Christian Video速 Magazine
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May 2011 VOL. 4, NO. 5
7 Article
True Grit - Law, Justice, Vengeance and Redemption by MARTIN BAGGS
10 Greg’s Toolkit
Do It Yourself
by GREGORY FISH
12 Article
On a Mission
by RYAN GEESAMAN
Editorial 3
CVMag’s New Online Community is OPEN! by STEVE HEWITT
Cover Story 5
WorshipHouse Media... An Interview with Dale Carter by STEVE HEWITT
Christian Video® Magazine
May 2011
2
Editorial
by Steve Hewitt
CVMag’s New Online Community is OPEN!
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et me start by stating that there is absolutely no way to share with you all of the exciting new features CVMag is offering on this new community, at least not in this one article. However, it is up and running and there are several important things we want you to know, in order to get started! First, Christian Computing and Christian Video Magazines are now being hosted on the same site! Second, both magazines are now being made available in a new FLASH viewer! Simply go to our site, www.christianvideomagazine.com and click on the link just above the “search” box. It says, “Login to see members only content”. We are doing it right this time to keep out the hackers and abusers. So, to log in you will need to provide an email address and password and THEN check your email for an authentication email. You WILL need to click the link provided, in order to gain access to the new site. Once you click on the link provided in the email, you will be on your way. And, once you make it to the home page (for those logged in) you will see both the covers of CVMag and CVMag. Clicking on either will open the magazine in the new viewer! The viewer allows you to select if you wish to see the magazine one page at a time, or two pages (just as if it was sent to you in print). Text too small? No problem, click anywhere in an article and it will zoom in for a closer look. Still too small? Move your mouse near the top of the page and you will see some menu controls appear, including a slider bar that will allow you to adjust your zoom range, allowing you to get even closer! You can now go back and read all of the issues from 2010 and 2011 (those published so far) in the new viewer! What if you don’t like the new FLASH viewer (or don’t like FLASH)? No problem. The email we send out each month will still contain links to the magazine in PDF format. As well, once in our online community, you can view the latest issue as well as back issues in PDF format. Go to “Resources” and click on all libraries to read the magazines as one file, OR join one of our many writers in their communities to access their past articles in PDF format. Or, do a search on a writer’s name, or
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any topic, and you will be given a list of magazine articles in our libraries, all in PDF format. Our New Community is PUSH Technology Someone has already started to sigh. “I don’t want to have to join a new online community and have to log in to participate!” Here is the good news. Our new community is largely “push technology”. You WILL have to log in each month if you want to read the magazine in the new FLASH viewer. But, frankly, it works so fast that it is easier to do that than to click and pull up the magazine in PDF format. However, after you log in, hopefully fill out your profile and join a few communities, you actually NEVER have to log back in to participate. If you join the new “What’s Hot” community (for example), once a week when I post an exciting news item that catches my eye about technology that I think is hot, you will receive an email with my post. Our system won’t just send you the first sentence or two, and make you click “more”, like LinkedIn. With LinkedIn, you get a small portion of the email, have to click a link, which takes you back to the LinkedIn login page, and then enter your user name and password, just to read the rest of the email. How about Facebook? Someone posts on your wall and you get an email telling you someone posted something on your wall. They COULD tell you what it was, but instead, they make you go back and log in. Our site doesn’t do that. Another example: Join the Ask CVMag community. If someone has a problem with their computer or some software, they can ask a question. Everyone in the community can either get an instant email or a daily digest (your choice when you join a community). When you get an email, you see who asked the
May 2011
3
Editorial
by STEVE HEWITT
question (if they filled out their profile). You see the entire question or comment, and are provided a list of helpful links. You can easily reply to the person directly, reply to the discussion, etc., and are NEVER asked to log back in. It works seamlessly. So, join some of our communities. They are like Yahoo Groups on steroids. It is NOT like “discussion groups” you are familiar with on other sites. This system pushes the content out to you. And, in one month, we will be announcing our new smart phone apps (iPhone, Android and Blackberry), so you can connect with these communities through these apps as well. Please Fill Out Your Profile One of the things we are most excited about with our new community is the ability to connect with others! In the past, our magazine sought to connect our readers with sponsors who were providing technology solutions they were seeking. Now, with this new online community, we can help our readers connect with each other! The main way of accomplishing this is by filling out your profile. Please take some time to fill yours out. Once you have logged into our site, you will notice a profile completeness bar that appears below your name in the upper right portion of our website. As you fill out the profile, and as you make contacts, the bar will move to the right. If you get 100%, there are some exciting things that can happen! But first, what about privacy. The profile might ask questions that you do not desire to share with just anybody. Under the “My Profile” section of our menu bar, notice “My Privacy Settings”. You can decide who can see your picture, view your email address or read your bio. You can allow any and all members who are registered on our site, or set it so that only those you have agreed to be a contact can see this information. You can also select “nobody”, which allows you credit for filling in your profile, but will keep the information completely private. If you select “public”, this means the information might appear (such as your picture) on the home page where people can see it (for example, if you were listed as one of our top most active members) even though they are not registered users. So, what can happen when you fill out your profile! First, each month in each of our magazines, we are going to select a reader to profile in a new column “Who Reads CCMag” and/or “Who Reads CVMag”. We will only select from those who have reached the 100% connection from filling out their profile and making connections with others. In addition, we are
Christian Video® Magazine
working on an exciting drawing to be held Aug 15, 2011 with a variety of prizes. Those that have reached 100% by that time will be included in the drawings! At present, several companies are working on what they will offer for the contest, but FellowshipTech has already offered three Apple TV’s to be awarded to some lucky readers who have taken the time to use the new community to the fullest! What are Networks? One more thing you should note. If you fill out your profile, it will help you connect with other people who have similar interests. For example, we ask your position (and you can select multiple answers). If you are a Worship Leader, Church Treasurer and a Deacon, you can select each. Then, check your networks (again, found under the “My Profile” drop down menu). You can see who else is a reader and also a Worship Leader, Church Treasurer, member of NACBA, or many other items we will have as selections in your profile. This will allow you to make contacts, and will help determine future communities. Communities We obviously have some great communities and blogs started on the site. However, if you would like to see a specific community established, drop me a note either via regular email (steve@ccmag.com) or on our site. I would like to see readers step up and unite together in communities such as “Church Secretaries” or “IT Directors”. You will have your own libraries for your community members to upload files, as well as your own discussion group that will push your discussion threads out to each other’s email addresses! There are many, many cool features and functions available on our site. We will be announcing more in the upcoming months, but for now, I hope many of you will log in, register, fill out your profile, make some new contacts and friends and join a few communities! Let me hear from you. What do you think? What would you like to see us include in the future? And, if you don’t understand something, drop me a note and let me help! If nothing else, I would encourage you to join the CVMag Help community as well as the What’s Hot and What’s Not community! But there are many others to check out as well, so log in and have some fun!
May 2011
4
Cover Story by STEVE HEWITT
WorshipHouse Media... An Interview with Dale Carter
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any churches that purchase and download videos know about WorshipHouse Media. Recently, they made the news because they were purchased by Salem Communications in March 2011. I thought it would be a good time to call Dale Carter, the director of WorshiphouseMedia.com, and get an interview for us to learn more about how they started, what they offer and where they see all of this going! Enjoy! How did WorshipHouse Media come about? When? Give me some history... WorshipHouse Media launched in October of 2005. Rob Thomas, the founder of Igniter Media, had a vision that continues to this day of making an easy to use website that offers resources for the creative church. Part of the vision was to be a “producer’s distributor” – meaning, because we were started by a producer of media we understand the challenges and ministry goals of the producer. We love partnering with creative media producers to help them get the videos they make in front of churches around the world. It is interesting to note that YouTube launched in February 2005. When WorshipHouse started not long after, viewing video on the web was in its early stages. As technology continues to advance, WorshipHouse does as well. In 2009, we launched a newly designed website which continues to make it even easier for church leaders to find quality media. The response was amazing. People loved the look of the new site and the ease of use in searching, previewing, and buying videos. Advances in technology have made viewing videos on your computer a normal, every-day, experience. WorshipHouse loves to be
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involved with new technology so that using videos in the church also becomes a normal, every Sunday, experience. Tell us what your service has to offer? We sometimes like to think of ourselves as a remote video department for a church. Many churches can’t afford a person on staff for creating video, so we can be that for them. We know that time is limited for busy Pastors and church leaders. With WorshipHouse they can easily search for a topic they are interested in and watch the full preview in order to quickly decide whether the video will help their ministry. We have over 2,800 mini-movies, 8,800 motions, 4,600 stills and more from about 200 ministry-minded producers. This may sound like a lot to some, or not much to others. You see, we have always been picky on what we offer. Not every video submitted to us makes it on the site. Quality comes first because we know the pastor’s time is limited. We see it as an honor to provide Pastors and worship leaders various videos to use in their church. Additionally, WorshipHouse Media runs the store built into the presentation software “ProPresenter.” If your church uses ProPresenter, you have instant access to download media directly
May 2011
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Cover Story
by STEVE HEWITT
from within the app. Churches love this feature! Another cool feature I will mention is the “My Media” section of the website. This is where everything is stored so, if you need to come back and download it, you can. I hope you are not familiar with a computer crash, or theft (trust me, that is no fun at all); but at least you can be sure that your video library is all backed up in one place to re-download to your computer at any time if something were to happen.
Can you tell our readers what you know about the churches that purchase videos? (Do you have any demographics about your customers?) Pastors and Worship Leaders are the folks who most select the media for their church. When WorshipHouse launched it was almost all pastors. As product lines expand, including Song-Tracks (Videos of popular worship songs that show the words on the screen), we have seen a rise in worship leaders purchasing the videos for the worship segment of the church service. 76% of people using WorshipHouse are in the United States. The next 3 are Canada, United Kingdom, and Australia. Here is a cool stat for you: We offer HD content on many of our videos and when HD is available see that about 20% of people choose that format. That tells us that many churches are using advanced technology with HD (High Definition 720p or greater) video projectors in their services. Do you have producers that are exclusive? If so, who? No, we do not have any producers that are exclusive. We may have some that only choose to sell on WorshipHouse, but we don’t do exclusive contracts. Like I said before, we are honored to partner with our producers to offer their content, but we know that a producer may want to extend the reach of their ministry by selling on any site they can. With that in mind, we are always looking for and adding new creative media to the store. Any of your readers that are video producers can apply to be a producer by going to worshiphousemedia.com/submit. What are three of the most popular all time videos offered on your site? “Gift Of Worship” by Floodgate Productions, and “That’s My King” along with “Are You Amazed” by Igniter Media are the 3 most popular videos. An honorary mention goes to “The Marshmallow Test” also by Igniter Media. It was featured on
Christian Video® Magazine
Oprah and went viral and is now the video with the most views on WorshipHouse! Memories and the future: WorshipHouse has come a long way since 2005. I started working at WorshipHouse just one month after it launched. We didn’t totally know what we were doing back then, and have come a long way. One of the things I have learned is that being honest and friendly to customers will make a huge difference. There was a time a few years ago that the entire website went down for a day right before customers needed to get their media for Sunday church services. We had many upset customers but when we were honest with them and offered them free media because the problem was our fault, we created customers for life. WorshipHouse was acquired by Salem Communications in March 2011. WorshipHouse is thrilled to be a part of Salem’s “Church Products Division.” As part of Salem we now have a larger reach to bring powerful video elements to many more churches. I fully agree with my friend (and former boss) who started WorshipHouse, Rob Thomas, “It’s an exciting time to help equip those positioned on the frontlines with powerful resources that creatively share the gospel. With Salem’s reach, there’s no doubt that WorshipHouse Media, its customers and media providers will be better positioned to continue making a substantial impact for the local church.” I really think that the “church media world” is still in the early stages. Yes, many churches use video in worship services, but far more do not. The simple fact is that most churches are behind technology advances by 5-10 years. Churches don’t need to become sports arenas or concert venues, but they can learn from the technology used there. Visual worship is a very powerful way to help church members engage in worship to God. Dale Carter is the director of WorshiphouseMedia.com and WorshipHouseKids.com. Previously, Dale worked for Apple computer and was also a youth pastor. Dale grew up in Detroit, Michigan and now lives in Dallas, Texas with his wife, Rhealyn.
May 2011
6
Article
by MARTIN BAGGS
True Grit Law, Justice, Vengeance and Redemption
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or their first Western, the Coen brothers chose to remake or reimagine True Grit, the film that earned Marion Morrison, better known as John Wayne, his only Oscar. And they crafted a terrific film that is perhaps even better than the “original,” though both are based on the book by Charles Portis. True Grit offers tremendous gratification. The directors decided to saturate the film in church mu- But Cogburn is the one with “true grit”, a determination to sic and in biblical themes of law, justice, retribution and get his man dead or alive, usually dead. And he is the one redemption. Indeed, the opening title card declares, “The she hires . . . on the condition that she can accompany him. wicked flee though no one pursues,” a quote from the first However, when Cogburn teams up with LaBoeuf and she half of Proverbs 28:1. And this sets the tone for the movie, joins them, they form an unlikely trio on an unwavering basically summarizing the story in one line. journey. The movie begins with a calm scene, snow gently As with most of their films, the Coens mix humor into falling. But as the camera pulls away, we see a body lying the drama and there are laughs aplenty, although much of outside a house. A the humor here is dark, as man is dead, a killer violence and death form the Remember, before showing clips from flees on horseback backdrop. Moreover, the script movies, be sure you have a license to do and no one cares. is delightful, with dialogue that so. Check out Church Video License to No one chases him. is razor sharp, spoken in a be sure you are legal. www.cvli.com The dead man is weird redneck twang that is Mattie Ross’ father, impossible to place. As an shot by hired hand Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin). Leaving her example, LaBoeuf tells Mattie, after watching her sleep in mother back home on the farm, 14-year-old Mattie (Hailee her room, “You give out very little sugar with your proSteinfeld) travels by train to the town where the murder nouncements. While I sat there watchin’ I gave some occurred to take care of the body and seek vengeance. thought to stealin’ a kiss. . . . though you are very young, For her age, Mattie packs a verbal wallop and is not and sick, and unattractive to boot. But now I have a mind afraid to stand up to the toughest of characters. Wielding to give you five or six good licks with my belt.” She the law, and citing her attorney, she shoots high and gets replies, “One would be just as unpleasant as the other.” what she aims for. Asking for a US marshal she can hire to The Coens work here with a terrific cast. Bridges is in track Cheney, she is told of the best two: Rooster Cogburn fine form as the irascible, drunken reprobate Rooster (Jeff Bridges) and Texas Ranger LaBoeuf (Matt Damon). Cogburn, delivering his lines in a slur that is almost beyond
Christian Video® Magazine
May 2011
7
Article
by MARTIN BAGGS
understanding. He is clearly enjoying this role. Damon shows he can offer comic lines with the best of them. But it is Hailee Steinfield in her debut feature film that stands out. She not only holds her own with these veterans but centers the film. The three main characters offer different perspectives on the themes of law and justice. We first see Cogburn in a court of law, on the witness stand defending his right to have shot three men. We discover his background as a lawyer, but his departure from that career as too confining. For him, as for Mattie, the law restricts and puts too many boundaries. These two want to take the law into their own hands. They consider themselves above the law. LaBoeuf, on the other hand, works within the law, quietly diligent and methodical in his approach. He gets his man, but it takes time, and he brings them to justice where they can be tried before they are hanged. Rooster cannot spare such time. He metes out his own form of justice. For him, there is no need for the noose; rather, a quick bullet in the heart will suffice. And it is cheaper, too. How do we approach the law? Too often we feel we are better than others, and then second guess the laws of the land. We may find ourselves more like Mattie and Rooster, thinking the laws don’t apply to us, or are too impatient to be particular. Though we are no longer under the biblical law (Rom. 6;14), having been
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freed from that by Christ himself (Acts 13:39), we are yet expected to honor God’s law (1 Cor. 9:21). Further, we are commanded to respect the authorities in government over us (Rom. 13:1), and that includes obeying the law. We cannot simply use and abuse the law.
May 2011
8
Article
by MARTIN BAGGS
Mattie introduces the second theme of the film, vengeance, in an opening line spoken over her exit from the train: “You must pay for everything in this world, one way or another. There is nothing free except the grace of God.” Here is the American concept of “no free lunch”. We will come back to the idea of grace later. Mattie wants vengeance – not justice. For her retribution is required, even demanded. Someone must pay for her father’s death. She wants Chaney dead, preferably at her hands not at the end of a rope. She concurs with Cogburn. LaBoeuf, however, wants Chaney brought back to Texas, where he killed a US senator. There he can stand trial and find justice for his crimes, not to mention the Texas Ranger will benefit from a bigger reward. But Mattie does not want justice. She does not want him tried for some other killing. She wants his head for her father’s murder. That is vengeance. Vengeance is very personal. It is the inflicting of harm on a person by a victim who has been harmed by that person. It is violent revenge. But it works outside the law, making the avenger an outlaw. God addressed this directly through the apostle Paul: “Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay’ “ (Rom. 12:19). God sees all that occurs and is the judge of mankind (Psa. 75:7). He will not let any crime go unpunished, but he often chooses to delay this judgment, sometimes deferring it to the final judgment (Rev. 20:11). We may not like his timing, and in our impatience find ourselves like Mattie wishing to take matters into our own hands. But the message is clear. It is not our place to do so. We put ourselves on God’s throne when we do this. It is both better and biblical to leave it in his very capable hands. One of the delights of True Grit is the score by Carter Burwell, the Coens’ usual orchestrator. Together, they decided to use hymns from the western period as the music. The main motif comes from Elisha Hoffman’s 1887 classic, “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms.” Virtually every scene uses this melody in one variant or another. From piano to violin to oboe, this melancholic music wafts over the wide snow-covered meadows of the Wild West here.
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The music also reflects the religious convictions of Mattie, and her journey toward revenge. “Oh how sweet to walk in this pilgrim way” -- these words from the second stanza of “Everlasting Arms” point to her pilgrimage of vengeance. “What have I to dread, what have I to fear, leaning on the everlasting arms?” points to her security, first with Rooster and LaBoeuf, but ultimately with Jesus. Toward the end, with victory assured, Burwell brings the notes of “What a Friend we have in Jesus.” Indeed, we can lean on the arms of Jesus and find a friend who will never let us down. Mattie found that and we realize it through this score. The final theme is redemption. As the journey unfolds and the villain is found, all three characters find their own true grit tested. In so doing, Rooster in particular discovers his own depravity and performs an act of selflessness that enables him to find redemption. Redemption, the act of rescue or deliverance, is something all three needed in one way or another in this film. And it is something we all need even now, one hundred years later. We may find ourselves vengeful like Mattie, self-righteous like LaBoeuf, or debouched and drunk like Rooster, but we all have gone astray from God’s design for us (Isa. 53:6). Yet, in his grace, he has reached down into our world, to find us in our own particular sins, and he offers us rescue (1 Thess. 1:10). He is our redemption (1 Cor. 1:30). He has paid for our deliverance through his blood (Eph. 1:7). This is a biblical fact and we must choose to accept or reject it. How you approach law and justice and vengeance will ultimately pale in comparison to how you approach God’s redemption. Grace is truly free. Jesus is the real hero with true grit. Martin works as a manager in the high tech industry. He leads a monthly film review group at Mosaic Church in Portland, Oregon. He writes film responses from a biblical perspective on his blog: www.mosaicmovieconnectgroup. blogspot.com Contact: martinbaggs@gmail.com
May 2011
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Greg’s Toolkit by GREGORY FISH
Do It Yourself
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ecently, I’ve been to the hardware store. Actually I should say stores. I’ve visited both the Home Depot® and Lowes® twice now. This probably meets or beats my record of hardware store visits for the past two years. It took Hurricane Dolly to get me to go last time. It would help if I got everything I needed at one time! As you can probably tell, I’m not much of a handyman. I’m embarrassed to say that when a honey-do list is made it’s usually my honey that’s doing it. She’s more of a handyman...why am I admitting this??? Recently, I’ve been to the hardware store. Actually I should say stores. I’ve visited both the Home Depot® and Lowes® twice now. This probably meets or beats my record of hardware store visits for the past two years. It took Hurricane Dolly to get me to go last time. It would help if I got everything I needed at one time! As you can probably tell, I’m not much of a handyman. I’m embarrassed to say that when a honey-do list is made it’s usually my honey that’s doing it. She’s more of a handyman...why am I admitting this??? I take solace in the fact that I’m more of a computer geek than a handyman. Wait – is that really helping my case? We all have different strengths, and mine are definitely not in the manual labor department. It’s not that I’m not into hard work; it’s that I’m not very good at it, at all. But we all rise up to do what is important to us, and so for me it meant visiting the stores for a couple of camera rig do-it-yourself projects. I got a plan together. I made a list. I checked it twice. I embarked on my DIY journey into uncharted and fearful waters. I knew the slogan at the Home Depot® is “we can help” so I went there first. When they didn’t have an essential piece, I called Lowes®. They said they didn’t have it. I called some smaller but more special parts store. No dice. So, while persevering and living in my strengths, I pulled up the item on Lowes®’ website. I called them again and asked them to
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pull up their inventory of item # so-and-so. They had at least 20! Thanks a lot for telling me, “we don’t have that” earlier. So I went to Lowes®. I got what was left on my list. Or so I thought. After one more trip to Home Depot®, now that I’m a little more familiar with its layout, I have most of what I need for 3 DIY projects. Now comes the hard part! In reality, I’ve already got one project in the can—it’s done! I took the basic concept from this Shoulder Rig tutorial- http://youtu.be/sa7eeZgqRas and customized it to my liking. For this one, I wanted to be able to use it with my viewfinder for my Canon 7D. I had to shorten the length considerably to allow for this. I may need to extend some weight back over the shoulder, but we’ll see about that later. Right now, I’m very pleased with how it turned out. You can see a picture of the project in stages at my blog- http://fishxpressions.wordpress.com/2011/05/15/dslr-diy-project-1/. This was relatively easy to do, even with my limited capacity for such matters. Oh, plus the fact that my wife helped out! The PVC cutter is a must. It’s so easy to use, and it beat a hack saw a million times over. The advice of marking it up (once you’ve got it the way you want it) is a great tip. Here are some things not mentioned in the tutorial that helped us out. I cut down the 1.5” pieces to 1”. This was easier to work with a coupler. The rubber cement is strong enough without that extra .5”. After a dry assembly and
May 2011
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Greg’s Toolkit
by GREGORY FISH
marking the pieces, it’s good to have pliers handy to take these 1” coupler pieces out to glue them. Sand the assembled and glued product before spray painting. Use plastic spray paint. I used a larger insulation foam pipe to simply be wrapped and glued over the PVC in pieces, not as a whole like in the tutorial. One more tidbit— use soap to lubricate the PVC before adding the bike handles as grips. Next, I went after the fig rig using this tutorial- http://vimeo.com/16415597. Part of the reason I made so many trips to the store was to try and locate the sprinkler tube clamps. In the comments it was stated that these would be hard to find. I gave up and went with plan B, simply using PVC T’s in their place. Also on the top part of the fig rig, I customized mine using some 90 degree elbows to extend it out slightly to make room for putting my 7” monitor in the cold shoe mount above the camera in this application. I’m still working on the camera plate portion. I’ll finish soon and put pictures up on my blog in the DIY category. The last project I have planned is a slider to the specs of this tutorial- http://vimeo.com/16452040. DIY projects are popular because folks like me, and possibly like you, just can’t afford the outrageous prices that these types of products cost. For a fraction of the price you can make your own which does the same thing. You get what you pay for may be somewhat true, but I’d rather spend my dollars on other things. One of those is the final subject of this article. Do it yourself philosophy is not always a good one. In matters such as salvation, it’s obviously an impossibility. Another area where this concept is discouraged and rightly so is in ministry, care, and charity. As I write this, my hometown of Joplin, Missouri weighs heavy on my heart. With such devastation, we cannot simply tell those victims of the single deadliest tornado in history to do it themselves. The long relief effort must be shared by concerned and generous souls. I know Joplin is a resilient town, and the body of Christ is in action in that place. However, we should not expect them to rebuild all by themselves. Any support you can give would help so very much. I plan on investing some of my savings gained by doing DIY projects, to assist in the on-going relief effort, and organizing further assistance for the cause. I know
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of many great places where you too can help. If you are moved to do so, email me at fish.gregory@gmail.com and I will connect you. Thanks. Gregory is a preacher in South Texas with a passion for combining the timeless message of God’s grace with the technology of our day. On the side he produces videos for “FishXpressions” at various Christian video websites. He has set out to learn how to create better and higher quality films, and is currently enrolled at Lights Film School online. Apart from this column, he also maintains a production blog with tips, helpful links, and other musings at www.fishxpressions.wordpress.com.
May 2011
11
Article
By RYAN GEESAMAN
On a Mission
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ome of the most memorable experiences in my life have occurred on mission trips. I can still remember people I met, smells, sights, tastes, and moments with God. When I was in college, the trips were often work trips in areas of the United States ravaged by hurricanes. I discovered a deep love for demolition on those trips. I learned to hang drywall. I attended my first Southern church fish fry. And I saw for the first time how much an outpouring of love from strangers could mean to a group experiencing hardship. My last few mission trips have been international trips to areas of poverty and injustice at extremes most people will never experience and may not even realize exist. The first trip of this nature was to Kenya. At the time I was a video volunteer at my church, LCBC, and was invited to join the trip, along with one other video volunteer, in order to document it for the rest of the congregation. We were going to be visiting AIDS projects, water wells, and sponsored children, including the child that my wife and I still sponsor. The other video guy and I were fairly green in our realworld production experience, and as such, we were anxious to put all of our classroom knowledge to work. We took everything we could think to take: 3 camcorders, a boom pole, a shotgun microphone, a wireless lapel microphone system, a wireless handheld microphone system, tripods, batteries, and about 20 blank tapes. In our minds we were producing a documentary. Shortly after arriving at the airport for the first leg of the trip, I learned my first lesson about this type of work: having lots of electronic equipment earns you lots of time with airport security. My neatly packed, multi-layered, hard-shell case with custom-fitted polyethylene foam was no match for the very thorough hands of a TSA officer. He pulled out and swabbed every single piece of gear. Shockingly, he was not nearly as concerned with getting everything back into its designated foam nest as I was.
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All of our equipment did arrive safely with us in Kenya. Then the fun began. We shot everything. We had at least one camera rolling constantly. One of us was usually running the boom pole, trying to follow the action, which was especially difficult in situations where someone was speaking in a rural dialect, someone else was translating that into Swahili, and a third person was translating that into English. In the end, I think we ended up filling about fifteen sixtyminute tapes: fifteen hours of footage. We ended up producing one five-minute video out of the footage from that trip. That’s when I learned my second lesson: know what the final product will be before you go, so you know what to shoot. When the opportunity to go to India for a similar trip presented itself, I felt much more prepared. I scaled back my equipment list…slightly. I took one mid-sized prosumer camcorder and one small consumer camcorder. I took the wireless systems, mainly because I was still using the same hard-shell case and there was a space for them. I left behind the tripod, boom pole, and shotgun microphone. I discussed the final product with our senior pastor before we left, and therefore, I was able to take fewer blank tapes. The trip to India was fairly uneventful. I did not have to completely unpack and repack my case for security. On the way back, we had a long layover in Dubai, so we decided to leave the airport. First, however, we needed to go through Dubai security. This turned out to be easier said than done for May 2011
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Article
by RYAN GEESAMAN
me. They scanned my case and then escorted my case and me to a special area. The officer there opened the case and wanted to know why I had all of the video equipment. If you’ve ever been on a mission trip to a country that isn’t especially friendly to Christianity, no matter what the truth is, your trip is officially “personal” in nature. So I lied. He called his boss. I lied again. It’s very nerve-racking when two armed men are talking about you in a language you don’t understand. I honestly thought I was going to have to leave all of my equipment in the United Arab Emirates. After what seemed like an eternity, they let me go, and I basically ran for the door before they could change their minds. So again I learned the importance of taking as little equipment as possible and keeping it as non-professional-looking as possible. On both trips, there was something that I saw that I was unable to capture on video, and those scenes will never leave my mind’s eye. In Kenya, we went to visit a woman who was using a microloan to start a small business. As we were exiting the van, we were told to leave all of our camera equipment in the vehicle and out of sight. On one hand, I’m sure I made the right decision to listen to our guide’s advice. On the other, I wish I hadn’t. We made our way through the dirt streets and stopped at something that is hard to describe as a building by our American standards. I honestly can’t remember the conversation that occurred there because all of my attention was focused on the image I was not able to capture. Nearby, under a table were two children taking a nap on the dirt. It was hot. They were dirty. Flies were crawling all over their faces. And all I could think is, “I wish I could show everyone
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this moment.” In India the moment that escaped my camera lens occurred at night. Somehow I ended up in the “jump seat” of the van. In India they don’t really believe in lanes. Passing is always an option. Right of way is based on two simple rules: which vehicle is bigger and which driver honks their horn more. So you’ll have to forgive me for focusing my attention on my lack of seatbelt rather than shooting footage during the drive. I did, however, wish my priorities were different when we stopped a red light. Beggars started tapping on the windows, which was a common occurrence. In the middle of the intersection on one of those little concrete islands just big enough to hold a traffic signal was a little girl. She was probably 2 or 3 years old. She had no pants. She was just kicking her foot, oblivious to all of the traffic whizzing by, as if this was a normal evening for her. A little girl alone in the middle of a busy intersection while her parents begged for money: that’s poverty. My wife has told me she has a hard time visualizing some of things I have described to her. And that’s the reason capturing these images for others to see is so important. Not everyone can travel to these places and see these things firsthand. It is our responsibility to show the church the need and allow it to respond. And when the church responds, it is humbling to have been a part of it.
May 2011
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