of wine and One Life

Imagine a world that thought of someone else everytime they sipped a fine merlot.
Imagine a world that thought of love..... not can I find, can I have, can I give but.......
I can't say I know how to love and continue to live my life as if everyone else has the same luxurious dilemmas that I do.
Imagine a world where St. Francis was a celebrity, Jesus was a star, Mother Teresa was not looked down upon for being human and having doubts.

We talk of sustainability. Sustainable for who? Enviromental???? As humanism reals its head towards PC philanthropy and gains the status of star in the eyes of the population, I want everyone to know that we are only scratching the surface of Christ's Ideal. Social Capitalism...... What a crock in the hands of greed.
As many turn from us in search of atheistic humanism the train may be derailed. Let us hold our heads up high as we strike the bells of God's kingdom come by putting our faith in front of our check books and feet.

Imagine an NGO that did not have to spend any money on fundraising.
Imagine everyone who earns more than 2 dollars a day was to give 1 dollar away.
Imagine everyone recognizing that One Life is it!!!!!!!
One Life is all we have!!!!!!!
One Life Experience is only a tool to revive those that have forgotten that after this, no matter how long they ignore it, no matter what they're belief, no matter what they're desires, this life they live is only a moment in time and every second we are blessed with is a second someone else deserves more than us.
Every comfort we have is a comfort at the expense of discomfort for someone else.

There is no excuse to ignore that we have only One Life and the fact that we have to remind everyone is the biggest shame of all.

God...Creative Enigmas of the OLE

Great work out there team - Your 'baby' is in God's hands now!

I loved the comment that Joey made in his last post. He said that, "We are changing the landscape of Social Marketing in Canada. This week will be looked back on with romantic awe one day - I really believe it". I think there is a connection between this romantic awe and the engima that is the OLE. This baby is something that we look at romantically but we are still puzzled and can't really explain how everything came to be. This inexplicability is a sign of something GOOD/Mysterious and of God. Joey's comment about changing the landscape of Social Marketing made me think that the OLE really is something GOOD.

I look forward to seeing the growth of something beautiful - confidently watching God nurture & bless GOODNESS, bringing him Glory.

Sleepless in ... the Birthplace of the One Life Experience

No, I couldn't bring myself to use the obvious cheesy title, but Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan and I do share the state described in the title of their most famous movie together. I am having trouble sleeping tonight, still operating on Eastern Time while I am in fact on Pacific time here in....you guessed it...Seattle WA.

This week has been a roller coaster, which does not distinguish it from its last 6-10 predecessors, but it is unique in that I have in fact touched the World Vision Canada One Life Experience. I am proud to report that it is not a myth - the strange creature that has swallowed staff and departments whole is not some figment of the imaginations of some crazed conjurors in the Events Department. No, no......
...
...
...

It lives.


I arrived on Sunday night, then went into the TPN shop first thing with Lina V. There, we saw the One Life Experience being built and set up, so we witnessed the ways that TPN folks were dressing and distressing the props and graphics and vignettes and curtains. We were very excited about what we saw, especially:
- The lighting system with low voltage and DMX cabling
- The smell of the thatch roof
- The initial visceral blow of seeing the thing set up in its entirety - it does take you to Africa.
- The unexpectedly authentic props
- The two awesome water pumps
- The power of the printed and distressed pictures
- The whole TPN shop with all their amazingly talented staff and their equipment and their ability to make amazing things happen on the spot sometimes.

Monday night, most of the WVC One Life stakehiolders arrived. Tuesday was not fun for me. The MP3 players that we were giving to the stakeholders including 2 VPs and 3 Directors did not work properly. Luckily, the US exhibit's iPod shuffles were present, and we made the decision to go with them for ous, too. Tuesday was, for me, mostly a downer since there were so many comments from the stakeholders about how major things could change. I really had to resist the temptation to speak up and exp[lain why certain decisions and compromises were made due to the project parameters in place since the beginning, and it was discouraging to hear that in a few moments of discussion, major operating conclusions that had caused huge technical and artistic headaches were reversed. That made me wonder if those headaches would have been taken care of if I had just found a more clear and articulate way of describing the way in which the certain project parameters hindered our work and our goals.
This is where the tension of project management with multiple stakeholders came to a breaking point. Thankfully, Chris T. reinforced his belief in us and he recognized that it would have been difficult not to be defensive in the feedback sessions.

But that was Tuesday.

Today (Wednesday), we got a lot of really good work done, not only in applying the notes and feedback from the various stakeholders, but in correcting important design elements, tweaking graphics and props, rearranging the back end of the experience, and experimenting with new ideas.

Tomorrow, we go through a technical rundown and a procedural runthrough for setup, strike, and packup.

It's been a very good, exhausting, productive, stressful, fulfilling, and history-making week.
We are changing the landscape of Social Marketing in Canada. This week will be looked back on with romantic awe one day - I really believe it.

ONE LIFE Experience - Video

Joey, thanks for transfering the blog. I think that was a good idea. We should see if we can attach the OLE logo to the header of this page.

Providence

We've been desperately searching for a genuine water pump that we would use in an African Area Devellopment Project - it would be an important element in the "Marketplace" area where people can tangibly experience the various community development solutions that World Vision offers. We have had very little luck until Josh Shurr (aka Supernman) from the Humaitarian and Emergency Affairs Division got on the case. He found us a leftover unit....not in Africa, or in India where the manufacturer ususally ships the pumps....but in Nebraska USA.

Thank You God.

And just to prove that God has a sense of humour: The name of the city where the pump is?.........

Beatrice, NB.

The August Project

As the clock ticks away, I am intriged by the amount of work that is 'August' or 'Edmonton' or 'OLE' or 'the Amoeba'. These words are words that have taken on new meaning for the OLE team. When one of these terms is used, in any context, I see a unique emotion displayed on the faces of OLE sojourners. World Vision staff come by the "coral", experience the kinetic movement of the amoeba, and then realize that they have become more than sojourners.

I am not a direct hand in the clockwork but I am influenced by the people who are going to bring the OLE to Edmonton in August. These colleges are doing something that has never been done, at this level, by World Vision Canada. They need us to become pilgrims with them. Why? The workload is heavy. The strength required is impeccible. Therefore, together we need to thank them for their work, encourage them to press on, and lend a hand as the mountain grows. To God be the glory.


THIS POST WAS TRANSFERRED FROM AN OLD BLOG SITE AND WAS ORIGINALLY WRITTEN BY LUKE. IT WAS POSTED ON THIS SITE BY JOEY.