West Texas minister keeps lots of balls in the air_122203

Posted: 12/19/03

West Texas minister keeps lots of balls in the air

By Leann Callaway

Special to the Standard

LUBBOCK--At the end of his junior year at the University of Tulsa, Steve Winger was eager to head home for the summer. But as he walked outside and began to load up his car, he found something out of the ordinary.

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Posted: 12/19/03

West Texas minister keeps lots of balls in the air

By Leann Callaway

Special to the Standard

LUBBOCK–At the end of his junior year at the University of Tulsa, Steve Winger was eager to head home for the summer. But as he walked outside and began to load up his car, he found something out of the ordinary.

“A friend had left a verse on my car,” he explained. “It was Proverbs 16:3, 'Commit your works to the Lord, and your plans will be established.'”

This was just the encouragement Winger needed as he applied for a summer job.

Steve Winger

“As I drove, I prayed a simple prayer committing my summer work to the Lord and asking him to establish my plans,” he said. “As I continued to drive and pray, I felt God leading me to spend my summer sharing my faith with young people.”

When Winger returned to his parents' house in St. Louis, Mo., he took a job working in the shipping department at a factory.

“As I did that job, I remembered my prayer committing my work to the Lord and asking him to establish my plans,” he said. “But I wondered what boxes and UPS men had to do with sharing my faith with young people. Then one day, there was an article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch about a summer job search, where students could place a free four-line ad in the paper that would run once a week for a month.

“On the spur of the moment, I filled out an ad that read, 'Christian youth seeks an opportunity to share his Juggling for Jesus act.'”

The next week, he received a call from a newspaper reporter who wanted to know, “What is a Juggler for Jesus?”

Winger explained his desire to share his faith with young people using the art of juggling.

“The newspaper called me back 30 minutes later asking if they could send a photographer out to my house to take some pictures,” he said. “So I found myself in my front yard having my picture taken by a news photographer. The next day, I spent eight hours throwing boxes at a UPS man. When I came home, my mom met me at the door and asked me to sit down. … I thought someone had died.

“Then she showed me our copy of the St. Louis Post Dispatch. On the front page was an article about me juggling for Jesus. In her other hand was a stack of notes from people who had called wanting me to come and juggle for their groups. In the next two and a half months, I juggled over 75 times in three different states. God had taken the simple prayer of a college student, and he had established my plans in ways I could have never dreamed of.”

Winger caught the juggling bug when he was 13 years old. “I saw a man at a carnival juggling, and I was so impressed with his abilities that I went home that night, picked apples off my tree in the backyard and started practicing,” he explained. “The joke in my family was, 'Steve's in the backyard making applesauce.'

“From those humble beginnings, I developed an increasing appreciation and love for the art of juggling. With limited talent but an abundance of passion, I applied for a position as a street performer at a local shopping center in St. Louis. I wasn't very good, but they gave me an opportunity to develop my craft. It was there that I learned to juggle and tell stories at the same time and interact with an audience. I spent Friday and Saturday nights during my high school years at the shopping mall, juggling in front of stores and entertaining the passersby.”

During his college years, Winger was asked to share the story of the prodigal son in a creative way to his peers.

“As I read the story in Luke 15, I realized I could do a juggling trick to correspond to many of the words I had just read,” he said. “In a matter of minutes, I had written a juggling version of the prodigal son story. I shared the story a few nights later, and it was very well received. There were some members of our college football team in attendance who were involved in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

“They came up to me after I was done juggling and said, 'You are going with us to the high school FCA groups to share that juggling ministry.' These guys were 6-foot-8, and they told me I was going … so I went, calling myself a Juggler for Jesus. My act consisted of only five minutes–the prodigal son story and my testimony. I was more than happy to go and share with the high school FCA groups, because it was just a few years earlier as a freshman in college that I received Christ at an FCA event.”

Today, almost 20 years after Winger committed to full-time ministry, he continues to share the message of Christ's love with all ages.

“We all have special gifts and talents, and God calls us to use these gifts to serve him and encourage others,” he noted. “I combine the arts of juggling and storytelling to present a highly visual presentation of biblical stories, truths and principles. It is an intergenerational message that touches people of all ages.”

After capturing the audience's attention, Winger stays true to his motto: “Lightening hearts while enlightening souls.”

Currently, Winger juggles a busy schedule with more than 100 events each year, including performances at Vacation Bible Schools, worship services, prison ministries, retirement homes and Upward Basketball award nights.

He also has performed internationally–in Mexico, Costa Rica and Ecuador.

This spring, he will be the featured performer at the International Children's Pastors' Conference in Atlanta. In addition to his juggling ministry, Winger serves as staff evangelist at Indiana Avenue Baptist Church in Lubbock.

“I love making people's hearts light with the humor that is built into my performance,” he said. “But most importantly, I love to tell people about Jesus and connect them to a local church.”

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