www.pianoplayingdave.com

Friends and Family,

Just wanted to quickly write and let you know that I am home. I unfortunately don’t have time to tell you much more than that as I have to leave for the airport yet again in a few minutes…heading to my parents’ for Easter. When I fly back to Minneapolis on Sunday, it will be my 14th flight in 3 1/2 weeks.

More to come. I’ll let you know how India was next week.

-Dave

P.S. Please keep me in your prayers regarding busyness and time management these next couple weeks. The video needs to be done a lot sooner than I thought it would.

Friends and Family,

Two legs of the trip done – one to go. I’m writing right now from the Singapore airport, and I leave for Chennai, India in about 3 hours.

So, what to say about my time in Thailand? Let me put it this way: if Banda Aceh inspired me, then Thailand pumped me up. There is so much relief work going on there right now and it is so exciting. I spent the majority of Monday taping seven homes being built (an entire village of 50 homes will be built eventually, but they only have the volunteer manpower over there to work on 7 at a time).

Tuesday, I spent the majority of the day taping the construction of a dozen fishing boats. The Thai people working on them had just completed their first boat a few days ago, and they were so proud of it that when they found out I wanted to tape it, they immediately offered to take me out for a ride.

What a site to see – a beautifully constructed boat cruising the open sea – one of the Thai men who constructed it standing at its helm as the wind whips through his hair. I only wish I had a helicopter to get a sweeping arial shot of the boat cruising the open water. That is what it would’ve taken to truly capture how proud the Thai men were of their construction. But alas, this movie doesn’t have a Hollywood budget, and the shots I captured from the ship itself will have to suffice. That boat ride was certainly a highlight of Thailand for me, as I once again saw how the money the Free Churches gave was not just spoon-feeding the tsunami victims, but empowering them to get on their feet and live again.

Another highlight was witnessing and experiencing the fellowship of relief workers in Thailand. The relief projects I was taping were funded by our organization, but the people volunteering at the projects came from all kinds of backgrounds. Most of the volunteers were Christians, but there were also aethists, agnostics, Hindus, Buddhists, and Muslims helping out. These people would just show up in Thailand asking where to volunteer, and everyone would point them on to our project (I think it’s the largest tsunami relief project in Thailand that is being constructed by volunteers).

But here’s the coolest thing – every Sunday, the Christian relief workers hold a church service, and pretty much ALL the relief workers come – aetheists and agnostics alike. I have never seen anything like that before, and the only explanation I can think of is that as these relief workers are a part of this project that is funded and run by Christians, and as they see the huge numbers of Christians coming to volunteer, they are seeing the true heart of Christianity. They are seeing past the politics and the stereotypes, and they are seeing the love of Christ expressed in a tangible way by those who love Him. One Thai man told me how impressed and surprised he was that almost all of the people who came to volunteer in Thailand were Christians.

It is my prayer that the Church could function like this everywhere. When people see what Christianity is really about, they want to be a part of it. I am so challenged by this, and pray that I would always live out my life in a way that shows the true heart of Christianity.

So much more I could say, but I best be off for now. More to come…

-Dave

P.S. Prayer Requests:

1. Please pray for a smooth transition to India. One of the toughest aspects of my trip so far was the transition from from Banda Aceh to Thailand. I was on such an emotional high in Indonesia, that to get on a plane and head to a whole new country the next day was tough. The first two days, I just found myself yearning to be back in Indonesia, and this made it difficult to be very effective at filming those first two days. Pray that as I head to India I will remember that even though the people and the relief work will be different, the story to tell is still just as amazing. I don’t want to obsess about the past, but relish the present. The footage I capture will be so much better if I have this mindset.

2. The usual: health, safety, and equipment functioning properly.

Friends and Family,

I have have now been in Thailand for almost three days, and will be leaving the day after tomorrow. Though it is exciting to be traveling to three countries in three weeks, I am also surprised at how emotionally difficult it has been. To say that my heart went out to the Acehnese people and the relief workers in Aceh would be the understatement of the year. When I got on the plane and left Aceh, I was so touched by the experience, but so sad to leave as well.

Then to just pick up and begin filming a whole new country the next day was so difficult. For the first 48 hours, I just didn’t want to be in Thailand. I wanted to be back in Aceh…or at least I just wanted to spend some time in America reflecting on my time in Aceh before jumping into a whole new country.

Well, that all got better today though. I spent the whole day filming the construction of 7 homes that were funded by our organization. The supplies have been bought to build 50 homes, but it will take months and months before all of them can be built. It was very exciting to see all of this going on. There were at least 100 volunteers working on construction today and they got a lot done. All of the footage that I got of this will be key to show in the video. Most of the footage I got in Aceh was of completed houses, but none of the construction happening, so that was very good to tape today.

Another highlight of my time in Thailand yesterday was my first time going to a bilingual church. They had two people leading worship choruses and hymns up front – one English speaker, and one Thai speaker. Much of the time, we would all be singing the same songs in our own respective languages at the same time. Such a beatiful preview of Heaven. I only wish I would’ve spent less time taping and a little more time singing.

Scripture speaks of how “God so loved the world that He gave is one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.” I have been thinking about this a lot the past couple days, and I have such a richer sense of what it means for God to love “the world.” As I go out to see the world, and the cultures and people that make up the world, I am finding myself not only understanding what the world is so much more, but loving it so much more too. To think of God’s far-superior unconditional love that extends to those same people is so moving to me. I cannot wait to begin editing my movie, and I hope that I can capture even a hint of these emotions I am feeling. This task that has been given to me is such a blessing, and I feel like it is exactly what I have been created to do.

-Dave

P.S. Prayer request:

I leave for India on Wednesday, and that day I won’t even have a full day in Singapore to reflect on my time in Thailand. I will just spend 8 hours in the Singapore airport, and then straight onto India. Seeing the way that I reacted to the quick country shift three days ago, I would ask for your prayers for the next country shift to India. Pray that rather than getting down over leaving Thailand, that I would instead be touched, inspired, and enthralled by what relief work is being accomplished in India. I don’t want to belittle my Thailand experience, but I don’t want to dwell on it so much that I neglect the things to tape in India.

Friends and Family,

The first leg of my trip is over, and I have so many thoughts and emotions about my time in Aceh.

More than anything, I am so unbelievably proud of everyone who is serving in Aceh. I could tell you I am proud of them a thousand times over and still not emphasize it enough. This feeling overwhelmed me every day that I was there as I heard the stories of people around me. One lady I met from California was going to go on a medical relief trip with her church, but the trip was put together so last minute that it had to be delayed. She had such a strong sense of calling to help the Acehnese people though, that she hopped on a plane herself and came to Aceh to volunteer for three weeks with the relief group I was there with. How was she able to take this much time away from work? All of her co-workers at the hospital worked her shifts for her. They told her, “We believe in what you are doing, and we want to do our part to help.”

I could tell you many other stories of people coming to help – of people quitting their jobs to come and help – of people selling all of their possessions to come help. In all of these cases, people saw a need, came on less than a three-weeks notice, were overwhelmingly supported by everyone back home, and God honored their sacrifice.

This tragedy was so horrible, and the loss is so great. But the outpouring of love and support by the rest of the world is so touching, and it makes me so proud – proud of the people I was working with – proud of the Christ-followers that came on a moment’s notice because of their love – and generally just proud of the human race. You know? For all the corruption that is in the world, there is a lot of love out there too. For all the people who want to cheat others to get ahead, there are a lot of people who really want to make a difference.

But I wasn’t just touched by the people I was serving with. I was also touched by the people who lived in Aceh. I went there a week ago expecting them to be stand-offish and cold toward me as a camera-operator, American, and Christian. I thought that despite my desire to help them, they would frown upon me because of who I was.

Let me just tell you that this couldn’t be farther from the truth. The Acehnese people were some of the warmest, friendliest, most hospitable people I have ever met. It got the point by the end of the week where I couldn’t wait to take my camera out around the town and see who I could meet and talk to. I usually didn’t even have to ask the Acehnese to tape them. They would just see me walking by and wave for me to come over and talk to them and tape them. And then afterwards they would often invite me to their home or feed me a meal. I had some of the best coconuts, omelettes, and sodas of my life this week – not because they tasted any better than usual, but because of the warmth coming from the people giving them to me.

Now I am not trying to get polical on you guys or anything, but after I spent time in Aceh, I couldn’t help but feel that wars are instigated by governments of countries, not the people of countries. Americans tend to view that Islamic nations and the people in them are all out to get us, but spend one day with the Acehnese, and I guarantee that bias will melt away.

True, there may be some corrupt people in power, just as there are in any nation. True there may be some militant fundamentalists. But these people are NOT the majority, and I did not meet a single one of them during my entire time in Aceh. All I met were dear people who did not hate me for being an American and a Christian, but who loved me and welcomed me into their homes and into their lives.

Truthfully, they have reason to distrust America. The only bits of American culture that I came across my entire time there were posters of violent American movies up on the walls – The Punisher, Van Helsing, etc. Is this what America is to them? It would seem so. Is this what Christianity is to them? I am told by many that the assumption by most in Islamic nations is that America and Christianity go hand in hand. Christianity means violent movies just as much as America means violent movies. I once again felt a calling to Hollywood as I stood in those rooms and looked at those posters. “We can do better than this,” I thought.

I could write forever, but these are just some of my thoughts. I expected to go to Aceh and be overcome by the destuction, but I came away with such hope. Even when I met the people in the refugee camps – though I felt terrible for them, all I could think was “help is on the way!” Do you know that the money given to Aceh from EFCA churches is going to put over 150 families back in homes in the next year or two? Know that every one of you who gave financially to the tsunami disaster is making a tangible difference over there.

If any of you are interested in giving more money to help the people of Aceh, let me know. It costs a mere $2,000-$2,500 to build a high-quality house for the homeless in Aceh. Would any of you consider putting a family in a home again?

If any of you read this and feel a calling to go over there and serve, let me know as well. I know a lot of devoted relief workers over there who are short on time and resources, and can use all the help they can get. They need not only funds, but able-bodied short-term and long-term workers as well, and I would be glad to connect you with them.

-Dave

P.S. Prayer requests for my time in Thailand:
a. sustained health and energy
b. the vision to find the story that needs to be told in in Thailand, and the sharp wit to tell it quickly. I had six days to find that story in Aceh, but I only have four days to find it in Thailand.
c. continued prayer for my equipment. I will be far away from a camera repair shop, and will be in a lot of trouble if anything breaks down in the humid environment of Thailand.

Friends and Family,

I am sitting at the internet cafe in Banda Aceh again, and just had a chance to read through all of your responses to my first 3 updates. All I can say is thank you. Your overwhelming encouragement is incredible and I feel so loved.

As of right now, I have two days left in Banda Aceh, and then on to Thailand. The main request I would have for you right now is that I would remain rested and healthy. I will pretty much be going straight from Indonesia to Thailand, and then straight from Thailand to India. There will be no time for rest, and so I will need His strength to maintain my energy.

As far as all the other requests I sent you earlier, it really is amazing how perfectly everything is coming together. Though I was still struggling with perfectionism the first day of filming, it went away by the second day. Is what I am capturing on film perfect? Not a chance. Is that OK? Most definitely.

I have been traveling all over northern Sumatra these past few days, and though the images I am capturing are coming from all over the island, they are coming together in my head to create one cohesive movie. There have been several times when I have filmed something, and just stood in wonder at how perfectly He has provided this event for me to film. Things are fitting together for this movie in ways that I never could have planned, and it is evident that He is guiding the process.

One thing that has been incredible on this trip is that I pretty much have the entire movie edited in my head already. When I was in China this summer, I didn’t have much of an idea how I would edit the movie until I actually started editing it, but on this trip, I can see already how everything is going to fit together. This is so great and necessary, since I will not actually be able to start editing it until I have already filmed in two other countries. The fact that I know what I am going to do already will make it work so much more smoothly a few weeks down the line.

Please continue to lift up the previous requests I sent you, and also please lift up my health and energy. Thanks.

-Dave

Friends and Family,

I am sitting right now at the United Nations Internet Cafe in Banda Aceh. I am about to sign up for a helicopter ride here to do arial photography of the desolation. I had my first full day of filming yesterday. The desolation was worse than anything I have ever seen, but I am very impressed with the relief work that I have seen going on. Our organiztion is not just coming in and doing the work for the Acehnese, but is helping empower them to do the work for themselves. I visited a village yesterday where the Acehnese had just finished construction of their first house, and they had such pride in it, and took such ownership of it. I am so glad that our organization is helping out in this way, rather than just doing everything for the people.

I think that the loss of life will sink in even more when I go to a refugee camp tomorrow. It’s tough for me to look at miles and miles of rubble and to actually fathom that houses used to stand there and people used to live there. Right now it just looks like a wasteland. Tomorrow, when I meet the people who actually lived in those houses, I think the tragedy will hit me even more.

The requests I sent you earlier have been going very well. Thank you for keeping me in your thoughts. Right now, I just hope that my faith would remain vibrant. Things are so busy that it can be tough to daily kindle that. Think of me with that.

I return to Singapore on Thursday and will write you more then.

-Dave

Friends and Family,

This second update is coming sooner than I thought it would. The reason is because I have something else pretty important that I’d like to ask your prayers for.

In case you don’t know this about me, I am about as extreme of a perfectionist as they come. This can be a blessing at times, but of course it can be a curse too…and today it has been a curse for me. I want so badly to make this video perfect that I have been stressing out about it all day. Possibly this stress will go away once I arrive in Indonesia tomorrow and start filming…but I am just afraid that I will continue to stress out about perfection this entire trip and will suck all of the creativity right out of my video.

Please pray that I can release my stress, kick back a little bit, love what I’m doing, and just let the images I see flow right through my camera and communicate to people. The way I have been feeling today, I can see myself disallowing the images to flow right through the camera, because I’ll sit there and overanalyze them to death.

Two points of stress for me right now:
1. Capturing sound professionally.
2. Getting the smudges off my lenses.

Pray that I would do these two things and everything else effectively, but that I would not let them take control of me. Thanks.

-Dave

Friends and Family,

I must make this quick, as I am sitting in Singapore right now, and have a lot to do today before leaving for Banda Aceh, Indonesia tomorrow.

I assume that most of you probably don’t know why I am in Singapore right now, as I haven’t sent out an update in over 4 months to let you all know what is going on in my life. Well, here’s the deal. 5 months ago, I started up a job as videographer at EFCA. 2 months ago, the tsunami devasted parts of Indonesia, Thailand, and India. 1 1/2 months ago, EFCA members gave over $1.2 million to aid the tsunami victims. And 1 month ago, EFCA decided I should go to Indonesia, Thailand, and India to tape the tsunami relief work in these regions in order to communicate to EFCA members what their donations are helping accomplish.

And so here I am in Singapore, my stop-off point for this entire journey. Tomorrow, I head to Banda Aceh, Indonesia for 6 days. Then back to Singapore. Then on to Phuket, Thailand for 4 days. Then back to Singapore. Then on to Madras, India for 5 days. Then back to Singapore. Then back home.

The reason I am writing you all is two-fold. For one, I want you all to know what I am up to. I haven’t been good about keeping everyone updated since moving to Minneapolis, but want to get back into the swing of it. And two, I desperately desire and ask for your prayers as I am on this trip, and sending you an e-mail is a good way to let you know about specific prayer requests. So without further ado…

Prayer Area #1 – Indonesia:
When I head to Indonesia tomorrow, I expect that it will be the most difficult leg of my trip. a) I will be traveling to the area most devastated by the tsunami. b) I will be traveling to an area where the tsunmi relief work is not very far along at all. c) And I will be traveling to an area that is more hostile toward people of my faith than the other regions I will be traveling to.

All that said, for the next 6 days, I ask you to pray for a) emotional strength as I witness this unbelievable devastation. Please pray that I would be sensitive to it and communicate it with love and compassion, but that it wouldn’t immobilize me. b) Please pray for a flexibility and creativity as I film in Indonesia. The point of the video is to communicate how the relief is going, and yet in Indonesia, the relief work is not far along yet. This makes my task for the video a bit more difficult in Indonesia, but I know that He will provide the right circumstances for me to film. c) Please pray for protection.

Prayer Area #2 – Logistics:
Two other overall prayer requests. a) For some reason I have this big fear that I am somehow going to lose a tape with footage on it, or somehow erase it by accidentally exposing it to something magnetic. Please pray for protection against this from happening these next three weeks. And please pray that I would stop fearing this so much, and would instead direct my energy toward filming. b) The camera that I am filming with is bigger and better than the one that I have used in the past. The increased picture quality will up the quality of this video significantly, but the bigger camera size could potentially make people uncomfortable as I am filming candid shots. Please pray for wisdom and discretion on my part as I film. Pray that I would get the shots I need without making people uncomfortable, ruining candid shots, and potentially damaging the relief work that is going on in these countries.

Prayer Area #3 – Purpose:
I am very passionate about this project. I will be filming tsunami relief work going on, and this will be shown to hundreds of thousands of people back in the states. If this video effectively communicates what these peoples’ money is accomplishing, it will make them so much more willing and eager to donate to causes like this in the future. I want them to donate to causes like this, and thus I want to do the best job that I can in communicating why donating to causes like this makes a big difference. So yes, please just pray for His annointing on this whole project. That He would be with me every step of the way as I film and edit, and that He would use it to really speak to people in every walk of life and help encourage them and motivate them to donate money to things like this in the future.

As I mentioned earlier in this e-mail, Singapore is my stop-off point between every leg of this journey. As such, my aim is to send out an e-mail every time that I am in Singapore to let you know how the last leg of the journey went, and to update you about prayer requests for the next leg of the journey.

Expect update #2 in six days, when I update you on Indonesia and ask for prayer regarding Thailand. Until then…

-Dave/Shabotz