West Africa Summitt

Today we’ll wrap up the West Africa Summit at our church. It’s been an eye-opening conference. It’s amazing to see how much these missionaries love the people they are serving. These are the true hands and feet of Christ.

First Media has been on hand to provide media support for the Summit. I’d like to say that it’s been a smooth week, but I’d be lying. We’ve been plagued by small issues that have become bigger issues. For example, most of the media (PowerPoint, DVD’s, etc.) haven’t reached our hands until either just before the service or after the service has begun. When that happens, there’s no time for testing and that’s when issues tend to rear their head. As I’m typing this, I was told that there’s another video or PowerPoint (he wasn’t sure which) for this morning…and I don’t have it yet. The other set of issues occurred because we didn’t know ahead of time which teachers needed what type of media support in their classrooms.

So how do you overcome obstacles like this?

Pre-production, pre-production, pre-production! Meet with the organizers and learn as much as you can beforehand. The more you know, the more you can plan. But that won’t prevent every media glitch. In events where you have a lot of outside speakers coming in, you’re going to get media requests at the last minute. When you do, smile and do your best to make it work. Your attitude in the midst of the “crisis” will speak volumes about your heart. Remember, we’re serving an audience of one.