Engage Camp in the Philippines

Posted by keishalennon on Dec 8, 2011 in Blog | 0 comments

Thank God for the opportunity to be in the Philippines with our MediaLight team to hold a short video production camp. During our time together, we—staff and students—bonded closely. Even more, in such a short time the students worked incredibly hard and acquired the ability to effectively utilize all they learned . . . very impressive!

This camp was not only about teaching media skills, but also about seeing individuals grow in their lives. With God at the center, we were able to grow together and encourage one another.

During the camp, our MediaLight staff was always available to help our students. One-on-one time helped us get to know one another more, as well as encourage growth.

Now that the camp is over, I realize even more how blessed I was to be a part of it. My heart is so thankful to God for our MediaLight team. Each of us have different gifts from God, and we all try to use them for His Kingdom.

 ~Joy Radomthong~

Loving Young Girls

Posted by keishalennon on Nov 6, 2011 in Blog | 1 comment

For nearly a year now, I have volunteered at a local orphanage here in Chiang Rai. Time has passed so quickly. My relationship with the girls continually grows deeper, as does my genuine love and care for them. My time spent with them consists of helping with their school assignments, assisting them in preparing meals, participating in small groups, and simply playing around.

To further bond with the girls, I take photos with them. Although I am not as skilled as a professional photographer, we have so much fun together doing different poses. They love seeing their faces on the photos. I even lend my camera to them at times so they can practice taking pictures in the hopes they will develop their own skills. Even more, my hope is that they can use this skill to further the Kingdom of God here in Thailand.

~Reina Gonzales~

God is faithful

Posted by eunhae on Oct 21, 2011 in Blog | 0 comments

Engage Camp students

Our team recently finished running a weeklong Thai language photography camp called Engage Camp. Last year, we held an Engage Camp, which taught media skills to young Thai Christians, but this time our camp also focused on non-believers. A total of 18 students attended, with ages ranging from 14 to 47. Even with such a large age gap and the mix of Christians and non-Christians, we became close and had a wonderful week.

Arthit

Thirteen of our students were non-believers; in fact, many were strong Buddhists. Arthit, our oldest student had Buddhist tattoos and wore a Buddhist idol necklace. Initially, our team felt nervous about how our Buddhist students would receive our Christian message and time of worship. Although the students were not required to arrive early to worship with us, we certainly invited them. Arthit seemed quite confused the first day, which caused me to assume this was his first experience with Christian worship.

When day two came, Arthit and his daughter (also a student) showed up early again for worship, which surprised our entire team in the best way possible. He paid close attention to the lyrics on our screen with a curious look on his face. By day three, Arthit began to clap along. He never missed our worship time, and by the end, Arthit even sang along. On our final day of class, a fellow staff member—Ryan—shared the gospel message with the students. He read from the Bible and explained how God created us for a purpose and what Jesus had done for us. For many students, this was their first exposure to the Good News of Jesus. After Ryan shared, I felt led to tell the students my reason for living in Thailand (my heart was beating so fast).

“Does anybody want to know more stories from this book? Does it sound strange to you? Or wrong to you? Or make you curious? If you want to know more and you want to read this book for yourself, I would love to buy it for you as a gift. Feel free to ask me. This is the reason I am here living in Thailand. What I believe, the story in this book, it’s too good to hold only to myself in Korea. It changed my life, and I want to share this good news with all of you!”

Yot

Right after class, Arthit approached me and said, “I want to know more about this book. Can I have one?” That day I gave him a Thai Bible and a book called From Buddha to Jesus. When I gave it to him, he pointed to the sky and asked me to pray for him and his family. Of all my experiences in Thailand, this was one of the most touching.

The next day, one more student named Yot asked for a Bible. God is so faithful. This is the reason why our MediaLight team is here. God loves Thailand so much and so do we.

Please pray for Arthit and Yot and the rest of the students who heard the Gospel last week!

Our First Photography Camp

Posted by jonnymoore on Oct 17, 2011 in Blog, Uncategorized | 0 comments

This week, our Emerge Team has been extremely busy conducting a photography camp for Thai people from the Chiang Rai area. This has been such an interesting camp because of the demographic of people in attendance. The students’ ages range from 14 to 40-something, and they come from all sorts of backgrounds. At first we weren’t sure about the dynamic of the learning environment, considering some of the students attend high school while others actually have children in high school.But it has been so refreshing to see everyone band together, creating such a great environment.

The majority of our students are non-Christian, which was a main reason conducting this training camp. We wanted to expose Thai’s to a loving Christ-filled atmosphere who otherwise wouldn’t come into regular contact with Christians. Throughout the week, students have been taught photography principles, but more importantly, they have been exposed to the message of Christ and His followers who try to be living examples of that message.

The Engage Camp is fast approaching.

Posted by drewstrobridge on Sep 27, 2011 in Blog | 2 comments

Here in Chiang Rai, the team is gearing up for what we are calling the “Engage DSLR Photography Camp.” It is a one-week Thai Language Photography camp that has two purposes. One purpose is to teach people how to use their DSLR cameras and to communicate using the photos they take. The other purpose is to expose the local Thai people to the Gospel message. We are very excited for this opportunity to connect with more local people and also to present the Gospel to them. Please pray for the students who will be attending,as well as the staff who are preparing for the camp.

Media Training at UCB, UK

Posted by riabagatsing on Sep 21, 2011 in Blog | 2 comments

At the UCB headquarters

I have been very fortunate to have been picked for a two-month training program at the United Christian Broadcasters at Stoke-on-Trent, England.

It’s a full scholarship that trains in various departments;

• > Television
• > Radio
• > Fundraising
• > Print (Word for Today, daily devotional)
• > Marketing

The aim is to learn the operational and managerial aspects of these departments in view of applying similar processes back in Asia. One of the main concepts I learned is that what works in one country may not work in another because of their cultural differences.

It’s important to understand the avenues of media currently being used in your country to maximize your effectiveness there. Always ask yourself; “Who’s my target audience and what kind of media are they currently using?”

One of the radio studios at UCB

UCB's Television Studio

Some of the marketing and youth ministry members