed us over and over again. It is a true joy to travel with this special group of young people. They are not overly talented or super Christians, but they are very special to me. It is very exciting to watch God work in their lives.
Past and
Present
Members of Visual Word:
Sarah Fanning: January 1998
to May 2003 12 seasons
Tracy Fanning: April 1998 to May
2005 15
seasons
Jennifer Stout: June 1998 to May
2003 11 seasons
Shellie Jordan: July 1998 to November
2001 7 seasons
Tamie Peel: March 1999 to May 2001
5
seasons
Elizabeth Muntz: August 1999 to
November 1999, October 2005 to November 2
seasons
Kayla Thompson: August 1999 to
May 2002 6 seasons
Bronze Hill: August 1999 to May
2001 4 seasons
Isaiah Massey: August 2000 to November
2003 7 seasons
Letisha Massey: August 2000 to
May 2003 6 seasons
Brittany Richerson: January 2001
to May 2004 7 seasons
Andy Bohn: August 2001 to May 2004
6
seasons
Gavin Vavra: May 2002 to November
2003 3 seasons
Josh Jacobs: August 2002 to November
2002 1 season
Hope Lewis: August 2002 to November
2003 3 seasons
Laura Fanning: July 2003 to ...
11th
season
Jennifer Zanardi: July 03 to November
05, October 06 to May 07 7 seasons
Candace Romans: January 2004 to
May 2004 1
season
Jana Wood: January 2004 to April
2005 3
seasons
Brian Stinson: August 2004 to May
2005 2 seasons
Misty Killman: August 2004 to March
2005, October 2005 to November 3
seasons
Katy Richerson: August 2004 to
September 2005 3 seasons
Tanner Seidel: August 04 to September
05, October 06 to May 07 5 seasons
Paul Reitz: August 2004 to November
2004 1 season
Julie Stinson: Setpember 2004 to
September 2005 3 seasons
Trisha Rollins: February 2005 to
September 2005 2 seasons
Angel Smith: February 2005 May
2005 1 season
Tiffany Massey: October 2005 to
September 2006 2 seasons
Tyler Marker: October 2005 to November
1
season
Arleta Colvin:July 2006 to ...
5th season
Rocquele Cunningham: July 2006
4
seasons
Christine Jeong: September 2006
to May 07 2 seasons
Jolie Butler: February 2007 to
March 08
2
seasons
Ciara Cunningham: July 07 to ...
3rd season
Nathan Marker: March 08 to ...
1st season
Caitlyn Martin: March 08 to ...
1st season
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| L. to R. Jory Rolf, Tess Rolf, and Mark Bloyer as they make plans at mime camp. |
| Team Pictures | Songs we Perform to | Team History |
| Schedule of Performances | Church Beliefs | Team Membership |
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