Eurasia

I'm getting good reports on the gathering of folks working throughout Eurasia. A great four-day training on visual story production (go Tom Khazoyan and Ted Cox)! Also some great workshops on the mobile revolution. Thanks to Steve B for his leadership on putting the whole thing together.

A Uganda Story - Pre Kony mania

Great storytelling by Tom Costanza on the children of Uganda. Check out "Uganda's Children of War" on the work of World Vision. This goes back 5+ years. This is a good look at a good work before the Kony mania hit.

Great Time in Colorado

Headed back to So Cal after a number of days in Colorado. VSN folks gathered in Colorado Springs and Denver to connect, share ideas, showcase new projects, and expand the visual story movement. Thanks Cheryl Meredith, Tom Khazoyan, South Fellowship, Matt Arnold, Dave and Colleen Briggs, and others for the warm welcome. Get a visual summary through the slide show now posted.

VSN Coming to Colorado

We'd love to see anyone in the Colorado area this Saturday or Sunday evening. We'll have presentations from various VSN types. Check out the event tab for more info.

Art in Mission 3.0

Looking forward to the webinar this Thursday with Debby Topliff and Angel Ambrose. Get all the info you need in the Events Calendar.

VSN Coming to Colorado

We'll be having mini-VSN gatherings in Colorado Springs (March 3) and Denver (March 4). Special thanks to Cheryl Meredith and Tom Khazoyan for helping host the evening events. Keep an eye out in the event calendar for more details. We're looking for specific ministry projects we can showcase each night.

Evangelism in the Digital Age

Way to go Dan Henrich. His newest book just came out. "Evangelism in the Digital Age: Media Case Studies." It is available on Amazon.

Mobile Consultation Sessions

Thanks to Jay Clark of Missionary Aviation Fellowship, a growing number of sessions from the Mobile Consultation are available in video format. Go to the "Visual" tab and check out the selection.

Issachar Initiative

Wow! Just spent the day with 185 leaders focused on the importance of taking the Gospel to the ends of the earth, not just where it already is. Check out www.issacharinitiative.org. Some amazing leaders behind this emphasis...Paul Eshleman, Paul Saber, Pat Murdoch, etc.

Dying in 2012

I spend extra time seeking the Lord at the beginning of each New Year. The goal is to slow down, worship, and hear His voice. Each year I ask Him for a theme for that year. This year, He gave me Matthew 16:24-25 (ouch). So...I invite you to join me this year in dying ... that you might live. Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Christ. Let's do it together.

Trustiness - Seth Godin

We're all looking for someone to trust. People and institutions that will do what they say and say what they mean.

Banks used to use marble pillars and armed guards to make it clear that our money was safe. Doctors put diplomas on the wall and wear white smocks. Institutions and relationships don't work without trust. It's not an accident that a gold standard in business is being able to do business on a handshake.

Today, though, it's easier than ever to build a facade of trust but not actually deliver. "Read the fine print," the financial institutions, cruise ship operators and business partners tell us after they've failed to honor what we thought they promised.

It's incredibily difficult to build a civil society on the back of "read the fine print." Emptor fidem works so much better than caveat emptor. When we have to spend all our time watching our back and working with lawyers, it's far more challenging to get anything done--and it makes building a business and a brand infinitely more difficult.

The question that needs to be asked by the marketer is, "are we doing this to create the appearance of trust, or is this actually something trustworthy, something we're proud to do?"

Building trust is expensive. You can call it an expense or an investment, or merely cut corners and work on trustiness instead.

Trust is built when no one is looking, when you think you have the option of cutting corners and when you find a loophole. Trustiness is what happens when you use trust as a PR tool.

The difference should be obvious. Trust experienced is remarkable, trustiness once discovered leaves a bad taste for even your most valued customers.

The perverse irony is this: the more you work on your trustiness, the harder you fall once people discover that they were tricked.

(With a hat tip to Colbert)

My prayer for your Christmas

Father, help your people to slow down and savor the goodness of the Savior come into the world. Guard our hearts and minds from images and ideas that detract from the profound nature of the Advent. As we worship, inspire us to live sacrificial and beautiful lives consistent with the story of your Son.

Mobile Consultation - It's a Wrap

Wow! It was great to be with 39 mobile practitioners for three days in North Carolina. Look below for a blog post with more detail.

Mobile Ministry Consultation

The second Mobile Ministry Consultation will be taking place December 11-13 at the JAARS headquarters in North Carolina. Please pray for God's blessing and direction. We had 16 participants for the first consultation last year and this year we'll have over 50. Sessions will be recorded and made available later. See what we're up to at www.visualstory.org/mobileschedule.

Fund Your Vision Recordings

Wow! Great job on the training from the Jesus Film team. Thanks Mark Mayers, Larry Buck, Wayne Brink, David Fish, Fred West. View the sessions at www.visualstory.org/fundsessions.

Fund Your Vision

The "Fund Your Vision" training will be taking place Monday, December 5 in Laguna Niguel, California. It will be streamed live as well. For more info, check out the Events calendar or go to www.visualstory.org/dec5.

Headed to Call2All

This week a number of us will be at the www.Call2All.org gathering in Long Beach, California. I look forward to being with the Conkeys, Craig Forrest, Terrence Berry, Jeff Holder, Brian Bird, Chris Jones, Tom Nash, Matt Kilburn, Gary Stratton and many others. Very excited about the Media Track!

Great Festival Opportunities

Bill and Jamee Kennedy have built the Attic Film Fest (www.atticfilmfest.org) into a fixture in Austin, Texas. Lori and Rodney Marett have seen God bless the growth of the Gideon Media Arts Film Festival (www.gideonfilmfestival.com). I had the pleasure of meeting the visionary leaders behind each of these festivals recently. If you're looking for a place to submit your film, check them out.

Mobile Training Course - Wow!

The first-ever "Mobile Ministry Training Course" was a huge success. We hoped for 8 participants and 32 took the four-week course. Most were from Africa and Papua New Guinea. Great job John Edmiston for this extraordinary work. The next course begins January 10.

The Call of the Martyr

We are called to be witnesses as followers of Jesus. The Greek word for witness is martyr. It is our honor to reflect and reveal the light of Christ to all those we encounter. Visual story can help us become better martyrs / witnesses by becoming a student of story, telling our story, creating stories, and more. Read more at www.visualstory.org/mywitness.

Learn More About VSN

If you're in Southern California, you are invited to our "Come and See" Vision Evening on Friday, November 4. We'll be sharing the vision of how we see God using new media in the next three years. For me info, email clyde@visualstory.org

Art in Mission 2.0

We’ll be hosting a one-hour webinar Thursday, October 27 that will show how Marge Malwitz and Bert VanderMark use their creative gifts to engage people in an encounter with their Creator. Together we’ll brainstorm on best practices of the artist seeking to witness. Come ready to learn and to share your insights. Look under the Event calendar for more info.

The 10 Immutable Laws of Storytelling

In your business, your ministry, your filmmaking, and communication in general...memorize these laws of storytelling. Stories are about people. Stories need to be fixed in time and space. Stories don't tell, they show. For the rest, go to www.visualstory.org/10laws.

Mobile Ministry Consultation - Site is Live

We’re very excited about the second Mobile Ministry Consultation taking place December 11-13, 2011 at the JAARS headquarters in Waxhaw, North Carolina! The registration site is live! Check it out at www.visualstory.org/mobileconsult.

Mobile Ministry Training Course

Wahoo! The world's first Mobile Ministry Training is available online at http://www.cybermissions.org/mobilemin/. Great work by John Edmiston, Brian Ward, Antoine Wright and others. This is one of the projects that came out of last year's Mobile Ministry Consultation. Check out the Events calendar for this year's consultation.

Reluctant Convert

I felt "guilted" into getting onto the Mac platform after 20 years of being a PC guy (thanks Shane Sooter). I thought the transition was more painful (and costly) than it should have been. Now I do really like (not love) my Mac. I do love my iPhone. I'll never spend $500 on an iPad. Yet I was surprised how saddened I was by Steve Job's death. Death is the great "change agent."

First Art in Mission Forum ... Great to Connect

Thanks to Kirsten Borrer, Angel Ambrose, Marge Malwitz, Debby Topliff, Sean Olesiuk, the Carsons, Scott Howe and Ashley Lane for making the first Art in Mission Forum a great time of sharing, learning, and getting inspired. Look under the events calendar for the next forum on October 27.

Missional Art & the Artist's Witness

We’ll be hosting a one-hour “conversation” this Thursday that will feature artists sharing how they have used their creative gift to engage people in an encounter with their Creator. Together we’ll brainstorm on best practices of the artist seeking to witness. Come ready to learn and to share your insights. Look under the Event calendar for more info.

Mobile Ministry Forum Consultation

We are excited for the upcoming Mobile Ministry Forum Consultation. It will be held at the offices of JAARS (a ministry of Wycliffe) in Waxhall, North Carolina. It will take place December 11-13, 2011. Keep an eye on the events calendar for more information.

36 Parables and IMM Partnership

John Schimke (www.36parables.com) and Jerry Gibson (www.imm.edu) just completed a partnership production on the 19th of the 36 parable series. Partnerships are just plain smart. Check out the finished product at http://www.vimeo.com/28808392.

Fund Raising Training

The JESUS Film Project has generously offered to give a one-day training seminar on fund development. The training will take place in Southern California on December 5. We will also make it available online via streaming. Mark the date in your calendar. Check the Events calendar for more details.

Brian Bird's film screening on NBC Saturday

Brian Bird wrote the script for “Game Time: Tackling the Past.” This will air tomorrow night (Saturday, September 3, 8:00 p.m. / 7:00 Central) on NBC as part of Wal-Mart’s “Family Movie Night.” If you’re in the US and able to watch, check it out. Great work Brian!

Call2All Global Congress / Media Track

We will be serving with Carol and Calvin Conkey to organize the upcoming Media and Missions track at the Call2All Congress in Long Beach, CA on November 29 - December 3. This strategic gathering will focus on reaching the least-reached with indigenous media. Chuck Quinley will be joining us as well. Learn more by looking under the Event calendar. Let us know if you can come.

Launched a Kid to College

Shirine and I spent a few days this week taking our oldest child to college this week. We are sobered by the "letting go" process. We realize this is a huge part of life. May you experience God's grace when it is time to let go of something He has entrusted you with.

Left to Tell

I just got off the phone with Mary Beth Minnis. She is mobilizing prayer for the film, "Left To Tell." Already there are 50,000 who have "liked" the Facebook page. Check it out at "Pray for Left to Tell" on Facebook. They are hoping the film will be funded and filmed in the next year.

Mobile Ministry Forum Consultation

The Mobile Ministry Forum is making plans for a small gathering this December 11-13 in Philadelphia. If you are interested in getting more info, keep an eye out in the Event calendar.

2011 Edinburgh Summit Sessions

We've made available a handful of the sessions from the 2011 VSN Summit in Edinburgh, Scotland. Learn more about story, social media, advice from veterans and more. Take a look at the titles listed below and enjoy. Special thanks to Ted Cox and Jim Meyer for their able videography.

Visual Artist Community Growing

It has been very encouraging to see visual artists with a deep kingdom commitment join the VSN community. Kristen Borrer, Marge Malwitz, Debby Topliff and I had a great conference call the other day just getting acquainted. We're looking at hosting a forum on "Taking Missional Art to the Ends of the Earth" on September 29. Keep an eye on the event calendar for updates.

What is Your Role as a Leader?

Hat's off to Seth Godin (again) for crisply saying something we should believe. "Leaders lead. Is that too simple? Writers write. If you want to be a writer, write. And be sure to have people read what you write. And leaders? Leaders lead. If you want to be a leader, go lead." (I used to say the same thing to Shirine when she talked about writing).

Prayer for Rob Hoskins

Rob Hoskins is one of the co-founders of the Visual Story Network. He is a man of faith, integrity and a personal inspiration to me. He recently contracted e-coli only to find out he also has prostate cancer. Please join me in praying for God's healing and complete restoration of Rob.

VSN Overview Video Available

The VSN Overview video is available for viewing and free download at www.visualstory.org/overview. This 3:27 video combines the "Yuseff and Andrea: Why Visual Story?" video (2:40) and a brief explanation of the Visual Story Network.

All About Storytelling

"This generation coming of age in this digital society doesn’t see or perceive much difference in types of media...The actual tools used are irrelevant. It’s the end result – the storylines, the messages – that matters. This generation thinks in pictures, words, and still and moving images and is comfortable mixing them all in the same space." N. Bilton, I Live in the Future, p. 12.

2500 Connected Communicators

As I seek God for what He has for us in the next three years I sense many exciting developments in the visual story movement. Presently we are about 900 people in 49 countries who connect with one another as we seek to give everyone the opportunity to encounter Jesus and His kingdom. I believe we will grow to at least 2500 strong by the end of 2013. What are you trusting Him for?

How's Your Baggage?

Thought provoking piece posted by Clint below. We've all got stuff we'd rather not have. Are you serious about "owning" your stuff in order to deal with it before God? God loves to have clean vessels He can fill...so we can overflow to the ends of the earth. Take a look at the video...and your heart.

Southern California Crew Needed

Joey O'Conner and his team are looking for crew for a three day shoot in Southern California starting May 25. See his post below for more info. Joey is one of my all-time favorite people. You won't regret working with him!

How's Your Motivation?

Pearls from Seth Godin: "There's an entire system organized around the idea that we're too weak to deliver effort without external rewards and punishment. If you only grow on demand, you're selling yourself short. If you're only as good as your current boss/trainer/sergeant, you've given over the most important thing you have to someone else. What do you do when no one is looking?"

Silicon Valley

I'm at Mt. Hermon Conference Center near San Jose, California for the GCIA conference (www.gcia.info). Great time with leading lights in Internet ministry. We'll be helping with the Mobile and Visual tracks on Wednesday and Thursday.

Global Christian Internet Alliance

I'm at Mt. Hermon Conference Center near San Jose, California for the GCIA conference (www.gcia.info). Great time with leading lights in Internet ministry. We'll be helping with the Mobile and Visual tracks on Wednesday and Thursday.

Visual Story Trainer Consultation

24 of us gathered from 3:00 - 8:00 at the Los Angeles Film Studies Center in Hollywood on April 29. A BIG thanks to Rebecca Ver Straten-McSparran for hosting us! It is inspiring to be with global innovators like the Conkey's, Quinleys, JESUS film leaders, Gary Stratton, Paul Luebbers, Kurt Tuffensdam, Diane Wigstone, Charlie Matz and others. Check out the images in the slide show.

First-Ever Story Trainers Consultation

Can't wait to meet with 20 global innovators on Friday. A first-ever "Visual Story Trainers Consultation" will take place at the Los Angeles Film Studies Center. Create International, the JESUS Film Project, Act One, 168 Project and others will explore how we can see a global movement of visual story training take place for the kingdom. We may be able to stream portions.

Anime JESUS Film

"My Last Day" is 9-minute animé short created by The JESUS Film Project. Barry Cook, director of Disney's Mulan wrote the story for My Last Day. Animation was created by Tokyo's renowned STUDIO 4C. Check it out below. It is available for free download at www.globalshortfilmnetwork.com. Good work!!

He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!!

I pray you will be able to enter into the sacredness of this weekend. Take a look at some of the videos below that may help you. The resurrection changes everything.

Post-Edinburgh

Most of us are back home after traveling from 11 countries to be together at the Summit in Edinburgh. A special thanks to Elaine Duncan and the Scottish Bible Society for their role in helping host the Summit. In the end, there were 52 of us representing 33 organizations. I look forward to seeing how the Lord will use the connections that were made last week.

Edinburgh Day # 2

Keith Williams rocked us with the realities of the Mobile revolution. Andrew Flynn and Bex Lewis gave us some handholds on the way Social Media is changing how people connect. Great "speed networking" session. Loved hearing from veterans like Jock Stein, Murray Watts, Jim Green, Bob Hoskins, and Nigel Goodwin. First UStream experience...8 of you joined in!

VSN Summit: Day One Summary

Great day! Why visual story (Clyde), Fiona McDonald on vision, envisioning a global movement, Jerry Gibson and Graham Vermooten on Unleashing Story, Nick Pollard and Jim Meyer on Missional Engagement. Jeremy Feser and Ben Whitnall hosted our Visual Showcase. Special thanks to David and Holly Hughes and Ted Cox for making things happen!

VSN Summit: Day One

Today is the first day of the VSN Summit in Edinburgh, Scotland. 51 world-changing leaders, four big themes (Unleashing Story, Thinking Missionally, Mobile revolution, Social media), two days, one Great God to lead us. We will make our first-ever attempt to do live streaming. Tune in today at 13:30 (UK time) for Unleashing Story and Missional Engagement on the UStream tab in the navigation bar.

Edinburgh Summit is this week

This is the week for the VSN Summit at the University of Edinburgh. 52 of us from 34 organizations will be meeting April 13-14, but folks start traveling Sunday and Monday. Please ask God to inspire us, equip us, and create fruitful relationships. We may be able to stream some of the sessions live via UStream (not convenient for those in the Americas). We'll let you know beforehand.

Soul Surfer

The movie of the incredible story of Bethany Hamilton, the 13-year old surfer whose arm was bitten off by a shark, premiers in theaters in the US this Friday (http://www.soulsurferthemovie.com). Our friends at GMO and the Campus Alliance have built this web site that tells the story of faith behind the story. http://soulsurfer.com

168 Project Festival

If you are in the Los Angeles area this week you should make every effort to get to the 168 Project Festival. John Ware, Paul Luebbers and the team put on a unique event. This year they have a record number of teams who participated. Learn more at www.168project.com.

"Visual Story" Advocacy Download Available

"Yuseff and Andrea," our just-released, signature video about why we must communicate visually in our modern world, is available for free download. Click just above on "Why Visual Story?" to view or download the 2-1/2 minute video.

"The Social Network" Outreach Opportunity

Nick Pollard and his team at www.damaris.org have released a free guide to help you organize an outreach gathering around the Oscar winning film, "The Social Network." Look below under Blog Posts (Viewfinder) to learn more and download the free kit.

700th Member! Becky Douglas

Becky Banks Douglas is the 700th member of the VSN online community! Thanks for jumping in Becky. Becky plays a key role in the Global Children's Forum, a growing network of children's ministries.

Biola Media Conference / VSN Discount

The team at the Biola Media Conference is offering a $10 discount off the registration for the upcoming April 30 conference. This is a great gathering! Look under the events section for more detail. Thanks to Kathleen, Peggy and Scott!

Why We Must Speak in "Visual Story" Release

Meet Youseff and Andrea. Learn why it is urgent we communicate in their language. We are pleased to release a 2:40 video that makes the case for the necessity to communicate Christ in our visual world. Check it out under the video section or go to http://bit.ly/gzW3qs.

Mobile Movement

Wow! 15 people joined the call today to discuss and further the Mobile Ministry movement. Some great things happening and great resources available. Check out the notes at http://bit.ly/mobileVA.

2011 VSN Summit

We are putting final plans in place for our 2011 Summit. It will be held in Edinburgh, Scotland on April 13-14. If you are interested in participating, let me know. Due to space considerations, invitations are limited. clyde@visualstory.org

Happy New Year

May God's grace be real to you as we look back on 2010 and lean into 2011. If you are reading this, you are alive and blessed. May your 2011 be filled with the reality of being blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms.

Executive Summary Available

The Executive Summary of the first-ever Mobile Ministry Forum held December 2-4, 2010 is available for download. Select "Download" under the "Resources" tab. Look under the Mobile Ministry section.

American Bible Society - Getting Visual

The American Bible Society is taking strong steps forward into a visual approach to having people engage with Scripture. Several new initiatives are slated for 2011 that should increase their impact. They have a 30 second piece that will be on the Times Square jumbotron through the Christmas season. See below

Butterfly Circus Goes Viral

Kudos to Josh and Rebecca Weigel and team. Butterfly Circus has hit 10,000,000 views. Whoa! The film is available on DVD http://thebutterflycircus.com). They are working on producing the feature-length version. Nice.

Mobile Ministry Forum - Slide Show

The first glimpse of the group that met is available in a slide show format. Look under "Photos" under the "Visual" tab. A milestone event. 16 participants, 15 organizations, 5 continents represented.

Mobile Ministry Forum - Day 1

We just wrapped our kick-off session of the first Mobile Ministry Forum. 12 participants representing three countries are gathered. Brilliant minds and passionate hearts are here.

Historic Gathering

The Mobile Ministry Group will be hosting a small gathering of mobile ministry thinkers and practitioners from December 2-4. To our knowledge, this is the first time a group of mission-minded believers has gathered exclusively to consider strategic ministry opportunities on the mobile platform. That said, we'd be thrilled to know someone has already done this. For more info, clyde@visualstory.org

Wedgwood Circle

I enjoyed the Friday morning session of the Wedgwood Circle meeting in Santa Monica on Friday. Mark Rodgers has done a great job of assembling people interested in for-profit ventures with a kingdom impact in media. Great to get time with Chris Bueno (Ocean Avenue Entertainment) and Bill Oeschler (Ethnographic Media). Props to David Wood for the invite.

Commercial Creative Commons License

I just had a great discussion with Tim Jore of DS Media (see his profile page). He is looking for open licensed video content (see his discussion below). He makes an important case for open access licensing that includes commercial rights with limitations. See his rationale here:http://www.dsmedia.org/blog/toward-common-discipleship-content-license.

My Lausanne Experience in 1 Minute

I have several pages of personal reflections on my experience of the Lausanne Congress in Cape Town. I managed to distill the key elements into a 1-minute video. Please check it out below.

Lausanne Global Congress Day 8 - Partnership

There was a great emphasis on partnership in order to fulfill the Great Commission. "Partnership is a journey of friendship." I picked up lots of sub-text (discontent) in the last two days but P. Fung said "Arrogance and self-pity are the greatest barriers to world evangelization." The final session was a rich, very Anglican worship service. Now the long trek home.

lausanne Global Congress Day 7 - Integrity

"Calling the Church to Humility, Integrity and Simplicity." Ephesians 5 was the text for the day. The session on Ethics and Technology was sobering (e.g. 40 million babies are aborted each year vs. 50 million natural deaths). Great worship and prayer focus in the evening. I had great meetings with Nick & Carol Pollard, Rob Hoskins, Brian Birdsall, and the VerMootens. Tomorrow is the last day.

Lausanne Global Congress Day 6 - Priorities

We studied Ephesians 4. World Evangelization was the focus for the day. Paul Eshleman did a great job hosting the session on "Finishing the Task." There were optional sessions on Oral Storying. I attended the Urban Mission session (Tim Keller was solid). The "Arts in Mission" session premiered the new journal issue on this topic. Got to pray with key leaders from the church in Turkey (humbling).

Lausanne Global Congress Day 5 - Day Off

They give a day off to give everyone a break from the 13 hour days. Joe Sindorf, Cheryl Meredith and I were treated royally by Cape Town native Graham VerMooten (head of Media Village). He took us on a day long tour around the Cape of Good Hope. Absolutely stunning geography, views, vegetation, whales, seals and penguins. I was able to meet and spend the evening with VSN type Chia Kisuh.

Lausanne Global Congress Day 4 - World Faiths

John Piper exposited Ephesians 3. We heard a stunning and tragic martyr story from Afghanistan. The Archbishop of Jos, Nigeria described churches being burned. "We must ask ourselves, is it true I have been crucified with Christ?" (Michael Ramsden). We heard a brilliant young Turk talk about the Church in the Middle Eastern context. Tim Keller spoke on mega cities. I enjoyed lunch with Denver Seminary alumni.

Lausanne Global Congress Day 3 - Reconciliation

We studied Ephesians 2. We learned about the Dalits in India, 27 million slaves worldwide, the Rwanda tragedy and more. I facilitated a session on the visual story movement and short films in particular. The evening session highlighted the Church in the Middle East and two people with HIV/Aids. Bob Beltz screened 30 minutes from "Narnia: Dawn Treader" being released worldwide 12/10/10 (it looks great! Save the date).

Cape Town Day 2 - Truth

"Truth" in a pluralistic world was the theme for the day. We studied Ephesians 1. "Only a high view of the truth will allow us to be transformed" (Os Guinness). Great session on "Media Messages Matter." In the gathering of the American delegation I found Greg Johnson, a Denver Seminary classmate not seen for 18 years. I am undone since hearing an 18 year old North Korean girl tell us her story of losing her mother to leukemia and her father to persecution.

Cape Town Opening Day

We met in our table groups before the opening dinner. I'm at table #231 with Malcolm (New Zealand), Pavul (Russia), Pearly (India) and Miyon (South Korea). The opening ceremony was an African celebration with choirs, an orchestra, and a welcoming address from Doug Birdsall. There was a 30 minute video of the history of missions from Pentecost to Edinburgh 1910. Great start!

Arrived in Cape Town

After 40 hours in transit from Los Angeles, I've arrived in Cape Town, South Africa. I got to visit some friends in Paris (we lived there 7 years) during a 9 hour layover. I observed faces representing the many nations as I went through registration thi afternoon. The main sessions kick off tomorrow. To participate from a distance, go tohttp://www.lausanne.org/cape-town-2010/participate.html

Cape Town bound

I head out of LAX this evening on Air France via Paris to Cape Town. 4500 leaders from 200 countries praying, strategizing, believing God to fulfill the Great Commission. Very exciting.

We spent seven years in Paris so I have a short layover that will allow me to visit some French friends. Thanks for praying for this gathering.

Mobile Phones / Micro SD Cards

Thanks to Stephen Keel we just posted his article on using your mobile phone to carry evangelistic content to "limited access" areas. Check out the full article on the Resources / Downloads page. Look under the "Mobile Devices" category.

British Bible Society

I spent a few hours yesterday with Luke Walton (British Bible Society). Luke is an innovative, forward-thinking leader. He and his team are gearing up for their second annual "Enter the Pitch" competition. Check it out at www.enterthepitch.com. The 11 minute film "Derelict" is the result of the first competition. Stunning film. It will soon hit the festival circuit.

Repository

TWR (formerly Trans World Radio) is developing capacity that will allow organizations to upload digital media and distribute it globally. It is very much in beta stage. In partnership with the One Story network, they have produced this site for audio "story sets." www.onestory-media.org

Mobile Advance Site

Keith Williams (check out his member page) has launched a new site focusing on the use of mobile devices for the kingdom. Check out the site at www.mobileadvance.org. Great work Keith.

Crowd Accelerated Innovation

TED Curator Chris Anderson talks about the new world of innovation driven by the web. A crowd, light, and desire are the three keys. Check out the link in the video section below.

Cape Town Global Link

Here is a great way to benefit from the Cape Town Congress on World Evangelization. Your group can participate remotely through Global Link. Please check this out since the event is just over 1 month away.www.capetown2010.com/globalink

VSN India

Just had a great skype call with Biju Matthews from Bangalore. He wants to connect with like-minded people in India. To anyone wanting to start a local network, please read Phill Butler's article "Effective Collaboration" (go to Resources tab, then downloads, and look under Networking).

International Orality Network Conference

The annual gathering of leaders and practitioners involved in the Orality Movement of missions is this September 20-23 in Atlanta. This gathering is for those who work with the unreached people groups and those who work with the literate who "choose" to communicate by oral means even though they can read and write. Look under "events" for more info.

North Africa

I just returned from a 12 day trip to North Africa. Clearly, visual media continues to invade the lives of people in every corner of the earth. While sitting in the living room of a family with very modest means, we had to talk over the volume of a Rachel Ray show broadcast in English (subtitled in Arabic).

Mission Media Teams / I Just Got Back

I'm very excited about the three teams that are going out this summer to serve young, growing ministries. We'll have reports forthcoming. I just returned from a week of vacation in Colorado. Great time.

Media Saturation

We just added a new section to the down loadable resource page on Media Saturation. The 2010 Kaiser Family Foundation slide presentation and report on the use of media by youth in America can be downloaded. Go to the Resources tab and scroll to the bottom.

Edutainment

David Hurtado introduced us to Dr. William Brown, one of the world's leading authorities on entertainment and social change. He has graciously allowed us to offer several of his published articles on the Resource page (scroll down to Edutainment).

Phill Butler - The Best Thinker/Practitioner in Collaboration

Phill Butler is the guru when it comes to kingdom networking and collaboration. His decades of pioneer experience in network-building can be found in a short article. Phil's book "Well Connected" is the authoritative work on kingdom networks. His article distills it into 20 pages. Go to the Resources / Downloads page to get the article.

Saddleback and Outreach Content

I just met with the mission pastor at Saddleback Church. Saddleback, along with thousands of other churches, is interested in effective visual content for outreach on short-term trips. The Jesus film will continue to be a tool many use, but there is a need for additional content. If you have ideas, comment on the forum "Compelling Outreach and Evangelistic Content."