Praise Report

Thank the Lord another check came in the mail. I would like to thank Dick Carney for pitching in and helping me buy that plane ticket to Kenya. I have only met Dick once when he was in Charlotte with his son who is a friend of mine. When the conversation came around to the mission trip, Dick perked up and declared “missions are my passion.” Well Dick proved how passionate he was by donating to my cause. Dick is also a veteran of numerous mission trips over seas and here at home. He takes a group from his church in Greenville, NC to Haiti every year to spread the love of the Lord to those in need. He has also lead a mission team to hurricane-ravaged Mississippi to help fellow Americans cope with the devastation and destruction cause by Katrina. When Dick says missions are his passion he has the experience to back up that statement. Thanks again Dick for helping a young man become involved in his very first mission trip.

Know, hopefully, the donations will continue to pile up in my mailbox. I sent out a reminder letter to all of those family members and friends who told me, “Oh yea, I’m sure I could give you a few dollars.” I had a hard enough time working up the courage to ask for a donation the first time around. Having to ask a second time has been pure torture. I don’t do well with asking for money because I know all to well how hard it is to earn a dollar and how much harder it is to keep a dollar. With my son’s medical bills and my wife returning to school instead of to work, we owe more than one bank several dollars. Living in the red isn’t fun and I know how many fine folks live with this problem. So asking them for money they could be using for bills is difficult for me. But, it’s not up to me who donates or where the money comes from. I just trust in the Lord and he will provide every one of his children with what they need.

Below is a copy of my second letter.

May has arrived and the countdown for my departure to Kenya has started. I have approximately one month to get all of my donations together to purchase my plane ticket. So far I have raised $750 towards my $2000 goal. That means I have raised roughly one third of the money I need for my plane ticket. I need your help in raising the rest of the funds to send me on this important mission.

Let me take a moment to explain how helping to send me to Kenya is a worthwhile cause. The church has been blessed to receive enough donations to purchase a professional grade video camera to document the work the missionaries perform while in Kenya. Since I am a professional videographer, the church has asked me to accompany the mission team with the new camera. I will spend two weeks following the missionaries on their journeys and recording all of their movements as they work diligently to spread the word of God. I will have a front row seat when the team conducts an evangelistic and healing crusade in Kitikiti, a village near Nairobi. Last year this crusade attracted over a thousand attendees and was held in an outdoor soccer arena. I will tour the new Grace House alcohol and drug rehabilitation center that our church sponsors. I plan to shoot enough footage of this wonderful new ministry to produce a second documentary for the purpose of raising funds to keep the new center operating. I will also follow along, with tape rolling, as the team visits individual homes and families for personal ministry and prayers.

When I return from Africa, my job will be far from finished. I will take all of the footage I shot and edit it into several different videos for the church. Our goal is not to just raise money for future trips, or to sponsor the ministries we have started in the region. We also want to increase the members of the mission team itself. We want to find doctors and dentists who also want give of their talents to those who cannot receive care. We need musicians and witnesses to help with the crusades. We are looking for anyone who is willing to embark on this life-changing journey to spread the Good News. My videos will help in finding those individuals led to join the mission.

I am very excited about this opportunity to serve the Lord in Kenya. I believe I am led to use my God given talents as a videographer to help bring the word of the Lord to those all over the world who need to hear a message of hope. Thank you so much for your consideration of this request.

Sincerely,

Calm Before The Storm

Yes, I know it has been quiet a while since I laid my fingers on the keyboard to peck out a few lines about my journey to the Dark Continent. I attribute my lack of posting to the fact that not much has happened on this subject in the past month. Concentrating on Lent and celebrating Holy Week took my attention away from the trip. These holy holidays must have captured the attention of my financial contributors as well. I have not received a donation in several weeks. This dry spell has caused me to feel a bit nervous about reaching my goal. But, my priest tells me not to worry. Lots of prayers and a reminder letter would help the situation. So I am about to embark on a second letter writing campaign. I have never tried to raise this much cash before and I feel a little apprehensive about beating the same bushes a second time. However, I’m going to step out of my comfort zone and charge ahead with asking again for contributions because I feel that is what the Lord wants me to do.

On the camera side of the project, Father Dan and I have shopped around for the best deals on support gear for the new camera. I have spent several hours combing the Internet for the best prices on batteries, camera top light, tapes, and a quick release plate for the tripod we already have. All of this gear put together is starting to add up. We may have to do without a few items or find less expensive alternatives. To me, less expensive alternatives means using equipment that isn’t going to work as well as I’m used to my equipment working. The tripod we are taking doesn’t have a level bubble for the head. Not having this simple piece of equipment makes the video gathering process much more frustrating for me. I will constantly have to be watching walls and trees to see if I’m level. I wouldn’t want buildings or other inanimate objects in the background of my shots to look like they are sliding off the lower right corner of the TV screen.

“You’ll just have to eyeball it,” Father Dan said after getting over the sticker shock of a decent tripod. Eyeballing doesn’t always work. In fact, it never works when the ground under your tripod legs isn’t level. Then there are angles and shadows that come into play. I actually tried to eye ball a shot using this same tripod and a camera at a wedding one time. I set it up in the choir box on uneven steps. I tried to line the shot up on a far wall but when I played back the video in a monitor every body looked like they were leaning forward on their tiptoes. Eyeballs can play tricks on you especially when you are looking through tiny black and white viewfinders.

Lastly, the church handed me new marching orders to edit together a third video for the mission presentation. This one will not take as much time and resources to put together. Basically I will edit all the photos and video from last year’s trip together into a music video. That’s all I need to do but I can’t just leave the assignment at that. I have an idea to dress up the video a bit. After the trip last year, Father Dan and Father Lawrence recorded a sermon for the weekly radio show that consisted of stories from the trip. I plan to take some audio from that radio show and insert it into the music video to keep it interesting. Yea, it will mean a little extra work but I think it will be worth it.

The slow period I have experienced this past month has ended. I’ve got a new letter writing champagne and video project to work on. Soon we will take all my video and start touring churches statewide to raise funds for the trip. I’m eager to get started with the tours. I enjoy showing folks all the hard work I have put into making the videos. I hope that my work will inspire them to join us in our mission to spread God’s love and provision across the globe.