We have a lot of talented friends. Two of them are Gabe and Mandy McCauley. Mandy, aka Mix Master Mandy, is a rocking guitar artist. Gabe, aka lilDragon, is a rocking video artist. Together they are a power couple of creativity and inspiration, aka Gandy. We love Gandy. Gandy brought the house down at Pickin' and Pies closing out the show with songs and video magic. This blog post is about the video magic.
About a year ago Shawna found this blog, Give1Save1, that features an adopting family's story every week. Here is how they explain it, "Every Monday we are going to ask you for a dollar. We’re going to tell you who it’s going to and what it’s being used for. We’re mostly funding adoption for the people, by the people. The premise is for lots of people to give a little and let it all add up!....And your dollar will be saving and restoring lives in all kinds of ways. Removing a child from an orphanage gives that child a family and a future, something everyone needs. It also frees up a bed in an orphanage for another child." Give one dollar, save one child. A little bit of money, a big difference.
This has been our approach to fundraising. Share our story and hope that a lot of people would give a little. God had something else in mind. A lot of people are giving a lot. Over and over again they (you) give. Whatever we thought people might give God said, "Just wait. I am going to take your small little dream and explode it." They bought tickets to a basketball game, tickets to a concert, stuff at a garage sale, handmade crosses, t-shirts. They just wrote a check or handed us cash. Strangers sent us money in the mail with a note like, "I heard about your story and was touched by it." And the gifts haven't been limited to money. Several people have generously given their time and God-given talents, which brings us to lilDragon, Give1Save1 and the video magic.
After finding the blog, we decided we wanted to share our adoption story through a video. Maybe people far beyond our circles would be touched by what God is doing. The problem is that we stink at making videos. lilDragon doesn't (check out their 2013 Hype Reel ). Shawna made a phone call and a few minutes later we had a video in the works. I don't think they really knew what they were getting into. It took seven months and several takes to get something they could work with, because we are bad on camera. Really bad. We both freeze when we see the red light. Somehow they took our mess and made it into a masterpiece. I don't know how they did it, but they captured our story and turned it into something beautiful. We can't say thank you enough to Nick Nichols, Gabe McCauley and Dave Boyd for logging countless hours filming and editing.
We don't have any fundraising events planned for 2014, but we do have this video. Here is some good news- the people at Give1Save1 liked our video and we have been chosen to be featured on their blog. The bad news is that this may not happen for six months (or even longer). When you have been given something like this it is hard not to go ahead and share, so we're going ahead and sharing. We think the New Year is the perfect time to do that. Here is what you can do: 1. Watch the video 2. Share the video with lots of people 3. Pray that God will bring a little girl across the world home soon. More than anything we want to bring God all glory and praise for how His hand is working in our lives and in the life of one orphan. Praise to the One who gave One to save everyone.
So here it is. Be sure to watch in full screen mode.
or: http://youtu.be/FHU7Ru_JKFs
"Called Me Higher" song by All Sons and Daughters.
jonathan & shawna