This past year at Times Square Church was an amazing one that pushed us so much further in our understanding of production, the use of media to impact ministries and causes and simply in working with a team effectively. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t hard; changing pace from Alabama life to NYC life, changing from freelance to working on a staff, and changing from a few projects a year to a few a week…all of those things were challenges that we were faced with upon our arrival in New York. But those challenges increased us in so many ways that we’re not even fully aware of them all yet.

One of my first travel assignments for TSC was to go to Reynosa, Mexico and to document and create a ‘trip report’ of the work that’s being done there. It was the perfect transition piece into my new job at TSC because I’ve worked in Reynosa countless times over the past few years. In fact, I’ve worked at the exact canal with the same people. Here is the final multimedia piece produced as a trip-report for TSC on the Mexico project:

Mexico 2010 Trip Report from TSC Missions on Vimeo.

It’s hard to believe that it’s already mid-April.  Where has the year gone?!  It still seems like it was yesterday that we loaded up the moving truck with Paul in Birmingham and hit the road for the Big City.  But in reality that was over 3 months ago.  Some how the pace of living has not only sped up, but filled up.  Something I didn’t think possible after the intense pace we were going at back in Alabama.

To say that we’ve been busy is a gross understatement.  What a journey…we’ve really fallen into place here at Times Square Church and are helping to produce some killer media.  It’s been quite an adventure, starting with a few weeks of wondering what we were doing here, and if this was where we were supposed to be, quickly followed by a steady stream of meaningful work that we could see huge potential in.

The last few weeks, for me, have mostly consisted of traveling with Times Square Church on various missions projects as a journalist of sorts.  My role has evolved from simply photographer to capturing video, creating daily blogs (often video blogs, but mixed with photo blogs), creating long term projects out of the trips (known here as ‘trip reports’), capturing audio and even getting my hands dirty doing some construction and ministry work as well.  It’s been amazing, refreshing and a huge blur all together.  Now, back in NYC for the first substantial time period in what seems like months, it’s been great to sit back and catch my breath…to feel grounded again for a little while.

Although I can’t post any of the project images up here yet (because they haven’t been released on the TSC site yet), here’s a shot of me in the mirror in Mexico a few weeks ago that I’m sure they won’t use for anything or care if I share with you.  The rest of the stuff is looking incredible so far, video and photo, and I can’t wait to show you what we’ve become a part of up here.  You can check out some of the work that I’m doing in the field as I go at some of the TSC missions blogs for BrickThink and OnCall.  I’ll try to do a better job of updating this blog from the field as well, and also linking to the places that I will be blogging on during my trips.

One cool thing that I’ve learned about missions at TSC while I’ve been here is that they’re very similar to Bedouins in heart.  They team up with missionaries and non-profits around the world to aid them in their work for many of their projects.  It’s great, because not only do we get to serve Times Square Church with our media while we’re here, but also dozens of other organizations in the process.

All in all it’s been a huge blessing to have this time here and we’re excited to see where it all goes in the end.  For now, we have an item of Bedouins specific news for you, that we’ve touched on before.  Jessi and I leave in 2 WEEKS for Kenya to complete the KIINI project finally!  We are so excited, and, thanks to TSC and a project in Zambia we were able to afford my ticket over to Africa at a much discounted rate, which was a huge blessing.  We’ll be landing in Nairobi on April 26th and spending about a week in Nyeri with the folks from KIINI traveling to their communities and sites to help paint a picture of what they’re doing there and why we should help them.  I can’t wait to get there and to be back in Africa.  Honestly, I’ve missed going by Stephen Kamau

Thanks for sticking with us through our slow period (as far as blogging is concerned at least!) and know that we’re still working hard, still believe in the power of media and still plan to use it to change the world!

-S

Harvest Evangelism is a ministry based out of Auburn, AL and doing work on a global scope.  One of their big focuses is the border town of Reynosa Mexico, where they minister at an orphanage called Casa Hogar M.A.Mi., work at a shanty town known simply as “the canal” and minister through services in many other small neighborhoods.  Harvest has a ministry in Auburn called His Place that is a safe home and rehab center for men, and Hosanna Home, the same for women.  Their ministry is incredibly diverse in it’s attempts to show God’s love and they are very dedicated to being anywhere and everywhere that they can in order to do so.

Check out their site HERE.

This is the multi media presentation on the shanty town “The Canal”

The Canal : Reynosa, Mexico from Bedouins International on Vimeo.

And check out this video on Casa Hogar M.A.Mi.

Casa Hogar M.A.Mi from Bedouins International on Vimeo.

It’s a wonderful thing…the way that God works. I spoke with Pastor Kris this morning for a few hours and at one point during our conversation he mentioned how the writers of the Bible would repeat things or re-emphasize them in order to reinforce their importance. At the moment I find myself sitting about 3 feet from the chair that I sat in almost exactly one year ago when a trip to Mexico changed my life, and my perception of God and his plan for my life. That trip, that resulted in a book, new friendships, a move to Birmingham, the founding an organization and ultimately a new understanding of surrender to His will, was the turning point in my life thus far. Thus, as I sit here in the coffee shop that we spent our last few moments of our trip at before starting the long drive home a year ago, I can’t help but smile at how God reminds me of the things that I forget sometimes. In times when I get frustrated, lost or confused He always brings me back to where I need to be.

I’m a little more rushed for time than I realized when I started writing this…so I’ll be back in a few days to finish…but be thinking and praying on that…on how God always brings us back to where we need to be…even when we wander or stray. Keep Roger and myself in your prayers as we go back into Mexico in the morning for a few days to finish our documentary. We love you guys and miss you, and appreciate your prayers more than you know. To be continued…