- Directing a new project about international special needs adoption called "Chosen and Dearly Loved"
Right now I sit on a plane and share an animated ebook with my executive producer's son en route to Uganda. This ebook is and example of the type of project we are working on for "Chosen and Dearly Loved". Chosen is a project being commissioned by Mandy and Mike Gallagher from Nashville Tennasee to raise awareness and inspire people to adopt special needs orphans from around the world.
They approached David Cunningham about what they could do to help tell the stories of these orphans in such great need and he proposed a transmedia project that guides people through the world of international special needs adoption. Transmedia is the idea of telling a story or many stories through the use of a variety of media like video, web, photography, ebooks and other forms of art. At the heart of this project is an ebook that will be based upon the art of these orphans. They will be asked to draw what they dream or something they long for and then a story will be created to bring their dreams to life. As families read these books, they will have the opportunity to learn more about the children inspiring these stories through videos of the children and what life is like for them in their country.
It is rough being handicap even in the US, but imagine being in a country where nothing is accessible by wheelchair, there is no Braille on signs, you cannot get work, you are considered "half-man" and even your family believe your disability is due to some curse. Even well meaning families find it impossible to deal with the practical and emotional complications that come along with caring for these children, so they end up in orphanages where their care takers lack the resources to provide them with the proper therapy they need.
Since I started working with Mandy and Mike Gallagher last October during my first trip to Uganda, we have seen a special needs orphanage open in Jinga, Uganda. During my second trip I got to see the children that had been at an orphanage of 60, now in an environment where they were getting the individual and special care they needed. All I can tell you is that these children are coming alive! But that is just he first step, the end goal for Chosen is for these kids to find forever families, and that is what the ebook, videos, and the rest of the art is setting out to do.
Sex + Money has just been completed and now is being sent to the MPAA to be rated. Morgan Perry, along with many other from the film crew and prayer team will now be traveling on a nationwide tour, showing the film and raising activists at a school and church in each of our 50 states. A few years ago, the US graded ever other country in the world on their success or failure in the area of sex trafficking, yet failed to report on our own home. This was a major catalyst for the film as well as for Linda Smith to grade our nation on a state by state level. These grades will be presented at the end of each film, along with action points to help improve the states grade. The film has already had some select screenings, packing out an auditorium of 600 at Washington University. The film goes on sale in August and you can find out more about the tour dates and locations at www.sexandmoneyfilm.com.
See, this is what happens when it has been so long since I have written, there is so much more to say, but I really want to keep this from becoming a novel. I do want to say, while working on this project, it looks like I will be based out of Fresno with my executive producers in Nashville and Kona, the producer in Los Angeles, writer in Canada and animators in Mexico. Aside from the hopefully life long effects of this project on orphans, I could not be happier working with people that I have admired for years! Please pray for divine inspiration and creativity for the whole team as we enter unchartered territory with the goal of seeing God's father-heart lived out in the realest of ways!
Your brother in Christ,
Josiah Thiesen
