Just wanted to let you all know, that KZ is a tough place to film sometimes. There are certain public places that we were not allowed to film, and others where our host recommended we take the small camera I have and not our big professional one.
ONe quick story. This morning, our last day here, we went around the streets filming some random fill shots, B Roll. After successfully getting some great shots we heard a police siren. We then heard the cop car yelling at us on his loudspeaker, I asked our host if he was yelling at us, and he said yes probably, it'll be ok. By the way, no offense to anyone who loves and speaks Russian, but I find it to be an angry language. No matter what people say, it sounds angry. If someone were to raise their voice and say I Love You, I would think that it was some hateful remark. So when we heard the cop on the megaphone, I thought we were goners. Then while I filmed the car, a motorcycle cop came up and spoke with our translator. He eventually left, because we are "just tourists and want to film the area."
This afternoon, we are going to chill in the city, buy some trinkets, I'm looking for a flag, then we're having a farewell dinner, and flying out tomorrow morning. We get back to the US of A on Saturday afternoon.
Thank you all for reading this blog and for your prayers and interest in the trip. I have enjoyed sharing it all with you, and will probably continue to post stories every so often if you are at all interested in my life. So whether I know you, or for those of you who I don't know, and I have no idea how you found this and read it, thanks, it's been fun. I'll post some more pictures when I get back and let you know when some of the stories are released online.
Peace
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Kazakhstan
So, the past few days have been filled with a 10 hr. sleeper train, a 10 hr drive north and a flight back to Almaty. The coutnry is so interesting, it is a huge coutnry and the cities are so spread out with nothing between them. It clearly is a cuntry hurt, yet helped by the fall of the USSR. In one city in Saran we saw a former apartment complex home to 25,000 people that was now completely empty, and everything that could have been burned was burned, just empty concret buildings remain.
Kazakhstan has over 2200 mosques and only 40 prayer houses (churches). They don't call them churches because of the Russian Orthodox church. The people here are also some of the most hospitable people I have ever encoutnered as well. We have two more days here of filming different parts of life here before we begin our journey home.
Interesting highlights:
1. Ate horse the other night (good)
2. Washed it down with horse milk (not good, very sour)
3. Have had multiple men offer their daughters to us
4. Shared a 10 minute sermon at a church, and a youth conference
5. Went to the mountains where we felt like we were in the Sound of Music
6. Walked streets that felt like Fiddler on the Roof
7. Have spoken with many Babushka's (grandmother's) straight out of Fiddler on the Roof
8. Every truck and bus is straight out of any Soviet Russia movie
9. Have been told not to film in public places 4 times now
Peace
Kazakhstan has over 2200 mosques and only 40 prayer houses (churches). They don't call them churches because of the Russian Orthodox church. The people here are also some of the most hospitable people I have ever encoutnered as well. We have two more days here of filming different parts of life here before we begin our journey home.
Interesting highlights:
1. Ate horse the other night (good)
2. Washed it down with horse milk (not good, very sour)
3. Have had multiple men offer their daughters to us
4. Shared a 10 minute sermon at a church, and a youth conference
5. Went to the mountains where we felt like we were in the Sound of Music
6. Walked streets that felt like Fiddler on the Roof
7. Have spoken with many Babushka's (grandmother's) straight out of Fiddler on the Roof
8. Every truck and bus is straight out of any Soviet Russia movie
9. Have been told not to film in public places 4 times now
Peace
Friday, July 13, 2007
Finally
We made it safely to Kazakhstan and found out that the office here has some pretty serious equipment, including the ability to burn our pictures onto CD and load them online. So, finally if my words bore you, let me treat you to some visuals. Thank you for your continued prayers. We believe that we will again be blessed in Kazakhstan, and are now praying that we find some English speakers at the churches so that we do not have to translate enormous amounts.
Kazakhstan is really interesting, it seems to be a mix of Germany, Russia, and Asia culture and people. We will be traveling a fair bit here as well, but I will be posting every day or two, now with pictures. I would love to share more, but we are about to talk about what the Lord is doing here with a Pastor while in the sauna. It should be interesting, I have never thought of the sauna as a place for ministry, so we'll see how it goes...
Peace
Maasai choir with growing audience.
Cute Girl.
Speaks for itself.
Old Woman thrilled about her new church.
The height of my fame.
Outside before the dedication of their church.
A woman standing outside her church before the dedication.
One of my many beds in Tanzania.
Filming in Dar Es Salaam.
Sunset in Morogoro.
Kazakhstan is really interesting, it seems to be a mix of Germany, Russia, and Asia culture and people. We will be traveling a fair bit here as well, but I will be posting every day or two, now with pictures. I would love to share more, but we are about to talk about what the Lord is doing here with a Pastor while in the sauna. It should be interesting, I have never thought of the sauna as a place for ministry, so we'll see how it goes...
Peace
Maasai choir with growing audience.
Cute Girl.
Speaks for itself.
Old Woman thrilled about her new church.
The height of my fame.
Outside before the dedication of their church.
A woman standing outside her church before the dedication.
One of my many beds in Tanzania.
Filming in Dar Es Salaam.
Sunset in Morogoro.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
London
Travel Tip #1:
When traveling through the London airport, know that you can only take 1 carry-on bag through security. It is a huge pain otherwise, leaving customs and deciding which carry-on to check and then going back through...good thing we have 5 hours here.
When traveling through the London airport, know that you can only take 1 carry-on bag through security. It is a huge pain otherwise, leaving customs and deciding which carry-on to check and then going back through...good thing we have 5 hours here.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Travel Days
So what I thought was going to be a while before my next post has only been a day. This is because of a 5 hr layover in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. To let you know the worst travel schedule ever it is as follows, 4 hr flight to Addis, 5 hours in Addis, 7 hr flight to London, 4 hrs in Lond, 10 hr flight to Almaty, KZ where we arrive at 4:30am...It is going to be amazing.
2 quick thoughts on the day:
1. This last flight I was having an internal debate over my stubborness when dealing with plane seat neighbors. At what point to you accept the fact that they can have the entire armrest and some in to your seat. I constantly found myself trying to get some space on the armrest touching arms for some time hoping that I could force him off, but he wouldn't budge. Then the second I relinquished an inch to get some breathing room he moved over. I found out of principle more than comfort I wanted the armrest because I paid just as much as he did for the armrest, it should be split halfies with a buffer area so you can breathe, and not mutually sweat on that one side.
2. Before we left we stopped by the church to say by to some friends. We arrived just before the primary school of about 50 4-6 yr old started. They were all playing in the courtyard when we arrived. When I got out of the car, they all slowly began to creep closer and closer to me, laughing and pushing their friends at me. Eventually they all stood a foot from me all the way around and stared at em laughing. I took out my hands and just put them out. They all immediately grabbed hold of them and started rubbing and grabbing my arms and hands. It was so forceful that I really did almost topple on top of them all. The ones on the outside wer pushing towards me trying to touch my skin. I looked at the pastor and said, "Man I should come here more often, I feel like a celebrity." He responded while taking a picture of the ordeal that "they have never touched a white person, and probably never seen one with big red hair."
This wnet on for about 10 minutes of me standing there with my hands out as they would push to me to grab a hold. For those of you who know me well, know that this killed me because I was ready to take all of them with me. They were adorable, and better yet they loved me, it was awesome! In the end, 3 kids were trampled and started crying from being knocked over, so the pastor made sure that I picked them up and got a solo picutre with them. It was an awesome feeling, and made it hard to leave right at the peak of my fame.
My internet time is up, who knows I may be back on during my 4 hrs in London. Feel free to comment or email, I enjoy hearing what is going on back home, and hearing from you.
Peace
2 quick thoughts on the day:
1. This last flight I was having an internal debate over my stubborness when dealing with plane seat neighbors. At what point to you accept the fact that they can have the entire armrest and some in to your seat. I constantly found myself trying to get some space on the armrest touching arms for some time hoping that I could force him off, but he wouldn't budge. Then the second I relinquished an inch to get some breathing room he moved over. I found out of principle more than comfort I wanted the armrest because I paid just as much as he did for the armrest, it should be split halfies with a buffer area so you can breathe, and not mutually sweat on that one side.
2. Before we left we stopped by the church to say by to some friends. We arrived just before the primary school of about 50 4-6 yr old started. They were all playing in the courtyard when we arrived. When I got out of the car, they all slowly began to creep closer and closer to me, laughing and pushing their friends at me. Eventually they all stood a foot from me all the way around and stared at em laughing. I took out my hands and just put them out. They all immediately grabbed hold of them and started rubbing and grabbing my arms and hands. It was so forceful that I really did almost topple on top of them all. The ones on the outside wer pushing towards me trying to touch my skin. I looked at the pastor and said, "Man I should come here more often, I feel like a celebrity." He responded while taking a picture of the ordeal that "they have never touched a white person, and probably never seen one with big red hair."
This wnet on for about 10 minutes of me standing there with my hands out as they would push to me to grab a hold. For those of you who know me well, know that this killed me because I was ready to take all of them with me. They were adorable, and better yet they loved me, it was awesome! In the end, 3 kids were trampled and started crying from being knocked over, so the pastor made sure that I picked them up and got a solo picutre with them. It was an awesome feeling, and made it hard to leave right at the peak of my fame.
My internet time is up, who knows I may be back on during my 4 hrs in London. Feel free to comment or email, I enjoy hearing what is going on back home, and hearing from you.
Peace
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
The end of Tanzania
Tonight is my last night in Tanzania. I am in Morogoro, and we just finished a story on a Doctro here who works in a clinic operated by the church giving affordable care to the people in the area, it was a fun day as I watched and filmed my first circumcision...I am pretty sure it is a lot easier in the states.
Since the past few posts have been about these incredible churches and what God is doing here, I wanted to take this time to share a lighter story.
Yesterday on our boat ride from Zanzibar back to Dar Es Salaam, I had an interesting experience. The boat was packed, and everyone had to sit inside, there was no ouside deck like we had on the first boat. The inside area had no AC, and no opening windows. You can imagine that after a 2 hr. ride it would become stuffy and stale. On top of that, after the first hour the seas became rougher.
I was asleep for the first hour, but woke up in time to realize how much I was sweating and that I was about to be sick. I rushed to the back to try to go over the side, and saw about 50 muslim men and women lying across the deck or standing on the side rail. I made my way to the side stepping on a few legs and arms. And finally felt fresh air, after about 5 minutes of not getting sick I went mack inside, the minute I got the whiff of the cabin I was done, turned back around stepped on the same people and went over the side. The men around me thought it was hilarious, and I quickly made tons of friends in the back, as slowly more and more people got sick. I stayed in the back with these muslim dudes for the next hour and a half laughing at myself because I threw up, and then laughing at other people when they did, or when the seas knocked them over. It was memorable, and now I have tons of friends all over Tanzania.
Tonight is our last night here, we leave tomorrow afternoon for Kazakhstan and after a London Layover arrive in Almaty early Friday morning. I will post again Friday or Saturday when we get there, unless I am treated with a similar experience that I have to share. Who knows maybe I'll have an interesting plane ride.
Peace
Since the past few posts have been about these incredible churches and what God is doing here, I wanted to take this time to share a lighter story.
Yesterday on our boat ride from Zanzibar back to Dar Es Salaam, I had an interesting experience. The boat was packed, and everyone had to sit inside, there was no ouside deck like we had on the first boat. The inside area had no AC, and no opening windows. You can imagine that after a 2 hr. ride it would become stuffy and stale. On top of that, after the first hour the seas became rougher.
I was asleep for the first hour, but woke up in time to realize how much I was sweating and that I was about to be sick. I rushed to the back to try to go over the side, and saw about 50 muslim men and women lying across the deck or standing on the side rail. I made my way to the side stepping on a few legs and arms. And finally felt fresh air, after about 5 minutes of not getting sick I went mack inside, the minute I got the whiff of the cabin I was done, turned back around stepped on the same people and went over the side. The men around me thought it was hilarious, and I quickly made tons of friends in the back, as slowly more and more people got sick. I stayed in the back with these muslim dudes for the next hour and a half laughing at myself because I threw up, and then laughing at other people when they did, or when the seas knocked them over. It was memorable, and now I have tons of friends all over Tanzania.
Tonight is our last night here, we leave tomorrow afternoon for Kazakhstan and after a London Layover arrive in Almaty early Friday morning. I will post again Friday or Saturday when we get there, unless I am treated with a similar experience that I have to share. Who knows maybe I'll have an interesting plane ride.
Peace
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Church Safari
Since my last entry, we have driven from outside Arusha, to a church on the border of Kenya in the Maasai area, to another church under construction outside Arusha. Flew to Dar Es Salaam where we stayed one night, took a 2 hr boat to Zanzibar where we drove the entire island stopping at 3 churches to participate in their service and film the area. We are finally catching our breath. Tomorrow we go back to Dar Es Salaam to drive 2 hrs to Morogoro where we will be until Wednesday.
Now to go into detail about this church safari we have experienced...
By far the coolest time has been the afternoon in the Maasai area. The bishop who was at the church dedication used to be a Maasai warrior and now is in charge of 400 churches, 40 of which have buildings. We went to his church where we were warmly greeted. We did an interview with him asking about the area, then hung out with the congregation of about 100, with a choir of 30 or so. Clearly being here to film, we need a soundtrack of African vocal groups. This was the time. We set up the audio rig and cameras, and the rest was in the Lord's hands as this choir just began to belt and dance. Pops, they needed you on the organ, but the harmony was beautiful. They marched in signing, following the leader type singing and the chorus was so beautiful as they all sang together. Some of the people were in the native Maasai dress, so they had the beads and neck rings and ear lobe holes, it was incredible. Finally after a few minutes the song changed and two of the guys fromt he back in native dress and spears came jumping through and these guys had some ups! THhe lyrics translated were "Jesus died on the cross for your sins now you have a decision to make." Pretty straight forward lyrics.
The amazing thing was that as they began to sing and the camera and mics were set up, we were beginning to attract attention. By the end of their songs, they were about 100 people standing aroundus filming and them singing. Judging from the way the song went, those were the only words, which means those bystanders heard "Jesus died on the cross for your sins now you have a decision to make"on repeat for about 5 minutes.
As it was all happening, I took a step back and started laughing at how amazing this was, and how it all came together. When we rewatched it later that night, we realized that we had a beautiful shot. I can't wait to share it with you all, maybe I'll make it an mp3 or something. The church singing here is just incredible.
So, the trip continues, and the amount of footage we have continues to grow. Please continue to lift up our trip, for safety, and health, and that as we create big scenes like the one mentioned above, someone will hear the interview or song that will plant a seed. I didn't think that we would have ministry opportunities, but the hubbub we create seems to attract crowds around the church, so I pray that it plants the seed. Also, for health, I seem to be coming down with a cold, somehow this is happening in Africa, but I pray that it doesn't develop more.
Again, thanks for reading this, sorry there are no pictures, but if you can just imagine what it looks like it will put a smile on your face that will hold you over until I can share it with you.
I wish I could keep typing to let you know what all is happening, but Internet costs money and I don't have much. Zanzibar is beautiful, despite oppression and the culture; God is moving here in a big way.
Peace
Willis
Now to go into detail about this church safari we have experienced...
By far the coolest time has been the afternoon in the Maasai area. The bishop who was at the church dedication used to be a Maasai warrior and now is in charge of 400 churches, 40 of which have buildings. We went to his church where we were warmly greeted. We did an interview with him asking about the area, then hung out with the congregation of about 100, with a choir of 30 or so. Clearly being here to film, we need a soundtrack of African vocal groups. This was the time. We set up the audio rig and cameras, and the rest was in the Lord's hands as this choir just began to belt and dance. Pops, they needed you on the organ, but the harmony was beautiful. They marched in signing, following the leader type singing and the chorus was so beautiful as they all sang together. Some of the people were in the native Maasai dress, so they had the beads and neck rings and ear lobe holes, it was incredible. Finally after a few minutes the song changed and two of the guys fromt he back in native dress and spears came jumping through and these guys had some ups! THhe lyrics translated were "Jesus died on the cross for your sins now you have a decision to make." Pretty straight forward lyrics.
The amazing thing was that as they began to sing and the camera and mics were set up, we were beginning to attract attention. By the end of their songs, they were about 100 people standing aroundus filming and them singing. Judging from the way the song went, those were the only words, which means those bystanders heard "Jesus died on the cross for your sins now you have a decision to make"on repeat for about 5 minutes.
As it was all happening, I took a step back and started laughing at how amazing this was, and how it all came together. When we rewatched it later that night, we realized that we had a beautiful shot. I can't wait to share it with you all, maybe I'll make it an mp3 or something. The church singing here is just incredible.
So, the trip continues, and the amount of footage we have continues to grow. Please continue to lift up our trip, for safety, and health, and that as we create big scenes like the one mentioned above, someone will hear the interview or song that will plant a seed. I didn't think that we would have ministry opportunities, but the hubbub we create seems to attract crowds around the church, so I pray that it plants the seed. Also, for health, I seem to be coming down with a cold, somehow this is happening in Africa, but I pray that it doesn't develop more.
Again, thanks for reading this, sorry there are no pictures, but if you can just imagine what it looks like it will put a smile on your face that will hold you over until I can share it with you.
I wish I could keep typing to let you know what all is happening, but Internet costs money and I don't have much. Zanzibar is beautiful, despite oppression and the culture; God is moving here in a big way.
Peace
Willis
Friday, July 6, 2007
Trying to Catch My Breath
(If you can't tell a lot has happened in the first 3 days, sorry it is so long with no pictures)
So , we made it safely to Tanzania. We have had 2.5 days here and we have already shot 7 full tapes of footage for 2 of our stories. Within an hour of getting of the plane we were filming the story of Manzese B Church in Dar Es Salaam.
This church is in the middle of an enormous slum. The church is unlike any other 3rd world church I have ever seen. It can hold 300 chairs comfortably and is about 2 stories in the sanctuary. By far the largest and most beautiful church and building in the whole slum area. We followed one of the pastors around the slum that afternoon, and heard the story of the church. We went to about 4 different buildings that they kept outgrowing.
The amazing story with this church is their commitment to prayer. For the last few months they have had a 24 hr prayer chain in which groups of about 15 will show up and stay for 3 hr shifts. We slept at the church our first night to film parts of this and at 3am I have never seen more devoted believers singing in harmony praying and dancing throughout the sanctuary. The prayer of this church is so amazing and encouraging. They have said that multiple people in the area have been healed of HIV/AIDS! The commitment to prayer at this church has been an amazing testimony in this 90% muslim area, as the prayer continues to break down barriers for growth!
Last night we flew North to Arusha so that we could film the story of a church dedication in the area of Karatu. We were there interviewing the villagers before it opened. There were about 50 people waiting around for 4 hours before it opened, just waiting to go inside while they were still painting and cementing the area. It was amazing to see the excitement they had as the Bishop of the area cut the ribbon. Some of these people had been walking 12 km. to go to church and now they have one in their neighborhood.
The shots we have are amazing, the people here are so loving and their faith is incredibly encouraging. Matt and I have also been quite creative in our shots, from jerryrigging the camera on a rope for pans of the people singing, to putting the tripod on top of a jeep for better angles. It has been extremely entertaining and exciting to film. I was a little timid to get close shots of the people, but am becoming more comfortable because while it may seem intrusive, it tells the story of their faith and strength to the world.
Sorry that this post is so incredibly long, I wish I was able to load pictures on it to make it more interesting, but alas it is just text and I thank you for reading it all, mom I'm sure you did, but the rest of you, thanks. Please continue for safe travels, and the Lord's blessing on our work here. I can't wait to share more stories and pictures of this trip.
Peace
Willis
So , we made it safely to Tanzania. We have had 2.5 days here and we have already shot 7 full tapes of footage for 2 of our stories. Within an hour of getting of the plane we were filming the story of Manzese B Church in Dar Es Salaam.
This church is in the middle of an enormous slum. The church is unlike any other 3rd world church I have ever seen. It can hold 300 chairs comfortably and is about 2 stories in the sanctuary. By far the largest and most beautiful church and building in the whole slum area. We followed one of the pastors around the slum that afternoon, and heard the story of the church. We went to about 4 different buildings that they kept outgrowing.
The amazing story with this church is their commitment to prayer. For the last few months they have had a 24 hr prayer chain in which groups of about 15 will show up and stay for 3 hr shifts. We slept at the church our first night to film parts of this and at 3am I have never seen more devoted believers singing in harmony praying and dancing throughout the sanctuary. The prayer of this church is so amazing and encouraging. They have said that multiple people in the area have been healed of HIV/AIDS! The commitment to prayer at this church has been an amazing testimony in this 90% muslim area, as the prayer continues to break down barriers for growth!
Last night we flew North to Arusha so that we could film the story of a church dedication in the area of Karatu. We were there interviewing the villagers before it opened. There were about 50 people waiting around for 4 hours before it opened, just waiting to go inside while they were still painting and cementing the area. It was amazing to see the excitement they had as the Bishop of the area cut the ribbon. Some of these people had been walking 12 km. to go to church and now they have one in their neighborhood.
The shots we have are amazing, the people here are so loving and their faith is incredibly encouraging. Matt and I have also been quite creative in our shots, from jerryrigging the camera on a rope for pans of the people singing, to putting the tripod on top of a jeep for better angles. It has been extremely entertaining and exciting to film. I was a little timid to get close shots of the people, but am becoming more comfortable because while it may seem intrusive, it tells the story of their faith and strength to the world.
Sorry that this post is so incredibly long, I wish I was able to load pictures on it to make it more interesting, but alas it is just text and I thank you for reading it all, mom I'm sure you did, but the rest of you, thanks. Please continue for safe travels, and the Lord's blessing on our work here. I can't wait to share more stories and pictures of this trip.
Peace
Willis
Sunday, July 1, 2007
The Trip Commences:
On Tuesday morning, I will set out with a friend from UVa, Matt Allen, to Tanzania, Zanzibar, and Kazakhstan. We will be going to various towns and churches in these areas to film what International Cooperating Ministries, ICM, is doing in these parts of the world.
We will spend each day with a different church filming there story, from churches that started with 24 hour prayer movements int he slums, to a doctor whose office is next door to the church offereing assistance both physically and spiritually. It will be our job to capture these stories in order to create short 3 minute videos for ICM.
A month ago I thought I was going to be in Charlottesville all summer, but now I have been blessed with this opportunity. Please pray that everything goes smoothly, that we will not be worn out from the amount of travel, but will be motivated to enable these people to tell their story. Also, pray that technically everything will work out, that we will be able to get powerful shots and will successfully convey these amazing stories.
I am nervous about it all, but am excited to see what the Lord will do through it all. I feel like this trip truly has been ordained by the Lord, and I am looking forward to what He will teach me and show me along this journey, not just in these few weeks, but in the oportunities that may arise from this trip.
I will be updating this blog as often as I can, and hopefully able to post a picture or two as well. If it is never updated, I apologize now, but will be sure to give an appropriate summary upon my return.
Peace
We will spend each day with a different church filming there story, from churches that started with 24 hour prayer movements int he slums, to a doctor whose office is next door to the church offereing assistance both physically and spiritually. It will be our job to capture these stories in order to create short 3 minute videos for ICM.
A month ago I thought I was going to be in Charlottesville all summer, but now I have been blessed with this opportunity. Please pray that everything goes smoothly, that we will not be worn out from the amount of travel, but will be motivated to enable these people to tell their story. Also, pray that technically everything will work out, that we will be able to get powerful shots and will successfully convey these amazing stories.
I am nervous about it all, but am excited to see what the Lord will do through it all. I feel like this trip truly has been ordained by the Lord, and I am looking forward to what He will teach me and show me along this journey, not just in these few weeks, but in the oportunities that may arise from this trip.
I will be updating this blog as often as I can, and hopefully able to post a picture or two as well. If it is never updated, I apologize now, but will be sure to give an appropriate summary upon my return.
Peace
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