The jet-lag is long gone, the bags unpacked, the images are key-worded, categorized and complete with basic edits...And now the real work begins.
Wait...The images are shot, isn't the work done?
No, it has only just begun.
The focus now turns to lay-outs, graphic design, writing...and the task of narrowing down what the core of our message is all about. One can't even imagine all the road-bumps along the way. Computers dying and being out of commission for 5 weeks, one of the members of the team who is working on the project being in another foreign country for 4 weeks, trying to find the free, yes free, way to compile copious amounts of work among the various members of the team. As time passes and we get farther away from our time in Thailand, the fear of losing passion and momentum sets in. Life at home continues on and makes its demands.
Why do we choose to do this?
To expend our own resources for a project that no one asked us to do...no one but God.
We do it because God entrusted us with a vision, a piece of His heart that He wants revealed to the world. It's our responsibility and privilege to put our hands to this task and see it through to completion.
When in Thailand I came across a verse in Proverbs that took on a whole new meaning and we are applying it to this project. "The slothful man roasts not that which he took in hunting,; but the substance of a diligent man is precious." Proverbs 12.:27. We can go out and shoot the images, but not until we come home and prepare them to impact an audience and take them out into the world do they become precious. We must be stewards of the images that God gives us the opportunity to see and capture.
So computers are repaired, time is managed to the best of our ability, sleep is sacrificed for writing, the search for free networking options are explored. And through it all, God not only maintains the passion, but builds and deepens it. How could He more clearly stamp His approval on the project? We move ahead, making progress, carrying in our hands a precious story to be told.
- Hannah Brandau
