The Lost Sons parable shoot

Throughout the month of Sept, GemStone Media sent a crew (Jim, Sara and Josh Wilson) to Central Asia to shoot the third parable story in the Luke 15 trilogy. This was a tremendously ambitious project shooting in remote mountain locations again as well as in various cities. We had a cast of with 8 characters – all of which were simple villagers and not actors. But God’s hand of blessing was with us and we completed the filming portion of the project!

Here are some behind the scenes pics. 

Jim standing in pig poo shooting with a jib at the pig farm.

 Jim and Josh Wilson

 

Sara location scouting in the mountains

Josh Wilson

Jim and Sara with the Older Son and Father 

The Prodigal at a disco bar

Jenni's Story

In Sept it was exciting for our GemStone Media team (Ted and Jim) to see how God is at work in the life Jenni as we produced this brief video.

Life is a journey and Jenni shares the difficult challenges that she's experienced along her life's path. God's faithful hand has brought healing and hope into Jenni's life as she sets her direction to follow Him.

Click on the link below to see how God is has been at work in Jenni's life:

https://vimeo.com/79184557

Here are some behind the scenes pics of Ted and Jim preparing for an interview.

The Lost Jewel

One of the short film parables that GemStone Media recently shot in Central Asia was the story of The Lost Coin from Luke 15:8-8. To make this parable more culturally relevant for the people there, we wrote the script as “The Lost Jewel.” In just a few short days at this breathtaking location, we shot the film using some wonderful local people as actors. We’re in post-production on this now ... Stay tuned!

The Lost Sheep

In August, Jim and Walt went on an adventure in Central Asia.  In partnership with another missions agency, they set out to retell the parable of the Lost Sheep (Luke 15:3-7) contextualized for a minority language group who are isolated up in mountains for much of the year.  Getting there was quite a challenge.  

Single-lane road

The "production truck"

Walt shares: "To reach the village where we stayed, we had to drive through the mountains for 9 hours on a dangerous single-lane road, and then hike on foot for 3.5 hours.  All our equipment was carried by donkeys."

The donkey was concerned about his online identity.

The kids love getting to see themselves.

The Glide-cam is really just an excuse for Walt to chase people.

Come to Rome

Watch it on Vimeo

Currently, new staff is urgently needed to come and be a part of God's work in Rome.  Jim and Sara Meyer put together this video to help mobilize prayer and new missionaries to take part.  Have a look.

The Good Neighbor

During his HMA year in the States, GemStone's Ted Cox produced this 20 minute short film to stimulate small group discussions.  Based on Luke 10:25-37, the film helps us to more deeply engage with the cultural implications of Jesus words.

Once again, the amazing Jeremiah Brewer stepped in to provide the music for us.

This tool is freely available for your church or small group.  We encourage you to check it out.

Resources: 

Facebook Page

Trailer (Vimeo)

Film (Vimeo)

Download (720p)

Discussion Guide

Das Duerre Kreuz — Sten Ruhe Music Video

Das Duerre Kreuz

Last April, Jim and Sara shot a music video with a German singer/songwriter/pianist from Frankfurt named Sten Ruhe. He grew up in East Germany behind the Berlin Wall as an atheist. Now that he has experienced God’s saving grace in his life, he desires to reach other Germans with the timeless message of the power of the Cross. Sten knows no English whatsoever, so the whole filming project was done in German!

Tour de France 7x7 Project

 

Tour de France 7x7 [English] or [French]

From November 2012:

GEM’s outreach next summer is called the ‘7x7 Tour de France Project.’  ‘7x7’ stands for multiple teams of around 7 people per team, whom we’re inviting to come and serve in one of 7 cities along the Tour de France bike route in France, being involved in one of 7 different ministry opportunities.

It’s very encouraging to hear that already the videos are having a very positive impact. French churches who weren’t originally sure about getting involved have now caught the vision after seeing the videos! They are fully on-board with GEM’s plans for the summer outreach in France, even planning events and renting spaces in preparation for teams to come. And the same encouraging vision-casting is happening with churches in North America too. It’s so great to see our work bearing fruit. Thank you so much for partnership with us! We are truly grateful for you.

50 in 5 Cologne

Pray for Cologne

In July of 2012, Ted Cox was in Cologne shooting a quick prayer video for the team there.  Exciting things continue to happen in Cologne, and it's great to be a part of mobilizing prayer to reach this strategic city.

The Voice

Click here to watch The Voice.

Share on Facebook

Tweet: #voicestory

Download: HD/720P | SD/iPhone

We flew to Bulgaria with no idea what was coming. What we stumbled into, was challenging, forcing us to stretch our tiny understanding...

At first glance, Hari seems unique. In simple obedience to a voice no one else can hear, he boldly shares his faith with everyone he meets. But Hari is not so different from us. He has made a choice to pursue and trust God completely. It is a choice each one of us could make. We could each be like Hari: genuine, obedient, bold and faithful.

This is your chance. The voice is speaking to you as well. You may never have a vision, but God reaches out to each of us in a way uniquely suited to who we are. What is He saying to you? What were you created for?

We have no clear distribution plan or strategy for this story, but we believe that God does. Watch the video, share it with your friends on facebook, or tweet about it. Feel free to download it and show it to groups you are a part of, or use it to start discussions.

More video training and partnership

GemStone Media partnered with several other ministries to provide essential video skills training to workers from all over the world – many from closed countries – who are strategically positioned to share the gospel through media. One of our video producers, Ted, represented our team and partnered with other video teams to present workshops for the training. The focus was good story telling, and using video to tell stories in a culturally relevant way. The students were provided with instruction, opportunities to evaluate existing films and videos, and a chance to write and put together their own project and share it with the group.

Video trip to Bulgaria

Two of our videographers, Ted and Walt, recently returned from a video shoot in Bulgaria. In August, we learned about Harry, a Bulgarian artist, who God is using as an evangelist because of his willing obedience. After several email and skype conversations, Ted and Walt flew to Bulgaria earlier this month to spend eight days interviewing Harry and his wife, and others who know him, as well as to follow Harry around to watch firsthand how God is using him in his region.

Our video team is currently working on producing a documentary-style short video that we hope will encourage and challenge Christians around the world. So stay tuned!

Update: Read a video guy's perspective on what he learned in Bulgaria.

Thanks to the Art Factory!

GemStone Media would like to express our heartfelt thanks to the Art Factory ministry and its directors, Rick and Mary Beth, for providing so much help with our recent "Reach the World" video project. The Art Factory building was the location for many of our sets, and Rick and Mary Beth provided countless props, including large pieces of furniture and rugs. They let us completely reorganize their space, and shuffled their own scheduling to accommodate us. Their passion for coming alongside artists and giving of their resources without expectation of gain enabled us to do our best work.

If you are not familiar with the Art Factory ministry, please check out their website, or watch their video.

Reach the World

        Click here to watch Reach the World
        and then come back to learn more... 

The details: We were asked to make a video highlighting the needs in Europe for GEM's website. The reality is that there are millions of Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and spiritualists living all across Europe, many of whom are immigrants from unreached countries. We created this video to challenge Christians who are thinking about ministry to unreached areas, but may not have considered the enormous potential for sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ to immigrants right here in Europe.

We're excited about how God has put Reach the World together. All the hard work of planning and preparation has really paid off and we're pleased with the result. We hope that this video will be the first of many non-verbal short videos exploring topics that will challenge people where they are. Feel free to pass the Reach the World link on to people in your network who would benefit or be encouraged by it. Let's get the word out about Europe's potential!

Making of "Reach the World"

GemStone Media produced three different videos this year challenging believers to consider ministry in Europe. The On Any Given Day video was produced to show the great need that exists to share the Gospel here. What Would It Look Like? was produced to connect people with their personal potential to have an impact. Currently we're in post production on the final of those three pieces, Reach the World, which speaks specifically to the broad cultural diversity that exists in Europe and the potential to have an impact for Christ all over the world by having an impact in Europe. Bryce, our intern this summer, did a fantastic job putting together a behind-the-scenes look at this final video as it was being produced. We hope you'll take a look. The finished Reach the World video is currently in final production and we'll post it soon...