Retreat!!!!!
One of the things we're going to do as a team when we get to Ecuador in a couple weeks is take the church leaders from the churches in El Recreo (near Guayaquil, where DFCC has primarily worked in the past), Samborondon and Baba (the two other churches near Guayaquil that Marcelo Puentes oversees) on a leadership retreat. We're going away for a weekend to a camp about an hour drive outside Guayaquil to spend some in-depth time teaching on the transformation that God desires for us, for the church, for the world.
The retreat will open Friday night with a drama presented by our team, intended to show the hopelessness and deadness of life when we choose to hold on to the things that keep us from the freedom we would find in Christ if we chose him instead. That will be followed by a message that that's not the end of the story, and we can choose to participate in the transformation God has for us, but that it does require us to make that choice and play an active role in it. Then we'll have a time of worship led by the group from Newbury Park First Christian Church and call it a night. The next day will be full of sessions talking about specific spiritual disciplines we can practice which will put us in a more accessible place for transformation (reading the Word, prayer, solitude, fasting, etc.) and time set aside for actual guided practice of some of these. Then we'll close the day with a message that as leaders it's important for them not only to be consistent in these things, but also to help the other members in their churches to see the importance of transformation.
Then sunday will be spent thinking of ways in which we can support them in presenting these things to their church (we'll be bringing lessons they can teach to children with materials for crafts, we'll help them learn the drama or write a different one if they want, we'll make the messages we've taught available if they want us to teach them again, etc.) the point being that they as the leaders should be the ones to present this to their church with our support...not the other way around.
We've been busy coming up with ideas, practicing a drama to present, making examples of crafts, writing lessons and messages and praying over every detail. Pray for us as we go to Ecuador next Thursday. And pray for the retreat, that it will be a blessing.
Here's a rough idea of what the drama will look like. Only there won't be words floating in the air when we perform it. The words will be written on our shirts. And they'll be written in Spanish.
On a side note...if anyone is familiar with Vegas, I had some trouble with the audio when I captured this video to my computer. In the preview everything is fine, and as soon as I drag the clip onto the timeline the audio is gone. There's still an audio track that drags up there with the video, it's just blank. I have no idea why the audio track won't work on the video clips. It has only happened with my new camera. The audio worked fine with a clip captured off my mom's camera. I had to drag the actual mp3 file of the song we're using onto the timeline to get some sound for this video. Any ideas on how I can fix this problem before I leave?
The retreat will open Friday night with a drama presented by our team, intended to show the hopelessness and deadness of life when we choose to hold on to the things that keep us from the freedom we would find in Christ if we chose him instead. That will be followed by a message that that's not the end of the story, and we can choose to participate in the transformation God has for us, but that it does require us to make that choice and play an active role in it. Then we'll have a time of worship led by the group from Newbury Park First Christian Church and call it a night. The next day will be full of sessions talking about specific spiritual disciplines we can practice which will put us in a more accessible place for transformation (reading the Word, prayer, solitude, fasting, etc.) and time set aside for actual guided practice of some of these. Then we'll close the day with a message that as leaders it's important for them not only to be consistent in these things, but also to help the other members in their churches to see the importance of transformation.
Then sunday will be spent thinking of ways in which we can support them in presenting these things to their church (we'll be bringing lessons they can teach to children with materials for crafts, we'll help them learn the drama or write a different one if they want, we'll make the messages we've taught available if they want us to teach them again, etc.) the point being that they as the leaders should be the ones to present this to their church with our support...not the other way around.
We've been busy coming up with ideas, practicing a drama to present, making examples of crafts, writing lessons and messages and praying over every detail. Pray for us as we go to Ecuador next Thursday. And pray for the retreat, that it will be a blessing.
Here's a rough idea of what the drama will look like. Only there won't be words floating in the air when we perform it. The words will be written on our shirts. And they'll be written in Spanish.
On a side note...if anyone is familiar with Vegas, I had some trouble with the audio when I captured this video to my computer. In the preview everything is fine, and as soon as I drag the clip onto the timeline the audio is gone. There's still an audio track that drags up there with the video, it's just blank. I have no idea why the audio track won't work on the video clips. It has only happened with my new camera. The audio worked fine with a clip captured off my mom's camera. I had to drag the actual mp3 file of the song we're using onto the timeline to get some sound for this video. Any ideas on how I can fix this problem before I leave?
posted by Amy at 12:12 PM
5 Comments:
lets see.. yes, there is sound on the camera itself when i play back the tape, and when i captured it to movie maker it worked fine. so i guess my next step is to uninstall and reinstall vegas? is that what i should do?
well, i took my lappy to David at church ('cause it's his vegas program i'm using) and had him look at it. we uninstalled and reinstalled vegas before realizing it was actually my cable that was the problem. i did not know that you need a firewire cable. all they sent me with the camera was a USB cable... so anyway, i went to best buy and... problem solved. thanks for the help!
I'm just joining in on your vegas conversation cause I'm bored. Rock on!!!
Amy,
I'm glad you got the tech thing fixed. On the drama thing, I'm thinking it'd be more impactful if you were or whomever the person is in the role you played, standing next to someone dressed as Christ and them being pulled away from him by all the things that do pull us away from him and then at the end when you are all tied up and are struggling to get to him, to have Christ come untie you.
Also one thing that crossed my mind and I wish I could find the exact quote to give credit, but I saw a quote that said, "People care about what you have to say, only when you show them you care." Do something for the leaders on the retreat before you do your drama, maybe cook for them. Do something for the leaders and then something for their congregations as soon as possible. Then they'll trust you and see you care when you care about them and their flock and not just your message.
Mike, I love what you said about needing to show people we care. That goes along with what James says about faith without deeds being dead. You're absolutely right, and it's given me all kinds of great ideas about what we can do at the retreat to care for the church leaders. Thank you for that suggestion! And thanks for sharing your feedback about the drama. You know, at first I was in the process of writing it that way, to where in the end I am no longer attached to the things that keep me from Christ...but there was something about leaving it hopeless that moved me in such a powerful way that I couldn't bring myself to let it play out to the end. I wanted to leave the audience hanging; leave them thinking, "what the heck? that's it!?!" hopefully feeling the hopelessness of the situation. And then right afterward, there is a message that is about the hope that we do have...that we don't have to choose to live that way (as so many of us do). We can choose the freedom of being in Christ. I think both endings are beautiful...and maybe a part of the retreat will be to have them re-write the ending, or add to it to make it a better evangelistic tool for them to use when they get home, I don't know!
Thanks again for the great suggestions!!
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