Originally Posted on 5-18-09

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Originally Posted on 5-15-09

There’s probably a myriad of reasons why we don’t start>, but one of the many reasons is time. So far in the project we’ve interviewed lots of people whose full-time job is working with the poor, spending time with the disenfranchised, or being a voice and an advocate for a specific cause. The questions come up, “That’s great that they’re helping, but how am I supposed to help? What am I supposed to do? And how am I supposed to fit it in my busy schedule?”

We wanted to know the same thing. So, we searched our own city looking for local Good Samaritans. And we’ve spent the past couple of weeks filming individuals making a difference right where they live! We found people of all walks, people from all different backgrounds, people with different passions and with different interests - each finding their own way to live out the Good Samaritan life.

As we sat down with Shane Claiborne a few weeks ago, he shared with us some of his experience with Mother Teresa. One of the things he told us about her was that when people would leave she would always say, “Now, go find your Calcutta.”

The truth is we don’t have to travel miles and miles to find hurting people in need (though God may call us to a foreign land to serve). But most likely God has something for you to do today, right now, right where you live.

Maybe just start> with this simple prayer:

Originally Posted on 5-14-09

This upcoming weekend marks our last week of travel and filming for start> Becoming a Good Samaritan.

We’ll make our way down to Birmingham, AL where we’ll catch interviews with Karen Kingsbury and Angela Thomas.

From there we’ll fly up to New York City where we’ll sit down with Mike Huckabee to hear how he got started!

It’s been an amazing adventure and we extend our sincere appreciation to all our new friends who took a moment to sit down with us, share their story and give us insight on how we might start> Becoming a Good Samaritan.

Kaylee, Project Manager

Originally Posted on 5-13-09

Today we’re in Elkhart, IN filming an interview with Stanley Green from Mennonite Mission Network.

Kaylee, Project Manager

Originally Posted on 5-5-09

The Participant’s Guide is just about ready to be submitted – and it’s fantastic! I was able to read through it the other day and I’m so excited for it to come out. As I read through it, I loved picturing people coming together to be a part of this small group study.

The Participant’s Guide is an amazing resource as it offers both opportunities to grow as a group and as an individual!

Kaylee, Project Manager

Originally Posted on 5-1-09

So far, our interviews have been with authors, pastors, speakers, and activists. As we looked at our list of committed participants we realized we had a whole resource that we hadn’t tapped into yet --- artists!

Music is many things, but one thing it is for sure is a form of communication and many of our artists today are raising their voices on some of the biggest global issues facing our world today. With songs like “Give Me Your Eyes” and “Power of One,” we just had to hear the stories behind such empowering, melodious lyrics!

We were blessed have a number of artists commit to being a voice on start> Becoming a Good Samaritan and so we spent a few days in Nashville, TN during the Gospel Music Awards week. While there we interviewed Brandon Heath, Warren Barfield, Mike Weaver from Big Daddy Weave, Margaret Becker, Anthony Evans, Josh Wilson, Matt Maher, Jamie Jamgochian, Israel Houghton and Group 1 Crew.

So now our list of committed participants includes artists, but I firmly believe that we have only broken the surface of Christ’s resources. In fact, I know for certain that each person has the opportunity to live as the hands and feet of Christ.

With that said, one of the best resources we have yet to tap into is --- YOU!!

Come, join us here at start> Becoming a Good Samaritan. We need you, the world needs you.

Kaylee, Project Manager

Originally Posted on 4-30-09

Starting out in Michigan, Mike Seaton and Cameraman, Andy Sheneman, flew into Boise, ID where they met up with Tri Robinson on his sustainable homestead. They conducted his interview looking over acres of rolling hills and expanses of blue skies – a perfect reminder of the beauty of God’s creation!

Mike and Andy hopped into the car and drove their way up to Montana where Eugene Peterson read us The Good Samaritan Parable from The Message.

Another drive brought Mike and Andy to Seattle, WA where they sat down with our good friend, World Vision. Rich Stearns, Steve Haas, and Romanita Hairston shared their expertise with start> Becoming a Good Samaritan. Christopher Crane even planned a special trip up to Seattle so as to sit down with us and lend his voice to the cause.

Catching a flight to Denver, CO, Mike and Andy spent a morning with story-teller Philip Yancey. With years of making scripture come alive, Philip brought the story of the Good Samaritan a bit closer to our hearts and lives.

Kaylee, Project Manager

 Originally Posted on 4-28-09

 It’s official, start> Becoming a Good Samaritan was just signed on for a book!

Originally Posted on 4-22-09

Despite one of our crew members getting stuck in Amsterdam, nothing could stop us from sitting down with Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Unable to wait for cameraman, Jay Irwin, to catch the connecting flight, our very own Paul VanNess flew into South Africa alone. Truly a one man show wonder, Paul filmed the entire interview by himself; serving as both interviewer and camera operator!

Kaylee, Project Manager

Originally Posted on 3-27-09

A true delight, Lynne Hybels sat down with us to raise her voice to call the church into action.

She shared with us how the Good Samaritan story opened her heart to a new way of looking at the world, but with that in mind she had to ask herself, “Well now what do I do?” So she began praying that God would help her see through the eyes of the Good Samaritan, and that she would have the willingness to get up close to people in need.

Lynne keeps a quote on her lamp so that she can read it everyday. The quote reads, “I am only one, but I am one. I can’t do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do.”

With that in mind, Lynne often has to ask God, “What is mine to do?” She told us that sometimes she needs to hear God tell her, “You know, I know you care about this issue, but it is not yours to do. That’s theirs to do.” But other times she needs to hear God say, “Yes, this is yours to do.” She expressed that sometimes “yours to do” might scare you a bit, push you, or stretch you, but we need to follow His guidance and with that, comes no regrets.

So what is yours to do? What is God calling you to be a part of? And what can you do to start>?

Kaylee, Project Manager

Originally Posted on 3-25-09

Over a year ago when I first joined The C2 Group, I sat down with Mike Seaton to discuss the project. As we both shared our stories it was evident to me that God had been preparing each of us for this project and that He had brought us together at the perfect moment to be instruments of change to a hurting world!

As we gazed at the brainstorming white board, I had one question that gently tugged at my heart, a question that has stayed with me over the past 16 months. We see where God has taken us in the past, what he has done in us to prepare us, and we see that God has brought us together… but where is God taking us? What is God’s vision for start> Becoming a Good Samaritan?

With a lot of footage sitting in our editing suites ready for edits - all I can say for now is that God has great plans in store and I can’t wait to watch the story unfold!

Kaylee, Project Manager

Originally Posted on 3-20-09

This week we conducted interviews with the following:

Shane Claiborne
Ron Sider
David Anderson
Joe Mettimano
David Beckmann
Jim Wallis
Francis Collins

Broken GPS, $100
Time spent lost, 120 minutes
Vehicle Rental Adjustments, $80
Parking Ticket, $40
Looping around the block 5 times looking for parking, 30 minutes
Interviews filmed...PRICELESS!!

Kaylee, Project Manager

Originally Posted on 3-18-09

As mentioned in a previous post, we filmed our interviewee, Mike Yankoski, here in Grand Rapids, MI. During our time with him he asked me this question: What’s been your favorite part of working on the start> Becoming a Good Samaritan project?

Here’s what I told him -

My absolute favorite part of working on the start> Becoming a Good Samaritan project has been watching God work!

We initially had hoped that perhaps 20 individuals would step forward to be a voice on the five global issues addressed on the curriculum – and today we sit with over 70 participants on the project.

People questioned if we’d be able to schedule all of the interviews as most of our interviewees have incredibly busy calendars to schedule around; yet, we have had people bend over backwards to accommodate our schedules. We’ve had interviewees host us at their offices, their churches and their homes - sharing with us their stories and encouraging us along the way!

The number of itineraries we’ve had to piece together has been substantial and the details, at times, are overwhelming! But everything has progressed with minimal glitches along the way. It just goes to show that all things are possible with God and I cannot begin to explain how He has brought this all together.

I live for the moments when I take a step back and realize all that God has done! The past few months have been exactly that – moment after moment where all I can do is share with you that God is at work, we are not alone, and that this world will be reconciled to Him.

Kaylee, Project Manager

 Originally Posted on 3-13-09

I currently find myself sitting at my desk. Yes, my desk. I can’t believe it. It seems that the norm for me these days is airport food, hotel lodging, car rentals and luggage attached to the hip. In fact, I don’t know if someone would recognize me these days without a camera case wheeling behind me with my purse, laptop bag, and at least some other carry-on item hanging from my shoulders.

Here’s a brief snapshot of our traveling routine: We roll into our hotel anywhere from 6 p.m. to 3 a.m. and then awake for the next day of filming anywhere between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. Our days are spent traveling to the various locations where we set up, film the interview, then move on to the next interview location….

I’m a bit tired, a big jet-legged, and quite honestly a bit unsure of how well I’m digesting the on-the-go “fast food” venues…But let me just say one thing: I wouldn’t trade it for the world!

I simply cannot believe that I get to be a part of this project. From front porch rocking chairs to yogurt ice cream shops I’ve met some really, truly amazing individuals doing extraordinary things.

Here’s a run-down of the past couple of months:

The 1st week of February we traveled to Atlanta, Georgia where we sat down to interview Gerald Durley, Sandra Thurman and Zach Hunter. We then drove on over to Jackson, Mississippi where we had interviews with Dolphus Weary, Steve Stirling and John Perkins.

And while we were down south, Mike Seaton was out in New York City filming a teaching session with Pastor Jim Cymbala.

We spent a Sunday afternoon filming Mike Yankoski on the streets of downtown Grand Rapids and then caught an evening flight out to Dallas, Texas. Traveling back and forth in Texas, between Dallas and Waco, we filmed interviews with Amy Sherman, Heidi Unruh, Ron Hall and Denver Moore, and filmed a teaching session with Kay Warren.

While we filmed in Texas we had a crew rolling cameras out in San Diego where we captured interviews with Scott Sabin, Jason Russell and Miles McPherson.

Then we had back-to-back, coast-to-coast trips (with a weekend filming of Brenda Salter McNeil here in Grand Rapids, MI). A trip out east sat us down interviewing Chuck Colson and Ron Nikkel, and we spent an afternoon filming a teaching session with Gary Haugen. Out west we interviewed Joni Eareckson Tada, Dean Hirsch, Bryant Myers and David Batstone. We spent a morning filming John Ortberg.

Last week I was in Chicago, IL filming an interview with Tony Campolo; Madison, Wisconsin filming an interview with Star Parker; and Houghton, NY filming an interview with Shirley Mullen.

This week I was back down in Chicago filming interviews with Princess Zulu, Dr. Smith, Mary Nelson and Noel Castellanos.

We have more interviews coming up, but so far the interviews have been absolutely incredible! I can’t wait for you all to hear what they have to say.

Kaylee, Project Manager