A passion for filmmaking builds God’s kingdom
Andrew Reimer, Operation Mobilization, Lesotho.
Operation Mobilization, Lesotho.
I’ve always loved filmmaking and made tons of little movies as a kid. As I left Bible college, I tried to shake that hobby and focus on ministry, working in the church and camps and with missions. But I’ve spent the last year seeing if I can combine my two passions.
I left last May for Northern Ireland to join Soul Catalyst, a short-filmmaking team with Greater Europe Mission. Their goals are to prompt thought in the audience, and to connect with the local community of unbelieving actors/crew through our shared passion (film) and introduce them to our other passion (Jesus). I had an amazing time there and, in September, I journeyed to Lesotho.
The primary goal of the Operation Mobilization team here in Lesotho is starting and leading discipleship groups. Lesotho has a large population of people who identify as Christian, but haven’t put their faith in Jesus, don’t know they can pray, and are still dependent on witch doctors.
Training in discipleship groups takes someone’s faith from a stamp on a certificate to an active, personal relationship with God. I’ve begun to lead more of these groups as time has gone on, and they’re likely the single most fulfilling part of life here. I always walk back from these meetings with Sekelemane, my host and fellow team member, and we’re both buzzing with excitement from watching God work and people grow.
While we’re asking the question “how will this make disciples?” about everything we do, some answers are more obvious than others. I live in a very agrarian, mountainous village, so simply living (getting food and water, cleaning) takes more time. One of our team members is building a new house, so we spent a week just roofing a while back (this was odd for me; I used to do construction framing and it kind of felt like I’d somehow been transported back to my old job). This place also gets crazy rainstorms, leading to us doing disaster relief. We went to a local school the other week that had its roof peeled off from the wind. We’ve done visitation, training conferences, kid’s ministry, sustainability projects, and much more. But it all comes back to discipleship.
Andrew Reimer assists Sekelemane Khoananyana (inset, holding the discipleship manual) with leading discipleship groups in Lesotho.
To tie it back to the beginning, my personal work is as the team’s videographer. I’ve been making a bunch of little three- to five-minute videos that show what life and ministry is like here. You can find the videos by searching “OM in Lesotho” at YouTube.com.
It’s quite exciting to not only be a part of cutting-edge mission work, but to try my best to capture it in compelling images and create something out of them that can encourage others. It’s either uneventful, exhausting or exhilarating on any given day, and I’m grateful for the chance to use my passions for the kingdom.
