A priority of thankfulnesS

Today at International Media Ministries, we are going to take some time out to be thankful. It's not thanksgiving season but we want to make it a priority from time to time to make space for appreciation.

We have team members who volunteer their time from the U.S. side of the world our virtual team members, and others who are Spain residents who give unselfishly to volunteer for our work to spread the Gospel. We recognize the sacrifice and appreciate these folks so much.

The often invisible partners of a ministry are the folks who send in money every month to sustain operations. It's not always exciting to put a check in the mail or set up an online auto pay, but it means that we can keep the studio operational and the Gospel going out in media form. These are amazing people who are so faithful and we are so thankful for each and every one.

We have other donors who come alongside a project and write a big check. The funds have to be there for the projects to go forward. Without the funds in place, we simply have to cut back. Sometimes this donation comes from a single church, or an individual, a business or an organization like Light for the Lost. They are all super important to the work.

Six of our team members have made the international move to live in Spain. While some things can happen with long distance help, it is crucial to have a team in place here in the offices for interacting with various nationals to put together projects and deliver programs. Sometimes people tease us it is like a vacation, but the reality is that we get up and go to work everyday like most the people in the U.S. We'd all rather see our families more often than we do, but we know for sure that God has called us to be here "for such a time as this" and that it is a privilege that God has brought us here.

Short term team members come in all the time for a few weeks or even for a year. It is pretty miraculous if we stop and think about it how the extra hands show up at the crucial times.  Since we have a skeleton staff at this point, we are aware that the work can't go forward without the bravery of people who will raise a short term budget or sacrifice vacation time to give us a hand.

As a person who is both a past short term IMMer and a present day missionary, I am thankful for the legacy of people who have come thru the ministry both in Belgium during the many years there and the more recent times since the move to Spain in 2004. The work of many hands and many years has resulted in a library of programs that have touched millions in nearly 70 languages across the globe.

We are thankful for all the pieces that make up IMM, the givers, the workers, the distributors...we are thankful for you!
 

The Excited Son

This last week was a busy week for the team at IMM and for our family.  We helped with the filming of a documentary about “Easter and The Last Supper”.  This is a project that the team at IMM has been prepping for the the last few weeks and our children, Robert and Reegan, were with us many of those days that prep work took place. 

Robert especially took an interest in all that was going on and was connecting the work at IMM with his bedtime stories.  The kids have been listening to “Dan and Louie” tell bible stories at night and the story of Jesus’ crucifixionhas been one they have become very familiar with.  Wednesday was a big day of shooting so we all had to be at the studio early to get things started for the day, Robert woke up at 5:45 with excitement for all that was going on.  When Robert woke up he asked if he could just stay up and watch some baseball from the USA, he and his father love baseball and enjoy doing this together.  After getting ready and heading to IMM Robert was asking his father about the days activities saying “Dad who is going to play the parts of the disciples that went off to pray with Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane”.  This made Matt very happy to see Robert taking an interest in the stories from the Bible, connecting the parts of the story, and taking an interest in telling this story so that others can hear about what Jesus has done for us.

After seeing the emotion of Matt in this conversation with Robert, it made me think.  If Robert taking an interest in the things that his Father also cares about, whether it be baseball or sharing Jesus with those who don't yet know him, brings such joy.  How does our Heavenly Father feel when we want to share who he is, what His Son has done, and when we are interested in the things that he is interested in?

In Matthew 3:13-17 we see Jesus being obedient to fulfill scripture by being baptized by John the Baptist.  After Jesus is baptized the heavens open, God descends as a dove and rest on Jesus, "and a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased."

I think the joy that we get to experience through family here on earth is just a glimpse of the joy that one day we will get to experience for eternity when we live life obedient to whatever it is God is asking us to do. 

Summer 2014 Production

For the time being, I am handling the coordination of all of our production activities here in Spain, as well as those that take place outside of our facilities here.

I am so thankful for two gigantic projects that are seeing the light of day.  "En Apatia" is being shown in cinemas here in Spain and choices about other distribution opportunities are being considered. Rahab, which was filmed in 2012 is nearing the end of post-production and will reach audiences this fall.

In July, a friend of IMM, Gary Wilkinson, is coming from the U.K. to film some pieces for his documentary covering the history of Easter. He hopes this piece will inform folks in many cultures about the myths, legends and traditions of this holiday, but also will ultimately point them to Jesus! He will be here for about a week beginning July 7th. Pictured below is Kerry Godwin prepping flats for the set: 

We also have a couple of short-term folks from the states coming to help with these July projects as well as to bring some of our older projects into usable mediums, so they can continue to live on and share Christ in many languages and cultures.

Please pray for IMM that people and resources will continue to faithfully appear as needed for these projects and the ones later in the year. (We are going to be doing 8 more short videos for the Arab World as well as Tamar for the “Women of the Bible” series).

I am so thankful to be a part of a wonderful team not only of producers, but also those who pray and give to see this media share Christ with those yet unreached!

"New" IMM team leaders

This is a great week at IMM. We welcome Matt Nelsen on board to the office on a regular basis. Matt and Rachel arrived last December and have been primarily in language school, even though we've asked them for help from time to time.

In addition, we are moving from a top down structure to a lead team structure. Matt is going to take the production team lead. It will be a big learning curve to sort out all the programming we have available in a variety of languages as well as organize new production that will keep us moving forward on new products. Of course this isn't all Matt will do. He's a certified professional in Final Cut Pro, so he will be very busy with editing projects also. 

Tom Khazoyan, one of our Denver team members, is going to field training requests and help coordinate as the team lead of training for the next year or so. No one on the team gets to wear just one hat. Tom also does editing and writing among other production skills. This week in fact, Tom is in Turkey doing training on guerrilla media tactics for people that don't have all the gear but want to impact their culture for Christ with video pieces. He is teaching people how to tell stories that impact hearts with the tools at their fingertips.

Henry Marsh is a team member based in the USA. He's in the process of raising a new budget and will be team leader of distribution. Pray his budget comes together soon! We really need his help. Henry will field requests for products we have and help network with other ministries to do new language versions to minister in more and more countries. Henry has already started doing liaison work with various offices or national district officials even while he's working on his budget. Henry will also be involved in training, production, marketing, and recruitment of personnel. In fact, one young man Henry talked to is coming to intern this summer.

Elena Monzon, who had a long career at American Express before joining us in Spain, has already been here a number of years and is team leader of office and operations. She also does finance and hospitality. She and her husband Guillermo, our building manager, help us to be able to put our energies into doing the video work rather than making sure the facilities are functional. This is an urgent matter of prayer--they will be leaving at the end of this year and we don't have replacements yet.

By moving these various areas off the plate of the IMM director, I will be able to focus more on expanding the support base of the ministry, communicating with donors,  and finding funds for projects. I will still be able to write scripts and do some production as well from time to time. I'm working on the script of Tamar: A Life Recovered right now.

We have a new couple starting the Missionary Training process this week too. Hallelujah! It's beautiful to see the hand of God at work in our lives bringing us together as a team.

It's interesting how God prepares us for things we don't know are coming. All our team leads and all our IMMers can look back and see how God built skills into them through job experience or hobbies that have become key components of their work today.

Arts & Crafts Pastors

A Creative Arts Pastor in my home state of Kansas asked a question on a public forum today. He was curious to receive some feedback and shared some negative comments he had received for his title while on the job at prior place of ministry. Here are a few of the comments. 

• "You shouldn't call yourself a pastor because you don't preach."
• "The word 'creative' sets off red flags because it reeks of man made religion and systems."
• "The AG will ordain anyone nowadays, no matter if they have a legitimate calling from God or not."
• "Why don't I just call myself director? Pastor should be reserved for those who truly minister to people, not those who lead the songs."
• "We don't need pastors for 'Arts and Crafts.'"

This pastor went on to say that not all responses to his title were negative, but most were. As a missionary who works daily in the creative media process, I admit that I got quite hot under the collar at the belittlers and their self-appointed authority on the topic of creativity in ministry. Then I took a deep breath, realized that our creative calling is a divine calling, and our self worth is secure in the Heart of our Creator. 

And there is always this passage in Exodus that shows Holy Spirit falling on the quiet lives of artists and craftsmen, filling them with creativity before many others had the privilege of pastoring with eloquent sermons:

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: “See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, to design artistic works, to work in gold, in silver, in bronze, in cutting jewels for setting, in carving wood, and to work in all manner of workmanship.

“And I, indeed I, have appointed with him Aholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and I have put wisdom in the hearts of all the gifted artisans, that they may make all that I have commanded you: the tabernacle of meeting, the ark of the Testimony and the mercy seat that is on it, and all the furniture of the tabernacle— the table and its utensils, the pure gold lampstand with all its utensils, the altar of incense, the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the laver and its base— the garments of ministry, the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments of his sons, to minister as priests, and the anointing oil and sweet incense for the holy place. According to all that I have commanded you they shall do.”

Now we have Adobe products.

My God, Where Are You?

Tasha wavered in her decision to end it all, to go ahead and jump into the oncoming traffic! Suddenly the phone in her pocket started ringing…she didn’t recognize the number…but went ahead and answered it anyway. A strange yet distantly familiar voice greeted her. She hopped down off the railing she had been standing on, the one she was going to use to launch herself into the oncoming traffic, and said, "Who is this?"

This is one of the true stories some of our Turkish students told via video after completing our basic video production course. There have been over 1,000 viewings of this short film. You can watch the whole four minute story - in English at: https://vimeo.com/89915931

We are really excited to see that some of the videos we've been creating for Arab World Media have been getting lots of views on YouTube, Facebook, etc. We have more than 270,000 views from just 4 of the videos we created last year. Please pray that those statistics will translate into deeper relationships for discipleship in Christ.

Building momentum

International Media Ministries has entered into a new world, for us. The world of secular movie theaters. Our goal all along was to release the film En Apatia (Apathy) where non-Christians would see it. We wanted the secular venue.

It has been a huge learning curve for us. The paperwork and bureaucracy required to get it legal and registered and rolling last year was daunting. Expensive and overwhelming. Another twist and turn hit us with each submission of paperwork, but we finally became official. It is an officially Spanish made film. We had crew members and actors who were Spanish and helped us meet all the qualifications.

Last fall, we didn't get our first choices into film festival circuits. We entered in Spain but found no open doors. Our director, Joel, entered a competition in his native Mexico and we were accepted. The film received an honorable mention. The only one out of 900 films in the secular venue. The winner had a $5 million dollar budget, so we had some steep competition.

Just a couple months ago our distribution went from zero 100 in just a week. We had contemplated trying to release it ourselves in one theater at a time. It would be a lot of work and expensive, but we knew it needed to get out into the world. Our plan drew the attention of  distributors quite suddenly.

Distributors have connections with better known and bigger theaters as well as media outlets to publicize the picture and release all at once. God has opened doors and we just walk thru in gratitude watching to see what will happen next.

Please pray for our press showing next week. The secular press may or may not like the message of this film, but we pray whatever the press reports that it would draw people to the big screen in May. Is there such a thing as bad press? We will soon know.

Then we will have a private premiere at the cinema downtown that is known for this sort of thing. We will be mixing pastors, celebrities, media and staff with key people from the public. What a mix. Who would ever think these people would rub shoulders?

A feature on the only evangelical Sunday morning talk show in Spain will appear the week before the public premier on May 9. When God opens doors, things are going to get exciting. Pray for souls to be changed as they encounter the story of redemption on the big screen this May. Pray for other countries to be opened up to this film.

Training Emerging Filmmakers In Eurasia

One of the things I'm working on this week is our next training in a major Eurasian country. Our Denver Office Team has been working to raise up a new generation of visual storytellers in this important Muslim region.

We want to equip a new generation of young believers to tell their own stories of faith through short visual stories on the web.

Of course we know how important visual stories are to a global audience, especially youth. Our basic filmmaking workshops usually last four days and include instruction in camera, lighting, and audio production as well as story/script development for short film projects. We emphasize the use of very simple production equipment, including mobile phones as cameras.

Our next training will be in early June. I'll be bringing a friend who is an instructor at Full Sail University (a really great film school) to be my co-teacher. This will be our 4th workshop, with another planned in the fall.

Thanks for your prayers as we plan and travel. If you'd like to learn more and perhaps even be a part of a future trip, drop us a line.

"93"

Right now I'm rendering a shot from Rahab in scene nine that marks the halfway point for the colossal compositing process. This clip is 313 frames long and comes in at about 13 seconds. I am being stretched.

In replacing the green screen with a background of the interior of Rahab's tiny room, I am dealing with some challenging obstacles. Watch the camera movement. Now watch the tracking markers on the far wall and how they move at a different pace from the "stone" window frame. Notice that there is a corner in this "room" that I must create. Notice that other than the tiny lamp there is no object that remains in view for the entire shot. Notice the ladder rungs that cut across the first half of the shot. Notice the glimpses of the studio beyond the green screen that must be manually cut out. Notice the wide range of green represented in this shot. You have dark greens like a fine mossy bank and nearly white greens with touches of yellow on the underside of the wooden ladder. I can do this. I will do this. There is no other option.

Challenges like these point me once again to the tool of prayer. I have so many times for solutions to new problems that I suspect God will place a "prayer icon"  on the compositing program just beneath the animation curve editor button.

In our self-sufficiency we believe that we are capable of handling all challenges that come our way, even post-production related challenges. However, with prayer and listening in the quiet hour just before I get our of bed, I usually have a new plan of attack. With God, the most creative One, I can do this. I will do this.

Then & Now

Last month marked a personal and ministry milestone. 33 years ago, in February of 1981, I travelled to Brussels, Belgium. I went as a volunteer on what was intended to be a short-term missions assignment using my media skills at the headquarters of International Correspondence Institute. Or so I thought. God had a different and better plan for my life!

While I went overseas without a specific life calling to missionary service, I soon learned that I had unique skills needed on the mission field. I came to recognize that media had long-term strategic value and potential in missionary outreach, discipleship and training. And though I never experienced an overt or dramatic “sign” confirming my call, there was a growing sense of God’s purposes and clarity in His direction. It has taken me and my family to assignments living on 3 continents and work on hundreds of missionary media production, training and consultation projects around the world.

Three plus decades after that first missions trip, I’m reminded again of wisdom from the Message version of Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track.” Good advice!

Being a follower of Jesus goes far beyond a single moment of revelation. It demands a lifestyle of persistent seeking and serving. Whether or not our ministry calling began with a dramatic experience, sustaining it requires both our determined commitment and God's amazing grace. Today, my desire is to continue to trust in God’s purposes, listen to His voice and respond to His direction. What about you?

Audio engineering in Belgium circa 1985

global film training

Recently, taught a basic video production class...online! For the past two years I’ve gone down to Flagstaff, AZ to teach the class in person at Indian Bible College.

This year our account was so low I couldn’t afford to make the trip (IBC isn’t able to pay its professors, much less travel expenses). The good news is that we (IMM/10X Productions) have been building an online learning platform: www.GlobalFilmTraining.org

GFT’s main purpose is to provide training in basic video production for Turkish Christians. We started with building an English web site which is now in the process of being translated into Turkish. Amazingly, we found a Christian Turkish media producer who just moved to Denver last summer after graduating from Regent University with his masters in film/communications. So, we are working with him to see our materials translated and uploaded to an all Turkish on-line classroom. The on-line course is a great way to “duplicate” ourselves and to be able to reach an even larger audience. (God is good!)

Back to IBC… The lectures have been prerecorded and uploaded to the site. So, what I did was Skype (on-line video chat) the students at the beginning of the class to get them going, then they watch the lesson. When they are done we get back on Skype and go through the quiz together. Finally, I assigned them an in-class project, like using their cellphone or camera to practice taking photos or video about a subject we’ve discussed. Pray for the students to be able to envision how this skill can be incorporated into evangelistic or discipleship outreach to their own tribe.

Divine Serendipity and En Apatia

We've watched God bringing things together for En Apatia, (In Apathy) the movie project we started last year.

We were offered three different contracts for distribution. We were told by the local producers' association that this was a "miracle" because no one, especially a new director on a first film, gets even one distribution opportunity much less three.

We asked God to confirm to us which company we should join forces with to distribute the film. Without our instigating it, a cinema contact called to chat and happened to ask us about our options and when the film was coming. He could speak positively of two companies. Another appointment on a different matter led to a recommendation for one of the companies. After several of these divine serendipitous events, we knew God had given us the confirmation we asked for.

We have a scheduled showing for pastors who we want to help us promote the film. This convention showing would be an opportunity to get them to understand how to use the film as an evangelism tool and to work with us. The theater for the showing went into bankruptcy and the convention only had a couple hours available for our showing. No time to go elsewhere. We scrambled to find alternatives. The next day the hotel manager called and said don't worry, the woman who is working there is on vacation. They had it all covered. The showing will go forward on March 1 as scheduled.

One of the actresses' agents called and offered support to do promotions in the Barcelona area. We explained about our limited budget and he said don't worry. He just wants to promote it for his client's sake.

We have had some amazing donations to the campaign to raise the funds for this distribution. $9,200 has come in but we have a long ways to go in a short time. It's a faith journey, but the entire process of En Apatia has been a faith journey. God keeps showing up in ways we don't expect. He will be there for the funding too. Check it out here.

It will be so exciting to see how God continues to use this in Spain and in Europe as it releases in May to a secular audience. We are praying for lives to be changed and we are excited to see God's amazing "coincidences" continue as we move forward.