Happy 4th!
Happy 4th of July faithful friends and bloggers, hope everyone was able to enjoy some time off and fireworks today. We had a great day here in Grand Rapids, we got to film all over the city today and really enjoyed it. Weather here is perfect, low 70’s today and even cooler this evening. We got to be down town to see some beautiful fireworks tonight over the river, and we all got to enjoy the biggest craziest candy apples we had ever seen. I really can’t put into words how grateful I am for our team, everyone is working so hard, believing so strongly, and loving each other so well. It feels like a family at this point, and even through the late nights, the early mornings and long days we are together believing God could use something as normal as us in a big way.
Tomorrow morning we start early and will be filming with a guy named Jon, to put it lightly I can’t wait! He is involved in some pretty special things here in GR and I am really looking forward to him sharing his heart with us tomorrow. Well it’s late and I am turning in, thank you God for another beautiful day today and the chance to take it all in. Thank you all for joining with us in believing that God can be trusted, and that our lives really do matter. Love you guys, goodnight.
Andrew and the bv team
Made it to Grand Rapids
After a busy day of traveling from Chicago, as well as meetings here in town we have landed for the night in Grand Rapids! The team is all feeling great and are sad to see Chicago go but happy to be here in Michigan at last. Our hearts are so full thinking through all God is continuing to show us, and we still feel like children looking at the clear night sky just trying to take it all in.
Our meetings today with an organization and production company here in Grand Rapids were fantastic, really exciting to see the people and groups God is bringing to us. Working hard while here in GR on distribution and marketing options for life after the film… More details on that soon but ask God for incredible wisdom and His clear guidance as we begin these conversations. I am going to sign off now, check out the video bellow for a look back at our time in Chicago. We love you guys.
Andrew and the BV team
Leaving Already?!?
It’s crazy to think we are leaving Chicago in about 7 hours to head to Grand Rapids. Wow! Our time here has passed very quickly. I know our team has enjoyed different parts of every city – but I think our entire team has fallen in love with Chicago. I keep encouraging everyone to come back during the dead of winter to see if their love for the city is true – ha! It’s been ten years since I was going to school up here. I can’t believe how much the city’s skyline has grown. More importantly we’ve had the privilege of meeting many people who’s hearts are breaking for this city. Churches are working hand in hand on crucial issues. Ministries are combining to accomplish big goals. It has been encouraging to see.
As usual, our day was packed! We started this morning on a tour of the city to shoot the city footage we needed. We stopped at Navy Pier and had lunch. At 1:30pm Andrew and I had the privilege of being interviewed by WMBI’s Michelle Strombeck. She’s a managing producer and part of WMBI’s morning show. She’s going to edit our piece and air it in a couple of weeks on the morning show. She’s also going to distribute the piece to all of Moody’s affiliate stations for them to use in their programing. Pray that God would use that interview to help us build relationships in many more cities around the country.
Tonight we met with some good friends, the Spearman’s and the Platt’s. They’ve done some incredible work to help us get connected with some local churches and ministries. Jason Platt is a pastor in the Chicago area. It was inspiring to hear his heart for his church and the things God has been doing in their area.
Finally – health update – Andrew and Greg are on the upswing. Grant, however, took a dive today. He had a rough spell this morning and spent today getting some rest. He is a workhorse though and got back out in the city for us this afternoon to shoot some more city footage. Pray that Grant would get a great night’s rest tonight and feel tons better tomorrow.
We’ll work to get a video update together while we are heading to Grand Rapids. Pray for us as we have a really exciting lunch appointment with some folks tomorrow. We are connecting with a ministry that we have looked up to for some time now. We are hoping to open up a great relationship and learn more about this crazy world that we’ve jumped into.
Please keep spreading the word about this blog and keep posting – your encouraging words mean far more than you know to our team. Thank you for holding us up throughout this journey.
In it with you,
Matt & the BV Team
