What is the CIMT?

You want the scoop on what we are doing in Haiti?




WHAT:

"The Caribbean Institute of Media Technologies" is a first-of-its-kind media training school, with the specific goal of offering technology-based storytelling skills to those living in underdeveloped nations.

The PRIMARY GOAL is to turn tools of MASS COMMUNICATION (i.e. TV & Radio) into tools of MASS EDUCATION. In so doing, we will partner our students with experts in every field (i.e. reforestation, literacy, health care, etc.) to create extremely high-quality educational programming, and then freely* broadcast those messages around Haiti via DVD field kits, broadcast transmission, internet, and so on. This initiative immediately overcomes several of Haiti's most significant educational challenges:

- Infrastructure. By cooperating with pre-existing NGOs, we can make our materials freely available and thereby experience a groundswell of distribution through non traditional means (like DVD field kits: a player, projector, speaker, screen, and power supply... either solar or generator). To supplement the grassroots distribution, existing infrastructure (TV and radio broadcast towers) will be used to its fullest potential. As demand increases and funding becomes available, additional transmission towers can be erected and more communities can install learning centers where the material is available via satellite streaming of the internet.

- Accessibility. Under this plan, everyone in a village has immediate access to the same quality education. This means that those who are presently excluded from gaining an education (i.e. children who cannot afford a uniform, shoes, or books as well as adults of all ages who have long-since missed out on the opportunity to gain a quality education) can now receive an education that actually rivals that of the expensive schools.

- Illiteracy. Haiti's illiteracy rate is between 52% and 88%. TV and radio immediately allows access to an education for those who cannot read or write. As a matter of fact, with TV we can actually teach literacy!

- Poorly trained teachers. Out of Haiti's 8 million people, very few are teachers. Even fewer are properly trained teachers. Many can barely read themselves and rely heavily upon memorization methods for their students. The resulting "education" is powerless to engage the mind in ways that can lead to sustainable solutions to Haiti's many problems. Our educational materials will engage the minds of viewers in ways that Haiti has thus far not experienced. It is not meant to replace the local teachers but to finally support them with an extremely valuable resource.

- Segmentation. In Haiti, educational materials are generally not crafted to meet the specific educational needs of the age groups. With audio and video educational resources, programs can be targeted directly to age groups and those with special needs (i.e. animation for children, documentaries for adults, and so forth).

- Effectiveness & Sustainability. By pairing our professional storytellers with experts in every field, now every school in possession of our educational resource kit will be able to share highly effective, extremely well-informed information, presented in Kreyol "for Haitians, by Haitians." The resulting "ownership" this causes is essential for the country and for the sustainability of the project.

This is a PILOT PROGRAM. Upon successful completion of the model, it shall be made available for expansion into other underdeveloped nations.

WHO:

While we are excited about seeing this program expand into other underdeveloped nations, our attention is presently focused on the Haitian people and the establishment of a functional program and a stable learning environment inside of Haiti.

WHERE:

The first operational campus of "The Caribbean Institute of Media Technologies" will be based in Cap Haitien, Haiti.

As soon as possible, we will be expanding to include several satellite classrooms elsewhere in Haiti.

WHEN:

We have been conducting ongoing media technology training in Haiti for the past year. Thus far, the response has been remarkable and has pushed us confidently into the next phase of our vision.

We are presently on course to open our first full-time classes in 2009.

HOW:

Haiti is a unique country, built upon a very provocative and volatile history. In its present state, due to the challenges that come with extreme poverty, the resulting social instability, and an overwhelming lack of basic modernization, selecting eligible students and offering them an education in "creative storytelling" requires an approach that is equally unique and culturally relevant. The result is an often non-traditional method of teaching, valuing functionality over form, and drawing from a wide variety of available curriculums, resources, and disciplines.

This program will be "decidedly different" from similarly rated programs in the United States.

"The creative equivalent of a monastery", the institute is a refuge from the struggle of survival and a sanctuary of imagination wherein each student can safely explore and refine their own voice, method, and style in a timeframe that is decidedly unique, determined more by their personal journey than by formula.

Through the pursuit of "creative community" with our students, we strive to not only teach a set of critical storytelling skills, but to likewise imbue and refine a profound sense of confidence within the heart and mind of each student, thereby affording them the confidence to use their burgeoning skills under any circumstance they may face.

The primary educational goal of the the school is to train "creative storytellers" using current and expanding forms of media technologies. We are passionate about seeing each student achieve a level of mastery and refinement in their ability that is deserving of the finest storytelling opportunities to come.

Excellence is our educational objective.

-----

Please take the time to visit our website (<- Click here) to get personally involved!



It's all right there!

*The use of the word "freely" here is intended to say that the end-viewer is not going to be charged anything to have access to the material. Clearly, the ability to spread these educational messages, whether through DVD field kits or electronic broadcasts, is a costly proposition. That is one of the reasons that you are so vital to what is being done!

POLLS ADDED.

Hey there readers, I have just decided to try my hand at polling for a while. Certainly, my readership is not staggeringly high at this time... but why not try anyway?

Please feel free to check back weekly for a new poll. If this first one doesn't gather much response, I may try leaving it up for a smidgen longer than one week, just to get the fire burning.

Thanks!
Luke

Time to write again?

It's been 4 days. Sorry for the lack of content. Really, I am just trying to let the trailer linger a bit longer.

This is a big week for us. Two significant things will be happening.

First, we will proudly release a music video for a song written and performed by The Elms. Through a generous partnership, Owen Thomas (lead singer for The Elms) and I have seen fit to unite our separate visions for this powerful tune and deliver the resulting maxi single. Details will emerge shortly as to how you can get a copy of the video, as well as a detailed exposé on how both the song and the video came to be.

Second, our website's "splash page" should be up and running this week as well. This page will finally present our "Columbus Day" teaser along with a countdown to the website's official launch. From there, in a matter of weeks, we will be off to the races, airing the TV show and trying to raise the necessary funds to get this school off of the launch pad.

I will be sure to let all of you know when these things "officially" happen. Until then, please pray for the people of Haiti. They have been devastated by the recent hurricanes. They could really use your prayers.

Sincerely,
Luke

A solemn reminder.

You know it's things like "hurricanes" that folks in Indiana never really pay much attention to. Of course, that all changes when you pack up and move to sunny Florida.



Hanna is headed our way soon but for now, she is pummeling the islands of the Caribbean. As you read this, if you are a praying person, please say a prayer for the people of Haiti right now.

In 2004, flash flooding killed so many people in Gonaives. The same is happening again. In addition, some of the very places that I filmed this past July, the poorest parts of Haiti, are presently underwater.

People are dying tonight. Water is killing them. Pray for God's mercy and for capable men to wake up.

This should not be happening.

Life is cruel.

Today, I was digging through a large storage bin, looking for an air pump. Samara and Samuel hadn't been on a good bike ride since winter and they were more than eager to fix that.

As I stood there, tossing deflated pool floats and diving sticks to one side or the other, a blood-curdling scream... I mean A BLOOD CURDLING SCREAM... came from the side of the house.

It was our three-year-old daughter, Emma.



As soon as I detected that this was a genuine scream (not born of sibling rivalry), I dropped my scavenger hunt and rushed out of the lanai.

Emma met me half way, stomping her feet like a well-trained soldier and screaming the most awful screams I have ever heard any child produce.

She was overcome with terror. Desperately, I tried to understand her words, but the screaming grew louder and her stomping more fierce. That's when I saw them.

Emma's tiny little feet were completely black... covered in FIRE ANTS!.

She was being eaten alive (if you'll allow me the melodrama)!

Quickly, I grabbed her and ripped the imitation crocs from her piggies. With her tucked tightly underneath my arm, I rushed toward a water spicket and dialed it up to full blast, unscrewing the hose as fast as I was able.

It wasn't fast enough.

Her screams were more than this father could bear. In a moment of desperation, I abandoned the hose and ran straight to the pool, plunging her tiny body into the water.

It was awful.

-----

This is a hard world for so many; those who seem to deserve it least, often get the brunt of life's ugliest manifestations. Monsters really do exist and they lurk in broad daylight. Some are corporations. Some are political systems. Some are religions. Some are ants. But usually, most monsters are nothing more than ordinary people.

I know people, right now, who are preying on others. I don't mean that I know of them... I mean that I know them. Some of them know what they are doing. Some of them have no idea whatsoever, thinking themselves to be virtuous. The latter are more dangerous than the former.

I encourage us all to check ourselves today. Explore your motivations. Dig deep into your own cause and effect. Are you merely searching for your things to possess? Are you a trusted leader, privately bound by your very own perversions, but publicly adored and trusted? Do you slip silently beneath the radar of exposure but know full-well what horrible beast you are, in your core?

If you are in power and abusing it... may God have mercy on your soul.

-----

For the rest of you...

Good people are not here to make the world good. Good people are here to keep the world from becoming absolutely consumed by evil.

-----

I blasted the anthill back to God with the garden hose. I decimated it.

I know, I know... the ant's actions were done in self-defense. My action was done in vengeance.

You see?

We all have a monster inside.

Anyone feeling up to a rummage sale?

Well friends, we are officially here at the end of August and we have come SO FAR with your gracious support of this vision. Now, we are down to the wire financially. With an initial goal of $4,100... I'll have to admit, we knew that it would pretty well have to be God if this was going to come together.

$3,777.00 later... we are BLOWN AWAY! Thank you all SO MUCH for your help. One family even made TWO contributions! Now THERE'S an idea!

What an absolute blessing you have all been.

To give you an update, we are still going to miss the mark... not by much... but it's a miss nonetheless. A few bills remain that we cannot pay... and with a hurricane on the way, it probably goes without saying that some supplies are in order. I'm thankful either way but I won't lie, getting this close, only to fall so short... is kind of a bummer.

While we are getting geared up to be drenched by HANNAH (how appropriate... our teenage daughter is named Hannah... she'll be the death of me after all !!!), I wanted to encourage any of you who might wanna sell some lemonade, have a rummage sale, or drop some junk on craigslist... please consider what you can do to put us back into the black. It genuinely won't take much and it will really make this month one heck of a success story.

So you know, I am already booking dates to work in September and November. In other words, I wasn't lying when I said it was just for this month. You are not getting roped into anything here. Help us swing for the fences just one last time.

You say you want some proof? You wanna know what we have ACTUALLY BEEN DOING this month? Well, okay then. Fair enough.

If you need a little encouragement, click here for a 2 minute peek at some video from this month's labor. Granted, there are nearly 30 MINUTES of really great, highly polished content, so forgive me, but I can only let a little bit of it "out of the bag" at the moment.

In other news... a music video premiere is imminent (in connection with a simultaneous single from a major-label band). Our official website is being designed (as we speak) and is being strategized for an exciting launch. Our ability to process credit and debit cards is underway and we have also begun the process of securing airtime for this 30-minute TV fundraising campaign.

You want more? Okay!

Our school's location in Haiti HAS BEEN OFFICALLY SECURED! I'm telling you what... this has been one SWEET SWEET MONTH.

Help us crack the bottle over this ship and let her sail.

BIG THINGS ARE ABOUT TO HAPPEN!!!

-----

If you wish to send us some support, you may do so one of two ways:

For those who would like a tax-deductible receipt please make your check out to ReNET and designate it for “Haiti”. ReNET is acting as our 501(c)3 umbrella while our own application is in process. You may then mail that check to

ReNET
2867 N. 200 E.
Anderson IN 46012.

If you don’t need a receipt then you can just make the check out to Luke Renner and send it to us directly. If you wanna do that, let me know and I will email you our home address.

Either way, I would appreciate an email alerting me to the incoming support so that I can keep track of where we’re at.

So close... we can TASTE IT!!!

We only need $423.00!!!!
Any takers?

If you wish to send us some support, you may do so one of two ways:

For those who would like a tax-deductible receipt please make your check out to ReNET and designate it for “Haiti”. ReNET is acting as our 501(c)3 umbrella while our own application is in process. You may then mail that check to

ReNET
2867 N. 200 E.
Anderson IN 46012.

If you don’t need a receipt then you can just make the check out to Luke Renner and send it to us directly. If you wanna do that, let me know and I will email you our home address.

Either way, I would appreciate an email alerting me to the incoming support so that I can keep track of where we’re at.

STOP - Quotin' Time!

M.C. Hammer should be so proud. I hereby offer to you some tasty bits of other people's wisdom. After all of my enormo-long-errific-mega-posts, these little quips should do well to remind us all that less really IS more... that brevity is the soul of wit (W. Shakespeare).

"Admiration: Our polite recognition of another's resemblance to ourselves."

- Ambrose Bierce

"People who have given us their complete confidence believe that they have a right to ours. The inference is false; a gift confers no rights."

- Nietzsche

"Every man thinks God is on his side. The rich and powerful know he is."

- Jean Anouilh

"We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another."

- Jonathan Swift

"The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you're still a rat."

- Lily Tomlin

Lots of motion in the ocean!

Well friends, thanks for tolerating the little piece of creative writing below. Save for the poetic license, that little story about my iPhone is absolutely true. What a hoot!


As promised, here is where things stand for us right now.

The original goal was to raise $4,100.
At present, we have been blessed with $3,321.00!!!


That was QUITE the hill to climb. Careless on my part? Perhaps.
But you guys are proving that COMMUNITY WORKS!

IT TAKES A VILLAGE
We are SO THANKFUL to all of you who have joined us in this vision.
Friends and family alike have accepted this challenge with us and we are making some real progress with this opportunity.

As I have said before, we have taken your contributions very seriously and have been working very hard to make the most of this month. So far, the success has been remarkable. Thanks again.



GETTING INVOLVED
For those who still wish to get involved, we are in need of a remaining $779.00. This amount will "seal the deal" and keep us from going bottom-up in any department. To be clear, we are NOT asking for ongoing support. This is NOT a long-term commitment. Rather, we are asking you for a one-time contribution toward our expenses for this month, thereby allowing me to work at home on several key pieces of promotional material.

If you wish to help us with the final amount... in any way... please don't delay any longer. Our time is running out. So far the largest contribution has been $1,000. The smallest has been $100. But let's be clear, if 39 people gave $20, we would be out of the woods. You get the picture.

The point is, ANY amount will help.

If you wish to send us some support, you may do so one of two ways:

For those who would like a tax-deductible receipt please make your check out to ReNET and designate it for “Haiti”. ReNET is acting as our 501(c)3 umbrella while our own application is in process. You may then mail that check to

ReNET
2867 N. 200 E.
Anderson IN 46012.

If you don’t need a receipt then you can just make the check out to Luke Renner and send it to us directly. If you wanna do that, let me know and I will email you our home address.

Either way, I would appreciate an email alerting me to the incoming support so that I can keep track of where we’re at.


MORE FEATURES ADDED
If you look to the side-bar, you will see that we are continuing to add more information. Turns out we are getting quite a few eyeballs on our blog now and more and more folks are wondering what in the blue-blazes the CIMT is. Now those questions have been answered.

Also, I am compiling a F.A.Q. (Frequently Asked Questions) entry. If any of you have always wanted to ask anything of us, now would be a time to drop me an email and let me see if it can be added to that document.

Okee Dokee. Stay tuned! More news coming!

Cheers!
Luke

Homesick... or Home Sick?

Well friends, I have returned home from the BEAUTIFUL country of Guatemala. It was a FAST and FURIOUS adventure that included flying through quasi-hurricanes, sleeping in quasi-fancy hotels, enduring quasi-long car rides, and meeting some totally great new friends.



Now I am home again and surprisingly, sick. I won't bore you with the details of my sickness. Let's just say, it goes "squish - squish" about as often as I eat or drink. Get the picture?



Ironically, this sickness was HERE AT HOME, waiting for me.


I obtained it courtesy of my dear family who has been enduring the biometric "slip-n-slide" since my departure.


Not too fun.



Add to that the insult of my iPhone, which suddenly has a cracked screen and doesn't work! Your guess is as good as mine. No idea why this happened. I'll be going to the Apple store to complain about my misfortune with this less-than-one-year-old piece of crap-nology.

BACK TO GUATEMALA...



The group that I was able to volunteer my services to is really up to some amazing stuff. As this blog is primarily dedicated to garnering support for what WE are doing, I shall spare you any external links for now. If you think what we are doing is stupid beyond all reason and desire a REAL cause to get behind, just email me and I will send you a link to the place where I just was.

On the trip, I was able to show my TV program to someone who's opinion matters to me. He thought that it was "powerful" and had a couple of pieces of constructive feedback for me too. All good thoughts that shall inform the final piece.

In the end, it was a real "Indiana Jones" style adventure and a worthy expenditure of my time and resources.

Now that I am home again, I will be taking stock of where things stand (financially) and give you a full report tomorrow (Sunday, August 24, 2008).

BIG STUFF IS HAPPENING! I am SO EXCITED about what lies ahead.

You guys are helping us give birth to an AWESOME thing!

Stay Tuned!
Luke

BIG NEWS!

Well folks, looks like my dear, sweet family may possibly be enduring their very first hurricane without me! I am SO JEALOUS. As of sometime late tonight (morning really), I will be mini-vaned down to MIA (an airport abbreviation that I have never been too fond of) and shortly thereafter, board a plane to Guatemala.

As I mentioned in previous posts, I am donating 4 days of my time to some folks who are doing good work there. I've never met them and don't really know any more details than that, so you'll forgive me if I save my report until after I get home.

Please, if you are a praying person, toss out a few for my family while I am away. I have no worries for my own safety, but who can stop you for praying for me as well? Certainly not I.

For my money, I'm expecting this "Fay" to be no more than a tropical storm by the time it hits here. We shall see.

UPDATE:

Progress on our 30-minute TV program continues to be phenomenal. Seriously, I am STOKED. Special thanks to my wife, parents, and brother who have endured countless "rough" versions, replete with missing footage, poor audio, text slates, and incessant "this will be different"s from me. They have offered immeasurable feedback along the way.

So where do things stand?

I am happy to report that I will be taking a version of the program with me to Guatemala in order that I may watch it several thousand times on my iphone and let stuff really start to bug me. This is a critical part of the creative process. When I am fortunate enough to get this opportunity, I can really nit-pick the piece into semi-perfection. I am tre-happy about this and have you, our gracious supporters, to thank for that.

What's that? You say YOU haven't supported us? Well, goodness gracious! I would be remiss if I didn't offer you this unique opportunity to do so! Please CLICK HERE to email us and let us know how much you would like to send. We are still needing $935.00 to make our expenses for the month. THAT'S SO CLOSE!

To send any support, please make a check out to ReNET (our 501(c)3 umbrella), mark it for "Haiti", and mail it to:

ReNET
2867 N. 200 E.
Anderson IN 46012.

Really, there are SO MANY THINGS TO REPORT and not enough time before I leave. Literally, all my bags are packed and I'm ready to go. So I'm gonna cut this transmission for now and say THANK YOU again to all of you who have been so supportive during this time.

If I can report from Guatemala, I certainly will. If not, then look for my next posting on Friday (assuming the house hasn't been blown over).

Thanks!
Luke

Movin' Right Along!

Well folks, the gears are still a'turnin'. Progress is good. Very good!



So far, I have been able to complete a music video (exciting details are coming pertaining to that) and am presently fine-tuning the 30-minute TV program that we will be airing as our fundraising video. "Fine tuning" may sound like I'm wrapping that up, but this phase can be fairly time consuming as it requires an enormous amount of attention to detail.



To give you some idea, I spent 4 days editing the music video. That piece, when finished, is about 5 minutes long. Now I'm faced with a piece that is 30 minutes long and much more narrative than just images and music. There is a HUGE story to be told here and I am doing my best to tell it well.



To give you some idea, the work that is presently being accomplished through your support is currently valued at over $40,000. I'm serious. I can give you contacts in the industry who will tell you, what we are accomplishing this month is a TREMENDOUS BLESSING. By simply allowing us to cover our monthly expenses, you are turning $4,100 into over $40,000!

That is no small thing.



I would certainly appreciate all of your prayers during this time. I am trying to stay creative and intuitive, simultaneously. Sometimes, it can be a challenge to deliver the message and to do so in an entertaining or thought-provoking way. I am also profoundly aware that creating television for someone else is infinitely easier than doing it for yourself. A creator's best asset is objectivity. When working on something so close to my heart, objectivity is the challenge. Pray for the objectivity to cover all my bases.



Adrian and I are so very thankful for the support we have received thus-far and are doing our part to use the dollars responsibly. Literally, the $4,100 covers bills and nothing else. There's no "fun money" in there. Samuel's 6th birthday was today. Thanks to grandmas and grandpas for the gifts!



Adrian and the kids made a modest little birthday cake out of Jello and generic Cool Whip. We are generally accustomed to spending a bit of money on our birthday parties, so I was a little sad that Sam's party was not as special as the kids are used to (it is certainly good practice for Haiti). Now of course, this was OUR DECISION and is not anyone's fault. I'm not trying to give you a sob story here. I simply tell you this because I want you to know that we are not taking advantage of your generosity IN THE LEAST. We take your involvement in what we are doing this month VERY seriously. Please keep praying for us that God will continue to work a miracle as we labor diligently on this project.

As the end of the month draws nearer, we are still not quite to the financial goal. Without an additional $1,185.00 we will not be able to pay all of our bills.



If you have been meaning to get on board and send us some support but have a tendency to delay, please take a moment to set down that burrito or your iPhone and take care of that.



Thanks so much for all of your support. The included still images are from my work this month. I'll have moving images for you before too long, but for now, may those serve to whet your appetite.

Thanks again,
Luke & Adrian

UPDATE - Closer to the goal!

In the spirit of working my fanny off, I will make this post short and sweet. As of 5:33AM on Sunday morning, I am thrilled to report that we've got STRUCTURE! The 30-minute TV program is timed and formed (albeit in draft). TONS of work still remains to be done on the program, but I'm so happy to see this hurdle behind us.

Several more individuals and families have contributed to the financial goal. The original goal was to raise $4,100.00. In just THREE DAYS we have raised $2,361.00!!! That leaves only $1,739.00 to go!!! Are you KIDDING me? Seriously guys, you are MELTING MY FACE OFF with your awesome partnership in this vision. I would absolutely LOVE to see the financial goal met by TUESDAY, AUGUST 12th. Is that crazy? Probably so. But hey! Why not?

If any of you are holding off because you don't want to give even $1 to a goal that will never be reached, then hold off no more! We are practically there already!


Until the next post, enjoy this photo. I could just live in this moment!
Thanks J!

UPDATE - Look what's happening!

Hey there friends and family.

I just wanna give a great big "THANK YOU" shout-out to those who have contributed to our vision so far! My worst possible fears are slowly becoming quelled while, at the same time, God is moving and some POWERFUL media is emerging from the small studio where I am laboring. "Powerful media?" you ask. "What does that even mean?"

Let me explain what the vision is, in no uncertain terms.

Within the next year, we are planning to expand our work in Haiti by opening the doors to "The Caribbean Institute of Media Technologies", a first-of-its-kind media training program to be based in Haiti. This school will give Haitians the much-needed skills with which to raise their voice and tell their stories to the world. In a country with an illiteracy rate between 60%-88%, imagine what storytelling skills could accomplish! Things that cannot be learned through the traditional methods of reading and writing can now be taught to Haitians by Haitians, using a wide rage of media technology. Radio, Television, Photography, Audio recording, Print, and Web are but some of the tools available for educated Haitians to transcend the stifling challenges of illiteracy and further the cause of the 6 million people who are bound in unthinkable poverty. I'm serious when I say that these storytelling skills can unlock a new hope for the people of Haiti, like nothing that has come before.

An educated society is a better society.

To achieve this goal, a LOT of money needs to be raised. Far more than the $4,100 that we are needing from you. At present, anywhere between $100,000 and $250,000 is needed for the upstart of this school. And that's where this month of intensive labor comes in.

All month long, we are creating several, key pieces of media (a music video, a television program, web content, etc.) that will then be played to the masses (via television networks, the internet, iTunes, etc.). With these pieces of media, we will reach a very large audience with the vision that I have just shared with you and will make an appeal for the funds needed to launch this vision into orbit.

I BELIEVE THIS CAN HAPPEN!

So far, through your faithful assistance and God's great provision, we have raised $1,661.00! That means that only $2,439.00 remain in order to fully finance the creation of these CRITICAL MESSAGES. Do you understand what that means? For a remaining $2,439.00, we will have primed the pump and created a number of powerful pieces of audio, video, and print that will CARRY THIS VISION TO THE MASSES. It is through your SEED MONEY that we will plant a message in the heart of MILLIONS of potential viewers. For those of you who are in media already, you know as well as I do what that can turn into.

THIS SCHOOL CAN BECOME A REALITY!!!

As I was walking out of WAL-MART the other day (before this triathlon began), I saw this fellow wearing a rather "churchy" looking shirt. I'll spare you the details; let's just say, it lacked the benefit of a graphic designer. Anyway, on the back, Ecclesiastes 4 was printed in Times New Roman (one of the most original font choices). The printed section of that chapter was intriguing and so I returned to it several days later (yesterday) whilst contemplating how fine the line is between my total insanity and my [eh hem] great faithfulness. I have to say, it caught me right between the eyes.

For starters, the verses that had made it to the shirt were 9 & 10:

9 Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their work:

10 If one falls down,
his friend can help him up.
But pity the man who falls
and has no one to help him up!

How true! It is no stretch to say that YOU are creating this powerful content WITH US. YOU are a PART OF THIS in every possible way. Quite literally, those of you who are supporting us this month are the "Executive Producers" of this content. It's not that your assistance is HELPFUL... it's that your ASSISTANCE IS NECESSARY.

But I was also particularly moved by the first part of the chapter:

1 Again I looked and saw all the oppression that was taking place under the sun:
I saw the tears of the oppressed—
and they have no comforter;
power was on the side of their oppressors—
and they have no comforter.

2 And I declared that the dead,
who had already died,
are happier than the living,
who are still alive.

3 But better than both
is he who has not yet been,
who has not seen the evil
that is done under the sun.

My next post will likely be about a profound experience that I had on my recent trip to Haiti. What I will say for now is that I have just returned from places where the dead are happier and where it is better to have never been born at all, than to live in such hell. Can you even imagine such a place?!

Haiti NEEDS this school. I stake my LIFE on it.

Keep praying with us as we labor through this month. THANK YOU for your prayers and THANK YOU to those of you who have been so generous with your money. We are praying that more like you will come forward and help us to make this vision a reality.

At this point, we have hung it all out there. We are working the month away, with or without your assistance. With your assistance, this month will end with a joyous cheer. Without your assistance, good things will be done and bad things will be waiting for us [cue cheesy horror music].

9 Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their work:

10 If one falls down,
his friend can help him up.
But pity the man who falls
and has no one to help him up!

We don't want your pity. We want your help!

For more information on how YOU CAN HELP, look at the bottom of this post.

Thanks for everything you guys!
Luke and Adrian

The Gauntlet Has Been Thrown!

My dear family and friends, it is with much trembling (and a little bit of fear) that I am reporting to you today.

I have decided to listen to that little voice inside of my head and will be staying home this month* to work hard on some much needed promotional materials for our school. As one pastor put it, "vision casting" is at the top of my to-do-list, as it falls upon me to make it absolutely clear what we are doing.

*with exception, I will be volunteering 4 days of my services to a mission in Guatemala at no charge.

Understand that, as a freelance creative professional, I do not pull in a "regular" paycheck. My pay comes on a job-by-job basis and that means I pretty much have to keep hopping onto airplanes, moving around, and chasing down what work there is. Just like you, it is absolutely imperative that I work on other people's projects if I am to pay the bills (i.e. rent, electricity, water, food, etc.). What's different than a "regular paycheck" is that there are no guarantees and it is often "up to me" to make sure there is enough to go around.

I say all of that to make it perfectly clear what we are up against here.

Last night, I sent out a "mass" email, asking for the financial support to meet this month's expenses, thereby allowing me to stay home and work. So far, there has been a response, but naturally, we are still very far from the mark.

Originally, I stated that we need to raise $4,100 in order to stay afloat this month. Believe it or not, that is a typical month's expenses with 6 mouths to feed, rent, and all that comes with getting by in this economy. According to the IRS, we are actually operating under the expectancy for our area.

In less than 24-hours of the email, the number we need has dropped to $3,744.00. We are SO GRATEFUL for those who have chosen to assist us thus far!

Naturally, there is a good way to go still.

I wanted to share an email with you that one of our new friends (and a financial supporter in this cause) sent back to all of the people on our mailing list. I think that his challenge is good (and easy for most folks to swallow) and I believe his personal willingness to vouch for our burgeoning work in Haiti should help those of you who may be teetering, wondering, "has Luke finally lost it?"

Here is his letter:

Dear Luke,

Thank you very much for coming to help us in Haiti , you inspired many of us and encouraged several ministries down here in Haiti during your short time here . When you are here your love for the Haitian people is inspiring even to the missionaries you have come to work hand in hand with.
Your gifts and talents are bringing unity among missionary workers,haitian pastors, and church people alike. Our prayers from Haiti include the Lord returning you to Haiti soon, special things happen when your here !

We too here in Haiti are in financial need, but want to be a part of God working through you and are preparing a gift of $100.00 towards the $4100.00 you need. Of all people I know what it is like to want to function in ministry , but have to work to make ends meet. I pray that the lord will touch 40 other people to send $100.00 to help you to focus on the work the lord has given you to do.

Yvonne and I will send our check to the address you mentioned in your email today. We believe in you and what you are doing . Like the loaves and the fishes, may Jesus multiply our gift .

Yours and His to reach Haiti;
Joel Trimble
Haiti for Christ Ministries
Thomassin Haiti

There you have it! Joel and Yvonne Trimble, missionaries serving in Haiti for more than 30 years, have thrown down the gauntlet! In response, one family shot back $256, proving that you can do more than $100 if you feel led. But $100 is a great number to consider, and I thank my missionary friends for raising this challenge.

If missionaries can help us, can you? Some may want to pray about it. Some of you know RIGHT NOW that you can cut back a few movie rentals, premium coffees, or rummage sales. I need 37 people. That's not a lot. That's YOU.

Please help if you can.

From there, check back here during the month of August as I will be keeping you all posted on the progress. Already, some REALLY COOL stuff has happened with one video that I have been preparing. A full story is COMING SOON!

If you wish to send us some support, you may do so one of two ways:

For those who would like a tax-deductible receipt please make your check out to ReNET and designate it for “Haiti”. ReNET is acting as our 501(c)3 umbrella while our own application is in process. You may then mail that check to

ReNET
2867 N. 200 E.
Anderson IN 46012.

If you don’t need a receipt then you can just make the check out to Luke Renner and send it to us directly. If you wanna do that, let me know and I will email you our home address.

Either way, I would appreciate an email alerting me to the incoming support so that I can keep track of where we’re at.

Thanks SO MUCH!
Luke and Adrian Renner

Ramblings

boomp3.com

Panic is mistrust... at least for people of faith.

Worry is doubt in your initial choice... the choice to follow. When we worry, we toy with the idea of changing our mind. We window-shop for the best exit strategy. Saving face plays into our thinking. Sometimes we can scarcely remember what we were thinking when we signed on. Usually, it ends with us hanging on for another go-round, giving our "old self" the benefit of present doubt.

Fear is natural. Following it can be. But generally, we afford it too much attention. As far as "healthy balance" is concerned, we generally lack enough when it comes to fear.


In a world of gray, there either is a God or there isn't. From there, everything drops sharply into a chasm of hopeful guesswork. Sometimes, we do our best. Usually, we hold just a little bit back. It's our security; our tiny remaining piece of ultimate trust in the only thing we ever truly possessed... self.

Often, the biggest decisions of our lives are made with too little information. This is the norm. We marry too young. We accept the "free gift" of credit cards. We give Jesus our hearts. We promise to love and obey.

From there we become older and wiser. We quickly realize that our most critical choices were poorly informed. Yet, it is the "wisdom" of our age that tells us to honor foolhardy contracts we made in our youth. We rarely allow ourselves the opportunity to try again, from the beginning, with better information.

I'm not quite sure I understand the point of this awkward order. Had we been made to age backward, starting with wisdom and frailty and then pass into the strength of youth, perhaps we could have made a more beautiful mess of this world. But old men run the world through contracts of their youth, contracts made with themselves in lesser places, with lesser minds, and lesser inhibitions.

We all know what is coming. Who can lie about the obvious? God or not, the world is coming to an end. Better men will fail. It's partly why Christians raise their hands. We want something, some God, some daddy, to pick us up and remove us from this burning soil. It's partly the reason atheists plod through the scientific quest to explore outer space. Only the universe can possibly house this much ego. Down here, we're fresh out of elbow room. Stop the world... I wanna get off.

Had hope stood a chance, atomic corners would have never been turned, sticks would not have given way to swords, swords would not have bowed out to modern weaponry, and that weaponry would never have become smart.

Had hope been the trend, "green" would not require advertising agencies. "Green" would happen as a matter of fact.

And so patience is the most important discipline one could even learn. It is the active ingredient in tolerance. So much of it is required to live alongside the monsters that we become.

I suspect any discipline which is painful to our modernized sensibilities can be deemed virtuous and ultimately worth trading immediate pleasures to have. Still we don't.

You are finally born when you realize that the point of good men is not to save the world or fix all that is broken with it. The point of good men is simply to postpone the inevitable... to slow... to delay the absolute horror that would surely rush in were good men to surrender or delay. Nature abhors a vacuum and evil (or entropy) is all too happy to oblige when good men are otherwise engaged.

We don't do what we do because we might somehow reverse the flow of this mighty river. We are as resigned to the river as anyone. It isn't that we know with any certainty, something that we can validate or measure for the skeptical mind, some great secret. Even our skeptical sides have been left ultimately dissatisfied with our final decision. We have embraced the single, greatest mystery of all.

The mystery: that despite all we are powerless to change, no one can stop us from loving, even the unlovable.

As the river rages and carries us with it... even it is powerless.

All folly and illogical contracts aside, I have hope. I choose love.

My arms are no longer pointed toward heaven, seeking someone to lift me away. They are extended toward you, seeking someone to hold.

May this burning soil consume me as I love.

It is a worthy endeavor we are on. May this be a note to an older self; in your unflinching and stubborn ways, remember this covenant was made in spite of folly.

Results be damned.

We choose love.

A Good Day.

Sometimes, in the face of what you're up against, it's easy to lose sight of who is running the show. This year, I had someone ask me just how I planned to come up with the money that we require to get this media school off of the ground.

As I contemplated the question, I couldn't help but notice Haiti's majestic mountains, spiring toward the sky, just over the person's shoulder. Calmly, I pointed to the mountain and said, "If God can make that mountain, then the money should be no big deal."

But the questions come hard and fast and a not-so-subtle disapproval is delicately weaved into their precise wording. Most are well meaning, I suppose. But rarely do any assume you are really hearing God. I think most folks believe that they will be the one to save you from your soon-to-be, opus of a mistake.




I could try and explain just how very much this process has been like trying to run through a dark forest with no light of any kind. I could try to make you understand what it feels like to be after something, so completely, so committed, that you are always teetering on the brink of total failure and a hard-to-define success.

I could attempt to express what it feels like to force yourself into a mold that society doesn't approve of, abandoning all constructs of what makes for a "a good man" or a "good woman". I could try hard to express the hollow feeling of reliance upon God, each and every time you look into the eyes of your child and accept that one misstep could cost them their life, coupled with the constant nag of doubt that tells you this is all a HUGE mistake... that you have lost your mind... and you are positioning your family for certain destruction.

Then there is the constant awareness that some people are just mad... out of their mind... clinically insane... and that you are never above being one of them.



There are always real, practical, concrete reasons why you should not continue onward. The reasons for moving ahead are invisible, intangible, and private... never enough to satisfy the critics and sometimes, barely enough to satisfy ourselves.

Defeat is met often. To stand up and dust oneself off is a constant ritual. Morale fails to survive for long. You find other reasons for continuing. "Because I want to" is silently replaced with "because it's easier than going back."... and that is ugly and hard to even admit.

But we pick up one foot and drop it hard in front of the other. There's no water in the tank... no vacuum of space to cushion the fall. It's all gravity. Like the surface of the sun, I suspect.

Weighty.

Intense.



And then a moment comes. It's usually private and quiet. It's private because all that makes it special is connected to deep secrets of your heart, things you don't typically share with the rest of those looking on.

A vision from years past finally comes true. A dream you dreamed actually happens to you. A gut feeling that you banked on, eventually pays off.

In no uncertain terms, a day like today happens. Today was a good day. We are one step closer to Haiti. One big step. Suffice it to say... it's enough to keep all of that "crazy talk" at bay.

All the chips are on the table.

Everything is at stake.

and I'm still banking on the God that made those beautiful mountains.




*thanks to Troy Livesay for the last two photos.

THE SCOOP - Haiti Day... ah screw it... I'M HOME NOW!

How encouraging it is to get griped out by the very people who inspired me to resume blogging in the first place!

Thanks Livesays for the not-so-subtle kick in the pants. I have to blog REGULARLY in order to please my readers and keep them coming back for more yummy morsels.

And while I'm on the "thanking people" trip, I really wanna give an enormous shout-out to all of my friends in Haiti who assisted in this recent adventure. It starts (and ends) with a massive THANK YOU to Joel and Yvonne Trimble (and family). Joel, without your bird's-eye view of the people and places of Haiti, the reason for this trip never would have materialized. Thanks for putting it all together.

Bobby & Sherry Burnette are next on the list. What an amazing duo you both make. I cannot begin to express just how impressed I am with what God has done in you and through you in Haiti. Thanks so much for allowing me the opportunity to come into your organization and lend a helping hand. It was an honor and my privilege. Like I said before, anytime I can help, just ask.

Back to the Trimbles. Thanks AGAIN. Thanks for hitting my curve balls, thanks for the amazing food, thanks for the bed, thanks for the assistance, and THANKS for the birthday of a lifetime!

Thanks to Berge for risking your life along with Joel and I to travel into hell, at my side. Your MANY trips back to the truck were VERY APPRECIATED. I was glad to hear that even you got to experience a Haiti that you'd never before known about.

Thanks to the people of Haiti who so beautifully received me and my crazy requests. Encore. Encore.

And then there's the Livesays! No doubt about it, you guys rock the face off of a goat. What a glorious time of irreverence and fun! I really appreciate the pre-production you logged on my behalf and the time and energy expended to haul me around, feed me, and endure me. I would be remiss if I didn't give a HUGE shout out to Robenson for teaching some English and working with the kids so hard.

Next in line... my dad, for the help upon my return. It goes without saying what I owe you, both figuratively and literally! I love you. Your patience is ASTOUNDING!

Finally, I thank all of my family and friends who prayed for me during this trip. To say that it was productive would be a GROSS UNDERSTATEMENT. I will have more to show and report in the coming days. For now, just know that you prayed me through some UNBELIEVABLE spots. I am forever indebted to all of you.

Okay. I'm current now. I'll try to stay regular in the coming days.

Cheers!
Luke