PLAYING WITH FIRE J unior Landon Belcher participated in an unusual type of mission work. Belcher shared the love of God with people through visual demonstrations and performances including juggling, unicycling and yo-yoing. His interest was first sparked when he saw inspirational performer Jeff Blake at his home church. Belcher was a high school student in the crowd, not realizing that one day he would end up on the same stage performing the same routine. Belcher first channeled his newfound interest into learning to ride a unicycle. He had practiced riding to school on his unicycle for more than year when someone asked him if he also knew how to juggle. Because unicycling and juggling went hand-in-hand, he decided that it was time to expand his skills. Soon Belcher was juggling flaming torches, just like the performer who originally caught his eye. Fellow BOX club member junior Kyler Kelton remembered Belcher sharing a new trick he was practicing with Kelton. "I believe I was one of the first people that Landon showed his talents to here at Harding," Kelton said. "He would come to myself and Jackson House's room in Harbin and show us new tricks. I remember one time in particular when he was first working on an apple juggling/eating trick, and he got apple all over our floor." Belcher first performed at "Investing in the Journey," an event held at the Downtown Church of Christ. For the first time he was able to put a performance together, and he did not slow down afterwards; he performed at small parties, churches and schools, including two performances at Harding Academy. Though Belcher enjoyed performing as a stress reliever, his primary By learning how to unicycle and juggle, junior Landon Belcher inspires others with his talent enjoyment came from his interaction with the audience. During the performances, Belcher gained the audience's attention and then directed it to a meaningful topic. Belcher performed for people because he wanted to help them. Belcher's performances enabled him to communicate with kids in an unusual way. The inspiration and encouragement given to the kids by the performances motivated him to continue performing wherever he could. Junior BOX queen Mere Rowlett said his performance at the BOX formal was an encouragement to all in attendance. "I remember it being very uplifting and how as Christians we mess up sometimes, but we are always forgiven and we're not perfect," Rowlett said. "He correlated that to how he had to take time and practice and learn how to juggle." The tools Belcher used while performing served to reflect and to transition the performance to a devotional topic. He often used torches for performances. Other pieces of the performance were useful for other devotional topics. The whole idea was encouragement. Belcher said that although the devotional topics varied, the main idea was almost always the same. "The entire show is based on encouraging kids that even if they're torn down by what this world has to offer, God can build us back up," Belcher said. It was impressive for Belcher to learn torch juggling while simultaneously riding a unicycle. The most impressive thing, though, was his heart to motivate and inspire youth with the truth he had to offer. KoryHoward Aaron Jimenez Lauren Jimerson Zachary Jones Kyle Jordan Breana Josephson Kelly Kasper Kolton Kelly Kyler Kelton Taylor Kelton Sarah Kennedy David Kimmel Dillon King Michael King Diana Kirby Sarah Kirby Jessica Koob Bethany Landry Travis Lanier Juniors 1141
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