Beyond the Video

About the Process

The whole process hasn’t been easy. At the point when God called me to do the Glimpse Project, I had done some video editing, but it had only been little, entertaining projects for church and Bible Camp done on cheap little camcorders. Of course, I didn’t tell that to the World Missions director when explaining the project.

Once I had the go ahead for the Glimpse Project, I purchase my video camera and began practicing. I did basically a practice run on some of the churches in the Pacific Northwest District in which I learned much of what to do and what not to do. But as I arrived in Japan , it was the real thing. There was no flying back to get what I missed. It was a bit of a learning curve, but I didn’t make any mistakes I couldn’t get around with some creative editing. I returned with about 30 hours of footage and spent about 300 hours organizing and editing it, all while still having my regular job to do at the church.

With the unrest in Chad that occurred near the beginning of this year, necessitating the evacuation of our missionaries, the prospects of shooting the next installment of the Glimpse Project looked dim. As World Mission Director, Matthew Rogness left to go to Chad for meetings with our missionaries, he told me that the chances of a go ahead for the Glimpse Project at this point in time were about about one out of a hundred. A few days later, after Easter Sunday Services, I checked my email. There was a message from Matthew asking if I could go to Chad in two weeks. After a flurry of activity regarding immunizations, visas, and plane tickets, I was ready to go, and exactly two weeks later I was boarding the plane on my way to Chad .

And I should mention that during those two weeks, I was also furiously trying to finish off the final product of the Japan Glimpse Project DVD before I left. I sent the DVD out to be mass produced just two days before I left for Chad , and by the time I returned, the DVDs had been distributed to the churches.

My experience doing video work in Chad was much different than it had been in Japan , where I had been free to take video almost anywhere, and it was not overly unusual. But in Chad , because of the recent instability, I wasn’t allowed to video at all in the capital city, as it could have been considered illegal activity.

But out in the country, there were other challenges. In the Muslim culture, the adults, (and especially the married women) do not like their pictures taken. They have a strongly rooted value of modesty which they feel is violated if their likeness is seen by strangers, or placed in public. There is a fear of having one’s photo end up in National Geographic, a publication which they believe makes fun of them and their culture. Though they have a misperception of the magazine’s purpose, it has definitely shaped the culture’s awareness of cameras. However, many are open to having their pictures taken as long as they could see and have the prints, and be assured that their pictures were going to be seen by friends and family of the missionaries whom they trust.

Being aware of this, and yet having the task before me of capturing our missionaries’ lives on video, made shooting this installment of the Glimpse Project difficult. I often asked for permission to video, but because their concept of a camera was that it takes still shots, they would pose without moving and stare at the camera, waiting for me to take the photo. Usually, rather than trying to explain what I was trying to do,  I would “finish” taking the picture, and then lower the camera to my side, while letting it continue to record. Of course, I couldn’t exactly see what I was doing, so I ended up with a large amount of unusable footage. But no one will ever see that and shooting from my side gave me a way to capture their normal life on video. I would also sometimes set the camera on the ground and let it roll, while most everyone else was unaware.

I am very glad that I could experience the Chadian cultures and bring back a glimpse into our missionaries’ lives for you to experience as well. My hope is that God will use the Glimpse Project to stir in our hearts a passion for bringing the Gospel of Jesus to unreached people groups around the world.

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Beyond the Video: Japan

One of the most difficult struggles as an editor is choosing what to cut. I learned so much while in Japan and I feel a burden to share as much as possible. And yet, not every story can be told in it’s entirety in five minutes. Cuts must be made. Some of the “rest of the story” is told here, beyond the video.

Hikari’s Story

After the high life of business success and fortune, Hikari hit the bottom hard, in debt for hundreds of millions of dollars. He ran away to work in a fertilizer factory in return for room and board. His family hated him. He was divorced.

His daughter especially hated him with a passion. He had never loved them. He didn’t know what love was.

The he met Jesus.

He discovered true love and meaning in his life as he was reconciled to his Maker—his heavenly Father. And as he drank in the Scriptures, the desire to be reconciled with his family was awakened in his soul. Hikari wrote letters to thirteen family members and friends asking forgiveness for his actions.

Hikari asked a secretary at his work to read the letters over. She was very impressed that he would write such long and profound apologies. But she had one suggestion—he should handwrite the letters. So he painstakingly wrote out each of the thirteen letters in longhand and mailed them.

When his daughter (the one who absolutely hated him) read his letter, she broke down and cried. She could not believe that this man who had written this tender letter was really her father.

Hikari’s ex-wife was very moved by his apology. He was a changed man and she was actually willing to see him again.

Please pray for Hikari as he continues to reconcile with his family and friends.

Keiko’s Story

To be baptized is no small decision for a Japanese believer, as it very much ostracizes them from their own culture and family. But Keiko had come to the point where she had decided in her heart that she wanted to be baptized.

The very morning that she came to this conclusion, as she was in the restroom putting on her make-up, her mother came into the room, strangely disturbed and very irritated. She complained about the smell of Keiko’s hair product and then threatened to stab her with a sharp wooden rod. “I’ll kill you!” she said. And she said she would commit suicide afterward. She told her not to leave the house. Keiko didn’t know what to do, but then decided to get out of there.

She called her friend, Megumi from church for advice. Megumi told her to go to the church and talk about it with the Pastor Miyakawa and his wife, but Keiko really didn’t want to bother them with what she perceived was her own personal problems. After all they’d been so nice to her. Megumi insisted and so Keiko went to the church and met with Mrs. Miyakawa, the pastor’s wife. She told her what had happened and Mrs. Miyakawa discerned that it was a spiritual attack. “It’s Satan, Keiko. It’s not your mother. It’s Satan,” she told her.

(Keiko’s mother had previously been very involved in a Buddhist cult. She also suffered from mental illness, and had spent an extended amount of time in a mental hospital.)

The Miyakawas decided that because of the spiritual attack that day, Keiko should be baptized immediately. And as she had decided in her heart that morning, Keiko was baptized.

Please pray for Keiko as she grows in the understanding of God’s unending grace and love. Pray for her family, that they may be freed from the darkness and be given faith to believe Jesus, the Redeemer.

Our Journey to Japan

Our family has called Sendai, Japan, home for the past 9 months. What began as an idea years ago has now turned into a reality. Would I ever have guessed a year ago that I would be seeing the cherry blossoms and sipping green tea in the land of the rising sun? No! But God had things thought out long before I did.

Going overseas on a mission was something Jon and I batted around in our dating days back on the lakeside dock at Bethel University. But then life happened....teaching careers for both of us, three children, home ownership, 2 cars...you get the picture. Walk out of our life? How? What about our mortgage, our kid's education, our job security, our cars? What about being so far from our close knit extended families, and being in a foreign culture, and not speaking Japanese, and being pretty sure we liked our fish cooked when we liked it at all? And what was that about raising support? Ugh. Oh trust me, our list was big. But God doesn't make His promises for nothing! He really DOES equip us when He sends us.

First there was the job...Jon, the department chair loved by his principal and team, asked for, and received, a one year leave with blessings. Gulp. But hey, the house...we have a mortgage to meet!

The first Sunday I went to church armed with rental flyers, a church member mentioned she was about to sign a lease on another place but just hadn't felt right about it. Could she see our place that afternoon? No problem! We had her signature by evening time. The cars were no problem to farm out, and the kids began to get excited about this adventure. And we raised the support we felt we needed well before we left home. Even the US passport backlog, which gave us a few nervous moments, spit our documents out of the piles and into our hands in, well, the nick of time. Off we flew carrying 10 suitcases loaded with clothes, curriculum to home-school and our cherished Christmas advent calendar. We were ready!

Looking back now at our time here, I can say with total sincerity that I am so glad we came. God has showed us that He is faithful, and that He will work out the details. Our children have thrived in their new home, and we have had a year of firsts...meeting our English class students, eating jellyfish, worshipping in Japanese, swimming in the Pacific, wearing kimonos, having people walk up to us to practice their English, navigating the train system in Tokyo...the list goes on. Armed with a sense of both humor and curiosity, we have come to know this new home of ours. It really is true that God's family is one. Our churches here are filled with our "family" away from home. Our world will always be bigger as a result of being here.

Just recently we decided to stay another year. The renters back at home? You guessed it, they want to stay. The principal at Jon's school? Wow, please keep "following your heart...take another leave." So we press on, thankful for your support and prayers, excited for new members to join our program, and ever thankful that God cut through the red tape in our minds and freed us to journey to Japan.

Tests, Tests, Tests

Here is a brief summary of the tests Japanese students (and missionary kids like Joshua and Christopher) face during their third year of Junior High in preparation for entering High School.

All the major tests are for the five main subjects: English, Japanese language, science, math and social studies. There are tests on the material covered in class (for each of these five major subjects ) 4 times a year (x 5 subjects = 20 tests). There are cumulative tests on this same material twice a year (x 5 subjects = 10 more tests). There is also a series of 6 tests on material from each of these 5 subjects (30 more tests) which was not necessarily covered at school, but may appear on high school entrance exams. These are standardized tests so you can compare your score with all the other kids in the city and prefecture. Scores on these tests help students determine which high school they should try to get into. most third year Junior High students attend cram school to better prepare for the standardized tests. And in preparation, they take practice tests! Are you getting tired of tests yet??? Yeah...me, too. I think you get the picture.

So that makes 60 major tests like the SAT. And according to Joshua, if you fail more than 4 of these, you’re “done.” You just won’t make it into a decent high school.

In the first two years of Junior High, they only have 30 major tests each year.