Past, Present, and Future - January Newsletter

The Past

January is always a month of reflection for me. With the business of holidays, parties, and what not during December, reflection is difficult. This year as I have looked back at 2013, one clear idea appears.

“It Works! Eurika! It Works!”

This project, which started just as an idea with many questions to be answered along the way, really works. I wasn't always sure that it would. At the begging, I didn't know if I could produce and travel at the same time. The amount of logistical details to work out on top of the creative and technical needs seemed almost impossible to me. But the past year has give me invaluable experience. I've learned little tricks to same me time and improve the quality of each production. All the these lesson have resulted in a score of videos.

In the past 12 months, I have traveled to 9 countries and produced 30 different videos about life in Africa, the people who live and work here, and about the change that is happening here. These films are just starting to be used and shared across social media. I've been encouraged by the positive feedback they have been receiving. If you haven't seen them all you can view them at Vimeo.com/CADVideo

The Present

Some of these films have yet to be released, others are still on the editing table, while others are finished but will not be distributed across Social Media for security reasons. This past month I have spent nearly all of it editing, trying to finish these stories so you can see and share them. To help you do that for the next few months I will be posting a new video each Monday. So keep an eye out for each #MissionMonday video and share it with your whole network.

If you are interested in viewing the videos which will not be distributed publicly, I will be creating DVD's with all of the videos from this past year. Every video, from 9 different countries along with all of my Video Updates and bloopers. These DVD sets will be available starting in June for $15. If you would like a copy please send me an email with your mailing address and how many copies you would like.

The Future

This next year is shaping up to be another exciting year of productions, travel, and adventures. In between editing sessions, I've been able to have pre-production conversations setting up the next couple of trips. This February, I will be heading back to the US of A for a few week for a little R&R catching up with friends and family. After that I will be heading to Mozambique, South Africa, and Rwanda for production shooting. As I've been going through the pre-production process researching the stories and getting to know the people I will be working with, I've started to get excited for these new stories. I'm looking forward to bringing all the skills, techniques, and lessons I've learned over the past year to these stories in the hope that they will be effective stories, creating change in the audiences that view these powerful stories.

Your continued partnership in this project is part of that. I cannot express how important it is to me, to know that you are behind me, supporting me and this project. Thank you. I hope that you are as excited for this next year as I am.

Your Fellow Servant,

Drew