The RevMedia book, "Dear World" is getting wrapped up by our graphic artist, Aaron Dodson. While the rest of us wait for its completion, we are hardly sitting idly by. No way. There are visions to impart, and stories to tell, even when life slows down a bit.

In between the Ecuador promotional for Global Encounters, and the upcoming New Zealand promotional for the Institute in Photographic Studies, we put together a sweet promotional for a conference in January. This World Changers conference brings together 35 or so 20-somethings who have been thrust into leadership positions for non-profits. They aren't individuals with simply potential to change the world - they are changing the world. And they are leading other world changers in this lifestyle.

September found Christina working with Rowan Gillson, Mandy Novotny, Laura Clawson, and Aaron Dodson. The promotional turned out fantastic - 6200 pictures later.

We hope that this promotional will inspire you to rethink the way you see life - and the affect you have on the people around you.

Blessings!

The end of the Ecuador adventure has come.

It was a hard road. And the path was long.

But together, Laura, and I, and God made it through.

Along the way we discovered some beautiful stories. Met incredible people. And learned amazing life lessons.

We hope that you find this promotional video to be more than just a spot for Global Encounters. We hope that it completely transforms the way you see a life of ministry.

More than that, we hope that you can, from this day forward, begain a new adventure of life to life ministry.

Blessings in our amazing Jesus,

Christina and Laura

Today was another day for our team to join the ranks of kids at the primary school in Esmeralldas. When we arrived, we were greeted by hundreds of smiling and excited faces. I stepped out into the playground yard and was practically mobbed by two dozen kids calling out “Un photo! Un photo! Un photo!”

“Un Photo” began as a group of 5 friends who wanted their picture taken together, and quickly grew into a throng of fifty. I kept backing up and backing up to fit them all into the70mm frame, but they just kept moving toward me…a mass sea of beautiful Ecuadorian faces.

As I was out there, in that school courtyard taking pictures, I was bothered. It seemed like none of my photos were different. It felt like each picture was the same. Over and over again the pictures became, just more faces. One child’s face became one in a sea of faces.

When you are overseas, the fast paced and adventurous lifestyle is really exotic – for the first week. Then, after a little while, the “roughing it” lifestyle seems to cause all the people’s faces begin to look the same. And reaching out to one life looks exactly the same as reaching out to another life.

Why is that?

Because sometimes it is easy to believe that one life is just another life in the world.

Just another life.


But you know what? Along with the belief that a life is “just another life” is the accompanying belief that one life won’t make that big a difference in the world.


I don’t think that’s true.

Jesus said that He would go after those who were lost and had gone astray. This means that even those who are seemingly unlovely are those who have incredible value. I think in general, most Christians do believe this. But if if each person has value, then we aren’t just one life amongst the sea of faces in humanity.

We are unique. We are individuals. We are handcrafted by God.

We are called. We have purpose that belongs to no one else.

We affect change. We must play our part.

So why do so few of us live as though it were a deep conviction?

The sea of humanity exists to be sure. But in Christ, this sea dissolves and in Paul’s, words, “there is no Jew, nor Greek, nor Male, nor Female, nor Slave, nor Free”.

What is left when there is no racial, ethnic, status, and philosophical differences?

Just faces.

But behind these faces, is the incredible worth, indescribable value, and stunningly magnificent masterpieces of God:

The souls of His beloved.

If we believe that one soul has value, we must also believe that one soul will affect change.

Because one face sees another face.

And then one life touches another life.

After which one soul changes another soul. Then another. And another.

And it happens again. And again. And again..

So what if each of us walked through life acting upon this knowledge? What if, when we look into the eyes of the person we pass in the street, or acknowledge the carwash employee we pass by, or just kept on taking pictures of beautiful foreign children…

What would this world look like if we Christians remembered that in this life, we are not just a sea of faces?


What if, today, you didn’t just see a face?

What if, today, you looked into someone’s eyes?

What if you touched a life?

What if you changed a soul?

Maybe this is home…

Esmeraldas.

It’s a city in a third world country. Really. Full of intensely repulsive smells, wild animals, and dirt that would clog any air filter within days. Let alone its reputation for being a “dangerous” city by many Ecuadorians.

This is the place we arrived on Sunday.

The drive through the mountains was awesome. But as we came closer and closer to our destination I could tell it was going to be interesting. The faces of the people became darker and darker, and the air became more and more dirty and humid.

Our hotel is a ghetto like facility run by Christians. They have verses all over the walls on the inside and outside of the rooms. Aside from this, I don’t know what makes them Christian. Things are quite dirty. There are bugs everywhere. They turn off the air as soon as we leave the rooms. And we get towels enough for all of us only every other time they clean the room. This isn’t even referring to the bathroom stench that reeks to every part of our little room.

I wasn’t phased at the situation. I've traveled enough now to be chill at quite a bit. I was slightly uncomfortable to be sure, but I thought it would be a really interesting adventure more than anything else.

This was before we went out to the school where we’d be hosting another children’s program in the evening, and an English and character class in the mornings.

Monday night when we arrived at the school I was coming down with a cold. The humidity was horrible. The dirt in the air was clogging both my pores and my lungs in a painful way. We all arrived that evening and marched up the stairs to the materials room where we were greeted by the stench of vomit – where someone’s dinner hadn’t sat well with them. We walked around the mess on the floor to our room, but the smell became worse and worse – repugnant and strong.

The materials room was going to be synonymous with our studio – where we’d be working on our Global Encounters promo along with shooting the Children’s program and leaders.

I was hardly impressed.

It was practically a bedroom. An 8-x8 feet of space with a bed, a TV, a small desk area, and a bathroom. It was dirty everywhere. The materials were unorganized. The bathroom door didn’t stay shut so we had to secure it with a hair band.

It was, without a doubt, the most uncomfortable situation I had ever been in, with all of my life.

It only became worse when one of the other girls said cheerfully, “this is probably the school’s sick bay.”

Hardly my definition of a studio.

Here and now I confess my bad attitude. I was not happy with where things were. I wasn’t happy with the horrible condition of the bathroom, or the dirt on every single chair, or the dust that covered the desk. Was there nowhere I could be comfortable!

And it was in the moment that I was sulking about spending my evening there that I realized something. I was comparing this place to the comfort of my home. Only, I wasn’t comparing it to my real home…

My real home is exactly where Jesus calls me. Because wherever He calls me is wherever He will be. And my home is with Him.

So weather I am in a dirty bedroom, stench filled bathroom, or sickbay / studio, my home is wherever Jesus is.

It reminded me of that verse from Luke. There was a man pledging to Jesus an undying loyalty of following Him wherever He went. Instead of taking the man at His word, Jesus explained that He had nowhere to lay His head. No place of comfort. No place which resonated of the belonging of home.

I often wondered why Jesus said that. But now I realize the truth.

Many people feel the excitement of the seeming “glamour” of following Jesus wherever He went. But you know what? That motivation will hardly last you through the dirtiest, most reeking places on earth. It won’t keep you going after ministering through long days of sickness or exhaustion. Not even close.

The only thing that will propel someone to continue in the hard work of following after Jesus is the absolute and complete assurance that “home” is wherever He has called you – for in that calling is exactly where He will be.

It reminds me of that song from Switchfoot:

I’ve got my memories
Always inside of me
But I can’t go back
Back to how it was
I believe you now.
I’ve come too far.
No I can’t go back
Back to how it was.
Created for a place I’ve never known.
This is home.
Now I’m finally where I belong,
Where I belong
Yeah this is home.
I’ve been searching for a place of my own
Now I’ve found it maybe this is home.
Yeah this is home.
Belief over misery.
I’ve seen the enemy.
And I won’t go back
Back to how it was.
I’ve got my heart set
On what happens next
I’ve got my eyes wide
It’s not over yet
We need a miracle.
And we’re not alone.

Jesus will last me through any and every experience I will encounter across the globe: Because He, yes, Jesus…He is my home.

(Disclaimer: Please forgive the lack of grammar and technical elements to this note. It was written after we got back to our hotel at 1am on Wednesday morning. I thought it would be nice to post these random thoughts rather than nothing at all…)

PS - Keep praying for us as we work on the promo. We did another short interview today, have portraits for the final piece, and will continue our compiling...

This week I watched love in action. I watched my teammates be challenged, and tried and stretched.



I watched 70 some kids from Quito memorize God’s word and hide it in their heart.















This week I watched 15 young people build crucial relationships to pass down God’s principles to the next generation.



And today, I watched as it all wrapped up and came to a close.
Week one it Quito- accomplished.

Goodbyes were said. Bandanas were signed…..and signed some more. As the kids were filtering out, saying their last goodbye’s I couldn’t help but notice the impact of love. These kids, who were once stoic on the first night were now beaming with joy -love brimming over.


Love makes a difference. It really does.








Tomorrow we leave for Esmeraldas, a city in Northern Ecuador. We leave behind Quito, just for a week-but at the same time, I feel we are leaving something more than that.
We are leaving Casa Del Padre, the faithful house on the Mountains.
We are leaving hours of planning, traveling and discussing.
We are leaving the congregation at the Church in Quito, the one that has so graciously opened its arms to us.
We are leaving 90 shining faces that left smiling every night this past week.
We are leaving a legacy.




7 days.
1 church.
96 kids.
5 colors.
15 Brave young people
7 translators.
1 amazing week


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Week 2 , Esmareldas here we come…..



- Laura Clawson


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RevMedia is about seeing the need and being the change.

It starts out with me.

It extends to me touching another life.

It continues when the life that I touched reaches another life too.

And it expands when other lives see the deep and artistic stories that come out of those experiences.

When we first arrived in Quito, there was a group of people from the church here waiting to help us get settled in. They picked us up from the airport. When I approached the group, dragging my suitcase and huge equipment duffel, a boy looked at me, smiled, and asked if he could help me. I let him drag my equipment bag.

Little did I know that this boy - Santiago, or San - loves multimedia. I didn't know that he is going to school for multimedia in October. I didn't know that he would be such a fabulous photographer. I didn't know that he'd become such a dear friend. Santiago has watched, has inquired, has been inspired by Laura and I working on our Global Encounters promo. He's held our equipment, shot with our camera's, and read through our script. He's so excited to go into multimedia.

The coolest part about this? That God threw Santiago into our path so that we could show him what it is to pursue multimedia for the glory of God. Tomorrow, Laura and I are going to begin our interview filming for the promotional piece. Santiago is going to help us, and see how exactly we do what we do.

We covet your prayers...that tomorrow would be an inspired and anointed day of filming. By the hand and blessing of Jesus, this promo won't be simply a promo. It will be a piece of art and an amazing message for the glory of God.

Blessings!

Christina