Wednesday, March 12, 2008

What Would Jesus Video?

So I had lunch in Tulsa yesterday with my brother. He is just settling into the Central time zone after jetting home from Africa where he taught at a Bible School the last 5 weeks. It was a return trip really as he was headmaster for Rusitu Bible Institute in Zimbabwe for eleven years - just long enough for the nationals to take over things. His eyes welled up when he told me about his former students who now run that institution, and very well. Denominations from all over that tiny nation are sending their pastors there for training. "There's something different about those students," it is said. Other RBI grads pastor churches in surrounding towns and villages, or hold other significant ministry posts in the region. And some teach at the Institute. His pace quickened when he told me how two Bible School students recently jumped the river that marks the border of Mozambique just 5 K away. When Dave was there in the late 80's, raiders from Mozambique would jump that same river and execute raids into Zimbabwe - not always killing, but mutilating children and terrorizing the countryside. Now, Bible School students have gone there to tell them about Jesus. Know what? Many believed, including the chief of that whole region. Now they are all invited to come teach, hold their own Bible School, and establish churches among the Mozambique people. Amazing. After that visit, my brother slogged up to Uganda, to the islands of Lake Victoria. 84 little dots on a lake nearly the size of Superior house fishing camps - the absolute dregs of the earth. There exists no sanitation, no electricity, no running water, no decent buildings, and absolutely no morals. The society of those outpost-ers resembles "the Lord of the Flies" meets "Night of the Living Dead". Violence and raging promiscuity are the norm. Aids infects over 90% of the 40,000 or so huddling there. Dave's missionary friend chose those stinking islands as the place to carry the story of Jesus and His forgiveness of sins. And, after some very hard - ridiculously hard - years, God is transforming hearts and raising up evangelists from among those very HIV infested fishermen. Churches are being established. The light of the gospel is transforming that hell-hole. I asked about the missionary couple: in their late 30's, been just looking around for what the Lord had for them, when they found the islands, they just knew. My brother spoke longingly about his time in Africa, and about going back. Maybe when he retires from his pastorate. That's when I said... I made a movie.



The words echoed in my brain like an empty gymnasium. Suddenly, getting up at 5:30 every day for 2 months to get the day's shooting done, doesn't sound all that important. Working 14 to 20 hour days to try to stay on budget, sounds like the worst kind of tiny-minded ego trip. Arguing with my editor about which lines to cut and how loud to play the music, sounds ridiculous. Indeed, the entire 2 year project suddenly looks perfectly trivial next to investing one's life in 40,000 vile fishermen to bring them the eternal hope of the gospel. It doesn't seem to matter at all compared to bringing the message of hope in Christ to an entire nation where hope was extinguished long ago. I made a movie? So... freakin'... what!



But, sitting there in my pool of self doubt, a couple thoughts floated to the surface like... well, nevermind. First, the Lord Himself worked some pretty incredible miracles before I ever found myself in position to make a movie. He doesn't strike me as one to waste miracles. Secondly, I'm 57 years old. I will never admit this to anyone - only all of you - but I'm a weak old man. Never intended to be, but here I am. I can't go to Africa and live off the land like some Tarzan guy. But... I can make a movie. God equipped me to make a movie. God gave me experience right for making a movie. God provided funding for me to make a movie. God brought together talent, crew, gave me a story... you could say that - this whole movie; God himself did.



So, here's what I learned from listening to my brother. Those missionaries aren't changing lives in Africa, God is. I didn't make a movie, God did. God is doing some amazingly wonderful things in Africa. He is also doing some wonderful things here in Tulsa. God is making his salvation known in Africa by the means that works best there. He is making the same salvation known in Tulsa, but in different ways: one of which is the movie He made called Treasure Blind. Pray for Africa. Pray for Treasure Blind. And give God credit for both. Then, go to http://www.treasureblind.com/ , where you can actually buy the movie God made for only $19.95.

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