Preproduction in El Café in Argentina

And this process involves preproduction – the time before the action begins.
Sometimes preproduction is easy. You get lots of information, there is time for research, there are articles, posting and literature available to kick-start the creative process.
Other times, preproduction is difficult. There is a shortage of information, research is difficult, but none of this matters when you have to complete the task. You have to complete the task – and there is no room for excuses. This is our task as creative people, as journalists, we need to “find the story”, and then “tell the story” – to a predetermined audience.
This is when you need to focus on the production. Look at what you have, dig deep and keep track of the original brief.
Now while this should never become the standard operation procedure, there are times when something exciting happens.
You begin to see things you had never seen before.
You change angles and see an diamond hidden in an obscure interview.
You listen more intently because every word matters
You regularly check your understanding against the brief, working more intensely and intentionally
and
suddenly out of the haze of confusion, there is order
there is clarity
there is a story.

I like to refer to this as the brooding stage in the creative process. As believers and followers of a creative God, this is our opportunity to follow His creative pattern and order. There was a time when there was nothing and the Creative One said “Let it be” and it was.
Unfortunately we cannot just say.’let it be’; but we can rearrange, structure, plan and search for meaning and reality in the most obscure places.
And if we are diligent and willing to persevere and if we do not give up too soon we will sit back and finally whisper the words ‘it is good’.
We have co-authored and we have created something new
and then we look, we see and we say,
it
is
very
good.

Graham Vermooten (the boss) has just come back from a three week trip which took him from the southern most tip of Africa, Cape Town, to the centre of Africa, Kenya, Mambasa and then up to Scotland where he spoke at the Visual Story Network Conference. Travelling with him to Kenya were 20 excited students on their way to do their YWAM – DTS outreach. For the last three months these students have been getting to know each other and for the next three months they will be getting to know the community they are called to serve.

Graham selected three students to be group leaders. They would be the ones who would take responsibility for the rest, liase back to Media Village, check on logistics and work on team unity. They are the “go-to-guys”. I wondered how he had chosen three out of all 20 of them, all just as bubbly as the next – all which potential for leadership. I wondered if this had caused any conflict.
As the meeting continued Graham describe how Talita, a bright young ambitious girl who had not been chosen as an official “leader”, had approached one of the warm-hearted leaders, Mercia. In a bold moment Talita told Mercia that for the rest of the outreach she would be doing her laundry for her.
She would serve Mercia so that Mercia could lead them.

Serving through leading and Leading through serving.

Graham is always encouraging us to aspire to leadership. Being in a leadership position, I know that this is not as glamorous as it may seem. It’s scary to call the shots and it’s not nice to be seen as ” not nice.” But I have realized is that there is a fine line between leading and serving.
Talita has lead the way in serving Mercia. Mercia has humbly taken the difficult role of leading the others. The Media Village staff have been encouraged to look at each other and to ask the simple question :”Can I do your ‘washing’” – so that together we can lead and serve.

The entire group is currently serving in the Simba Hills of Kenya. Below is an insert from report written by Talitha:

Jambo!

This week half of our team went to Happy Rock Orphanage. We painted the school and the boy’s dorm, fixed the cupboards, windows and a fan. It was hard work, but seeing the improvement was rewarding…

The other half of the team joined the Compassion holiday program where
they helped the teachers by teaching and presenting games. They taught the learners First Aid and gave tips on how to understand a text…

We thank God for how He has strengthened us this week. We can also
testify of a great unity in the group.

God bless!
MediaVillage@Kenya

Graham Vermooten began by playing a video that Media Village made during the 2007 tsunami. It showed some horrendous footage of the devastation and asked some valid questions about how a nation that has been crippled with such despair can find hope again. The video answered these questions with simple images of hope found in nature: the strong roots of a tree in a forest, a young man enjoying the freshness of an ocean wave, a girl spraying a canvas with colour… a little boy putting his hand into his father’s. We know these images. We know this answer.

Graham continued and urged us to ask these questions.
Where is God when a tsunami hits?
Where is He when three weeks later research times are still discovering areas of land affected and uncovering bodies that hadn’t been included in the shocking death toll?
Where is He when, all of a sudden, we experience our own disaster: like a wave of depression, the lights in our heart may simply go out?

None of us knew where he was going with this, all I knew was that there was some relevance because on that Monday afternoon it definitely felt like all the lights in my heart and mind had gone out. I listened harder.

My boss then started talking about atoms and how when you split one the rotation of the one half will continue to affect the rotation of the other half, no matter how far they are separated. I thought, at this point, that he had been reading too much Rob Bell. But he continued to explain that when you take a particle that may look like a dot and pass it through a piece of paper there will be points when that particle will actually take the form of two lines and not be a dot at all. His point was that if the God who created the atom could allow for this much confusion (for lack of a better word) at a quantum level then surely this God was big enough to hold the devastating effects of a tsunami or the sadness of a human heart in his creation.

He took his point went further when he said that while you could be looking at this book from one angle and see a rectangle and then from another angle a see a square. He urged us not to think that we have the monopoly on the truth. Don’t think that the political turmoil in the Ivory Coast can just be a attributed to anther case of African authoritarianism,” dig deeper, change the news channel, see it from another angle and think carefully before making meaning out of it, we are a media company after all.”

Finally Graham brought his point closer to home when he told us that his wife still suffers from an autoimmune disease called LUPUS, that the two of them continue to pray as they consult with the leading doctors in the field, but quite frankly, don’t have the answers to the questions he poses. The staff was speechless.

Noah Pinson, who was visiting Media Village for a few weeks, then offered a comment on how Jesus may have handled these travesties. He reminded us of the well known tale of Jesus joining Mary and Martha after his dear friend Lazarus had dies. The women were mourning and the community had gathered to give them strength at this devastating time. Jesus joined them in their pain. He knew he would raise Lazarus to life again and that this would bring glory to God but still it says :“ Jesus wept”.

Leaving the restaurant, Poncha tells us that Juarez was once known as the “city that did not sleep.” Tonight there only the occasional set of headlights that pass us on our way back to the Marriott. Gated streets and barred windows tell a city story of fear and despair.

Statistics claim this city to be one of the most violent in the world and with an average of 5-8 deaths a day, the people are imoblilized by fear. Newspaper headline state that 40 people had been killed since Friday evening and today is Monday – that is 10 deaths a day.
Over a period of three short years this city has been reduced to a community of people bound by fear and hopelessness. yesterday 7 youths were killed at close range at a soccer game. The city of Juarez is controlled by two opposing cartels, who trade in drugs and daily war for the sole of the city.

Today we interviewed the youngest chief-of-police, Mariasol, in the nation. She is a petite soft spoken 20 year old, who took the challenge when no one else was willing to. She exhibits the courage of those desperate for change. Poncho Murguia, encouraged her by committing to repairing an old ambulance that has been inactive for several years. This is the body of Christ not just talking faith, but actively reaching out and exhibiting what it means to bless a city in the name of Jesus.

Poncho also took the bold step of driving to the highest place in the city of Juarez . There overlooking the city of Juarez in the foreground and El Pasa in the distance he boldly declared that he wanted to spiritually adopt the city. To pray for her people, to bless communities, to minister to felt needs and to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Christians in Juarez are facing trials that most of us cannot even imagine. They are facing the enemy. They are courageous. They believe that Juarez will be declared a city dedicated to God. They need us to pray with them. To cover every street in prayer. To stand against the enemy. This is no playground., and while our lives felt so normal as we sat eating burritos and enshalida the city was mourning. Nothing was as it seemed.

Surely this is our opportunity to help change the destiny of this city. God is able, are we willing to pay the price?

Well, fast forward to 2011. 

The Media Village team, Diane, Chris and Phillip, join about 300 African Americans re-living the dream at a Baptist church in Newark, New Jersey.

Decibels totter on the brink of distortion, wild shouts of support punctuate every line of the speaker’s message and a choir adorned in black robes carry the crowd to levels of spiritual euphoria.  

It’s easy for me to spot my team across the crowded auditorium not because they have a camera and tripod but because they are one of about 10 pale faces in the crowd.  (had Butho, got his visa finding him may have been more difficult.) I have to remind myself that we are in America and not at a service in the heart of Khyaletisha.

the celebration was a tribute to Martin Luther King, in fact today was an American public holiday. Despite feeling as though we were on a Sister Act set, and expecting to hear a director shout  ” cut”, my heart was stirred as I was reminded of the power of one.

One man, with no power to vote, changed the destiny of a nation.  
One man discriminated against, has a day of remembrance that stops the wheels of the mighty American nation from turning.
One man lost his life, but today his legacy lives in the White House.

One life, surrendered to God has the potential to change a family, a community, a city, a nation.

 So why not me?

MLK Jnr had no idea of the significance of his life,
neither did Nelson Mandela.

imagine if Christ followers were willing to live a life of reckless obedience to the commands of God. 
Imagine the days of celebration for the poor and the needy, the widows and orphans.
imagine a legacy that is not bound by white walls, and city halls but stories etched into eternity.

Makes me want to also ” have a dream “

Tomorrow we fly to San Fran,… The journey continues. Journey with us,

Today was such a day.
BLOODS and CRISPS, these are the gangs that dominate the school grounds of a high school in Newark.
Violence and crime are the rule and not the exception but God has placed his people in unusual places.  

Standing in the icy winds, with temperatures below zero Olive holds up a bright red STOP sign, her bright green vest almost reflects on the white snow. 

She believes God has given her a position of influence.  She prays for every student that crosses the road, every day she changes the atmosphere of community.  Two cars pull over and greet Olive, they shout greetings, and thank her for her duty.  A teacher walks by and tells her that every day he waits to see her, and that her presence blesses the community.

Standing in the office of Maria Westbrook, we look over the school, and she tells our team that she prays for those students everyday. At the start of term, Maria and her husband Mike stand on the pavement between the CRISPS and the BLOODS.  They have been peace makers in that community, and God has heard their prayers.

Alumni are creating a trust fund, and giving students the opportunity to complete their education, and to break from the bondage of gangsterism.

Prayer evangelism is changing the destiny of this city.

While filming outside another school Chris was targeted with an ice-snowball, he was reprimanded by a police officer, and questioned by an activist.

Today was good, tomorrow we will hear more stories of hope.  tomorrow we will give an account of the good work that God has started in Newark, New Jersey. 

Why?
The politicians will give a political answer
The educationalists an academic answer
But
The intercessors of this city will give a God answer.

With a current budget of $900 million this donation is not going to solve every need, in fact it is only a big drop in a big bucket.

So what’s the big deal?

In the late 1960′s Newark NJ was the place of riots and political unrest.  This revolt soon spread to neighbors and across the nation. Newark quickly lost its reputation of  economic growth and prosperity. Despite its proximity to New York City, Newark became despised. This city was not on the list of choice cities to raise your children or to do business.  In fact the word was out. Newark was dead.

While that may sound like the end of tale, the body of Christ in this city, decided to re-write the ending. 
They chose to believe that God had a purpose for this city and it was not one of desolation and despair.
They believed  these words ,” build up theHighways, and you will be called sought after, the city no longer deserted”

Easy words to read, but not so easy to implement.  They needed a strategy.  Lloyd Martin decided to take God’s word literally and began to build prayer highways.  Oh no, not physically that’s for the city, but rather spiritual in-roads.  He started to pray for the Highways.
Over the next few months the highways, led to streets, and the streets to avenues and very soon the entire city of Newark was covered in prayer.
The most amazing thing happened, as the percentage of streets adopted in prayer increased so the crime decreased.  It was documented by the secular press…no, they never acknowledged the prayer, but they saw the results and they liked what they saw.

Is this not the evidence of things hoped for?
Is this not the hope that makes us believe in the power of prayer?
Is this not the power that encourages us to persevere even in the mist difficult situations?

Not only did crime drop, economic growth is happening, perceptions are changing, and Mark Zuggerberg chooses the Newark school system for one of his donations.

Coincidence?
 Or evidence of things hoped for, of things yet to be?

Here is a truth: we are all worshippers. ( even if the object of our attention is a rugby game, or a trip to the mall)
Divorce,
Neglect,
abuse, disappointment, failure.

These events have all affected the focus of our attention to some degree or other. They have become
scenes in our life – script. sometime we have acted well, when jthe spot light was on us, and other times not.

At Media Village, our desire for every young person starting DTS in the next few days, is that they would experience a Lord, who can heal evey hurt, who can redirect the story so that they may BEAR FRUIT, which will change their lives nd transform the world

but today was different

Today we sat as a Media Village team and asked God to help us become story tellers supported by story living. There was an air of expectancy and excitement.

If our “performance” is going to win God accolades, we need to practice often. We need to be dedicated and determined.

We need to be dedicated to immersing ourselves into our God character.

We need to interact and co-act with the cast God has ordained for the Act that we now find ourselves in.

Today Media Village began to write a new script.

Today we auditioned, and the number of people who spontaneously stood in line to contribute their unique giftings was encouraging.

I am not sure whether our story will ever become a BIG TIME hit, but we are determined to play to an audience of One.

The One who called himself I AM.

We committed ourselves to storytelling supported by story living- and you are invited to join the cast.