Today we wanted to give you a little sneak peek into the challenges and satisfaction of working in media production and documentary filmmaking around the world. For many, the finished product is all people will ever see. It is easy to sit back and watch a 30 minute documentary while wondering why it took so long to produce or why it was not done differently. It has taken us many years of experience to do what we are now doing, and we are still learning all the time.

We hope today’s newsletter captures a small snapshot of our process and why we do what we do.

Preparation starts ahead of time by making sure all camera equipment is packed and accounted for, but it also includes preparing for the stories we hope to capture and the shots we would like to get while in country. We were recently privileged to meet and spend an evening with the founder of “ULA Equipment,” which specializes in ultralight backpacking gear (if you know, you know). With his extensive experience traveling the world, one thing he said we can strongly relate with. He shared that he never over researches or over plans his trips because he prefers to go in a little ignorant and curious. Curiosity comes from ignorance, and we have found that if we over research and over prepare, we often inject our own preconceived thoughts into our questions and actions, which is not what we want. We have also learned that we can spend time preparing for a story we have heard about and hope to capture, only to arrive in country and find that the story has disappeared into the ether, leaving us disappointed. Yet, when that happens, we have learned that it is often in those moments of disappointment that God brings us a story even better than we could have asked for.

As many recognize, our storytelling style is quite different from that of many ministries. This is very intentional. For those of us living in the Western world within our own little boxes, it is difficult to relate to someone born into a completely different culture on the other side of the planet. We can try to relate, but we cannot fully understand. Our goal is to share stories through our own eyes because we are often just as surprised as anyone else while experiencing these things. Through our curious and sometimes ignorant questions, we can hopefully help people better understand the culture and the difficulties these individuals face, making it a bit more relatable. We believe this gives all of us a clearer understanding of how we can pray for and support them.

Everybody has their own style of storytelling, and that is not a bad thing. It gives us variety and different perspectives. God made us all different for a reason. For ourselves when we started this work, we made an agreement that, if at all possible, we would never reenact anything we film. This present tense style is also intentional. We do this for a couple of reasons. First, we feel that reenactments can distract from the genuine emotion of a story. It is usually very obvious when something is being reenacted, especially considering that the people involved are not actors. We are not Hollywood, nor do we feel the need to imitate it. Second, and we say this carefully without passing judgment, we have filmed in small villages where people approached us with their hands out, expecting to be hired as actors. Some even told us, “The last ministry that came here paid us to act.” We are not sure whether that is ultimately positive or negative, but it was not something we felt comfortable participating in. Many of these individuals are quite literally fighting for their next meal, and some skipped working in the fields that day in hopes of becoming an actor.

Our style of filmmaking is not for everyone. The only way to capture what we need for an episode without reenactments is to truly live with these people for days at a time. We do not reenact church services or worship gatherings. Everything is captured in real time, and that takes time. Our goal is also to spend more time off camera with people than on camera. As filmmakers, it is easy to come in, get what we want, and promptly leave. But we worry about how that appears to the bystanders witnessing the process. We want to be a spiritual blessing and a positive influence on the people we meet. That requires extra time, effort, and intentionality.

Sometimes we witness things that are not easy to see. As filmmakers, it is our job to document reality. However, we have come to the conclusion that some moments are simply not meant to be captured. The line between documenting someone’s life and exploiting an individual can sometimes become dangerously thin. The more we do this work, the more we recognize that when that line begins to blur, it is time to shut the cameras off. We are not interested in exploiting people. Rather, we want to be genuine friends, show true love, and partner together in telling a person’s story. At the very least, that is our aim.

Lastly, we bring back all of this footage, sometimes 15 to 20 hours of video, and together with our in studio editor, we spend countless hours carefully sorting through it to tell a 30 minute story. That is an entirely different process that we will not get into right now.

Our camera equipment has been through some incredible journeys. It has traveled to 12 different countries and been thrown around on planes, trains, and taxis. We have trekked many miles with our gear and carried it down rivers. Name a weather condition, and it is likely our equipment has been through it. We were recently talking about this as a team and realized what an absolute miracle it is that our equipment has survived all of these trips and experiences. Each one of our cameras costs around $5,000, and we currently use three of them along with expensive lenses. That does not even include the tens of thousands of dollars worth of additional gear we have slowly purchased over time.

But the reality is this. One of our lenses is cracked, another is badly scratched, the buttons on our cameras are beginning to fail, and the rubber grips are wearing thin. Our gear has always been God’s gear, and in the same way, He will have to help us replace these things when the time comes because we are financially living on a prayer. Whether that is next month or next year, these tools will eventually need to be replaced.

For those of you who support this organization and understand the impact media ministry can have in sharing the gospel with the world and inspiring individuals to discover where God can use them in His vineyard, thank you. You are playing a direct role in helping move this ministry forward by God’s grace for another year. If you are interested in contributing to help us replace camera equipment now or sometime in the future, please reach out to us.