I want to encourage a generation of people to find out what is going on around them. More than that, I want them to know who is alive. I want to hear more good than bad. I want that to be news. I want to show you how a small, community-led organization in Kenya is lending a hand to their neighbors so that they can eat. I want to show you how a church blessed with a generous congregation is sending doctors to Haiti who are providing medical care and offering their services for free. I mean, isn’t that the kind of thing you want to know?

I do not want to live in a world where the only news I hear is sad and horrific and painful – where every story is filled with death and despair. Forget it. I’d rather be in heaven. But if we can share the stories of compassion, of love, and of kindness…those stories are what keep us going. They are the only ones that keep humanity worth fighting for, and for me, the only ones that keep media worth living for.

I first heard about Bedouins International when Stephen spoke at a church near my university. His story of how he and a few friends combined their skills and interests with global missions intrigued me, and I knew I wanted to be a part of this movement.

As a missionary kid who has grown up in a couple parts of Asia (Macau and Taiwan), I have seen first-hand how important it is to connect missionaries and their organizations to the network of people who support them. Bedouins International is filling a desperate need for more professional, easy-to-use media for people who don’t have the time or resources to produce high-quality websites, documentaries, or photographs. I love that there are people willing to donate their skills and time to do this, and I love that I get to hang out with those people and work alongside of them this semester!

Some thoughts on the media…

There’s no question that media is constantly shaping, editing, representing, and re-shaping our world. Just think about all of the ways it has changed our culture in the past decade! Media exists because people have something to say, and need a way to express it. From cavemen drawings to the latest Facebook photo album, humans have used media to share a story with each other.

Media has the ability to span social, geographical, and cultural divides. Because of media, friends on opposite sides of the planet can laugh at the same Youtube video. People can have an entire conversation consisting only of movie quotes. Artists, musicians, and writers can connect with their fans. Businesses begin, families stay in touch, and an entire entertainment industry exists because of media.

The growing power of the media comes from both the individual message (a photograph, blog, news story) and the amount of people who receive it. In the words of Uncle Ben to Peter Parker in Spiderman, “With great power comes great responsibility.” Bedouins International is doing its part to be responsible with the powerful tools of media. I’m excited about catching their vision, and I hope it spreads to you!

Now the “media megaphone” is bigger than ever, and the best part is that it’s free!
Anyone can create a website, a facebook, a twitter, (the list goes on), and generate buzz. The deciding factor now isn’t money, just time and the know-how to put your efforts in the right places. Surely you realize that twitter is a powerful tool…but might not make sense for everyone. Just as Facebook and blogs and websites all have their purposes.

So why don’t those of us who know how to use and work the “media megaphone” put our efforts towards helping those who don’t but could really benefit from the use of it? I’m sure that Joe-missionary over in Africa spending his life saving kids from AIDS would love your advice on how to get the word out…you’ve got the know-how…he’s got the story…what a beautiful opportunity.

Media changed that – is changing that right now, this very second.

After a while there were new ways, faster ways. Now, instead of having to go to Africa to know about what was going on you could read the paper. Pick up a magazine, or listen to the radio.

Then there was television. All of a sudden you could turn on the T.V. and be instantly transported from the comfort of your recliner into the middle of whatever was happening around the world.

And now…I could be on the ground in Africa and via my cell phone and twitter you could know what was happening almost instantaneously as it unfolded there.

So why does half of the world know who’s winning American Idol and not have a clue about how they can get involved in providing clean drinking water for the Billions of people living without it. Media is a powerful tool…but only when used for good. Otherwise it’s not transporting us anywhere.

Let’s go somewhere worthwhile. If you tweet, blog, e-mail…whatever…

Here’s my challenge to you:

Once a week do something remarkable. Share something that could impact, or even change the world. Just once a week. Share a story you’ve heard, link a non-profit you believe in…whatever it is, just once a week help transport people somewhere worthwhile. You can do it…and when you do, you will become a part of something much bigger than yourself and the world will slowly open its eyes.

Let’s refocus the heart of media.

A friend and I were talking the other day and somehow got on the topic of Muzzy. I’m not sure if all of you know what I’m talking about…back in the late 80’s early 90’s a new language video course for kids came out. The videos featured a green creature named muzzy who taught you french. Anyways, the video was very distinct for whatever reason and now, years later my friend and I still remembered it vividly.

Do you realize the power that media has over us? Even a decade or more ago, a poorly made commercial on a (in my opinion) not that interesting topic stuck with us.

Media can impact you in ways you don’t realize, can change your opinions or even form ones where you didn’t have them before. Media can knock an idea home in a way that it sticks with you, sometimes for longer than you realize.

So why do my friend and I remember Muzzy and not any of the non-profits that were changing the world back then? What about the people who were reaching out to the forgotten and marginalized?

Focus.

That’s the key word. Focus. That’s why it’s in our mission statement: Refocusing the heart of media. It’s what we want to see happen. In 10 years let’s remember the HIPHs and IWWs and not the Muzzys.

It’s possible. We just have some refocusing to do.

I know that’s a pretty negative image…shots, pills, days spent in bed missing out on whatever it was you were supposed to be doing. So let’s take that notion and revamp it a little bit.

Strip away the negative connotations of a virus; let’s just take the way that it spreads. One person has it, they give it to another who gives it to another who gives it to another…I think you get the picture.

Now…replace the virus itself with the story of a group of Sudanese refugees living on the fringes of Cairo (a story that we’ll dive into soon). So you have the story. Now, you go tell someone. But don’t just tell them. That’s not quite enough. You have to make it contagious. You have to spread it. You have to give it to them in a way that doesn’t allow them to stop it…rather, a way that drives it home and leaves them with no choice but to spread it further.

Now it’s rolling. You’ve told them, they told someone who told someone…and you have participated in the viral spreading of an idea; an idea that was on your mind and now is on the minds of 10 or 100 or 1000 others. And it only took two things. A compelling story and your willingness to participate in it.

The big kicker is that it’s almost impossibly easy. Just stop for a second and realize that people listen to you. It’s not a question, not a competition…it’s a fact. People listen to you. Maybe it’s one person, your mom. Perhaps it’s the 18 students in your class. I could be the 300 people in your congregation. Maybe it’s the 10,000 people who read your magazine. Whether it’s 1 or 10,000 the point is that people listen to you and care about what you’re saying.

Now add that to the endless ways that you can communicate with those people. Facebook, twitter, e-mail, blog…let’s go old-school, a phone call…a letter, a conversation over coffee. And these are just a small handful of the possibilities available to you to create and spread stories. People want to hear what you have to say and you have all of the tools that you need to say it.

So say something worth saying. No one can rewrite stories that they haven’t heard.

The Banquäla has come and gone. It’s weird, when you’ve been thinking about something for so long, planning, tweaking, preparing and obsessing over it…then suddenly it’s gone. I’ve found myself feeling slightly empty, a little dazed and a lot overwhelmed with the lack of a monumental task looming over me. I’m sure I’ll settle in and find myself buried in a mountain of projects before I know know it, but for now I’m sort of enjoying the subtle shock of this moment that I’m in.

In the midst of all of that there’s still a single word that continues to resonate with me. It seems to permeate my days, my work, my conversations. Even “non-Bedouins” conversations…it’s always there in some way, shape or form.

That word, as you may have guessed, is MEDIA.

I’m going to begin unloading my thoughts on media over the next few weeks on this blog. I’m going to talk about why I think media is, is becoming and will continue to be an amazingly powerful tool. I’ll talk about why I think media can change the world and how I think that can happen. I’ll talk about how media has impacted specific organizations and people and give you examples to prove it. I’ll talk about the responsibility that those who are making media (that’s you, even if you don’t think it is…I promise) have and how to respect and respond to that responsibility. But most importantly I’ll talk about how YOU can get involved.

I am not media. Bedouins is not media. In fact, we’re a very teeny tiny small sliver of what’s happening with media. But here’s the cool thing. So are YOU. No matter who you are or what you do, you are a producer of media.

We’ll pick up there soon…I do have something slightly more specific and “Bedouins” related to mention before I sign off and let you get back to your lives…

If you scroll down a few posts you can read about a truly amazing organization called Kiini. Kiini contacted us and expressed a need for media, a lack of funds and skills to make the type of media that they need and a desperate desire for our (Bedouins’) help in tackling that obstacle; an obstacle that is seemingly holding back their organization from making the progress that they would like to be making.

We said YES.

So as mentioned before, we’ll be traveling to the heart of Kenya to spend a week with the fine people at Kiini touring their sites, interviewing the people they’re working with and documenting the progress and the need that they’re a part of there.

Want to help us out? I have a really cool way that you can make the Kiini Project possible.

Buy a book.

Here’s the deal – we put a lot of time into producing a really beautiful book for the Banquäla. The book has the stories of the amazing organizations that we were able to partner with over the last year and a half. It also has images from all over the world showing some amazing people doing some amazing work. It’s 160 pages hard bound.

So here’s my proposition. Buy a book. You get a really beautiful book that not only shares with you the stories of some amazing work happening around the globe and demonstrates the power of media to aid in that work, but you get a book that allows you to continue to spread the word about these organizations on your own.

The books cost $75 and we raise approximately $20/per book towards the Kiini Project from each one sold.

You’d really help us out if you did, and we really want to put these books in as many hands as possible.

**If you want to buy a book e-mail us at connect@bedouinsinternational.org

Thanks for reading, thanks for thinking, thanks for participating in our quest to refocus the heart of media – a quest that we’ve been thinking about that for several years now…glad you’re joining us!

-Stephen

This is your chance to come and spend an evening hanging out with us, getting to know our vision, and learning how our vision can become your vision. Saturday night you’ll get to here some amazing stories, but you can also find out how you can become apart of telling on of the many other stories out there waiting to be told. Go to www.bedouinsinternational.org/banquala/ to find out more. We’ll to see you there!

Recognize those words?  Paul and I were talking the other day about media.  It’s been on all of our minds over here for a few years now, but lately has been the topic of discussion every day.  With our Banqüala coming up we’ve been thinking a lot about why we’re doing this, and where we’re going with it (this and it being Bedouins International).  So Media.  We’ve decided that media is a force to be reckoned with.  Just in the past weeks we’ve watched twitter become a megaphone for the ongoing political turmoil in Iran.  It’s obvious that media can have a huge impact on social issues, and any issue really.  So what does that mean?  I think it means that media is now a power and no longer just a spectator sport.  A great power even.  Anyone can use media.  It’s right there at your fingertips, literally.  And like any form of power there is potential to make great positive change, but also a very huge potential to do great harm.  I think that’s the responsibility part.

“With great power comes great responsibility.”

I know it’s from Spiderman, but I agree.  Uncle Ben knew what he was talking about.