It was a Monday after hundreds of miles driven across 4 states and we were sitting down to do what would became one of the most encouraging and difficult interviews I’ve ever had to conduct. We were in the home of Philip and Lori Sealy who are church planters in Ocean Springs, MS. Mid-South Church Planting Network had hired us to do what would become our very first video project we’ve ever produced together as a married team. While Mid-South is not an MTW ministry, we were connected to them through our church and it is a ministry of the Presbyterian Church in America. We very much believe in their mission to plant churches in the south in areas where thousands still have not encountered Christ’s love for them. This particular day we were approaching our job with a lot of fatigue and even more nerves. We were interviewing a couple who had had months of terrible news as they learned Philip had stage 4 melanoma that had metastasized and had been given months to live. We sat with them in their living room hearing about the diagnosis, how bad it is, the reality that Philip may not make it through the year, and more than any other topic we heard about…the beauty of what God was doing in the midst of it. They spoke with such conviction and even peace as they explained with assurance that God would use even Philip’s potential death to spread the Gospel and make His name known among those who have a “much deeper eternal trial.” After about an hour, Philip didn’t feel too great, so we packed up our things, filmed them around town, and hit the road one last time headed for home.
How would we tell this story? What does a video about a church plant with a pastor who may not make it to see the church actually begin look like? When asked about how we put these stories together, I always like to say, “God tells the stories.” And this was no exception. As we began to work together on the first storyline we would craft together, it became clear the story God was telling here. It was one of hope in the midst of suffering and not a hope with fingers crossed. It was a story of the hope we have in Jesus no matter the depth of our suffering. It was a story of how God uses even our weeping to give others the only real hope in this world. Just a couple of weeks ago we completed the film and made the video public online for folks to watch. Soon after it went live we heard from Lori again. Her text that morning read:
“Hey Murray. Wanted to encourage you and Claire where this video is concerned. I have had numerous private messages from unbelieving (even strongly atheistic) friends who have watched and been moved to ask questions. One (an atheistic high school bud whom I've interacted with regularly for years) even said he'd begun to pray for us. I asked him (with a wink) who he was praying to and he said: "I guess to your God!" I told him I was earnestly praying that my God would become his God. And he said: "That might be closer to happening!" She went on to say…
“The coolest one may be this: I ran into the bank to make a deposit yesterday, and one of the tellers had shown the video to everyone else in the bank. In God's providence there were no other customers and conversation and questions ensued. I was in there for over 40 minutes talking about gospel hope in suffering. I literally was invited to sit down and tell all of them about Jesus and the real time tangible help and hope He is in this life. Thank you for using your art to help us find a new catalyst for conversation with others. Oh, that Jesus would be seen and known and cherished here on the coast of Mississippi ... and in Baton Rouge ... and in every corner of His creation.”
Amen! To all of you who make this ministry possible, thank you! After the year we’ve had we feel more confirmed in this calling to do films for MTW than ever before. We are more convinced than ever that God can use videos to give hope. We are more sure than ever going into 2020 that God is calling us to do this as a team and that we are able to tell stories better together. As we begin to raise support for Murray to officially join the ministry in 2020, please consider partnering with us whether for the first time or through an increased donation. Please consider our ministry for your year-end giving, and please continue to pray that Lori’s atheistic friends, the bank tellers, and the people we don’t even know about who will see these videos will come to know our true and living God. Be on the lookout in December as we’ll send the video of Philip and Lori’s story in our year-end online newsletter. Thank you for your partnership and thank you for sending us!
~With love this Christmas,
Claire and Murray