I recently received a request from a missions chair for some movie recommendations to show at a missions conference. I realized in compiling what I had and finding a few more through reviews online that my list isn’t that extensive. I know there has to be some more good movies that have a missions message, so please suggest any that you know of and give me your take on it.

• Through the Gates of Splendor – this is the original black & white docu-movie, narrated by Elisabeth Elliott; 35 min long
• Beyond the Gates of Splendor – this is the 2002 documentary about the event in Ecuador; 96 min long
• End of the Spear – this is the 2006 movie (not a documentary) that recounts the story after the story; it is rated PG-13 and is 108 min long
• Hawaii – if you want to go “old school” this is a classic that shows all the mistakes not to make in missions; 161 minutes
• Behind the Sun – a movie about a Muslim young man who is converted; 56 min
• Beyond the Next Mountain – set in the early 1900s in northeast India, a single copy of the Gospel of John came into the village and many were saved (so not as much about a missionary as the power of God’s Word); 97 min
• God’s Outlaw – movie about William Tyndale; 93 min
• Amazing Grace – story William Wilberforce (not traditional missions story, but certainly cross-cultural and mercy/justice focus); 118 min
• Peace Child – story of Don Richardson’s work in Southwest Pacific; 30 min
• First Fruits – story of Moravians in Caribbean; 70 min
• Candle in the Dark – story of William Carey; 97 min
• There are more here.

Okay, disclaimer time: I haven’t watched all of these. In fact, the only one I’ve seen in the past year is Hawaii. It is slow at times and very “classic” so don’t expect teens or kids to hang in there. Plus it’s LONG. The End of the Spear is probably your best bet to hold the attention of teens and up.  All the links are to Amazon so you can read more descriptions there and find out how people reviewed it.

Here is an email from Chalmers Center about a helpful, FREE, web seminar that is coming up to equip people to help in Haiti without hurting:

As you know, a massive wave of aid has already been directed at survivors of the devastating earthquake that hit Haiti on January 10, 2010. But the aid given must be the right kind of aid to make a difference.

A Webinar Series to Help You Help Haiti
To help churches, relief agencies, and individuals respond appropriately to the crisis in Haiti—helping the Haitian people to take ownership of the rebuilding process—the Chalmers Center will host a three-part, webinar lecture series.

The webinars are scheduled for February 17th, February 24th, and March 3rd, from 1 to 2 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (US).  They will be presented by Steve Corbett and Dr. Brian Fikkert, authors of “When Helping Hurts:  How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor…and Yourself,” a paradigm-shifting book about the causes and solutions to the problem of poverty. The book is in its fifth printing since it was published in July 2009 (www.whenhelpinghurts.org).

Help Without Hurting
This webinar series is intended for all those responding to the needs of the Haitian people, including churches, missions boards, missionaries, ministries, Christian relief and development organizations, NGOs, individuals, volunteers, donors, and short-term missions teams. The webinars will help participants:

1. Gain an understanding of the harm that can come from an improper understanding of the nature of poverty and its alleviation.
2. Identify the basic principles and tools needed to develop relationships with low income individuals.
3. Be able to implement biblically-based economic development ministry programs.

The principles taught in the webinars are not a magic formula for success. However, they are powerful, and they have been used by God in even extremely difficult settings (including in the tsunami of 2004 as described in the book).

Registration
There is no charge for the webinars. However, to join a live webinar session, you must register. Register Now »

If you cannot join a live webinar, a download link of the recorded webinar will be posted on the webinar registration page within two business days following the date of the live webinar session.

Share This Information With Others
Please share information about these webinars with your ministry team and with those in your larger ministry network who might benefit from this training.

In Christ,
Bernie Alimonti

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About the Chalmers Center
The Chalmers Center has equipped agencies, churches and individuals across the U.S. and in more than 100 countries around the world to use economic development strategies to minister to poor people—including microfinance and microenterprise development, and programs centered around savings and asset accumulation, financial literacy and job training.

Following the tsunami of 2004, a Christian relief and development organization working in Indonesia asked the Chalmers Center for help in designing a small-business recovery program. Hundreds of businesses received assistance, local institutions were strengthened, and the midterm project evaluations indicated improvements in people’s relationships with God, self and others. A major international humanitarian organization even requested a grant proposal for funding to scale up the program. To learn more about the Chalmers Center, its training opportunities and resources, visit www.chalmers.org and SUBSCRIBE to our mailing list.

One of the pastors at Faith PCA in Birmingham, AL, Steve Hood, posted on Facebook today, “Steve Hood is excited that the kids of our church raised $749.01 for Mission to the World Disaster Response in Haiti. And they did so by selling goodies, homemade bookmarks, necklaces, and various other creative means. Way to go kids!!” He later told me that the number had surpassed $800. This is a great idea (and example) of how everyone can get involved to help Haiti, as medical teams continue to treat wounds.

1. More medical teams are arriving in Dikini, and our team has been asked to move inside the Adventist hospital, where the sickest patients are being referred, in order to help care for the growing patient population. This will enable the team to be more effective since they will be able both to work and to sleep inside the hospital compound, avoiding two hours of driving time each day.

2. Team member David Hilmers received a phone call today to say that his father passed away. David’’s father had been ill and David had seen him before leaving for Haiti. David wants to remain in Haiti with the team and leave with them on Saturday. Please pray for him and his family.

3. The Haitian government is continuing to ship refugees out of Port-au-Prince, and areas in the north are receiving them without resources to care for them. It has been estimated that 55,000 people are being located to Goinaives to the north. This is the area in which Pastor Etienne pastors churches and works with a network of other churches. So the present team has recommended that the next team relocate to Goinaives. This would allow our teams to fall into line with how we normally work through the local church and targeting an under served population. Church members in the area would also be able to become more involved. Our method is always to work with and through the local church wherever possible so that the church gets the credit, God gets the glory, and the kingdom is expanded.

4. Please pray for a flight out of Haiti on Saturday for our team and a flight in for the next team. Ideally, this will be a turn around that will serve both teams. Hoping to hear by today or early tomorrow.

5. Continue to pray for Erin Pettengill’s long term health after accidental exposure to contaminated scalpel. Test results for hepatitis C are still pending.

The medical team in Haiti continues to make progress treating the wounded. Here are some updates from over the weekend that came via Twitter:

• 1/30/10 – MTW team doing well. Set up in camp. Have seen 50 patients already this morning with 70 more in line. Everyone healthy and doing well.
• 1/30/10 – MTW team has mostly done wound and trauma care. One patient transported to the nearby hospital, which has promised to give free care.
• 1/30/10 – The team treated over 300 patients today. Most cases are for pain (from impact or falling debris), dehydration, & urinary tract infections.
• 1/31/10 – Please pray for Erin Pettengill’s (RN on team) long term health after accidental exposure to a contaminated scalpel.
• 1/31/10 – Pray for stamina for the MTW team. The temperatures have been very warm and the medical tent runs about 95 degrees.
• 1/31/10 – The MTW team treated 150-200 people today, including a young girl whose hand they had to amputate. Please keep praying for this situation.
• 2/1/10 – MTW team has moved their camp & clinic location to a local hospital. Good, safe location. Communications are back up and functioning well.

This is an interview between MTW missionary Esaie Etienne and the Advance Needs Assessment Team when they were in Haiti following the earthquake. It is both heart-wrenching and encouraging to hear Esaie describe the situation and needs. Pray for Haiti!

So far, we have seen primarily rescue and medical work in Haiti. But the work that is before this wrecked nation is much larger and will last many years. MTW now has a form you or your church may use to indicate your interest in going to Haiti to help continue the rescue and rebuild. I say “rescue” because there are still thousands trapped by homelessness, improper wound care, and disabilities. On top of that, thousands of jobs were obliterated. And then there is the emotional entrapment of so many. Children who have lost parents, parents who have lost children, and all who have seen more than any human would ever want in the way of pain and death.

Yesterday, we heard an update and discussed how so many Haitians are afraid to go into buildings. Esaie is still sleeping in the back of his pickup truck. I’m not sure how many building I’d want to hang out in after seeing this. So there is a huge need for people to go and love on these hurting people in the process of rescue and rebuilding. Churches should seriously consider getting folks into Haiti to help. Use the form to indicate your interest even if you don’t know how you will do it or if you have enough people. MTW can coordinate and help with that. The form is located on MTW’s website here.

The financial needs are tremendous as well. Currently, the cost centers around medical supplies, tents and other temporary shelters, and clean up. That will expand into the rebuilding process. By supporting MTW, you are committing to working through the church, Christ’s body in Haiti. This will create true meaningfulness to our kind acts because body of Christ is the ordinary means by which the Gospel is proclaimed. And working through the church establishes sustainable help that will continue, even after we Americans have forgotten or are distracted. You can donate online by clicking here.

MTW’s Advance Needs Assessment Team arrived back in the US yesterday afternoon. The need is tremendous. If you’ve watched the Twitter feed (posted on the left of this blog) you know that medical teams are preparing to go in. The challenges are mounting for these teams. Not only are there many medical needs among wounded Haitians, there is growing desperation which may endanger relief workers. People are hurting and hungry. And thirsty. Pray for safety for these teams. And pray that God would bolster their courage and faith in Him. They are going to witness horrible things. They are going to see death over and over. One recent report came back, “Tell the teams to be ready to see dead bodies.”

One of the many needs right now is for tents. People have no shelter and tents, although temporary, can be immediate. Rather than have tent drives and have to work out logistically how to get them there, consider supporting MTW which can get these and other supplies into Haiti quickly.

Dear partners in Christ,

Thank you very much for all your prayers and your mobilization behind us in these very difficult times. Since yesterday we have an assessment team of four from Mission to the World, which includes a dentist, a trauma nurse, an engineer and a counselor. Their purpose here is to assess the situation in order to better coordinate their relief effort. I believe this is a very strategy because this looks to the long term. We have gone around the city of Port-au-Prince and we have seen scenes beyond imagination, and we have talked to people and the priority now is a medical team because the injuries are so overwhelming. Please help us financially to support this relief effort and to help continue our ministry here in Haiti.

In Christ,

Esaie Etienne
MTW missionary to Haiti

Team is healthy and well.

On Sunday, they were able to assess Dikini Camp, a tent city outside of Port-au-Prince. With this new information, they feel that medical teams should serve there. At Dikini Camp, team will run a full-fledged clinic rather than wound care only. Therefore, there is a need for a full team of 14. Recommend for first team to stay 9 days followed by a second team for 9 days. The first team will be led by Dennis Hamilton, the second team leader will be Dan Jenny.

The team will be based at Quisqueya School, which is now the Quisqueya Earthquake Crisis Center (QCS). They will most likely sleep in tents and eat meals there. Because of safety, they cannot stay overnight in the unofficial refugee camp. Tom was able to make a contact with American Airlines, who are helping get medical teams into Haiti. There is room for a 14-person medical team on a relief flight out of Chicago at 7 am on January 29 that the office is researching for a possibility.

Please pray for the team that they can get a flight out of Port-au-Prince today, for safe travel, and continued logistical planning.

Please also pray for the DRM staff as they coordinates the logistics, travel, and medical supply procurement for the medical teams.