Making Movies

That persistent, stubborn, soggy, nagging rain just went on too long. It resumed overnight and slowly soaked into the earth. We learned before setting foot in camp this morning that Sunday's battle had been canceled due to poor field conditions. But the morning church service was still on.

So we gave thanks to God, reveling in the amazing and unforgettable experience of yesterday's battle and how we had served and blessed all those children on School Day. And God would bless us too, starting with another opportunity to serve students.

As our Captain spoke to us after services, reassuring us the day was not lost and God would see us through, a couple of young filmmakers from Maryland approached us with a request. They had driven four hours to film the battle only to find people packing up and leaving. Spotting our finely outfitted unit, they asked us if we might be able to help them. Certainly, we said.

And so we returned to camp and staged several scenes for them: a devotional service, a commanders' meeting, and a line formation. We struck poses for close-ups, cheerfully giving the director and cameraman plenty of time to change their 16mm Bolex setups. They fiddled with the light meter and carefully set the focus for each shot before rolling a few precious feet of celluloid.


Their vision, at least part of it, is showing what looks like a photo of a soldier. Then that soldier comes to life. They have a few more weekends of work -- and then you'll see the finished product at the Maryland Film Festival.

Photo: S. Lentz

And with no Yanks to shoot, we had time for a snack.

Photo: S. Lentz