Video Will Show CRWM Work in Mexico

Jeff Cooke always had at least two cameras with him, one a video camera and the other for still photos, as he recently filmed and photographed family parties, Bible studies, church services and interviews with Christian Reformed World Missions (CRWM) missionaries in Mexico.

“I must admit that the trip to Mexico was much more than I could have ever expected,” says Cooke, a member of one of the five teams of Dordt College digital media students involved in a joint, CRWM/Dordt College missions-video project to document CRWM’s work in Mexico.

“I expected to go to Mexico, get the story and then be on my way. However . . . we saw everything that went on whether good or bad . . . We saw the conditions that many of the Mexicans lived in and how their culture sometimes had a positive or negative impact on them,” says Cooke.

The Dordt video teams traveled at different times in December of last year and in January of this year with their professor, Mark Volkers, to film CRWM ministries and their work with partner organizations.

CRWM and Prairie Grass Productions, the production company that is part of Dordt's major in Digital Media, have had a long relationship/friendship, says Volkers, who served with CRWM for almost 10 years before coming to Dordt in Sioux Center, Iowa, to start the college’s program in digital media production.

Out of discussions to undertake a media project, Volkers and CRWM decided to highlight the mission agency’s work in Mexico. Containing hours of video, the project is in the process of being edited and should be available for viewing later this summer.

Bill Thornburg, a CRWM missions education specialist, says the agency joined with Dordt College to send the teams to capture work being done in two cities along the U.S.-Mexico border, three cities in the central highlands, and one in southeastern Mexico.

He said he was impressed by the enthusiasm that the Dordt students have brought back with them from their experiences and looks forward to seeing the results of their work.

CRWM missionaries have worked alongside national and international partners in Mexico for many years.

They focus on “equipping our national partners for greater capacity in church planting and development, leadership training and development, and transformational ministries,” says the CRWM website. These partners include the National Presbyterian Church and the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Mexico.

“From my perspective, it couldn't have been better,” says Volkers of the time he and his teams spent in Mexico. “We hear of all the violence in Mexico, but we experienced nothing even close to that. The missionaries were fantastic hosts and our students got some amazing experience as filmmakers in another country.”

Students returned with many hours of “precious footage which we'll use to cut a new film about the work in Mexico,” says Volkers.

Equally important, all of the footage will be placed in the CRWM archives for individual missionaries to use for projects. The footage will also be available for promotional pieces, short webisodes and more.

Volkers says one pair of his 10 students visited Cuernavaca and Mexico City, which are located in the same area. Other teams covered Tijuana, Merida, Guadalajara, and El Paso/Juarez.

Volkers was at each location, working with each pair of students “not only to help them in their work of filming and interviewing but also acting as the on-camera host for this project.”

Dordt College film major Matt Bonnema, who served as a cameraman on one of the trips, says he encountered many people of strong faith in Mexico, giving him the sense that God is truly at work in the country. At the same time, he says, people in Mexico are still in need of support and prayer.

“The job is not finished,” says Bonnema. “My hope is that this project will educate people about what is going on in Mexico, and help raise support and prayer for the missionaries and the people of Mexico.”

Vero Visser Galvan, another Dordt video team member, says she and her partner would film everything together from different angles — the exact same "scene" but from different "points of view."

“We both worked really well together, supporting each other when we needed to, and just combining our strengths to give the best of ourselves,” she says.

Galvan says she is grateful that she was able to conduct some interviews with people they met and filmed because she is fluent in Spanish.

She returned from Mexico impressed and amazed “by how God works through relationships, and how everybody at the different ministries we visited was so welcoming right away.”

Galvan was especially moved by the time and commitment that missionaries devote to their work “and how they really make a difference in the places they live — their lives bring the light of Jesus to the people who are living in darkness.”

Overall, she says, she gained a powerful sense of what God is doing through CRWM. “We've seen so many humbled hearts, people full of joy, love and God,” she says.

Steve Van Zanen, CRWM Director for Missions Education & Engagement, says he has high hopes for the video project.

“My hope is that this project will not only show the challenge of ministry in Mexico but also the growth of our partner churches there. They are doing remarkable ministry and our missionaries are playing an important role in building their capacity to serve our common Lord.”