a little sad news...

In my last posting, I asked you to pray for baby Sophia, dealing with cancer.

I am very sad to report that Sophia passed away yesterday.

Please continue praying for the family.

DonB!

November 17th Fundraiser

Mark your calendars for Saturday, November 17th from 1-3 PM.

I will be performing in a fundraiser event for a great family I've known for many years. Bruce Kilber is a magician I met when I joined one of the magic clubs in Minneapolis around 1986. We became friends over the years, including attending magic meetings and Fellowship of Christian Entertainer meetings together.

Althea & Bruce Kilber

Bruce is married to Althea Kilber, and she's our reason for the fundraiser. You see, Althea had cancer a few years back. Through chemotherapy and the prayers of many friends, she kicked it, and was diagnosed "cancer free". She remained cancer free until this year. Through regular check-ups, doctors discovered that the cancer was now back, and more wide spread than the first time. NOTE: I talked with Bruce last night (10/23/07), and was given some additional info. He told me that the cancer is in Althea's stomach lining, liver and her spine. Doctors have said there is no cure, and therefore it is terminal. Please pray extra hard for the Kilbers at this time.

Brant, Bruce, Althea and Britta Kilber

As many of you know, cancer treatment can be very expensive, not to mention the time dedication it takes from the rest of Althea's family. I have kept updated through Althea's online blog, and now it is time for me to step up and directly help in the battle.

On Saturday, November 17th, at Grace Fellowship of Champlin (Minnesota), there will be a large variety show (including my unicycling), as well as many baskets put together by the Kilber's friends and family. The baskets will all be themed (kids, gardening, magic, etc.) and will be auctioned in a silent auction just prior to the show. Tickets for the show/auction are not yet available, but stay tuned to see how you can get them, or how to contribute to the fundraiser.

If you are interested in assembling a basket/bucket/gift for the auction, please call me with any questions you have. My office phone: 320-679-0060

Until then, please pray for the Kilbers during this time of trial and patience. Pray for healing, for good doctors, the right medicines, and for the family as a whole. It is tough to keep some semblance of regularity when a medical crisis like this strikes in a family.

Bruce, Althea, Britta and Brant: YOU ROCK!!!

DonB!

As I finished typing this, I received an email about another of our family member's relatives that has cancer. This time it is little baby Sophia. Please pray for her and her family also. Her site is HERE.

Cancer stinks. It makes no sense. What does it accomplish? Why?

Your shopping benefits DonB! Ministries?

If you order from Amazon.com or Christianbook.com, please go to the bottom of this newsletter and click on the links you find there.

Anything you order through my links donates 4% of your purchases back to DonB! Ministries.

You can go shopping, and benefit DonB! Ministries at the same time.

Thanks.

New Promotional DVD in the works

Quite a few years back I asked a friend of mine, Paul Ryan, of PFR Productions, if he would use his video skills to help me put together a promotional video. Well, he filmed my show for me, and edited it all together into a great 7 minute promo-video. It doesn't seem that long ago, but produced it in VHS format (Do you remember video tapes?). And, since then, Paul has gone on to star on HGTV, the TV Guide Channel, The Learning Channel, Shop NBC as well as publishing his own book, Weekend Kitchen Makeovers.

As my stock of 50 tapes dwindled down to the last 2, I knew it was time to step into the present age, and get it all put onto DVD, along with other publicity materials. I called upon another friend in the video business, Greg Broder, of Broder's Media, now located in Minnesota. Greg has produced DVDs for the Discovery Channel and other big names that I can't recall right now. We are putting not only the promotional video footage onto this DVD, but also many publicity photos that can be used by churches and organizations that book my programs. It will be at least a month before it is ready, but I will let you all know when it is.

Stay tuned...

Time to slow down a bit.

When I looked at this newsletter, I was surprised to see that my last post was back on September 21st. Wow.

Since then I've done a few more Mannequin in Motion (MIM)events, including a show that was Asian themed. I played the mannequin-brought-to-life by a magician, played by my friend, Mia Barnhart. I then "discovered" the bowling ball and juggled it. For those of you that have seen my shows, you know what happens in that routine. The group that was involved as performers is shown below. LtoR: Me, Ron, Deanna, Debbie, Katie, Mia and (in front) Ruthie. A great group to work with.

On the 29th I did another event for MIM, playing the character I've seen before, but never imagined I would be playing it: Golden Boy, a completely gold statue. I played it for 4 hours at a large B'Nai event (a party for boy-girl Jewish twins). It was a fun event, but exhausting.

On October 3rd I did my first school event of the year in Chaska, MN. Even with only 60 kids in attendance, they were an excellent audience. With such a small group, we did a question/answer time afterward, and they asked some great questions. The developer of the event liked the show so much she has already scheduled me for two more. Very cool.

This weekend I went down to Northwestern College in Roseville, MN, for their Alumni Weekend and Homecoming celebration. On Saturday I strolled around for 3 hours doing juggling and close-up magic for folks attending the game and tailgating party. Then, on Saturday, I was to perform 10 minutes in the Sunday service. As it turned out, after my 10 minutes were done, I then followed all of the kids to another room, where I performed for another 25 minutes while the adults listened to a great testimony by Dallas Jenkins, producer and director of "Midnight Clear", a book and movie project that has won some pretty big awards around the country. Dallas is an alumni of Northwestern College, and co-founder of Jenkins Entertainment.

The kids were then sent back in to sit with their families, while Scott Krippayne did a mini-concert. Scott, along with his percussionist, Charley Petit, are both very friendly, down to earth guys. When talking to them, I felt as if I were talking to close friends, not "stars" with attitudes. And, after the event was over, Scott was nice enough to give me his latest CD, Autobiography, and autograph it for my daughter, Deanna (she's the one that introduced me Scott's music with his song, "I'm Not Cool"). Keep up the great work Scott. You Rock!

Now I get this week off from performing, except for the fun I have playing "Jessie Crankshaft" for our church's Wednesday Night Kid's Club. Jessie runs J.C. Salvage, using the many things found there to teach kids valuable life lessons, as well as (right now) the 10 Commandments and why they are still very important for all people. The kids already have the first 2 memorized and learned. This week, we add 2 more.

Do YOU know the 10 Commandments? Click HERE to see them.

By the way, look at the three photos above. It's as if we are triplets, separated by birth. Yeah? You decide.