Dear Friends and Family,
Hello from New Jersey! I hope all is well for you. We have been busy visiting churches and raising our support to return to the field, and we are on track to leave in August.
Despite schedule conflicts and various delays, the evangelistic film project continues to move ahead. The film script is in the final revision stage, so we are setting locations, budgets, timelines, etc. The next big event in preparation for the movie is the technical training of our production staff. A team from the Philippines will be holding that training early in May in Phnom Penh. Hopefully that will keep us on track to begin filming in mid August, just after we return to the field. Then when you put in all the post production work (everything from editing to preparing material and training for local churches to make the film an effective evangelistic film) we are looking at release in theaters early next year. Please pray with us for the upcoming training session in May and for God’s leading and direction as we finalize various production details in the coming months.
In the last week of March, as part of a two week trip to Asia for some meetings on upcoming projects, I was able to spend 2 days in Cambodia. While I was there I had the chance to meet with some of the people I work with in the Cambodia Cassette Bible Institute (CCBI). There were a number of things we discussed during that time, but one of the big things was how we needed to make some changes for the future. Cassette tapes have a number of drawbacks for what we are doing; 1, While initially it seemed to be the best media option, it now has a bit of an “obsolete” feel to it (we actually have a many people decide not to study with us because they think it is out of date because of the cassette tape aspect). 2, For a time, cassettes were the most cost effective way to do the work, but with technology steadily changing and improving, there are now much more cost effective options available.
So, because of the above mentioned reasons, as well as a number of others, we are looking at switching over to a digital audio format over the next year. I am hoping that by the time we return to the field in August we will be able to bring with us most, if not all, of the hardware necessary to do this. Please pray with us that we would be able to accomplish this transition quickly and effectively