Andre Kole in Minnesota

In March 2002, I had the opportunity to meet Andre Kole and talk a bit when he did a show in Litchfield, Minnesota. Andre is probably the world's premiere Christian magician...one of the first to truly use the art for evangelizing with Campus Crusade for Christ. Andre is also a friend and technical advisor to David Copperfield.

We got a chance to speak after his program and the following day as his touring group was on the way to a show in Wisconsin. He asked me what my future plans were...for the next five years and kind of caught me off guard. "Hmm..Well, I plan to get married, have two kids...a boy and a girl... move someplace warm in the winter..." (I didn't say that.) I thought maybe a better question is what are God's plans for me? I told Andre I'd keep at it what I'm doing...magic/juggling shows, going on short term mission trips, actively involved at church, and working/playing hard. Anyway, his question made me think. What are my plans?

[Update 11/14/05: I did get married in Dec 2002 to Brenda whom I didn't know when I wrote this. We had out first child, a girl, in April 2004 and another on the way in May 2006. I am doing more comedy magic/juggling and speaking programs than ever before. I guess I'm "on plan."]

Then I realized I don't really have a mission statement for myself. I found a good one on Michael Pierce Donley's web site which I modified to fit me:
"My mission is to bring honor to Jesus Christ in every aspect of my life. Therefore, my goals are to: Be a man of faith, hope, and love in the privacy and honesty of my own heart. To point others to Him through both ministry-oriented and secular entertainment, witnessing through testimony, and through excellence, honesty and integrity."

I learned another amazing thing from Andre. He started performing at the age of 7 and had a national TV show at the age of 20. Now he's 65 years old...so he's been performing shows for over 50 years! What does he do after the show? He asked us for feedback. "Do you think I should change this? What about the new way we did this illusion?"

I'm always thinking that I can't wait until I really get my show down pat and exactly the way I want everything. It's more difficult when each show is different. I do 1-5 shows a month in addition to a full-time job as a computer consultant. I learned from Andre that it never ends. You should never get to the point where your show is "done". Just keep working at it. Let each show be an improvement over the last. Don't be too hard on yourself. Don't be discouraged.

Tim with Andre Kole's Touring Group March 2002
Keith, Michael Christian, Micki & Andrew, Andre Kole, Tim Cimbura, Peter Cassford, and Scott Bray