Skip to content

NEW SWEDEN DINNER THEATRE

Pipestone Flyer

Some of the cast members were Pastor Lawrence Jensen who played the roles of Kaiser and of Henry Kraik,  Lawrence's wife Lori Jensen who was the narrator, Jordan Hamer who played George Muller, Jordan's wife Miranda Hamer who directed and played Mary Muller, Daniel Jensen who played Beta, and Miki Hundeby who played the seamstress.

    The talented congregation of New Sweden Mission Church has ventured very successfully into  dinner theatre with the presentation of the drama “George Muller:All Things Are Possible”.  The dinner, served by the cast, was delicious; the play was well done, interesting and challenging; the evening as a whole was relaxing and a good opportunity for visiting.  The song by the men's quartet after the drama performance and during dessert was a delightful finishing touch.

    The presentation of the George Muller story was excellent.  The key feature of his life is fairly well known, that he ran an orphanage in England for many years on the basis of faith that God would provide.  Less well known are his roguish youth, the influences and purposes which led him from a Prussian university to England, his personal austerity, and the full extent of his work with orphans.  As a brilliant youth, George could do well in his studies with little effort, so applied himself to support his gambling, drinking and partying through stealing, cheating and lying.  Then he went with a friend to a Bible meeting where the men sang hymns, read the Bible and the sermon, and prayed as though God were really present with them.  George was entranced, and soon repented of his sins and accepted Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord.  Through the examples of others and personal experience, step by step he was led into a life of having only what was needed, and trusting God to provide those needs in answer to prayer.  One step took him to London for specific missionary training.  Another step led him into pastoral work where he became aware of orphan children.  From a small beginning of providing breakfast for a few orphans in his home by 1834, the work with orphans expanded to five orphan houses which accommodated two thousand fifty children.  By the time he died in 1898 at the age of 92, his orphanages had cared for over ten thousand children without a single meal being missed or a need unmet.  When children had matured to the point of leaving the orphanage, they were given three sets of new clothes and their apprenticeship fees, actually their wages for a year, were paid.  During this time, George Muller also established the Scriptural Knowledge Institution for Home and Abroad, which established day schools, Sunday schools, and adult schools for the poor, provided Bibles for people who could not afford to buy them, and helped foreign missionaries with financial gifts, an organization which continues to this day.  During all those years, Muller never asked people for donations, but simply brought the current need to God in prayer and watched God provide.  He kept meticulous records of every penny given and used, and never used money for anything except the specific purpose for which it was given.  

    A book about George Muller was available for purchase after the dinner and drama.