Change of Plans

Plans have changed a bit in the last . . . hour or two. I was planning on going to a camp in Karlovy Vary tomorrow morning, but I received a phone call that quickly changed those plans. Now, I will meet up with Christ Community's youth camp, in Pisek. The main reason I'm going there, is because the church they work with (Elim Church) planned on taking out a loan to finish their church building. A few hours ago, they found out that they will not be able to get that loan. So they called me to see if I could make a video for them. I don't know any more details about it; I guess I'll find out tomorrow when I get to Pisek. Then, I received another phone call asking if I could be a teacher at camp, since I will be there anyways. It starts tomorrow and they had someone cancel last minute. So I'll be going to Pisek tomorrow morning, teaching English in the mornings, and doing video production in the afternoons. I'll be there until the following Monday, when I'll take a train back to Šumperk. I'll let you know how it went when I get back.

Answered Prayers . . . Already

As I mentioned quite recently, I was a bit concerned about the language barrier. While it was a lot of fun doing the tapings for the pilot, I found it was also very hard. I had no idea what they were saying, and couldn't figure out any way that I could help. I found myself just sitting and observing more often than I wanted to. I wanted to do what I could to help, but couldn't do anything without knowing the language. So I've been praying (and asking others to pray) that I could get beyond the language barrier so that I can be useful while I'm here.

And how quickly He heard and answered those prayers!

I spent most of today editing, something I haven't felt very strong in for a long time. After I finished the piece, Luboš and Iva came in to watch it. I was very encouraged when Iva said, "If our editors could edit like this, we would be able to take vacations more often." Praise God for those answered prayers . . . already!

Production

In the last few days, I have been to just about every part of the Czech Republic. Well, I haven't been west of Prague yet, but I will soon. I was as far east as I could go yesterday, and I'll be as far west as I can go on Saturday. Anyway, the reason I've been all over Czech, is because we've been taping for 'Exit 316.' Now that I know more about the show, I can let you know what it's all about.

First of all, the title. 'Exit 316' is because of . . . you guessed it . . . John 3:16. ""For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." On the road of life, there is only one exit that leads to heaven, and that's through Jesus Christ.

In 'Exit 316' we have two characters, male and female, played by Alish and Johanka. They are angels who are coming to earth to send a newscast to heaven. They interview people on the streets and ask them questions about what teens are facing today. It will be a seventeen-part series, and they will cover a different issue in every episode. The show will air in the fall of 2006.

Over the past few days, we have been driving to different parts of the Czech Republic taping for both the intro and the pilot. This next week, we will be taking off because the director's daughter is getting married. I will be helping with an English camp during that time. When I get back, we will start on post-production.

Please pray that we can get past the language barrier during post-production. The director, Luboš and his wife Iva, don't know English very well at all. Their eighteen-year-old daughter, Klara, has been translating a lot for me. Even with a translator, production was very difficult for me because of the language barrier. Pray that it isn't a problem when we get into post-production.

My Travel Stories

After over twenty-six hours of traveling, I finally made it here. I left Hot-U (a kid's camp at Christ Community) at 1:00 on Friday, and my plane left at 5:30 that night. I slept about three or four hours on the plane, and I arrived in London at about 7:00am (UK time, which would make it 1:00am your time). I left London at 8:55am, and arrived in Prague at 11:45am (now 4:45PM your time). My next flight wasn't until 7:05 that evening. As tired as I was, I couldn't sleep in the airport because I had my video camera with me and I couldn't chance it getting stolen. So I stayed awake and did a lot of reading. I arrived in Ostrava at 8:00PM and we drove until about 10:30PM (3:30PM for you), when I arrived in Šumperk, where I will be staying for most of my trip. So, to sum it all up for you, I left at 1:00 on Friday afternoon, and arrived at my final destination at 3:30 on Saturday afternoon. And as crazy as this may sound, I wasn't really that bored. I brought plenty to read and I had more than enough to pray about. The only time I was slightly bored was about my sixth hour at the airport and I couldn't wait until my next flight. Anyway, that's all I have to say considering that's all I've done so far. Next time I update, it'll be about something a little more interesting. Ahoy! (Which means both hello and goodbye in Czech.)

You Said

I've been listening to a song lately that I truly feel is the cry of my heart. I really want to reach the world through Christian television, and especially the age group of 15-25 year olds. So, this is the cry of my heart . . .

You said, "Ask and you will receive whatever you need."
You said, "Pray and I'll hear from heaven and I'll heal your land."

You said, "The glory will fill the earth . . . like water . . . the seas."
You said, "Lift up your eyes. The harvest is here. The kingdom is near."

You said, "Ask and I'll give the nations to you."
Oh Lord, that's the cry of my heart.
Distant shores and the islands will see
Your light as it rises on us.

Oh Lord, we ask for the nations.

Exit 316

Just days after my internship ended, I found out about an opportunity for me to produce in Christian television. Isn't God's timing perfect? The one part I didn't expect, was that it's in the Czech Republic. (I don't think I can swing living with Mom & Dad with this one.) But what an amazing opportunity! Okay, okay, I'll fill you in on the details. Czech television approached Josiah Venture (a missions organization I'm becoming familiar with) and asked them to come up with some Christian television programming. A certain percentage of their broadcasting needs to be "religious broadcasting," and right now they have a camera in the back of a mass. So, JV decided to take on the challenge. They have written the script, found a Czech producer, and are finishing up with casting for the show. And now they want me to be a part of producing it. The production for the pilot of 'Exit 316' will be the week of July 25th, followed by post-production. I will be leaving July 22nd, and returning on August 22nd. While I am there, I will also be praying about going back to help produce the rest of the series. If so, I would go back to the Czech Republic for 9-12 months. I need to lift this decision up in prayer, and I ask you to join me in praying about this commitment. "For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." Matthew 18:20.

We're On In 5, 4, 3, 2 . . .

About six months ago I started an internship at Total Living Network (TLN), a Christian television station in Aurora. When I started there, I knew I wanted to produce in television, I just didn't know what. While I was there, I was given the opportunity to not only fetch coffee, but to try my hand at producing. And that's when I realized just how much I loved it. There were a couple other things that I realized while I was there as well. One, was that I want to produce in Christian television. And the other, is that I want to reach the high school and college-age generation through that avenue. I knew that this was what I wanted, but I needed to know for sure that this was what God wanted for me as well. So I started praying that if this was His will, that He would make it clear to me. It wasn't very long before I started to see just how big this dream was. I mean, to try and reach the world through Christian television. How could I even get in as a producer? There was no way that I could do that. How could I reach that many people? And that's when it hit me . . . I can't, but God can. I felt like God said to me, "I put this dream in your heart, and I'll make it happen." I guess a better way to say that is how it is said in Psalm 37:4, "Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart." I really feel like He gave me these desires, and I look forward to following where He leads me.