Saving Creativity

What happens to washed up Christian Artists:

Two weeks, man I am slacking off right now.  It’s been two weeks without anything to stir the creativity in your soul.  I really should get a bit more serious about this…maybe in Twenty ought ten!  Here are the last couple of videos from “The Big Give” series that theMet finished up this past weekend:

This one was edited by Andrew, most of the footage is mine, but Andrew and I tag teamed this one while in Uganda…

The Ghost from The MET Church on Vimeo.

This video we just re-recorded the VO to update it and Doug shot all the footage…

Mexico OSY Camps from The MET Church on Vimeo.

I quickly edited this footage together to a V.O that was written by one of our missionaries…

Alpha and Omega from The MET Church on Vimeo.

So I’ll keep this simple:

12 videos on 4 weeks keeps a brother busy.  Thankfully I have been working with someone else on all of these, and I thank God for Andrew.  What a great co-worker he is, he really inspires me to do better work!

This one was edited by me:

Aggies Arts from The MET Church on Vimeo.

This one was edited by Andrew and was sung live by Jared Anderson, an amazing artist!

Carrier from The MET Church on Vimeo.

This one was edited by Andrew:

Before and After from The MET Church on Vimeo.

Enjoy.  Oh just as an FYI update for those of you who helped support Samuel.  Last I heard we are just short of supporting him.  So here are a few more updated pictures of him!

Here is what Andrew and I have been up to at work these two weeks, I was DP on the 1st one, and talent on the 2nd one.  Andrew pulled out some great stops on the motion tracking!  Good job Andrew!!

Andrew produced the piece and the talent did an amazing job (it was me…).  He chose a bunch of stirring images and we worked together to light and place all of the images.  This one was also edited by Andrew…

Kingdom Of Comfort from Andrew Schuurmann on Vimeo.

Wow, what a hiatus of posting content for me.  Sorry about that, won’t let that happen again!  So here at theMET, Andrew and I have been working on videos based around our current series “Big Give”.  There are tons of exciting things to create but one thing that has really caught my attention lately is using stop motion or stop frame animation.  The entire process for me is intriguing and yet amazing when pulled off well.  I posted here some time ago about a stop motion piece that involved a LOT of chalk, but this one took cutting paper to a whole new level.  I hope @KSattler doesn’t go into cardiac arrest!  Here are two videos that inspired me:

Along with this one, I know it’s not a stop frame animation, however it is a great venture into live video mixed with some great particles!

I’ll be gone from KORB on Vimeo.

Well, it’s been almost a month since I returned from Uganda.  From an amazing trip and meeting some even more amazing people.  For those of you not caught up yet here is the cliff notes version of one young man and his story:

-  I met Samuel on one of my last days in Jinja, Uganda

-  He wrecked me as he told us of his story of struggle to eat and live

- His both his parent’s are dead and he doesn’t really know how old he is, he eats whenever he earns enough money to buy some food

- He has never…NEVER…been to school and has only seen a doctor once…

So now that we are all caught up and on the same page, here’s the newest update.  Pastor Sal Sberna, spoke this past weekend at a conference in San Antonio, TX and told a little bit about Samuel’s story.  Well, on the last day of the conference, a young couple came up to Pastor Sal and handed him an envelope.  They said that they wanted the money inside to go directly to Samuel, to better his life.  Well, Pastor Sal opened up the envelope and inside was $500!!!  I was in awe of what God has done for Samuel, $650 has been raised for Samuel and hopefully we can all keep telling his story so that the last $100 can be brought in.  Please tell your friends, neighbors, and loved ones about Samuel and forward them on to this blog or to Call To Africa, and then have them donate and write a comment here so that I can make sure that the money gets put toward Samuel’s cause.  If you are in Houston, TX this weekend (Nov. 22nd, 2009), we are going to be showing a piece of Samuel’s story, and if you gave you should be receiving a link today that will allow you to see that service element ahead of everyone else.  We are working on the rest of Samuel’s story (the full version), and when it is done, it will be premiered here as well, so stay tuned!

Great news, I just received these photos from Pastor Henry in Njeru, Uganda!  I hope your remember my previous post (here) on Samuel.  A boy who ripped my heart out through his utter desperation.  I know…I know, I need to get that video going and at least upload some teasers, so here are some stills from the shoot (thank you Whitney for taking photos through all of our tears!).  Any who, we still need a bunch of money to secure his future… well not really a ton, but close to $500, if you are willing to give to someone who’s journey could be forever altered…give just $50, heck if you can’t give $50, give $20…just give something.  Be a part of something bigger than yourself.

Well, it’s been almost a week since I returned from Uganda with a team from theMet.  I have sucessfully gotten back to CST sleeping schedule and I really felt good when I got back.  I have been going to bed early this past week, but besides that I feel good.  And I have yet to miss a Malarone pill so I am hoping at dodging Malaria!  Well I fixed the link in the previous post, but for those of you who missed it and still want to donate:

www.calltoafrica.org

Then click on the “Who We Are” button.  There you will be able to give directly through “Call to Africa”.  A great NGO that theMet partners with on many levels and in a lot of locations across Africa!  Once you pay, make sure to comment here so that I can send you a photo and a note card!

I also want to update you on the editing saga we (Andrew and I) have begun.  All the footage has been collected and is being sorted.  We recorded about 400GB of footage!  That means about 27 full 16GB P2 cards, or about 1,120minutes of footage that need to be viewed, sorted, categorized and filed into their prospective projects.  We have 10 videos to edit along with some specific videos for services and for the web.  Whew, that seems like a lot, but it really is going to be so amazing to have so many finished, professional videos to have for our “Big Give” Series.  I hope the people of theMet really watch, listen, take heart and change parts of their lives to be more generous….

UrbanWorldTraders

Now on to another way you can help out.  These necklacesand bracelets are made from a group of ladies who are formerly Rock Quarry rock smashers in Kampala, Uganda.  When we visited them, they literately where sitting, surrounded by piles of rocks with hammers smashing them into smaller rocks.  It was brutal, and a lot of these women have lost spouses, children and parents to this particular quarry.  No eye or hearing protection and they made about 2000 shillings a day!  Now you can purchase these necklaces that they make.  It pays them a fair wage and they get to create the beads in community and encourage each other spiritually as well!

It’s time to start…start caring, start moving, and just start changing.  After my first trip to Africa I found myself very weathered and beaten by what I had seen.  It took me some time to recover, but what I found was a fight that was waging in my soul.  A war that has no end, but will always be with me this side of Heaven.  That war is the American dream, having needs and wants.  Being back home now, I feel this conflict churning inside my soul again.

I had a conversation at the end of this trip with Ken Galyean, of Called to Africa on my 2nd to last day in Jinja, Uganda.  It wasn’t long, but it was important.  He said one thing to me, that will probably be with me the rest of my life… “Jon, you have to do this, you can’t not do this…”  Uggg, even now typing it pulls so many emotional strings.  So it’s time, it’s time to start…start caring more, start moving more and start doing more.  Below is a paypal link that will allow to give directly to Samuel through  Call to Africa.  They are a great group of people and an organization that has an undying thirst to help those we are all commanded to support, love and give to.   By clicking on the paypal.com link below, you will be give them money directly, they are a non-profit so you will also get a tax-receipt from them.  Just put $50 in the “Unit Price” box at the top of the screen, hit update total, fill in the info and submit it.

Once you send your support through their website, please post here or send me a message on facebook and I will make sure to send them a list of those that gave, so I can make sure that Samuel is benefited by your support.  My dirt and rocks were confiscated in customs, guess DTW Customs/Immagration is more friendly than IAH, so I am going to print a picture of Samuel for each one that gives so that you can remember him.  Remember it only takes $150 to send him to school for the entire year.  At last tally there were 4 commitments, we are on our way to getting into school for the next 5 years!

I want to leave you with one more challenge: what if you gave less this Christmas, explained to your kids and family what the true meaning of Christmas is, and gave more away?  This Christmas, if you are willing to take a real challenge, make sure you watch this blog.  I am working on an idea, that may just be different enough to change Samuel’s future, permanently…

Jon

Give to Samuel

Once on their website click on the “What We Do” tab at the top of the page.  Once that page is loaded you will see a button on the lower left side of the page that says “Give”.  I tried to figure out a way to embed that button on my site, but because of PayPal.com’s great security, it wouldn’t allow me to do that!  Thanks for all you are giving to!

So here’s the update, sorry it’s been so long between them.  I was sent to Uganda by theMet to tell some stories, acquire great footage, and generally be what I hoped to be…creative.  What happened today will forever change who I am and how I view my life in America.  We went to Pastor Henry’s church in Njeru, Uganda, and while we have been recording some great testimonies to what theMet has perviously done here in Jinja, Uganda, have struggled this trip to find that story that rips your heart out and makes mashed potatoes of it.  Well we found it today.  God wrecked me when I was introduced to this young man…

Meet Samuel, he doesn’t know how old he is, does odds and ends to make maybe 100 schillings a day, and oh yeah….and most of the time the people he does the tasks for don’t pay him, kinda like leaving a tract at a restaurant table instead of a tip.  He eats maybe once a day, and goes to sleep crying at night because all he can think about is how hard it will be tomorrow to survive.  To top it all off: his dad died before he moved to Njeru and his mom died right after he moved there.  So now that we’ve established that he is in a situation that seems impossible…here is where we all come in:

It takes $50 a TERM to send Samuel to school.  For that $50 per term (3 terms a year) they get: uniforms, books, two solid meals a day and an honest to God education so he can make something of himself.  What he needs is our help.  I want to support this boy so that when he turns into a man, he can support his family.  So that his children will see hope and want to make something of themselves.  I want Samuel to be able to go to school for the next 5 years.  This is really where we all come in.  For every person that donates $50 to sending Samuel to school..I am going to send you a note card with specific things to pray for him and…a rock.  The prayer card is to remind you every day what to pray for, and the rock is to remind you that you have it so easy in America and that Samuel is back in Uganda struggling to just survive.  That the hardest thing you have to decide is what you want on your salad or what coke to drink, and that Samuel has to fight every…single…day to just eat.

For those of you who struggle with math, here is the break down: 3 terms a year X 5 years…that’s $750 to change a child’s present and future.  We can’t change his past, but we sure as hell need to change his future.  So I need 15 people to give Samuel a life, give him a chance at a future.  We are cutting a video together and each person who gives money will be given a link to hear Samuel’s story.  Once we launch it at theMet, I will post it for everyone else here.

So here’s my plea to you:  give to something bigger than yourself.  Go without your coffee for a couple of weeks (that would be you… you vente triple machiatto, no whip, soy milk drinkers you..), or maybe go to Supercuts instead of snooty salon (and when people ask you why you got your hair cut there, tell them Samuel’s story), or maybe don’t go out to eat every night and send that money.  God really challenged me to do something about Samuel, so are you human enough to care more than saving your creature comforts?  I know I am….  Over the next few weeks I am going to post a more stories of what God is doing in the lives of the people in Uganda, get ready for inspiration and heart wrenching stories.  God is bigger than America, and I hope through these stories, that God will give all of us a little insight into His heart for others around the world.

If you want to participate post a comment below and I will email you with the details.  I collect the money and once we have an entire year paid for, I will send it over to help Samuel out.

Thanks for taking the time to read and to help a young man out.  Your reward will be visible through a changed life…. Samuels!

For all of you over achievers in the world here are a few links to different organizations that will help you get a better understanding of the HOPE that is being spread around the world, and how you can be a part of something that is bigger than our little…American…worlds…

www.mochaclub.org

www.invisiblechildren.com

www.worldvision.com