So... What do you do exactly?

Telling people what it is that I do can be a bit of a challenge. It's easy to show them the results of my work. All I have to do is press play and they can see it. But explaining what it takes to make those videos and the impact it has on the people I serve that is another thing entirely. So I thought I would give someone else a chance to explain it. Becky Kendal is one of the missionaries that I got to work with in Kankan, Guinea this past April. This is what she had to say about my visit and work.

We so enjoyed having Drew Hayes come out to make a video documentary of life and work in Guinea. His efforts have yielded some great tools for telling others about what life here is like and also about our lives and ministry focus. Drew’s prior cross-culture experience gives him a comfort-level in the culture that most “newbies” and short-termers don’t have.  He wasn’t fazed by setbacks or the rigors of food prep, time schedules, or daily life in rural Africa.

Drew’s lens captured and portrayed the rigors of maintaining solar power, shopping for vegetables and meat in a bustling market, teaching your own children. More than just the activity he captured emotions – the quiet word, a smile, a caring heart or a listening ear. The neighbor kids who bully my children, when seen through Drew’s lens, were again transformed into the children I came hoping to draw to Christ. The dusty, trash-filled streets, a constant drab backdrop to life, were filled with beautiful people I care about and flooded with the hope of a beautiful sunrise.
 
What I am unable to communicate to my supporters and friends, because it is my everyday life, Drew captured on video as a beautiful story.

I’ve forgotten how my life is different here from what my friends in the US experience.  I’ve also forgotten that how I live and interact here is different than those around me - that the fragrance of Christ is on me.  But in Drew’s lens I saw again what I can’t always see, but what is the whole reason I am here – God at work in and through me, reaching out to those around who don’t know Him yet.  

Thank you Drew for your work."