My Story

I stared at the computer screen with a slight sense of shame.

Mandy, the director of the home building program at Potter's House sat next to me as we watched the rough cut of a video I'd made.  Each flaw in the video seemed to reach out of the screen and slap me.

The video finished playing and I hesitantly met her gaze.  Tears flowed down her face as she shook her head.  "That's it! That's exactly what we've been trying to communicate!"  All I could utter out was, "Well I'll need to fix a lot of things and..."

"Why?" Mandy interrupted, her tone suggesting the video belonged to her.  "It's perfect.  I wouldn't change a thing."

Three days later a large banner with the script of the video was hung in the main corridor at Potter's House.  One volunteer walking by said, "What a poem! Really adds perspective.  Wonder who wrote it..." I smiled coolly and kept its author secret, imagining I was Bruce Wayne.*

By the end of my six-week stint with Potter's House, the five videos I produced had gathered more YouTube views than the twenty-four videos that had preceded them.

My mind searched for clues as to why the videos performed so well.  Practicaly reasons came to mind, like how each video had a specific plan for its distribution.  But as I considered these things, my heart held a clarity that my mind did not.

One year earlier I was leaving the Philadelphia airport in the driver's seat of a large van with Hector, the CEO of Potter's House.  He invited me to make videos in Guatemala.  In that moment, an unmistakeable nudge hit my stomach--God made sure I would not forget what would otherwise have been a forgettable invitation.

In Exodus, God asks a timid Moses, "What is that in your hand?"  He proceeds to use Moses' ordinary staff for extraordinary things.

In my hand is a camera.  Whether God uses it for grand miracles or mundane tasks is up to Him.  Regardless, I will use it as His faithful servant, even if it means one year's worth of Guatemalan beans and tortillas for breakfast.

*Bruce Wayne is the man who keeps his alter ego, Batman, a secret
**I am Batman

For those desiring a more straight-forward description of my story: 

The first 9 years of my life were spent mostly as a missionary kid in Lima, Peru and later Caracas, Venezuela. My family moved to the Philadelphia suburbs in 1997 where I attended school.  After graduating from Grove City College in 2011 with a degree in Entrepreneurship, I began a career-focus of faith-based non-profit work. Since 2012, I've been working as a videographer for faith based non-profits.