The air in auditorium has a heartbeat. The low, disconcerting racket of instruments tuning echoes  from beneath the stage’s floorboards thumps, blending rhythmically with the shuffle of feet down aisles, the bump of unfolding chairs, and the hum of voices as they peruse the programs in their hands. Suddenly, the lights dim, and the pulse slows and dies. The air is sucked into hundreds of open mouths, staring at the drawn curtains obscuring the stage. Then, the heartbeat returns with the blow of trumpets and the lilting of flutes as spotlights burst on, and the curtains are drawn.  

        Beneath the lights there stands a crowd of people, young and old, male and female. As the music ebbs and flows they begin to walk in and out of the stage’s shadows, rhythmically weaving among one another. Some walk alone; others congregate as they recognize familiar faces, greeting each other with smiles and embraces as they continue to walk. Though not everyone on the stage seem to know one another, they all have someone in common: the heroine of the production. Her name is Madeline Begin and these are the people who have touched her life, for better or for worse.  

        Madeline’s story begins in Florida in the Christian school she grew up in. Though she was constantly surrounded by the ideas and values of a relationship with God, the idea of allowing God full control over her life did not penetrate her heart until her late high school years.

        “I felt very sad about the life I was living. It wasn’t anything crazy, but it was enough to feel like something huge was missing because something was. I felt like I was pushing away things I knew to be true,” she said.  

        On the stage, there is a group of people standing in the corner, their faces hidden in darkness. They hold out their hands, beckoning, drawing the heroine further into shadow, out of the light. Her eyes are cast over her shoulder, eyes focused on the brightened center, but her feet betray her; she walks closer to the tempters, her feet dragging. Suddenly, her right hand is caught, and her feet scrape the ground as they change direction. The new arrival, drenched in light, coaxes and pulls the heroine back into the center of the stage, away from the shadow. Her name is Hannah Kate, and for Madeline she was a gift given at just the right time.  

        “She came into my life like an angel straight from Heaven and said ‘I’m here! We’re going to be best friends and I’m going to help you through everything.’ She changed my life completely. She never condemned me for things that I could have been and should have been condemned for, and she always met me where I was at,” Madeline said.  

        Hannah Kate, angel or mortal, changed the heroine’s perspective on friendships and showed her the love of the Lord, holding Madeline’s hand as she walked into her new life of complete surrender to the One who sends out those who say “here I am.”  

        On stage, the scene changes. Some have exited into the wings while others have taken their cue and entered the spotlight as the chamber is bathed in maroon. The heroine has lept from the sunshine and sandy beaches of Florida and has landed in Southwest Missouri on the campus of Missouri State University, a choice that was not her own but had the signature of God scrawled over it in looping letters. There were many other schools that Madeline desired to attend, within and outside of Florida’s borders. However, when God made it clear that MSU was to be her destination, Madeline accepted the call with an open mind and an open heart.  

        “When I took a step back from my life and just let God work in it everything came together for me,” she said.  

        The stage is now full of young men and women in costume. Some sing, belting numbers from Broadway musicals for anyone who will listen. Others act out dramatic scenes or deliver provoking monologues, facing contorting and relaxing in time with the pieces’ cadences and themes. In the center the heroine stands, a Bible in one hand, a script in the other, and there beside her is a woman a couple of years older, her hand resting on the heroine’s shoulder. This newest cast member is named Jayna, and she shone a light into the deeply secular world of musical theatre.  

        “I had never been in a place of the majority being non-believers, and that’s scary because of the normal desire of wanting people to like me and then also having the added layer of if we are Christians, part of our duty is to share the love of the Lord and the kindness and truthfulness,” Madeline said. “People question you often, so you have to reflect and say ‘okay, let me get my facts straight.’ Jayna was the one girl I could go to about everything because she was so strong in her faith and everyone loved her.”  

        Jayna demonstrated for Madeline how to be in the world but not conform to it, how to love others without validating their sin, and how to share the truth of the Gospel and the love of Christ in a society steeped in fear and hatred of the Christian faith. The hand Jayna laid on Madeline’s shoulder guided but also comforted, letting the heroine know that she was going to be okay in her chosen industry.  

        Though Jayna has graduated and moved into the post-college world, Madeline has carried on the legacy of love and openness, extending her own hand to those who scramble and search for meaning in a broken world.  

        “People get really scared when I say, ‘of course I believe in God.” Now that I am in a place where God is not the expectation of what everybody believes I sort of understand and it has given me a better way to reach people,” she said.  

        Despite Jayna’s absence, the heroine continues to walk amongst the performers, laying her own hand on shoulders, offering love and peace as they cease their performance and begin asking her questions that lay heavy on their hearts, beneath the mask.

        “Everyone knows they can talk to me about God. I don’t know how, but they know. They just come to me, and I love that they feel that I am someone who is knowledgeable enough and normal enough. I can confidently say that this is the place I can share the gospel with people and at the end of the day that is my calling.” she said.  

        As the heroine continues her act of ministry, she learns through the medium of acting what people do and why they do it and chooses to use that knowledge to understand those beyond of the characters in her script. On stage, we see that she does not walk alone. There is a young man beside her, holding her hand. Michael entered the scene.  

        Madeline and Michael began dating after their senior year of high school. Michael was originally committed to studying in the theatre program at a college in Florida but later felt led to join Madeline in Springfield at MSU. They are now in musical theatre together and their relationship is one that not only blesses them but is a light for those around them.  

        “We understand our roles in a relationship and the roles in a marriage, and we are working toward a marriage actively. You don’t just create relationships to break them, that’s not what we are called to do. And for some reason that’s a huge deal for people our age in the industry we’re in and it sets us apart,” she said.  

        As the curtains begin to close and the music fades into a series of decrescendos, the forms of nameless individuals peak out from the obscured wings of the stage. They stand, toes tapping and fingers drumming, waiting for their cue from the Director who has walked next to the heroine the whole time, whispering in her ear, you are not alone. His voice will continue to be Madeline’s guide as characters enter, scenes shift, and callings melt together into what can only be called the will of God, the ultimate script.