A Tribute to Italo, the Holy Clown
Several years ago, Christian Reformed World Missions missionaries Joel and Marilyn Van Dyke, who live and work in Guatemala City, hosted friends from the United States who were adopting two children from Guatemala.
Scott and Amelia Moore simply asked if the Van Dykes would get them out of the hotel where the adoption agency had placed them because they wanted to see the "real" country of their adopted children.
On one of those occasions, Scott accompanied Joel on a visit to a prison where chaplains were working with incarcerated gang members. A conversation ensued between Scott and a gang member that “became a ticking time-bomb in Scott's heart,” says Joel Van Dyke, director of The Strategy of Transformation, which is supported by CRWM.
The Strategy of Transformation uses a range of ministries, approaches and spiritual exercises in working with people in Guatemala City and elsewhere. It bases its work on the love and message of Jesus Christ by equipping and mobilizing grassroots leaders "who serve those who have been wrongly labeled the least, the last and the lost in marginalized and vulnerable communities."
In the prison, the gang member shared with Scott how Christians were a gang just like the one he was in. But there was a big difference. The gang member said he considered Christianity as a being hypocritical, with people not living out what they preached. On the other hand, he said, his gang was upfront about who they were and what they meant to each other.
Van Dyke says he knows the gang member's view is not true for all of Christianity. He has seen, experienced and heard of the work of Christian leaders and church members reaching out around the world to people typically ignored.
Nonetheless, the conversation with the gang member touched Scott Moore for weeks afterward and, says Van Dyke, he and his wife Amelia, eventually felt called to use their gifts of photography and film-making to document and tell some stories of grassroots leaders from the Estrategia de Transformacion (Strategy of Transformation) network in Guatemala City.
So the Moores made their first film, which chronicled the stories of Tita Evertz and Pastor Erwin "Shorty" Luna, leaders for The Strategy of Transformation, in the full-length documentary film Reparando that was produced more than two years ago and premiered in Michigan in October, 2010.
It was then premiered in Guatemala City in November. Reparando was accepted in various film festivals and also stopped for showings in over 15 cities throughout the U.S. and Canada.
Reparando is rooted in the Guatemalan context that follows the lives and ministries of Evertz and Luna. The film focuses on the micro-enterprise work of a woman known as the "doll lady" who works in the garbage dump in Guatemala City. The woman received a loan from a member of The Strategy for Transformation network to begin a business.
"The response to Reparando in both North America and Central America has been nothing short of amazing," says Van Dyke. "This has led to the dream of doing a second film called Becoming Fools."
The Moores will again work with The Strategy of Transformation. The plan is that this film, says Van Dyke, will feature another member of the EdT missional community in Guatemala City named Italo Castro.
"Italo was a professional clown who dedicated more than 10 years of his life to working with the estimated 4,000 - 6,000 children and youth that live on the streets of Guatemala City, but died tragically this past February in a drowning accident," says Van Dyke.
Italo drowned on Sunday afternoon, Feb.20. He was swimming in a lake after spending the weekend with other clowns at a special event. He was dragged out into the lake by a strong current and drowned. His friends, former street kids then living with Italo, watched helplessly as this man who meant so much to them died.
"Italo lived in kinship with the kids of the street in a manner that I can only describe as absolutely beautiful," Van Dyke wrote in a CRWM blog that served as a memorial to Italo. There is also a CRWM video of Italo on this page.
"Italo lived his life overwhelmed by the daily ‘sudden realization’ that he loved the street kids in Guatemala City, that they were 'his' and he was 'theirs.'"
Becoming Fools will follow Guatemala street youth as they train with professional clowns inspired by Italo's legacy to earn an income and improve their chances for a better future.
Athentikos and the Strategy of Transformation hope the film "will ignite a movement that will bring resources to these organizations and empower these street kids to rise above their situation," says Van Dyke.
In order to make the dream of this film a reality, Athentikos is turning to Kickstarter, an online “crowd-funding” platform, to raise support – in this case more than $100,000 by the end of October — for Becoming Fools.
"Since audiences responded to Reparando in amazing ways, the belief now is that Becoming Fools has the potential to connect to an even broader audience and make a difference in the lives of street youth," says Van Dyke.
Films such as these, says Van Dyke, help bring awareness to the ministries done in the name of Christ and to the many needs faced by people – and children especially – in Guatemala City. For more information on the Strategy of Transformation, visit http://www.crcna.org/pages/crwm_edt.cfm.
