There’s definitely going to be a few more posts in the future about our trip (and future trips) with New Tribes Mission , and when the short film is ready, you can be sure that there will be a blog post about it!
So in the near future, we’ll get back to the regular conversations on visual worship, but thanks for going on a tangent with me and letting me take you on a journey into the Moi Tribe! after all, i believe missional living is the best "visual worship" that we could ever offer to God.
When i was a little boy, my mama read to me the Picture Bible. It’s like a comic book, but drawn to the scriptures. it still fascinates me. i mean the illustrated fire coming down on the altar rocks!
well, this blog is going to be a little like that… pictures, with captions. so here we go.
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When we left Moi Land, we had to fly out by bush plane. the wheels leave the ground around 200-300 feet and then it makes a steep climb. it’s pretty intense.
the flight was beautiful, soaring over mountains and rivers and tribal villages…. but we had to fuel up.
so we landed in another village that had fuel tanks.
I’m not kidding when i say that God directed every shot of this film…b/c it JUST SO HAPPENS that there was a huge tribal feast going on when we landed. you’ve got to understand, this just doesn’t happen every day.
Most of the men dressed up in their traditional warrior attire.
And this guy was very irate and did not welcome us. He had his bow and arrow drawn at us. luckily the pilot knew the language and he calmed down, and we left.
i was just kidding about the last part. but you believed me, didn’t you!
no, everybody was friendly, and the kids were really cool!
And check this kid’s hair out!! how cool is that.
Macon (our executive producer) decided to play a little soccer with the kids.
oh wait, that’s not a soccer ball. it’s a blown up pig’s intestine!!
And b/c i was on my way back to Nashvegas & b/c God has a sense of humor, this guy was there.
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but all of this combined isn’t the craziest thing i saw during our tribal layover.
This weekend i thought i’d post a few different videos from the NTMfilms trip to Indonesia. i’d like to share with you a conversation i had with stephen crockett, missionary to the Moi Tribe. One night he was sharing some really interesting details on how the mind of the Moi works & what their perceptions are of the world. It’s pretty interesting, as most of the Moi have never traveled outside of their region of hamlets, and some of them had never even seen a white person prior to the missionaries arrival.
As he continued talking, i thought it would be a good idea to get the HD handy-cam out and start recording. it’s dark and grainy, and as he continues to talk, it begins to rain. so the audio isn’t all that great. but you should still be able to understand clearly!
We finally made it home from our trip to Indonesia! The filming went great, and now we have a LOT of work to do. The editing process has begun & the soundtrack is being scored. We should expect the release of the main short film to be in early Spring of 2009. And i’ll be sure to let you know when that happens! We also have a few others surprises up our sleeve, but i’ll let you know about those when the time comes.
Today, i’ll begin posting a series of behind-the-scenes videos that we shot along the way. This first video takes you with us on the journey into the Moi Tribe of Papua, Indonesia. And for the next five days, i’ll be posting a new behind-the-scenes video that is sure to make your jaw drop! So be sure and check back each day!
Thank you so much for praying for us while we were away. Please continue to pray for the growth of the Church in the Moi Tribe and for the Crocketts & Browns (missionaries in the Moi Tribe). And please pray for the team as we enter into post-production on the film.
For more stories & pictures from our trip, check out the NTMfilms blog . And to see more film by New Tribes Mission, click here .
a view from our porch where we shot a ton of timelapse footage!
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hey guys-
well, our 11 days in the Moi Tribe of Indonesia is coming to an end. It’s hard to believe i’ve been here, literally in the middle of nowhere, and it’s over!
the experiences I’ve had here are…truly indescribable. It’s truly too much to blog about. i wouldn’t even know where to start.
thank goodness we had tons of cameras! when i get back next week, i’ll be posting a few videos online that will give you a glimpse of the journey we’ve been on. and in a few months, we’ll have a really cool short film to show the world…telling the story of God’s saving grace in the Moi Tribe & the incredible work that New Tribes Missiondoes here and all over the world!
it’s incredible that the missionaries got their satellite internet working JUST BEFORE we arrived. So this is the first time anyone has been able to get online consistently. That’s allowed Macon Hare (NTM Exec Producer) and me to Twitter , and for all of us to check and update Facebook. We’ve also been able to update our NTMfilms blog , which has a lot of pictures and stories from the past few days.
one thing that’s been really exciting is sharing some of my experiences with a few friends. Via the power of iChat & Skype, I’ve allowed a few friends to talk to my new Moi friends LIVE! the Moi people really get a kick out of it, and enjoy singing for my friends. One friend, Biscuet , was inspired to blog about his experience . Then Vicky Beeching was so moved by his story, that she wrote on her blog about it!
i can’t wait to post the "behind the scenes" videos. but until then, here are some pictures!
my first interaction with the Moi…handing them my camera and letting them experience film-making!
sitting on the porch with some Moi guys, iChatting with Biscuet .
Ben Smallbone : cinematographer extraordinaire. We don’t go anywhere without him!
prepping the HeliMission chopper pilot what shots we want to get.
Nate & i getting ready for our chopper shoot. both doors were taken off, and we hung halfway out during flight to get the shots we needed. it was a rush!
I can’t believe I get to do what I do…for a living. I mean, I actually get paid to do what I love!!! And I try to not take that for granted.
as soon as i think my “job” can’t get any cooler, God surprises me again. as you can imagine, i can get pretty fired up over VJ-ing and making the worship space a visually inspiring and engaging place. but honestly, i can’t let it stop there. my passion cannot exceed my purpose. worshiping God AND making His Name known throughout all the earth must be my purpose. if my life doesn’t count for that, then all i’ve done is slapped a bunch of “make-up” on “worship”.
so for the next few weeks, i will be gone. and i’ll be using my passion for engaging the Church through the visual medium to serve my purpose…THE PURPOSE. i will be traveling with an incredible team to the Moi Tribe of Indonesia. That team will consist of Nate Griffin (my business partner @ gi*inc ), Ben Smallbone (of Radiate Films ), and three other people from New Tribes Mission .
When we return, I’ll be able to share in more detail what exactly we’re doing, and know that there will be some incredible stories to share through film.
NTM has setup a blog for us to update along the journey, so please check it out , follow us into the most remote place on earth, and PRAY FOR US!
Here are some random facts about the tribe we are visiting:
- They “have absolutely no concept of a world outside the green walls of the jungle,” wrote a missionary.
- The Moi had never seen a wheel prior to missionaries coming. They only had minimal tools.
- They believed spirits lived in the ground. As the airstrip was being dug out, they thought that spirits were being released. Women were told not to walk across it b/c they would become barren.
- Almost every man has killed…either another man (for their wife), or their own wife (if she refused to obey after so many times).
- There is a thriving New Testament church now, and some pretty incredible stories that we plan to capture and share!
Almost two years ago, i went to Papua New Guinea to immerse myself in tribal missions and to learn all i could. While there, i caught a vision of using film to tell the powerful stories i kept hearing. so in the summer of July ‘07, i returned with Nate & Ben to film our first short film for NTM, featuring the INTERFACE program . And this video is what started it all!
