Five years ago I found myself sitting next to a dumpster, rubbing my sore feet, taking a break from hauling medical furniture from one warehouse to the next...I had walked thirty miles in three days...back and forth between warehouses...but, as I moved the equipment, I thanked God for the opportunity to start my life over, as uncertain as it was, and asked Him how I could work for Him full-time. As I sat there for a moment to rest, I heard the words..."Photography, Getting Dirty, and Missions." I knew this had to be from God, because missions had never been on my radar up till that moment...I said, "Yes," to God but what I couldn't know was the journey He would take me on to this date.
A long story short...God began to guide me through a series of events that took my life down the path He predicted for me five years ago.
Through a lot of surrendering, learning, and giving back, my life started to change rapidly to what it has become today.
Four and a half years ago I had a mountain top conversation with a close friend about starting a video ministry with children...I said , "Yes," and we prayed about it...
Three months later I owned a small video camera, three months later I was on my first mission trip in the mountains of Jamaica filming and taking pictures of children in need for the first time.
It was there, at the age of 38, that I realized for the first time in my life, what I was supposed to do...and that was to use my talents with photography (and newly found video) to promote the plight of the less fortunate...my life was forever changed. I said, "Yes, and praised God for an unseen future and thanked God for what He was working on in my life even though I couldn't see it yet.
Next, my pictures from Jamaica were on display at church, I had an impromptu conversation with a man I barely knew, he hired me to learn video and editing.
I ended up in Guyana, South America, TWICE, bringing awareness to the poverty, AIDS epidemic, and struggle of an elderly woman and her grandchildren living in total poverty...my life was, again, forever changed.
I lost my job due the economy, my wife and I felt we were supposed to start a non profit called "The Mission Advocates" to promote missions, ministries, and non profits that couldn't normally afford video promotions in the worst possible year anyone could start anything...let alone, a non profit... but...life was forever changed...we were faithful and God was too...we said, Yes."
God turned my attentions to the mission in my backyard through Celebrate Recovery, where, through saying ,"Yes" to a series of God events, I ended up leading the ministry...this was not comfortable for me...but God was refining my heart and teaching me to lean on Him and not make life about me...God was teaching me to love when it was not easy to love...again, my life was forever changed...
Then God had me work harder on the mission that is my own household, focusing on being a better husband, a better father, and a better son...and that is where I am now...five years later...a man, who is continually being forever changed, one, "Yes" at a time.
But in all of this I have been trying to learn not to get ahead of God's timeline for me and to not create my own timeline...I am trying to ACTUALLY better communicate with God and TRULY TRUST GOD in all of my decisions no matter how large or how small.
Recently, through events only God can orchestrate, the Executive Director of a non-profit called, Vernacular Video Mission International or VVMI, http://www.vvmi.org/ , has asked me to go to the Philippines to teach, fellow VVMI partners on the ground how to better be efficient in the pre-production, video production, and post production methods they now use on the islands to spread the Gospel. (VVMI partners with and equips ethnic Christians, around the world, to proclaim the Gospel through video and other media in their own common languages.) Filipinos are literally packing in a projector, a generator, gasoline in coke bottles, a white sheet to project the movies on, Bibles to hand out, and a message of "THE GOOD NEWS" across the unreached people groups along the mountain ranges, in order to share the Gospel with their fellow Filipinos!!! The cool things is, people are actually being reached...missions and ministries are truly advancing...churches are literally mobilizing on foot...people are actually being reached that would other wise never hear the Gospel! Now that's something I can get excited about!!!
I Praise God for the opportunity to go and be apart of something like that! God has been working on me...changing me, molding me, even training me...for a time such as this.
We all live in finical hard times...the economy stinks...trust me when I say, "I'm living the dream too." But I really believe God is calling me to do this type of ministry. I am saying, "Yes," to God and giving of myself, my time, and my visual gifts He has given me on loan, to give back, by trying to be the hands and feet of Jesus. I will be able to do God's work in the Philippines, only if I have a team of warriors to support me here in the States. I need prayer support and financial support in order to go. I know times are tough...but it would be a blessing if you would pray about if God wants to use you in this ministry. Whether through prayer or contribution...anything at all...any amount...it all ads up.
Thank you for considering being apart of something that you will probably never physically see or feel the repercussions of in your life time...but isn't that how God works? I know, without a shadow of a doubt, through your giving, in a time when giving seems impossible...lives will be changed because of the decisions you're making now.
Unfortunately, we live in turbulent times. I can't give out exactly when I will be leaving. Just know, now is the time to act. If you do decide to give monetarily, please make your check out to VVMI and put Deric's Mission Trip in the memo. The address for VVMI is: PO Box 37 Austin, MN 55912.
If you have friends in other churches who might be interested in knowing about this out-of-the-box ministry, feel free to send them my email...dericcookphotography@yahoo.com...or more importantly send them to http://www.vvmi.org/ email Colin Edwards the Executive Director of VVMI at cjedwards@vvmi.org.
Again, thank you.
In His Grip,
Deric Cook
A long story short...God began to guide me through a series of events that took my life down the path He predicted for me five years ago.
Through a lot of surrendering, learning, and giving back, my life started to change rapidly to what it has become today.
Four and a half years ago I had a mountain top conversation with a close friend about starting a video ministry with children...I said , "Yes," and we prayed about it...
Three months later I owned a small video camera, three months later I was on my first mission trip in the mountains of Jamaica filming and taking pictures of children in need for the first time.
It was there, at the age of 38, that I realized for the first time in my life, what I was supposed to do...and that was to use my talents with photography (and newly found video) to promote the plight of the less fortunate...my life was forever changed. I said, "Yes, and praised God for an unseen future and thanked God for what He was working on in my life even though I couldn't see it yet.
Next, my pictures from Jamaica were on display at church, I had an impromptu conversation with a man I barely knew, he hired me to learn video and editing.
I ended up in Guyana, South America, TWICE, bringing awareness to the poverty, AIDS epidemic, and struggle of an elderly woman and her grandchildren living in total poverty...my life was, again, forever changed.
I lost my job due the economy, my wife and I felt we were supposed to start a non profit called "The Mission Advocates" to promote missions, ministries, and non profits that couldn't normally afford video promotions in the worst possible year anyone could start anything...let alone, a non profit... but...life was forever changed...we were faithful and God was too...we said, Yes."
God turned my attentions to the mission in my backyard through Celebrate Recovery, where, through saying ,"Yes" to a series of God events, I ended up leading the ministry...this was not comfortable for me...but God was refining my heart and teaching me to lean on Him and not make life about me...God was teaching me to love when it was not easy to love...again, my life was forever changed...
Then God had me work harder on the mission that is my own household, focusing on being a better husband, a better father, and a better son...and that is where I am now...five years later...a man, who is continually being forever changed, one, "Yes" at a time.
But in all of this I have been trying to learn not to get ahead of God's timeline for me and to not create my own timeline...I am trying to ACTUALLY better communicate with God and TRULY TRUST GOD in all of my decisions no matter how large or how small.
Recently, through events only God can orchestrate, the Executive Director of a non-profit called, Vernacular Video Mission International or VVMI, http://www.vvmi.org/ , has asked me to go to the Philippines to teach, fellow VVMI partners on the ground how to better be efficient in the pre-production, video production, and post production methods they now use on the islands to spread the Gospel. (VVMI partners with and equips ethnic Christians, around the world, to proclaim the Gospel through video and other media in their own common languages.) Filipinos are literally packing in a projector, a generator, gasoline in coke bottles, a white sheet to project the movies on, Bibles to hand out, and a message of "THE GOOD NEWS" across the unreached people groups along the mountain ranges, in order to share the Gospel with their fellow Filipinos!!! The cool things is, people are actually being reached...missions and ministries are truly advancing...churches are literally mobilizing on foot...people are actually being reached that would other wise never hear the Gospel! Now that's something I can get excited about!!!
I Praise God for the opportunity to go and be apart of something like that! God has been working on me...changing me, molding me, even training me...for a time such as this.
We all live in finical hard times...the economy stinks...trust me when I say, "I'm living the dream too." But I really believe God is calling me to do this type of ministry. I am saying, "Yes," to God and giving of myself, my time, and my visual gifts He has given me on loan, to give back, by trying to be the hands and feet of Jesus. I will be able to do God's work in the Philippines, only if I have a team of warriors to support me here in the States. I need prayer support and financial support in order to go. I know times are tough...but it would be a blessing if you would pray about if God wants to use you in this ministry. Whether through prayer or contribution...anything at all...any amount...it all ads up.
Thank you for considering being apart of something that you will probably never physically see or feel the repercussions of in your life time...but isn't that how God works? I know, without a shadow of a doubt, through your giving, in a time when giving seems impossible...lives will be changed because of the decisions you're making now.
Unfortunately, we live in turbulent times. I can't give out exactly when I will be leaving. Just know, now is the time to act. If you do decide to give monetarily, please make your check out to VVMI and put Deric's Mission Trip in the memo. The address for VVMI is: PO Box 37 Austin, MN 55912.
If you have friends in other churches who might be interested in knowing about this out-of-the-box ministry, feel free to send them my email...dericcookphotography@yahoo.com...or more importantly send them to http://www.vvmi.org/ email Colin Edwards the Executive Director of VVMI at cjedwards@vvmi.org.
Again, thank you.
In His Grip,
Deric Cook
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