Raising 22,400 square meters

Time flies and it has been a while since I wrote. I have been quite busy with the film school and other projects. We actually had our film school graduation just a week ago, with eight students graduating from six different countries!

One of our projects is to find a new place for the film ministry in Youth With a Mission, Medellin. The house we are renting is getting smaller and smaller every day, in proportion to the activities we do. So we went out and looked, and we actually think we have found a place! So much so that we have talked with the land owners and have started a fund-raising campaign. It is situated in the South of Medellin and has direct access to the city's integrated bus and tram system, but is still rural enough to have fresh air and calm surroundings.

This new place could accommodate several of YWAM's ministries in Medellin, such as the Counseling school ministries, the Missions school ministries (DTS), the Family ministries, the Values ministry and of course, the film and media ministry (Centrocom). See possible map below.

The whole idea with this place is to build ministries that can impact society from a Christian perspective, being a benefit and blessing to the city, the country of Colombia, and many other countries and cultures.

Would you like to be part? To buy this lot, we need around 390,000 US dollars. The whole lot is of 22,400 square meters, so we are now asking for people to support toward one or several square meters of $25 each. If 22,400 people support, the deal is done! It is easy to support, you can just use PayPal. You will find more information on this page.

This is how the land looks like (new buildings would be constructed):



And this is how the place could be designed:

Filming a pilot for a tv series

Yesterday I came back from two intense weeks in the city of Bucaramanga, Colombia.

We shot a 25-minute episode of a new possible tv comedy series with a Christian message.

I had the privilege of directing and our team consisted of about 20 people: Producer, Director, Production Coordinator, Production Designer, DP, Script supervisor, 1AD, 2AD, Gaffer, Sound mixer and Boom Operator, Grip, Set Decorator, Make-Up Artist, Catering, 3 Camera operators, one 1AC, plus a backoffice cook.

We did something nearly impossible, because we pre-produced and shot the episode in only two weeks, and half of the team were interns from our film school! But considering these circumstances I think (and hope) that we did a great job.

Now comes the post-production phase with editing, grading, sound mix, music and some pick-up shots. We hope to air this episode on some regional channel in Colombia, and the intention is to thus acquire funds for more episodes.

Pablo Escobar documentary

Tomorrow I will be shooting (camera!) for an English documentary about Pablo Escobar. Not my favorite subject, but I've taken the job. If anything, people can learn from a tragic part of the history of Medellin. We will do B-roll footage, which in this case means shots of the city and places related to him. We are starting at 5.00 a.m sharp tomorrow, and it's almost midnight, so I'd better go to bed.

A safe place to go

Yesterday one of our local school leaders in YWAM Medellin died due to a brain damage. He was in his fifties. It is sad for everyone who knew him and worked with him. He was a mild, quiet, hardworking and supportive person, and did a fantastic job in paving the way for young people to go out and do missions.

As we mourn, we also need to remember, that this man now has reached his goal, he is secure with God, in the place where he wanted more people to go when they finish the earthly journey.

Do you have a safe place to go when you end this life? Jesus said:

"Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life." (John 5:24).

Note how Jesus always turns things upside down. You can cross from death to life, not from life to death. And you are invited too!

On our way to milk and honey

Have you ever thought about why Jesus chose to give his last supper specifically on the Easter night? He did it because Easter was the celebration of the liberation of slavery. To remember the Israelites from that moment were a free people, on their way to a "country of milk and honey".

The symbol is pretty clear. From the moment we accept Jesus, we are free from bondage and start our way to the place of milk and honey, heaven.

Bloody scene

This week we shot a scene for our short film No Return. We filmed the bulk of this film back in 2013 but never managed to finish it, because we weren't satisfied with a key scene. So now I had done audition and found a new actress, and I put together a team of eight people, all paid, and we went in a mini-buss to the village Cocorna, where the bank anew let us film.

Everything actually went great, and people even came on time! Having people come on time in Colombia is a miracle if we are talking about more than five people! So I was very glad for that. We had some special effects in this scene (blood) so it was nice to learn about that. The last take is the one that was "printed". The take had a small part that was not in focus, but in general it was great, much thanks to a great actor.

When things go against you

Sometimes we experience that things go against us and they are not like we expected. When the Israelites were lead into the desert, described in the book of Exodus, it was a completely new world for them, different, wild and dry. Their previous, ordinary, comfortable life wasn't there anymore. Is God really with us still? they started to ask themselves.

The same happened to the disciples of Jesus, when he sent them off in a boat by themselves, described in Matthew 14. It is told that the wind "was against them." In both these situations, the people started to despair and doubt that that God was with them.  That is what it seems like when things go against us.

But what God wanted to show them, is that He is with us regardless of the circumstances. He rebuked the Israelites, and he rebuked the disciples. Why? Not because they were trusting in God foolishly, but the opposite. They didn't trust him enough to think that things would be solved.

When Peter approached God walking on water, he started to doubt because of the hard wind. "Will this really work:?" But Jesus said "Your faith is so small! Why did you doubt?"
God invites us to have a Big Faith. That means keep believing in God when things go against us.