The Video is Real!

The Video is Real!

Feb. 10

I love teenagers…most of the time! Last Friday was another one of those times. I was at a team building meeting working with a team of students and adults who are going to South Africa in April. Some of the team members had been before to the area of Africa where we were headed again this time. As a part of the introductory/assessment process I ask the team members to tell the story of how they came to be on the team and talk about any previous mission experience they may have had. It was during this process when it happened…I remembered again why I loved teenagers.

Ellery started with a simple statement. It was one of the most revealing, profound, enlightening statements I have heard regarding someone’s experience in Africa.  She said, “The video is real.” Then she began to describe how, before the first trip, she had watched our Horizon promotional video. (You can see it on line at horizoninternationalinc.com). She said that going to Africa made the video “real.” It helped her realize that the things she saw on the video were really happening. The people are not actors, the situations are not staged, the needs and dreams of the kids her age are real. The first time she went to Africa not really knowing what to expect; even though she had seen the video. I love that kind of faith! This time she is going back to Africa knowing that all the previously mentioned things are real. She knows what to expect…and she can’t wait to go! I love teenagers.

Her thoughts were brutally honest but not threatening or condemning. They revealed a very important paradigm in which we live that often distinctly affects the way we see and interact with the suffering souls of our world. We live in what I call a “sitcom-solve every problem in 30 to 60 minutes culture.” It is easy for us to disassociate from the suffering, distress, evil that appears on our video screens. We can change the channel, TiVo, pause or rewind. These are all luxuries the children in Africa do not have.

I am reminded of when I first met Elisha in Uganda. He is featured on that same video. That is how I recognized him; I remembered him from it. Ironically he had never seen the entire, completed video. He only knew the parts he had contributed through filming and interview. I asked him if he wanted to see the video. He was very excited to see it. I sat in awe as I watched him experience the video. It was a cathartic moment for him as he gazed at an eight minute “edited” representation of what he has experienced for years. I think he was proud of his contribution. He wept. For you see, unlike our teenagers who must go to Africa to discover that the “video is real,” Elisha has been living the video his entire life.

Please watch the video and pray for Elisha and the children of Africa… and pray about going with us to Africa for yourself. Life will never look the same.

Dance with God