www.pianoplayingdave.com

Friends and Family,

You have blown me away. My e-mail inbox is the fullest its ever been right now, and it’s stuffed with some of the most encouraging e-mails I’ve ever received – all responses to Sudan Update #11. Every time I check my e-mail, there is a new note from one of you encouraging me in what I am doing, and assuring me of your prayers, and I truly feel commissioned and called to the task before me. I no longer feel I am going at this alone, as there are hundreds and hundreds of you coming alongside me in this editing room, encouraging me with your words and prayers, and rooting for the Sudanese right along with me. Thank you.

Where I’m at in the process:
Before I can really get into piecing the story together in a documentary, I first must really become familiar with everything that I filmed. This took a long time for this movie, with 22 hours of footage – 10 hours of interviews – 60-70% of which are either in a foreign language or spoken with a heavy Sudanese accent that these American ears can’t always easily decipher. This seriously took so long to go through, and it seemed like it would never end. (Editing native English speakers is a piece of cake by comparison!) But it’s all logged, catalogued, digested, whatever you want to say about it now…..and though I have edited quite a bit already, this is where I really dive into piecing everything together. I see all the puzzle pieces sitting on the table in front of me, and now I begin the mad dash to piece them all together by Friday.

You might think this seems very last minute, and you would be right. That leads to five very specific prayer requests:

Prayer Requests:
1. Pray that I can work quickly and efficiently.
I am very happy to have the most time-consuming task of this whole video over now, but am really feeling the crunch to edit this all together now in less than 48 hours. It’s not an impossible task, but it will really require me to get into one of those 12-16 hour creative zones where I just start going, and can’t stop myself, and before I know, it’s 5:00 am and the movie’s done. This happened on both the tsunami and Katrina DVD’s, so there’s no reason to believe it won’t happen again, but all the same, pray that it happens. I need this to happen now more than ever.

2. Pray that the pieces really come together in a way that flows effortlessly.
Pray that all of my experiences, the things people said, the images I taped, etc. would flow through me and through the computer and mouse effortlessly. Sometimes I wonder if all this footage I logged/catalogued/ingested will just come out of me in a sluggish, non-compelling way, or that I’ll forget about crucial pieces of it. But when a movie really flows, it’s just like liquid pouring out, going down a stream. It pulls you along and time flies as you’re watching it. A lot of times I watch movies I’ve made where that happens really effectively, and I just say, “How did I pull that off?” And the answer is I really don’t know. It just happens when creativity happens, and the very fact that I’m thinking about it so much right now is a bad sign – meaning the rational side of my brain is trying to move in on my creative side and over-analyze, and suffocate it from free-flowing.

So basically, just pray I would lighten up as I edit, let the rational side of my brain kick in when necessary, but more or less let it step out of the way, and let my creativity simply swim in the current and effortlessly bring all these pieces of footage I have filmed together into a beautiful visual symphony that pulls viewers in and pulls them along.

3. Along similar lines, pray that the best of many possible stories emerges in this video.
I think that a big part of the reason my rational brain is kicking in so much to try and figure out the flow is because it’s trying to decipher the best of several possible approaches to this video. I won’t go into all the details, but let me just put it this way: I really, really, really like the footage I have edited together already, but sections of it don’t seem to jive too well with the bigger picture of what I see this video shaping up into.

And so I am stuck in this tug of war of not knowing what to preserve of what I’ve already edited, and what to scratch – and what to preserve of my new “big picture” and what to dismiss. And also, some people in the office want me to incorporate sections of my e-mails written from Sudan into the movie too, but I don’t know whether I want to do this or not.

All this to say, the basic structure of the movie is very much set in my mind, but there are about 6 or 7 possible ways in which I can move through that structure, and in all honesty, I really do not know which is best. And I am afraid that if I think too much about it, it will suffocate the creative process outlined in #2. So pray that as I edit, the best possible approach to tell this story just effortlessly emerges, and that I would be open to ditching what I have already edited if necessary.

4. Of course, all prior requests still hold: blinders, my heart conveyed through the video, spirit-led editing, etc.

5. And one final request: pray I don’t get angry.
Sometimes this just happens when I’m editing. When I get stressed, tired, stuck. At any rate, it happened about an hour ago at the office, and so I decided to call it quits for the night – get a good night’s sleep and then hit it hard tomorrow and then most likely all night tomorrow night. So just pray I wouldn’t get too angry during that time. It sucks up the energy that I should be devoting to the project – and it sucks the joy out of the creation process.

Thanks! I’ll let you guys know when it’s all done. Again, this Friday, Feb. 24 is my self-imposed deadline to get a rough draft done.

-Dave

P.S. Thank you so much to all of you who have written. Even though I haven’t yet responded to most e-mails, know that I have read them all and they have really touched and inspired me. I’ll write back individually when this video is all done.

Friends and Family,

I am currently editing the Sudan video. Doing this is exciting and staggering. As I re-watch the footage I shot in August and piece together the emerging story, I am growing such a deep respect and love for the Sudanese people – in ways I never even knew while I was there. From the little things like their calm mannerisms and warm smiles, to the big things like their absolute devotion and commitment in the face of such suffering, I am absolutely blown away by these people. When I watch the footage of the pastors I traveled with, and when I listen to their stories, I just start to glow. I get this warm feeling that fills my whole chest.

While in Sudan, I think I was too focused on the unbelievable suffering of the people to truly appreciate WHO the people were in the midst of that suffering. And so the time I have had to process has been good, and the final video will not be just a plea to help these people, but it will be a celebration of who they are. I hope and pray that people in the states will not feel a desire to help these people out of pity, but out of celebration, love, empathy, and amazement.

And so while I am excited to finally be at this place, editing together this video and celebrating these people, I also come to you with a very big concern and request.

Distraction:
For whatever reason, I am having more trouble putting this video together than I have had on any previous videos. It’s not that I can’t find the story, because the story is wide and clear and it inspires me like crazy. It’s not that I’m having equipment problems, because my computer’s working fine. It’s not that I’m dragging my feet working on this video, because I have been jumping at the bit to get to it for months. Really, I don’t know what it is, but I just find myself getting very distracted as I work on it. I can’t get myself into crunch mode. Every now and then while I am looking at footage, I start zoning out, and have to re-watch the footage 3 or 4 times before I internalize what it is saying.

This is frustrating and very, very bad. I am face to face with a huge and important time crunch. I need to have a rough draft of this video done within the next week and a half – by Friday, Feb. 24 – because we are shipping it out middle of March and need to show the video in churches around Easter time.

So Much more than a DVD:
As I was reflecting on all of this, I realized something: This video’s aim is to raise $3 million for the Sudanese to move back to their homeland – for the church in Sudan to reach out with compassion to their neighbors, and for the love of Christ and hope of the gospel to spread throughout the South of Sudan.

Three Million Dollars. Eternal Significance. One single DVD. Oh my word, this is huge. This is so much more than “a DVD.” This is probably the most important and staggering task I have been handed in my entire life – Bar None. I am not just piecing together a fun little movie – I am literally capturing the heart, spirit, and hope of a nation – and trying in a week and a half of editing and 5-7 short minutes of video to inspire more than a quarter of a million Americans to step up to the plate for them. This is not a report back on how money HAS been used – this is not one of many media reports about Southern Sudan. This is literally a call to action out of thin air – where no Western media is covering the story, and where many people will have never given or heard the call before. This DVD is absolutely huge.

Please, Please, Please Pray:
As I started thinking about the scope of this, and then started thinking about the huge struggles I’ve been having to focus in during this fast-approaching deadline…

And as I realized that I have more or less been going at this alone the past couple weeks, I realized that before I could do anything else, I needed to write every one of you and ask you to pray for me this next week and a half. Make no mistake – this is a task bigger than I can handle, and for me to go at it without others’ prayer support is pure folly. This is a task that requires the supernatural hand of God, and the voice of thousands advocating on its behalf. Will you step up to the plate and pray without ceasing for me to focus – for me to be in tune with what God would want me to say – and for his love, compassion, and might to pour through me and infuse the images with a supernatural power that urges people to action? And will you pass along the prayer request to others?

This is not about me at all, but about a seed that God is creating through me, and that he will spread throughout the nation to plant a forest of mercy on behalf of Sudan. And so your prayers for the creation of this seed between today and Friday, Feb. 24 will produce exponential growth from Feb. 24 onward. Please pray.

Five Requests:
1. Pray that I will focus. This has been the biggest problem thus far – wandering eyes and thoughts. I cannot seem to keep my attention on one thing, even though there is only one task before me. Like a horse, I need blinders to keep me looking straight ahead and not veering to the side.

2. Pray that the amazing spirit of the Sudanese and my love for them will come out clearly in this video and inspire others the same way it has inspired me. That it will inspire them to give, pray, and advocate on behalf of these people.

3. Simply pray that God’s hand will be on me and on this film and infuse it with a power and beauty that could only come from Him. Pray that I would be in tune with Him. That I would not just be piecing together “my ideas,” but truly seeking out what He would want me to say.

4. And if you are praying, please send me a quick e-mail and just let me know that you are. Knowing this means more to me than you could ever realize. When I was filming in Sudan, your many e-mails truly made me feel commissioned and called to what I was doing. It reassured me that God had my back, and you did too. Now that I am editing, it may not be as glamorous as trudging through a war-torn nation, but it is every bit as important, and I absolutely need to know that I am called and commissioned right now, just as I was then. Please pray, share these prayer requests with others, and let me know that you are praying.

5. And finally, please hold me accountable. I am making a promise to all of you that I will have a rough draft of this DVD done by Friday, Feb. 24. That’s one and a half weeks from today. And if I do not make this deadline, then I have let every single one of you down. Hold me to this. Do not let me go lax on this, and please understand that this time crunch means my communication with you will not be consistent this next week and a half. I will read your e-mails, but will not respond until I’m done editing.

Thank you. I will write more prayer requests as they come.

-Dave

P.S. For those who are new to this e-mail list and unfamiliar with my trip to Sudan, sorry to bring you in on the loop midstream. Let me know if none of this makes sense, and I can fill you in on the Sudan trip later.