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Future Pastor Making Himself Known As Mr. Twister
By Craig Pinley
CHICAGO, IL (October 30, 2003) - It's not quite Clark Kent bolting into a
phone booth and coming out as Superman, but North Park Theological
Seminary (NPTS) student Reid Olson's transformation into Mr. Twister is
pretty interesting nonetheless.
Every Friday and Saturday at 5 p.m., Olson loads a backpack with 400
balloons, a Polaroid camera and an air pump and walks down to the trains
station, which drops him off at Joe's Crab Shack in downtown Chicago.
Generally a reserved man, Olson turns into a showman for six hours,
livening up the trendy restaurant before heading home on the midnight
train to the more low key environment at NPTS.
Olson is a Presidential Scholar at NPTS, which means that his seminary
tuition is covered by a scholarship. The Pacific Southwest Conference
has assisted with Olson's book fees, another financial help. Still, the
cost of rent, food, and other essentials for a family of four can add
up. Thankfully, Olson's part-time job of balloon twisting has helped pay
the bills while providing some "full-blown" ministry opportunities.
Along with the weekend work, Olson has twisted balloons for various
Covenant church events. He has used his skills for a children's sermon
at Deergrove Covenant in Palatine; a Fall church kickoff event at
Ravenswood Evangelical Covenant in Chicago, a spring block party effort
at Edgebrook Covenant Church in Chicago and last year's Midwinter
Conference. At 10 a.m. on Saturday, Olson will lead a balloon-twisting
seminar at the seminary's Nyvall Hall.
Eight years ago, some friends convinced Olson to learn about balloon
twisting as a way to earn income at restaurants as an entertainer. He
worked as an entertainer on the weekends for about six-months before
becoming youth pastor at Orange (California) Covenant Church. He now
earns as much as $80 per hour during the fall and winter months at Joe's
Crab Shack.
Go to Joe's and sit at a table and Olson will craft a dog or a special
hat for you while you're waiting for appetizers or a salad. He'll even
take your picture with your new balloon creation. Spend a night at the
restaurant and chances are good that you'll see a few dozen customers
leaving with a smile on their face and some sort of balloon in tow.
"It was just a natural thing," Olson said of his hobby. "I came home
after the first time and started twisting balloons like crazy and I fell
in love with it. I could see pictures in my head of how to twist
balloons and it turned into a (financial) gold mine.
"Business is cyclical in Chicago, but when the weather's bad, people
feel cooped up and they go out to eat. When they enter the restaurant
there's a crowd and once there's a crowd, you can work your magic.
Olson continued, "I see it (a balloon) as a piece of string, like a
shoelace on a table. You have to crease it and fold certain areas and in
your mind you follow specific patterns like following an outline.
Balloons only have so many technical twists; you only need to know a
couple of skills like how to turn the balloon without popping it and
where you place the bubbles in the bends and creases. If it's a shorter
bubble, it can crease at a tighter angle. If it's a long bubble it has
more of an arch shape."
Before coming to Chicago for school, Olson served five years in youth
ministry at Orange Covenant. He completed a Master of Arts at Talbot
Theological Seminary (Christian Education), but decided to finish his
Master of Divinity requirements at NPTS and pursue ordination.
"Moving here has been a great transition," said Olson of his NPTS
experience. "The community is an amazingly tight knit group. My wife
(Kristin) is president of Partners in Ministry and our two kids have
grown up here. And it has allowed my perspective on understanding
scripture to change and learn more about fundamental pastoral skills and
counseling and spiritual formation. It's a very challenging education
and it keeps my eye on the future, of what I want to do in the church."
Once he graduates from NPTS in May 2004, Olson hopes to become an
associate pastor at a church. In the future, he would like to become a
church planter and, of course, the balloon twisting will be a ministry
tool. He can be emailed at pastoreid@hotmail.com and the email address
gets plenty of comments when he pulls his business card out.
"You would be amazed at how many people ask me what I really do," said
Olson. "When I tell them I'm a student earning a ministry degree, it
doesn't fit into their head and I'm able to talk about the school and
sometimes share my faith. It just opens up so many doors. The surprise
isn't the fact that balloons open doors and intrigue people to start
talking. The surprise is when I tell them I'm a pastor and I bring in
the faith issue and they stay receptive.
Olson continued, "It's a unique position to have and it allows me to
start preaching at a table and using a balloon as an object lesson (God
wants to shape us and mold us and twist us into things). If I land a job
as a pastor I want to use balloons for ministry, whether it's to draw a
c
rowd or using it at festivals where I can bring joy and remind them
that there's more to life than all of their stress."
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