Wrestling Life

I was really unsure what to write about this week until just a few minutes ago. I just finished watching the movie "The Wrestler" starring Micky Rourke. The movie tells the story of a former professional wrestler from the 1980's who 30 years after his prime (modern day) is still performing in small venues feeding off the fame from his glory days and trying to make his way back to the top. Since the specifics of the plot are not necessary to this blog post I'll keep from going into it much more.

At the end of the movie I was left with a question, "what do you devote your life to?" In the movie, Micky Rourke's character has devoted his whole life to wrestling and when the question comes up of his retirement he is at a total loss for what to do with himself. Now, I'm not going to say that wrestling is a poor choice of occupation, entertainment, or past time; the minute I do someone else will point out that Star Wars and Lord of the Rings are equally pointless and I just can't take that; but at the same time I feel like there should be something greater to attach yourself to than beating another guy to a pulp for money (or a good light saber battle). To put it bluntly, imagine putting that amount of energy and effort into God's service, to devote yourself so fully to the cause of Christ that if someone were to try and tell you that you could no longer do it you would not know what to do, or you would just do it anyway. I believe that is a truly noble way to spend a life.

Click here to view a trailer of "The Wrestler." Note; it's a nice trailer that will give a clear idea of what the movie is with out telling the whole story.

Assurance That Comes After Faith

Exodus 3:12 "And God said 'I will be with you. And this will be a sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain."

This verse is from Moses' conversation with God at the burning bush. God appeared to Moses and told him to return to Egypt and speak to Pharaoh demanding the Israelites be let go. Moses' faith faltered at this request and he asked in verse 11, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh...?" Verse 12 above show's God's response.

When I was reading this chapter recently something strange struck me, the sign that God gives by which Moses can know that it really is God who has called him to this and not just a dream, brought on by delusions of grandeur, is to come AFTER all the work has been done! It seems like if I were Moses I would have wanted to say "Wait, no, can't you give me a sign on the way? You know like I'll see a mountain shaped like a bunny on the road to Egypt. That would be impressive and then I can walk on with confidence."

To put this another way, it's as like when you're going a place you've never been before and the person giving you directions gives you landmarks to watch for, the really big tree, the railroad tracks, the Bates Motel, and so on. These landmarks are given so that you can rest assured of your course along the way. However, the direction God gave Moses was more like your friend saying, "well you'll know you did everything right when you get here."

Now to be fair, God did give some pretty amazing signs to Moses there at the bush, including the bush itself that was "on fire" but "did not burn up" {vs 2}, but the bush was meant to get Moses' attention, the staff turning into a snake { chapter 4 verse 3} was a sign for Pharaoh and the Israelite elders, the one sign meant specifically for Moses was that he would eventually return and worship on the same mountain he stood on.

As I have reflected on this sign I think the thing to realize is that God was asking Moses to demonstrate his faith with out a sign. It was to be an exercise for Moses' soul. God's assurance that everything was right would come after Moses had completed the task by pure faith. Really, if you look at it by the time Moses and the Israelites returned to the mountain they had seen the 12 plagues of Egypt and the parting of the Red Sea, so when they returned to the mountain and God appeared in a terrifying cloud Moses' faith was strong enough he no longer needed a sign he simply heeded God's calling to the top of the mountain to receive the law, the Ten Commandments.

Considering my own life this idea that God may not provide a sign until after you have walked the path is both discouraging and encouraging. I feel like for the past couple years I have been trying earnestly to seek God's will and direction for my life, I've been looking for a sign that says "turn here" or "go there." For the most part I don't feel like he's shown that sign so I keep driving wondering if I'm on the right track. What I'm learning from Moses is that it might be after I've turned that I get a confirmation of weather I'm on the right road or not. While this is frustrating it could also be liberating in that if I decide I want to try a path, that may be confirmation enough to move forward with it. I guess if God does not want me on a road I can also trust him to make that clear.

What Gives You the Right?

It's been quite a long time, but I'd like to get my weekly post commitment going again. To that end...

I was getting ready for bed last night and as I do each night I was coming to God in prayer with thanks for the day behind me and a list of requests for the day ahead. I took a moment to think about how I do approach the throne of God with my list of requests such as, please help me to focus on my work and get things done. I thought about the idea of supplication, humbly requesting or even begging a Holy and Awesome God to listen to your needs and wants. Suddenly another question struck me, "what gives you the right to even come to Him and beg? Why should the One who created of the universe in seven days care what you want to accomplish tomorrow?"

I knew that God did care, and had granted me that right, but for a moment I could think of no reason why He should.

Then I remembered every one's favorite Sunday school answer, "Jesus," more specifically my relationship with Jesus is what gives me the right and the privilege of being able to approach the throne of God and ask his blessings on my day. God, for some reason, loved us enough to give His son on a cross and thus destroy the barrier that kept us from reaching the Father.

It's important to remember not to take this sacrifice for granted for only by it are we capable of reaching out to the Throne of Grace.

I guess in a way this a bit of an early "Happy Easter" greeting.

God Bless,

Jonny

Lynn Adkins Memorial Details

A memorial project is being set up in Lynn Adkins' name, to aid the ministry of the Africa Gospel Church Baby Center in Nakuru, Kenya. The Baby Center accepts orphaned babies and cares for them up until they are around four years old, providing them with warm beds and
clothes, food, and most of all love. The center's goal and main hope is to be able to get each baby adopted into a loving, Christian, Kenyan home.

The funds given in Lynn's name will be used to send a packet containing a Bible, Christian-storybooks and other items home with babies who are adopted. Staci Keter, the Center's director, said, "That way, we can even let the families know that what they're given is in honor of someone who so much wanted people to know about Jesus and be able to use it as an encouragement and reminder to raise the children they are taking home to know and follow Jesus."

The cost of these packets and the specific items that would be put into each is currently under investigation. If you would like to give toward this fund you can send a check to

World Gospel Mission
Box 948
Marion, In 46952

Make the check payable to World Gospel Mission and include a SEPARATE NOTE with the account number 125-31238, and indicating the gift is in memory of Lynn Adkins. Staff at the Baby Center will receive the money from that point and will see that it is used appropriately.

At this time WGM is unable to take online donations for most field projects, but if you would like to give by credit card you can call the office at 765.664.7331 and they can take the information over the phone.

You can learn more about the AGC Baby Center at www.agcbabycenter.org and more about World Gospel Mission at www.wgm.org

Thank you,

Jonny, for Doug and Daniel, Adkins

Saying Goodbye

My time in Kenya is quickly drawing to a close. Right up through
December it still felt like i had a while to go. After New Years
however, I started thinking about how much time i have left and how I
was going to spend it. Suddenly I realized there wasn't much time
left! And now 2 weeks have already flown by into this new year. I
have a little more than a week left and I still have much packing to
do and I have a list of people I need to see and say goodbye to before
I go.

It's not just that I have to say goodbye to people either, but places,
foods, random facts of life, and just Africa in general. Not since I
graduated from high school in 2001 have I spent such a long time in
Africa and so I find I'm feeling the need for closure much stronger
than in the past when I've been able to slip in for a few weeks and
then slip out.

The goodbye's have not necessarily been sad yet. I have a very strong
feeling that i will return to my beloved Kenya some day and I am sure
that I will stay in contact with many of my friends here and see them
again. However, I also feel like I'm closing a chapter in my life,
one which I've been building toward and experiencing for several years
now. It was the summer of 2007 when I first talked to John Muehleisen
about coming for this trip. Now as I enter 2010 and I'm finishing my
time here I really feel that I've come a long way.

It is amazing to look at how God has worked since that first talk in
2007 and carried me to Kenya, and all over East Africa. He has been
intricately involved in providing for my financial needs, through
supporters in the US, and He has travelled with me everywhere granting
safety and guidance, He has been a comfort and companion in the trying
and lonely times. I feel truly blessed to have been on this journey
and I am also very thankful for the support of friends and family back
in the US and around the world who have stood by me on this journey.

As the VIA chapter of my life closes I am looking forward to seeing
what the next chapter holds. My immediate plan is to set myself up
for freelance video production and start saving and planning for the
short film I want to produce. I'll also be using my tie to reflect on
this year and try to detterming if this kind of work is where God
wants me. I appreciate your continued prayers and thoughts as I close
one chapter in my life and open the next.

Stepping into Time

Last night was Christmas Eve, and as I did my devotions I realized
that, by an intentional design, I was in the opening chapters of Luke
just three days ago. The births of both Jesus and John the baptist
were foretold, John was born. The next night Jesus was born and the
shepherds were told by the angels of the Messiah's birth. A few
paragraphs later Jesus was twelve years old and sitting in the
temple. Following the reading plan that I've been on this whole year
in Africa meant that by last nights reading brought me to Jesus, a
full grown man, preaching and telling the story of "The Good
Samaritan." Suddenly I realized that by that point in the story Jesus
was somewhere around 30-33 years old, and I'd just jumped through all
that in three nights.

It seemed strange to me that while I had just been reading about the
birth of Jesus, by the third reading he was already older than I am
now! I took a minute to feel how long my life seems to be and
compared that to how short Jesus' life is in the Gospels. Then I
considered the concept that an eternal being would step into time and
submit to it for more years than I have been alive.

I guess it's just humbling to consider how He humbled Himself and
stepped into the confining restraint of time as well as a physical
body, and so many other limitations. He lived the life of an average
man and all that goes with it. The God of Heaven and Eternity stepped
into Earth and Time so that we might have a relationship with him, and
for no other reason.

Merry Christmas,

Jonny

The Strange Disconnect

Right now back in the US people are flooding the grocery stores looking for those forgotten, but much required items that make Thanksgiving just perfect. Turkeys are flying from the frozen section and landing in shopping carts as if they were flightless birds (wait...), a middle aged man is about to fight an old lady for the last can of cranberry sauce, and every one's asking the stocker boy, "where the heck are the bags of stuffing?" At the same time the temperature is dropping quickly, there may even be snow on the ground, and at every gathering people are talking about the same thing, "what are you doing for Thanksgiving? Are you going home? Do you think the Lions have a shot at winning the game this year?" For my family, I'm sure all the Thalers are planning to hit the bowling alley for their one trip of the year and if I were a little closer I would definitely be joining them.

So what does Thanksgiving look like in Kenya? Well I haven't seen any Turkeys anywhere, I'll bet most of the people around me have no idea what a cranberry is, and very few of them have had the opportunity to ever see snow, in fact it's much more like spring than Autumn or Winter. They may be interested in talking about an upcoming football game, but it features teams like Chelsea and Manchester United. This Thursday is just another Thursday, and if you ask them they may have some things to be thankful for, but they won't know why you're asking them.

Now don't get me wrong. I'm not complaining that I'm lonely or missing out on my favorite American Holiday (Christmas and Easter are pretty universal unless you're in an Arabic country or an unreached people group), but what I'm noticing is that there's a strange disconnect as I compare the hustle and bustle of what I know is happening with friends and family back in the US as compared to what's going on here. Over the past 8 years I've been in the US for every Thanksgiving and it always feels like the Holiday is such an event that everyone in the world must be celebrating it. In fact, I actually have an Australian friend who told me one year she was celebrating it with an American family in Australia! But here in Kenya, out side of the American Expatriate community there's nothing.

The disconnect doesn't only apply to Holidays, but to so much of life. Occasionally, I take a moment to stop and actually think of what my life was like before I arrived in Kenya on January 28 and it seems like someone else's life. It's almost like that was a movie I saw and then came into this life. So many of the characters featured in the story of my life in Michigan are little more than occasional Facebook cameos in the story of my life in Africa. I don't mean to diminish the significance of those friendships (man this is a post that could really alienate people if I'm not careful), but really other than occasionally popping in to send a message of encouragement or make me laugh they don't really have anything to do with my daily life. I'm sure in the same way I seem like a distant memory to them much of the time. And I know that when I return on January 26 this life will become that exact same thing.

Even more disconnected is the world. Right now Kericho, Kenya feels very real and tangible. I can smell cooking fires in the houses around me, I can see the green grass in the bright sunlight, and I can feel the soft dark earth in the places that never seem to get quite dried up before another rain comes. At the same time, when I picture Michigan my first impulse, even in July and August, has been to see it the way I left it in January, dreary, snow covered, and -10 degrees. If I really think it over I know that the seasons are changing, but from here even that seems a foreign concept.  Technically speaking we have two dry and two rainy seasons, but for all practical purposes the difference isn't that noticeable.

I don't really know where I'm going with this, but I guess I just felt this was a good opportunity to try and relay to anyone who's interested just how it feels to be so far away. I guess if you've ever spent a long period away from the place where you grew up or where you live, you have an idea what I'm talking about, and if you haven't you're probably not interested in my blog. I guess the reason we feel this disconnect is because wherever we are the world and our lives are already so beautiful and complex we can only sense so much and then to be able to comprehend that AND the other world and life we've been in previously is just WAY too much.

And that brings me to a God thought, think about your sense of strange disconnectedness and then think about the fact that God doesn't have that sense. He is all places, all times, and all knowing. So even as I sit in the Kericho "spring" in November 2009 He is with me and also you in the North American late autumn, or the Australian summer or wherever else you may be. Now consider that He was just as with you in another place you've come from that now feels very far away and strange. Guess what, He's still there right now and knows the weather both there and where you are now. If you can wrap your mind around that, go see a shrink because you're just crazy.

By the way, think of your poor cashier when you set you 15 pound turkey on the belt. He or she has been lifting thousands of these heavy icy things in the past week and is getting very tired, not to mention he/she may have to work the holiday AND will definitely be in on Black Friday as well.

Post Sudan Thoughts (Finally)

Well I'm back in Uganda, back from my ten days in Sudan. As I said in a previous post I was very excited about this trip, and I'm happy to say Sudan did not disappoint.

It seemed like Sudan was a very magical place while I was there. Most every sunset was full of beautiful color from golden yellow, to bright orange, red, and even purple. There were butterflies everywhere you walked. That "golden hour" of sunlight just before sunset... in Southern Sudan lasted from 4PM to 6:30. Pretty much everyone I met was friendly. Despite my knowledge of the past conflicts in the area, and seeing the occasional soldier or policeman carrying an AK-47, I felt perfectly safe all the time.

At the same time however, there was this constant sense that there was an uneasy peace in the area. You could always feel that the people were hurting and had been seriously affected by the war of the last 20-some years. There were also physical afflictions, in the 10 days I was there I met one man who was totally blind, and two who were deaf and mute, and while I did not see her the rest of my group noticed a woman in church who had a large hole in her face.
This mixture of magic and beauty with severe tragedy really is the only way I know how to put into words what my time in Sudan was like. Each day I would just walk with my camera and find some new beautiful image to capture. From Butterflies to flowers to cows to smiling children and stone-faced adults, it was like my camera could not fail me. While in Sudan I felt more creative energy than I’ve had in quite some time and the challenge became trying to focus it to useful video images. I did also take a lot of photographs some of which are now posted on my Facebook (INSERT LINK) if you would like to check them out.

A specific magical example is that when we arrived in Sudan, I stepped off the plane, with no idea what was ahead. I was the only one in our group who had never been to this place before and in that way felt a little disadvantaged compared to my companions who were ready to begin working. Once I put my feet on the ground and walked around to the other side to get a bearing on my surroundings my eyes caught sight of this one particular tree. I called it the first tree I saw in Sudan, but it seemed to really hold my attention and in that moment it seemed the tree spoke to me and said, “Welcome to Sudan, you’re going to love your time here.” And in that moment I found comfort in the words of the tree.

Something that I found interesting about my time in Sudan was that I still don’t understand the sense of calling that I had felt to visit Sudan. Don’t get me wrong, I do feel that it was a very worth while experience and I’m so glad I was able to do it, but I don’t totally feel like there were any moments of sudden clarity and vision while I was there. I almost feel that the calling was just to spur on an interest and curiosity that will encourage me to continue praying. I feel I actually understand the place a little better and I will be more excited to talk to others about their experiences, but I don’t feel like I am called to return there full time.

At the same time I do recognize that I am not done yet with Sudan. That is to say, I have a few weeks of video editing still ahead of me. I shot 11 hours of tape in Sudan for the 5-7 minute video I hope to produce in the upcoming weeks. There is still a lot of processing ahead of me and I wonder how I’ll feel when it’s over…

I was very happy for the friends I made there. My personal favorite of my Sudanese friends was Joseph Mayek. Mayek works at the hospital as a translator for the Kenyan nurses and also does dental work, I think mostly pulling teeth. Fortunately I did not need Mayek’s help in medicine or teeth pulling, but in the afternoons when I would go out to the town to film and conduct interviews Mayek’s assistance as a translator was invaluable. I could not have functioned well without him. Mayek was also a great insight to learning the culture and language of the Dinka people. Not that I’m in any way an expert after my ten days, but most of what I have learned has come from Mayek. It was great to have someone who could speak very good English and was used to being around Kawaja (foreigners) who were clueless. I felt very comfortable to ask him questions about everything we saw and he was always gracious to answer and explain.

One final example of the strange beauty of Sudan is in the Tukle ruins spread out across the region. Here’s a photograph to show you what I mean. Just stare at it for a moment, take note of the shapes and lines, ask your self what the purpose or meaning could be for this strange grouping of logs. When you feel you’ve come to appreciate it for it’s beauty read below to find out what a Tukel is.

A tukel is a hut.  A traditional round Sudanese home made of mud, these logs are the foundational remains of a hut that was abandoned some time ago.

 

Overall, I feel like my trip to Sudan was a real blessing to me personally and I hope and believe it was a blessing to those I met and will be a blessing to those who view my final video.  Thank you all for your prayers they were much appreciated.

Permission to be a Tourist, Sir?

As we say in East Africa, my thoughts on Sudan are “even now on the way coming,” but in the mean time I wanted to write about something else that I’ve found exciting and refreshing and exciting. I gave myself permission to become a tourist.

For any of you who have lived very long in East Africa, or any other place where there are frequent tourists, you know the stigma. A tourist usually can’t pronounce names correctly, they can be obnoxious, they may carry a “fanny pack,” they’re sunburned, they think everything is strange and somehow exciting even though it’s actually just everyday life, and perhaps most consistently and noticeably they take pictures of everything.

Okay so I haven’t fully adopted all of those attributes of tourism, but I have given myself permission to take pictures of literally everything that strikes my interest. I started this new permission last month as I set out on my odyssey into Uganda and Sudan. I’ve started grabbing images of flowers, fields and mountains as seen while riding a bus or other vehicle across the country, the controls in the small airplanes that carried us to and from Sudan, the sky, foot prints in the sand, and of course any number of children eager to line up in front of my camera to let me capture their likeness.

I decided that I would start taking pictures like this for this specific trip because I recognized that this was my first trip to Sudan and will be my last trip to both Sudan and Uganda for quite a while. I don’t think I’ll be traveling as much in my remaining three months in Africa because I now have three large projects to finish editing before I leave and that will possibly take up the majority of my time. However, what I found when I let myself take pictures of anything and everything I saw was that I wound up with a lot of pictures I really love, and a medium which can tell the story of what my travels have been like far better than I could ever find words for. Also, especially in Sudan I found there were times where I was going from one place to another with my video camera all packed in it’s case and would happen upon something really interesting. Either because the object was quickly moving away or because we simply didn’t have the time to stop, I wouldn’t be able to get my camera out fast enough, but I could pull up my small digital camera and take a quick snap or two and I suspect that several of these will end up in the final video.

On the Sunday evening that we were in Sudan I went for a walk on the nearby airstrip. My road let me onto the airstrip in the middle and I just wanted to walk and listen to my iPod so I started by heading North and walked to the end, turned and walked to the south end and then came back to the road leading to the compound where we stayed. I wasn’t going very fast so the walk took nearly 2 hours, and along the way I shot almost 40 pictures just because I had my camera with me and had my eyes open. It was one of the most beautiful and relaxing walks I’ve taken in quite sometime.

And that’s what it comes down to really, keeping your eyes open to the world around you. That’s what I’ve decided I really love about the tourist mentality. While you may look like a fool for not blending in, keeping your eyes open to the world around you lets you see the magic that our creator has poured into all of this planet. Seriously, the next time you leave your house just picture all the things that you’d laugh at a tourist for taking a picture of, and then ask yourself what it is about that thing that would attract them. You may find your eyes open and you reach for your own camera. Also, the next time you see a fanny pack wearing tourist you should envy him or her, for seeing the magic in your mundane world.

Another great thing that’s come out of my carrying a digital camera with me at all times is my short film “Boda Boda; A True Story.” Which I shot on the digital camera one afternoon while riding across Kampala on a motorcycle taxi and edited over the course of 2 evenings and I hope to be able to put it on YouTube sometime soon. I’ll be sure to post a link when it’s up so keep your eyes open. If I had been feeling that I wanted to avoid the “tourist” stereotype I never would have gotten this footage showing the fun experience of riding a Boda through Kampala.

Thoughts before entering Sudan

Surprise! I have internet access in Arua Uganda, and time to write out a post before my 10 day sojourn in Southern Sudan. By way of keeping up with things, I've had a great first week in Uganda. The Lord was really at work and present in the pastor's training this past week. I learned a lot, and got almost 5 hours of tape as well. The two days of bus rides up here were mostly smooth. You can see pictures at my facebook page if you're interested. There was one 2 kilometer section of the road where there were speed humps every ten meters. We're talking around 200 humps in a row. It was so bizarre al you could really do was laugh. Imagine a bus full of people who all have a serious case of the hiccups and they're in sync with each other.

Tomorrow morning I will fly with the Mango Ministries (aka WGM South Sudan) team from Arua Uganda to Akot South Sudan. I'm not sure I can put into words the reasons why I am excited about this trip. Everything I've ever heard indicates that Sudan is not really an ideal vacation destination. There's no big tourist industry, food and water are often scarce, and there are signs posted to keep you out of fields by saying "Danger Land Mines!"

So what on earth would posses me to want to visit such a place? One, I would say that I have had friends who have spent time working in Sudan and it has changed their lives. Bearing witness to the struggles present in such a country has made them challenge their lives and priorities.

Two, I think there's something in me that wants to experience an East Africa that is more similar to the one my Great-grandparents found when the Adkins family first came to Kenya in the 1930s. I'm probably way off base with it, but i've got this idea in my head that in many ways Southern Sudan has reverted back to the state it would have been in back when the white man first came to East Africa. I've always wanted to see what the region was like back in those days, though I don't think I could survive it too long.

Three, I've been hearing about so many exciting ministries happening in Sudan over the past years that I'll be really happy and privileged to be involved in some small way.

Four, I feel like God's planted a desire in my heart to see what's happening in Southern Sudan. I don't know how else to describe it. The best example I can give is from a couple months ago when I was at Tenwek and got to hear the Mango Ministries team speaking to the medical staff at the hospital. There was a stirring and excitement in my heart that I could find no words for other than a desire to see Southern Sudan.

I'm so thankful to God for blessing me with this privilege and opportunity, and I can't wait to see what happens. I will appreciate your prayers during our ten day trip. I'm sure I'll have many things to say when I return to Uganda. Until then...

God Bless,

Jonny

For lack of a better blog...

I promised a post this weekend and here it is at the last minute. I've been trying so hard to think of something really interesting to write, but nothing's come to mind. So basically here's just a little wassup on my life.

About a week and a half ago I was asked if I could go to Northern Uganda to film a video for Billy and Joanna Coppedge while they conduct a training seminar with several pastors from the area. From the seminar we are all planned to go to Sudan where Billy and some others will lead another seminar while I will go around and shoot a video for Mango Ministries, the name of WGM's growing work in Sudan.

There are a couple reasons this should be interesting to you, my readers.

First, some of you may know Billy and Joanna who were at Asbury while I was there and are generally all around awesome people.

Second, this will quite probably mean a drastic reduction in the number of posts I'll be making on the blog as I will probably not have a free of access to this World Wide Web.

Third, while I'm very excited about both these video projects, I have to confess that I am a bit nervous as well. I've never shot 2 projects at the same time on my own before. While I'm trying to prepare as well as I can it still is a daunting task from this end. I will greatly appreciate your prayers as I travel around and try to shoot these projects.

I'll be leaving Kericho on Sunday the 11th of October. Sorry this doesn't have a lot of insight or anything, but I did write more in depth on the subject in my prayer letter which I plan to have going out before I leave Kericho. Look for it...

apologies

I'm sorry for no post this weekend, I got busy with other things. I will have something to put up this coming weekend so look for it.

Also, in leu of a blog post I have written a new prayer letter and I hope to be sending that out soon. If you're interested in receiving it, and are not on my mailing list already, feel free to post a reply here or send me an email with your email or physical address. (Please only physical addresses in the USA.) You can email me at adkins01@gmail.com

See you this weekend.

Jonny

Reflections on Friendship

I've been thinking a lot about friendships this week. I took some time away from the office to meet up with some friends from high school. We've been staying in Nairobi, mostly just hanging out and catching up on each other's lives.

As we've discussed what we've each experienced over the past 8 years I must confess there's been a tinge of guilt that's come to me. Each of us have been through times when we needed a friend to lean on and there seemed to be none around. Hearing such stories I was reminded of the kinds of heartfelt friendship promises I made around our graduation. Promises like, "Just let me know what you need and I'm there."

Looking back on the years since high school I now realize that with the exception of a few phone calls, several emails, and prayer, I've never really been able to keep those promises. I've never heard that a friend was sick or hurt and been on the first plane across the country or around the world.

For a few moments I really felt I'd let my friends down, but then God reminded me that I'm human. (It's a good thing to keep in mind) As humans it is in our nature to let others down. Being human is not an excuse to disappoint others, but it's something we all do because of our nature and our limitations.

I took little comfort in knowing I wasn't the only one to let others down.

Next God reminded me of the most significant point. I am, and all other people are, human and we will all fail our friends, but He is NOT and He won't. Now, as I listened to my friend's stories, I heard that when they felt lonely God was there with them! In scripture He promises that "Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you," (Hebrews 13:5 NIV). Thank God HE is true to HIS word when WE are not true to OURS. I realize now that I cannot be the perfect friend to anyone, but I also rejoice that I do have a perfect friend.

Looking back a couple weeks

In the first week of September my co-worker John and I were privileged to join the AGC missions department for a trip to one of their fields. We went to the Silango church in Marigat district. This area of Kenya has been among those stricken by drought throughout this year. The missions department was going there to distribute food to the people living in the area. John and I went along to see the distribution and film for a short video on famine relief.

The area was so barren it had a strange beauty to it, they had bushes not much taller than myself which must have grown up in a time when there was rain and they were now waiting for the rains to return, but there was no grass, the ground was all just dust and rocks. Though the sun was bright and hot, you didn't feel sweaty. My theory on this phenomenon is that the air was so dry it would soak up and absorb your sweat as soon as it was available. One of the men who greeted us told me that the only good thing about this place was that building materials are readily available. At first I didn't know what he meant, but when I looked at their houses they are formed out of sticks, rocks, and mud, and that's about all there is in the landscape.

One of the most striking events of the day was when David Mutai, the mission’s director, was giving food to the first couple people. They started with some of the oldest women in the community and when David had measured out 5 large cans of maize (corn) for the very first woman he shook her hand and said thank you. This old woman very enthusiastically shook his hand and said "Asante kwa Mungu! (Thanks be to God!)" Then she surprised everyone by giving David a hug and I was told later that in that moment she told him that if it had not been for the last gift of food that was sent by AGC missions through the church here in Kericho (Immanuel AGC) back in March, she would be dead today. She was so thankful for the past donation and this one she could not contain herself, and it really touched David to see some direct fruit of his labor.

The gift of maize that we took to these people in Silango came through various donors. The maize did not magically appear in David's office but people in other AGC churches and even some in the US who are connected to WGM provided funds to buy 50 bags of Maize and bring it out to this very rural community and those gifts are saving lives. Remember that next time there's a food drive at your church.

A philosophy of Christian Films;

From the time I began feeling that I wanted to make Christian films I have believed that I ddin’t want to create films where the action and plot stop suddenly so one character can actually lead another to Christ and they end up sitting on the steps quoting scripture verses. I just feel that so often those scenes are very heavy handed and a complete interruption of the story. I’ve never felt like my conviction on this matter was a complete disregard for putting Christ in my “Christian Films” but at the same time I’ve always felt a little torn about how you can make a film that teaches a moral message or encourages the viewer to give their life to Christ and yet not have the “scripture and prayer” scene. About a week ago I felt the Lord telling me it can be done.

Recently I had the great privelage and opportunity of seeing some old friends, Billy and Joanna Coppege, who today work as missionaries with WGM in Northern Uganda and are key players in the strategy to enter Sudan. It was quite a surprise to see them at Tenwek Hospital in Bomet, Kenya, but I was very happy to spend a few minutes with them while we were each “randomly” at Tenwek at the same time. I was there to get some extra footage for the video I’ve been working on lately, and they were there with a group of people sharing their burden for Sudan with members of the Tenwek Medical staff.

Much of Billy’s work in Uganda and Sudan involves “storying” or the telling of stories to groups as just a fascinating story and then separately telling how that story can be applied to every day life or a dramatic change in the spiritual life in order to bring the listener closer to Christ. The day that I saw Billy and Jo at Tenwek he told the story of the paralytic who was brought to Jesus and lowered through the ceiling. Though I had heard the story many times before, I found myself riveted during Billy’s telling and excited to see what he had to say about it. Those who know Billy will recognize that he has a very magnetic personality which helps draw you in no matter what he says, but there was more to it. Billy simply let the power of the story carry itself out and did not interrupt to explain it. As this particular story-telling was a demonstration for the medical staff he was pretending to be a doctor in Sudan using the story to witness to a patient, played by Joanna, and so he continued by explaining his purpose for the story, to show her that Jesus has the power to forgive sins.

Billy then addressed all in attendance and explained how he uses storying in ministry. Considering myself a story teller, with video as my medium, I was really excited to hear Billy ask the crowd if they agreed that stories are one of the best ways to teach people things and have them all agree with him. The thing that stuck out to me most though was when Billy said that he believes that the Bible has the BEST stories and again everyone agreed. I thought on that fact for just a moment, because to me it was obvious that the Bible has the best stories from a Christian stance, as in the stories in the Bible point to Christ, but it had been a long time since I’d really considered the power of the stories in the Bible as pieces of great story-telling and drama.

After the meeting I didn’t have a lot of time to think about how Billy had used the story as I ran off to do some more shooting and then editing on my video. However, a few days later I was back in Kericho and getting ready for bed. I do my devotions each night before I go to sleep and on this particular evening I was reading another very familiar story in scripture. In Genesis, Abraham, following God’s instructions, nearly sacrifices his only son, Isaac, as a burnt offering to God. At the last minute God intervenes and provides a wild ram for the sacrifice. As I read the story that night I thought of how that story is a metaphore for the grace God provided for all of us in His Son Jesus. We were all doomed to pay the greatest price for our sins but the God sent His Son to take our place as the one lain on the altar.

Suddenly I realized something that came to me as quite a surprise, no where in the story is it mentioned that several hundred years later Jesus would be for us all like that ram for isaac. In fact, it leads one to question why the story was even kept in the Hebraic tradition long enough for Christians to come along and realize the great value of the story. My guess is that the Hebrews saw in this story the kind of devotion to God which they, and we, should strive to emulate and they decided that it was an important story for that reason, and I agree. But even that message is only communicated in the reader seing and understanding the great sacrifice Abraham was willing to make for his God. Then I thought quickly of other stories in both the Old and New Testaments where various heros of the faith are truly celebrated, to my recollection none of them stop to say anything along the lines of, "If you've read this and want to become a Christian here's what you do." Even Jesus when asked directly what one must do to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven doesn't respond with "Okay come over here and we'll say this prayer together." He advises the person who asked to change the aspects of his character which are not in-line with God's character.

So now I feel more encouraged and inspired to try to craft and tell unique and compelling stories which can be used to encourage others to live a Godly life, but don't require hitting the audience over the head with it. It's encouraging to know that I can concentrate on what I actually think my characters would do in their circumstances and not worry about stopping the action to teach a sunday school lesson.

The Longest Walk

Thursday night, August 20th I premiereed the Tenwek video at Tenwek, and it was very warmly recieved. Having a large weight lifted off my shoulders on friday and being at y childhood home I decided it was a good time to take a walk. I knew right where to head, the waterfall at Tenwek is one of my favorite places in the world. I took a nice leasurely walk down, down down the road and came upon the tranquil familiar sight of the water cascading over the falls and pummeling the pools below. I took a deep breath and began to relish the sound of the falling water, when i happened to look down stream and see a teenage boy standing akwardly behind a large rock, covering himself and looking at me as though trying to figure out what I was doing. Realizing he was taking a bath over there, I decided it would be rather less comfortable for both of us if I stuck around even if I decided not to look his direction.

As I headed back up the hill, a little disappointed in my venture to the falls I noticed a path just off from the road that led on up the hill. Feeling my disappointment replaced with a sense of adventure I set off on this rough steep path, not really sure if it would take me out to the road or not, but I knew I wouldn't get lost so it was merely a matter of trying and if I failed I could just turn back. It was clear the path was not used frequently and it was very overgrown, but it was quite fun trying to pick my way through the bushes and see where I would come out. That is, it was fun until I got a few feet off the path and planted my foot squarely into the gewiest, thickest, mud I've ever encountered. At this point it is worth telling you that I was wearing sandals. One of my favorite pair of shoes, they are "tiva" style sandals featuring the South African flag repeated on the straps. I've had these sandals since my parents made their first trip to SA in about 1996/7. Now, those shoes did spend several years in storage in that time, but still, they have carried my feet for many many miles.

With my feet caked in mud, I pressed on squishing grimey goowie mud out from between my feet and the sandal and also from in between my toes, and only a minute later I was back on the road to my next destination, the bridge across the dam. Each step of my journey saw my feet squishing and sliding around on my sandal, and as I turned and headed down the steep hill toward the dam I took one step that was extra steep and my foot slid right out of my shoe. After a brief awkward dance I regained my balance and tried to secure my foot back in the sandal. That's when I realized my foot had actually broken the sandal. Apparently in the slip and near fall my foot had pushed right through the strap and dislodged it from the sole of the shoe, I removed the upper strap and decided there was nothing that could be done except to continue without that shoe. So I continued on my way down the hill and stood at the dam for a few moments enjoying the peaceful sound of the falls and laughing to myself about how this had been one of my most eventful journeys to the river ever.

I debated weather or not i should just drop both my shoes from the bridge and watch them float away over the dam and off the falls. I felt this would be a very poetic end to their journey, but my new found "green-conscience" wouldn't let me throw a bunch of nylon and rubber into a river. I tried to see if my poetic side could outweigh the green side when suddenly my visual arts side piped up and said "well if you're gonna do it you should at least take some pictures of them going over the falls and such, and you forgot your camera." That decided things for the time being, there was no way I could pollute the river in the name of poetry and not have something to show for it. So I had to carry one shoe and wear the other back up the hill, and if I felt like it later, return to pitch my shoes in the river.

WIth my mind made up I set out back up the hill taking what was probably the slightly longer route, but the one that had more sidewalk. Thankfully the mud on my feet dried up by this time so I could concentrate all my walking focus on not stepping on sharp rocks. The rest of the way up the hill was mostly uneventful, but I was greatly looking forward to getting back to my room for a nice shower to clean my feet off.

Upon reaching the room I headed straight to the shower and cranked on the hot water. Stepping in I found the water exceedingly hot! I turned the cold tap and waited, nothing happened. I turned the hot down a bit, still no cooler. I decided to turn the hot all the way down and see just how much cold i had coming. When the hot was off there was no water! I turned up the cold, but nothing came. I spun the handle till I thought it was about to come off, not a drop. I turned everything back off and tried the sink, no cold. The water had been cut off temporarily. I think i only had hot because of what was sitting in the water heater. I was disappointed in not being able to take a full on shower, but knew I would survive, the big problem now became, how to clean the mud off my feet without burning them. After a moment the solution came to me to wet my wash cloth with water from the sink's hot tap, and wipe my feet off. It was a little less satisfying, but got the job done so I could go through the rest of the day without feeling like a jerk for tracking mud everywhere.

So that's my story, I guess if were a preacher I could come up with a sermon from it or something, but I feel like it's just an interesting story of a days walk and that's good enough. What I can say is that I praise God that He gave me a joyful spirit that could laugh at each unique beat on this path.

Project Update 8/10

So there's been a request that I update people on my projects from time to time.

Well the BIG news of today is that I finished inserting interview clips and "scratch narration" today. These are the elements that are basically carrying the story so it's a huge step toward completing the video. There's still a lot to be done, but at least I now have a complete story that runs all the way from 1935 to today.

The next steps include getting proper recordings of my narration, adding b-roll footage and old photos, music, color correction and audio mixing. I have just over a week.

Re-redirected

Apparently this blog is still evolving. Over the past month or so I have been posting an update each week just spilling out what I've been doing for the past week. This started as an exciting new challenge, but wuickly became one of my most loathsome weekend chores. The problem was the sheer massive amount of information. I started cutting corners writing things like, "I went to work every day this week." And still the post was incredibly long and would sometimes be written over 2 or 3 days. Soon I felt I was neither presenting interesting information or having any fun doing it.

Therefore I've decided to change things again. My plan now is to come up with one thing each week that is interesting and write on that. I want to keep the weekly commitment because otherwise I will return to the days when I would post once a month at best. But my posts will probably be shorter and hopefully more interesting to both write and read.

Below you will find the first of these posts. I won't guarantee that all forthcoming posts will have such a spiritual bend, some I hope will be funny and some just interesting thoughts, but who knows, like I said this blog is still evolving.

Poor Planning Skills or Trust in God?

While I've been here in Africa one of the major areas of personal development that I've been working on has been planning. Somehow this is a skill that's I've never been great with. I was always one of those kids that would write an essay on the fly and then go back and do the outline. writing and preparations is undoubtedly my weakest area of the video production process. And I can never figure out what I'll want to eat in time to plan a shopping list so I just buy whatever looks good at the store.

I've seen this struggle recently in the specific area of transportation. Just today I realized at the last minute that I had not communicated to people when I was going to need a ride from Tenwek to Kericho and almost missed my opportunity. This past Tuesday as I was trying to make my way from Kericho to Tenwek, the ride I had arranged was coming later than I would have liked so I found another ride instead. Back at the end of June I spent a few days in Nairobi taking care of business and having some fun as well. I came to Nairobi not knowing how I was going to get to Kericho, but figured out pretty quickly what day I wanted to go. The day before I was to leave Nairobi I found a ride to take me back and everything worked perfectly. There are more as I keep going back, but you get the picture.

With all these incidents there's a common thread, each time I began to stress about getting to my destination and chastised myself for not planning things better or communicating more clearly. And yet each time everything worked out perfectly as if God had timed it all to happen just that way. On the way from Tenwek today i sat and reflected on this for a few minutes. I realized that there are some lessons that need to be learned the hard way, If I'm going to really see why it's important to arrange transport ahead of time I need to get stranded someplace. The problem is God keeps working it out so that I get where I need to be. Now don't get me wrong, I'm very happy that He is taking care of the details especially as my time on this trip is so limited, but I wonder how I will learn my lesson.

I feel like God is taking care of the details because I am trying to serve him in this ministry, but I also feel that I shouldn't just sit back and let Him work out the details, I need to try to improve my own sense of responsibility and develop my plans more. I guess what I'm saying is I can't look at God taking care of the details and say "okay so I won't make any plans, from here on God will work it out." Jeremiah 29:11 says "I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord 'Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." That wonderful promise encourages us that even when OUR plans fall through, or don't really get made to begin with, God is in control. However, if we look at the verse following, God says "Then you will call upon me and pray to me... You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." (vs. 12-13) These verses show us that He still expects action on our part. It's not enough to believe and trust Him to work out the details, we need to actively seek Him and I would add that in that we need to actively try to plan for the tasks that are before us, even if they never seem to come out like the plan.

How to learn tis lesson is something I still don't know, but I believe I just need to keep trying my best to make plans and arrangements, and continue trusting God to work out the details if I fail, or things change.

A Week Away

As reported last week, I've pretty much finished the outline for the Tenwek Video and this past week has actually been all about shooting.

Monday was a preparation day, I worked on interview questions and got some old lights down from storage in the "studio space" which is more of a garage these days. I set up the lights and checked to see what worked and what didn't. I also went through a few more old photos and such. In the evening John and I went to town to pick up some batteries. It was a long day and I still had to pack my things at the house.

Tuesday morning we were to leave at 9 AM once John was finished with his radio program. Due partly to my own lateness we didn't get going until about 9:30 and with a few stops on the way we rolled into Tenwek at about 11 AM. We got to work as soon as we were there trying to follow up on making appointments to conduct interviews. Most of our subjects were not available that afternoon so we decided to take a field trip. We went to the home of Rev. Ezekiel Kerich, the former hospital administrator, and were warmly welcomed to his home. We had been unable to contact Ezekiel ahead of time, so it was very nice of him to receive us and agree to be interviewed. I also learned at that time that his wife Anna had been one of the original African nurses who were hired and trained on the job to help the first missionary nurses, and she also agreed to be interviewed. John and I stayed there for some time and had tea with the Kerich's before returning to Tenwek.

Wednesday morning we were supposed to meet with Geoffrey Langat, the hospital's CEO, at 8:30. I was very proud of us being on time and fully equipped. Unfortunately, Geoffrey was in Nairobi and wouldn't get back until around 11:30. This was not really his fault he had been called at the last minute for a meeting, but it required quite a lot of shifting of our schedule. We did manage to re-arrange another interview that was scheduled for later in the day and then also got a hold of a residency student who came as soon as he was available.

Lunch time was a good chance to meet several of the visiting staff which is both fun and annoying. The fun part is in socializing and seeing what has brought various people to Tenwek, the annoying part is having to explain to each of them individually what I'm doing here and where I'm from (that's a good 10 minutes itself) and all the other questions that need to be answered. I guess it's only fair because I ask them the same questions, but it's a pain to go through it 3 or 4 times during lunch.

In the afternoon we did 3 more interviews. We started with Barbara Pinkley at the School of Nursing, then in the CEO's office we did one with Jonathan Bii, the director of Community Health and Development, and finally with the CEO, Geoffrey, himself.

In the evening I went to see the Roberts family, career missionary eye doc and family, who said they had some old photos of the lab work at Tenwek. I got over there at about 6:00 and they had already finished dinner, but Jenny asked if I wanted to eat there, so I got some beans and rice and remembered just how much I love this staple Kenyan meal. I mean really it sounds so plain but tastes so good!

Getting back on track, Dr. Ben Roberts invited me to join him and several men, both visiting staff and Kenyan interns, for a Bible Study at 8 PM. So i hung out and played with the kids a bit and then joined the fellowship. There was something really relaxing and unique in that BS (Kenyan abbreviation for Bible Study and NOT something else). It was one of the few times I've ever been in a BS where everyone shared and we had a really great discussion about 1 Samuel 24 which is one of the most interesting passages in the Old Testament. For those who can't think of it off hand, it's the passage where while chasing David in the wilderness King Saul goes into a cave to "relieve himself" and of course the cave turns out to be the one David is hiding in. Based on that brief description it doesn't seem like there are too many practical life applications but we found several from the whole text.

Thursday we started by interviewing John's brother Rev. Frederick Makibior, who was the first Kipsigis missionary to another tribe and worked alongside a group of WGM missionaries among the Maasai people. After finishing that interview we returned to the CEO's office to try and catch the Bishop of AGC before a hospital board meeting. We were still setting up when he arrived, but he graciously allowed us to talk to him for a few minutes before going into the meeting.

The plan was then that we would wait for the meeting to let out and interview Rev. Nathaniel Korir, who has served on the board since like 1964 or something. If I'd known how long the board meeting would take I would have planned to use that time to shoot something else, but John and I just waited patiently. We did have two interns come by to do short interviews telling about working at Tenwek, but otherwise we waited. The board meeting let out at around 2 PM and then they all ate lunch. Once finished with lunch we were still unable to interview Nathaniel because the entire board was heading to the visiting staff quarters (aka guest house) to dedicate the new wing. So John and I were requested to attend and film that event, we left our lights set up in the CEO's office and ran our cameras and tripods down the hill to shoot the small dedication service, then dashed back up the hill to finally get our interview with Rev. Nathaniel. This was possibly one of my favorite interviews once we got it, but it was a long time in coming.

After Rev. Nathaniel's interview John left to return to Kericho for a celebration of his son's college graduation so I was left to lug our equipment on my own to the next location. I went to meet the head chaplain, Rev. David Kilel, in his office. The office turned out to be too small for a regular 3 point light set up or even just 2 lights. I wound up with just one light casting long dramatic shadows, but it looks rather nice. David has served as head chaplain since around 1975 so his interview was also very enlightening.

The last stop of the day was at Dr. Russ White's office not for an interview that day, but set up the lights for one at 7:30 AM on Friday. Sadly for me, his office is right next to the CEO's office which was back across the hospital grounds and up on the second floor. So there I went lugging all my equipment back up the hill and finally the stairs. (Yes, you're supposed to be pitying me now.) Fortunately, I got into his office just before he was called away for 3 surgeries. Left alone in the Medical Superintendent's office I listened to the rest of the James Taylor Live Album he had playing through his iPod and imagined him sitting at his desk and how i would light the scene. Right as I was finalizing my lighting scheme and checking it in the camera all my lights went out. As power outages are far from uncommon in Kenya I didn't really mind at first, but then I realized that the power was on and then only items in the room with no power were on the 110 volt circuit (Kenya standard is 220 like Britain, but with a lot of items coming from the US many places are wired for both). I realized that I must have overloaded the circuit breaker and the big problem now was that I had to figure out how to re-set it when all technicians were off for the day. Thank God, a lady came in to work in one of the other offices and she was able to call the technician who was on-call. A few minutes later he was there and able to fix my problem without any trouble. Knowing the Russ would be in and out of the office during the night I used scotch tape to mark the places where my lights and tripod belonged so I could set them off to the side a bit.

Friday morning I was up bright and early to be to Russ' office at 7:30. When I arrived he was there just finishing straightening his desk. I reset my lights, plugged in the microphone and we were on our way. Things went great through the first question, then just as Russ finished his answer the lights went out again. Russ knew where the circuit breaker was and so jumped to go flip it back. When he came back he switched off everything he had plugged into the 110 so my lights wouldn't overload it again. We took on the second question and once again just as Russ finished his answer the lights went out. While Russ was out flipping the breaker again I decided I could sacrifice one light for the sake of moving smoothly through the rest of the interview. I think we got 2 more questions answered when the lights again went out. I was stressing. However, this time it turned out to actually be the electricity going out for a moment. With Russ back in his chair we resumed and had no more power failures, although we did have 2 people come by and interrupt us, but finally we made it through the interview.

After finishing Russ' interview I attended and filmed the dedication of the new Tenwek Hospital sign. For any who are freaking out like I was about them tearing down the familiar yellow sign bearing the slogan "We Treat, Jesus Heals," the good news is that this new sign does not replace the old one but sits along the road just before the old familiar one.

Coming out of the sign dedication I only had one interview left that I knew I NEEDED to get and that was all set up to happen in the evening so I found I had some extra time to shoot some general hospital footage. I set out therefore and just looked for interesting angles to shoot the buildings or grabbed some shots of people. This took me up to lunch time where I joined some of the other visitors for spaghetti.

In the afternoon I met with a friend of our families who now works at the hospital. We sat and talked for about 2 hours before I took off in pursuit of a little more footage and then returned to my room to prepare for the final interview. This last interview was with our field director, Jim Vanderhoof. It was one of the simplest and shortest interviews I had because really i just needed to have him read a few comments from my outline so I could throw in something other than narration at the beginning of the video. We did just a few takes on each of the 3 short paragraphs and then I packed the stuff up.

With Jim's interview down and the sun setting it was time to relax a little. I again was invited to join the Robert's family and other guests for dinner. It was pizza night in celebration of Isaac Robert's birthday. It was a very relaxing evening which was exactly what I needed, a small breather before a long Saturday...

On Saturday morning I caught a ride with Vanderhoofs back to Kericho. We had to leave at 8 AM in order to be here for the Bible College's graduation service. Being a photographer I was volunteered to film the event. The ceremony had a large guest list and many of those guests had to make speeches. I couldn't help but be reminded that this is a major differnce between US culture and African, In the States we would have ONE guest speaker and a class representative. Here there's a speaker for the day, class reps from both the 3 and 4 year courses, a few board members, The chief guest (the former president in this case) and about 3 other politicians. Most shocking to me is that several of the politicians speeches were merely, "congratulations to the graduates and let me tell you all about my political agenda." They had nothing to do with the event we were there for. I guess I'm not fully used to everything in Africa.

The graduation service went from about 11 AM (it was supposed to start at 10) until about 4 PM. I stood through most of it and taped about 2 hours worth. When I finally got back to my house in the evening it felt VERY GOOD to sit and watch a movie.

Okay, so on to the week ahead or half through at this point. I've finished logging the footage I shot last week (that is writing down what each shot is and where it is on the tape) and spent all day today working on interview logs where I write down what each person says in their interviews. This is a very tedious process amplified by the fact that I'm a slow typist and easily distracted by the millions of other things going on in our office. However, I'm proud to say that today, Tuesday, I made it through 1 and 1/2 tapes out of the total 5 interview tapes. Once i finish this process I'll be on to capturing footage and assembling the story with interview clips and narration. At this point I'm feeling like i will probably end up doing the narration myself which makes me a little nervous. It's not that I'm intimidated by microphones, but I don't think I have a very dynamic presence and so I fear that the final product may suffer. There's still some time before we'd be recording the narration so I hope to come up with a plan B or figure out how to put some excitement into my reading.

Well that's the report for now, God Bless.