New videos and we'll see you soon!
Peter’s brother, John, was our first visitor of 2024. We spent a few days in Poznań before making our way south to Książ Castle and Kraków. This photo was taken in the only 10-minute window of sunshine at Książ.
Since returning to work after our Christmas break, we have been busy with editing and now have many new videos we want to share with you!
▶ Elio’s Story (Albania)
Elio was a student of Selah Worship Arts Ministry. Even though he was one of the least musically gifted students in his class, he now leads worship at a local church and is training others to lead lives of worship.
▶ Nordic-Baltic Initiative
Learn more about what God is doing through Converge’s Nordic-Baltic Initiative, led by Jimmy Smith.
▶ Mission Essex (UK)
A church north of London takes ownership of the spiritual state of their county. The result is new churches planted and new leaders trained. Their vision is to plant 10 churches in 10 years to reach Essex for Christ.
▶ Addmega Website Launch
Syria has begun to rebuild after devastating conflicts and natural disasters destroyed the country. Youeel’s vision is to rebuild the local church in Syria through an Arabic-language church resource website launched last year.
▶ The MomCo Albania
After seeing the need to care for moms in Albania, Nita partnered with The MomCo (MOPS) to bring the hope and healing of Christ in a culture of shame and perfectionism.
▶ Moza’s Story (Albania)
Moms of children with special needs are among the least cared-for people in Albania. Through an invitation to MOPS from a friend, Moza began a journey to faith that has allowed her to extend that same hope to others in her community.
Testimony (Lebanon)
A man experiences the depth of saving faith in Jesus after a Muslim coworker challenges his religious upbringing. This project cannot be shared publicly for security reasons, but we look forward sharing it with you this summer!
▶ UK-Ireland Initiative
Learn more about how Converge’s UK-Ireland Initiative is reaching people for Christ through partnerships with local churches and organizations, led by Steve Bialy.
Home Assignment
We will be in the States beginning in May. Below is our planned schedule for the summer. In March you’ll receive the specifics about when we’ll be visiting our partnering churches as well as a way to schedule time together. We look forward to seeing you this summer!
May 3-14: Fox Valley, Illinois
May 14-20: Phoenix, Arizona
May 20-24: San Antonio, Texas
May 24-Jun 16: Buffalo/Rochester, New York
Jun 16-30: Northern and Central Indiana
June 30-July 18: Fox Valley, Illinois [Galesburg, IL July 5-7]
July 18-21: Northwest Pennsylvania
July 21-27: Orlando, FL
July 27-Aug 3: Fernandina Beach/Jacksonville, FL
Aug 3-23: Buffalo/Rochester, New York
Aug 23-Sep 3: Fox Valley, Illinois
A need for this summer
Illinois friends: We are in need of a car to borrow while we are in the area and for our 2 weeks in Indiana.
May 3-14
June 16-July 18
Aug 23-Sep 3
If you can help meet this need for any of these weeks, please reply and let us know!
Building relationships through storytelling
When we first began dreaming of telling stories from the mission field, we were hearing things in the nonprofit marketing world like, “Always assume they’ll see what you post,” and “Make sure to ask permission before sharing a photo.” Of course those are true and very important, but we believe we can go a step further.
How can sharing a story actually add to the relationships involved?
We’ve seen videographers disrupt services and make people uncomfortable. We had a pastor decline an interview because of his prior experience with a missions videographer. This is not to say we’ve gotten it right every time, but we have seen God’s grace as we’ve developed the system we have now over the past 2 years.'
There are three key elements:
1. The worker sets everything up, and they decide when the cameras are used and when they aren’t. They also inform people of our purpose and our focus as we shoot video at events.
This means that we don’t always get the perfect shot or the right moment. It means extra editing work due to poor sound quality or lack of footage, but it also means that people can focus their attention on worshipping God and enjoying the event rather than the two strangers with the cameras.
2. A chance for feedback
Before it even goes to the larger Converge comms team for their feedback, it first goes to the subjects of the video. We ask them to pay close attention to the story as well as the people visible in the video. Is it true? Honoring? Secure? We want the local ministry leaders and the missionary involved in the process.
3. We ask them to brag on each other
They hear each other, sometimes there in person and sometimes in the final video, speaking highly of one another. They get to delight in each other’s success and growth. They have to articulate things that may otherwise be left to assumption.
Trust is built over time. The more we can maintain these standards, keep going back to these same relationships, and celebrating God’s work in these same ministries, the stronger the relationships are. And if one day, we can’t return to that ministry, we know that whoever follows us can keep building on that trust.
Why am I sharing this now? In the past month, we had the privilege of creating the videos above from locations where a person cannot always openly profess faith in Christ, and we do not take the confidence they put in us lightly. We know it is the result of the faithful service of the missionary, God’s guidance in our processes, and the trust they have in the Lord to protect them. We desire to honor those things with each visit and video.
Prayer
Praise God for the completed projects, and join us in prayer for those ministries and the impact of the videos
Praise God for a good recent trip to Szczecin to visit fellow workers, the Martinez family
Pray for our upcoming trip to North Africa on March 8, and for the 6 videos left to complete before this summer
Pray for us to be spiritually and emotionally strengthened as we continue to face the challenges of the team change and local relationships
With thanks,
Heather and Peter
