:: Vision of Jim Gregg

I have a vision from God …

"To produce exceptional documentaries of missionaries and their work".

This is to be accomplished by visiting the missionary on-field, immersed in the surrounding culture. The video is to be produced at no cost to the missionary or the sending or supporting churches or organizations.

The video is to be used to show what is happening in the field, giving viewers a better feel for what it really is like. I want to give a sense of place, a feeling of actually being there beside the missionary as they perform their calling. Used as a means of gathering financial and prayer support for the work being done at the mission.

All of my Christian life I have cringed when missionaries came home on furlough to tell of their work. They would arrive at church with 2 carrousels of slides that would bore you to death. Out of focus, too dark or blown out, off center, and every one of the same pretty bush with different couples holding bibles posed in front. I dreamt of how I could make such a beautiful presentation that would edify the work and not make is so drab. I want to show a sense of place, what the land is like, the people, the missionaries work.

During a 2 ½ year lay off in 2000, I returned to college and got a degree in professional photography. While in school I joined the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) as a student member. In August of 2003 they held a career day at Lake Dillon where a professional coach came in to help the members renew the fire that brought them into photography in the first place.

Throughout the day we struggled with defining what made us click and what put a sparkle in our eyes in our chosen profession. I opened my heart to God and sometime in mid-afternoon my vision became crystal clear. At the end of the session we had to tell what we came up with. Most had thoughts of how to improve their business or make more money. When I told of my vision it fell on deaf ears.

The next week I told my career counselor at school about my vision. He was less than enthusiastic about it since it was the schools job to produce professional photographers who wanted to make a living with their skills.

In April of 2005 I went to Manyatta, Kenya to produce a test documentary. If you view the video I made you will come away knowing what it would be like to visit there yourself. That is my goal. Although I did not spend as much time editing the video as I would for a real missionary, it proved to me my ability to capture and present a meaningful work. It satisfies my soul and I feel at peace with God for it.

It involves creativity, artistry, photographic eye, persistence, my love of nature, my love of the small things that make up life, my love of working with people, my newly opened love of working with the poorest of poor, my love of traveling to diverse place, my love of seeking out the unordinary and unusual, and on and on, etc.

I believe I have an anointing to capture the sense of place when I take photographs. I capture the moment that brings people expressions to life. I took the most meaningful photographs in my life while in Kenya. I am creative from the inward depths of my being in a real world way. Not overly glamorous but realistic with feeling.

I feel in my heart that this is what God has placed me on earth to accomplish in my latter years. I have never thought of retiring to the couch to wild away my remaining years. I feel it in my soul. I feel my spirit screaming out to accomplish this dream. I have asked Father to confirm this vision to my spirit and I feel confident that this is my vision. Therefore I must perform it to the fullest of my ability. I must. I must.

That is it in a nutshell: My Vision. It can be defined. It can be laid out as tasks to do. It is concise and to the point. It is manageable. It is doable. It is desirable. It makes me feel fulfilled just thinking about it. I loved every moment of it of the experience.

Now the journey begins. The fun begins. I am exhilarated thinking about it. All of my Christian life I have felt that God had something in store for me to do. I knew it would involve working with people. I knew it would be something great and fulfilling in my life. When I returned from Kenya I knew I wanted to do more documentaries.

But that is where Satan jumped in and knocked the wind out of my sails. I feel into a dismal world of just making it. I was resolved to just retiring on a starvation income to live out my remaining years. But the haunting of this vision kept coming up and bothering my spirit. I am terribly depressed with my life feeling trapped in this meaningless job.

In the past 5 months my spiritual life has made a drastic change. I feel God working in me and with me. I feel called to do His work. I have a vivid vision. I feel anointed to do the work.

I have been golden handcuffed to a high paying computer job all of my life. It has made me a lot of money and helped raise my family. But it leaves me cold and depressed with where my life is going. Two or three years after starting on computers, I became dissatisfied with the work and have been toying with ways to break free. Until now nothing has ever worked.

I am ready for the forge of time to mould me into the person whom God has made. Before my birth God has prepared me for this vision. It is woven into the fabric of my being. It is what I was made for. It is what I must be doing to find fulfillment and true happiness. I do not ask for riches to make me wealthy only. I ask for wealth my Father, so that I can produce documentaries free of charge to the missionaries and their sending churches to use to educate their people of their work. The outcome is to generate generous offerings to the work. I seek nothing in return except the rich reward of actually doing the work and being involved with the people.

That is my goal Father. My vision is laid out to You.

I made a test documentary in April of 2005 when I went to Manyatta, Kenya with Terry Bruns as he visited a small church and the 47 orphans they care for. Terry had been ministering to them over the internet for the previous 2 years. It was the most wonderful enriching experience of my life. I was outside myself as I worked with the people capturing the documentary. Time stood still. I was totally immersed in the process. I have never felt more fulfilled and worthwhile in all my life. I want to continue doing this until God moves me in another direction.