Happy 2013!!!

Hello World!

Once again it's been a long while since I posted on the blog...like 8 months. My current location, Home, Mauritius. I've Been trying to update the blog from my parents' laptop...well Internet connectivity is depressingly slow...so decided to update you guys from my iPhone. That piece of technology has been such a blessing...and is still alive and well.

Nevertheless the last 8 months haven't been so boring as one would expect from my silence on the blog world. Actually during that time I had the opportunity to go to 3 countries (Uganda, Rwanda, Hawaii and U.S mainland), attended my first world tour concert (Switchfoot), swam along and took a picture with a sea turtle in Hawaii, visited an Air and Space Museum for the first time in Washington D.C, was one of the Best Men for the first time for my Best Bro's wedding (Elnie and Ashley) held in Tennessee, USA; held a gun, actually a few of them inside an indoor shooting range and shot on targets, had an encounter with a bear while hiking along the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee, attended or the first time a Red Bull Flugtag event in Cape Town...was part of the production crew shooting the Behind The Scenes for a Featured movie entitled "Perfect Wave" attended the premier of another featured movie "Baroudeur" in which I was part of the production crew...oh...also won a couple of awards with Media Village Productions towards the end of 2012. We got involved in the worldwide known 48hours Film project which was held for the first time in Cape Town, and our production got Awards for Best Editing and Best Use of Music and was nominated for different other categories, while our students who also competed got Producer's Mention for their project. In addition to that our production team got in the South African well known TAG Awards whereby we had to produce a PSA (Public Service Announcement; a promo clip for a Non-Governmental Organization); in our case, an NGO called Life Exchange, and we won Best Overall and won 6 awards out of 7. (FYI: we just didn't get the award for Best Script). It was needless to say how each and everyone of us were so stunned and stoked by all these pleasant surprises as we were wrapping up on 2012.

Anyway all of the above was just a few highlights of great stuff I was able to experience, and these happened thanks to God. I definitely confidently know that without Him none of these would have been possible. I keep smiling every time I think of time 3 years ago when I prayed God to use me as I am and take me where He wants me to be.

21st December was said by the Mayans to be the end of the world and yet today I'm still alive to share to you to what happened to me over the last few months. Believe it or not, this time, the "End of the World" day had been much more feared and mediated due today's advanced way of communications, whether it's social media, radio, tv and Internet. I did even hear of people selling all of their properties for the occasion! In the midst of all that, I got the thought that what if the End of the world had really had happened, would we have been ready for it? Did we have enough time to finish the 'work' that had to be done here on the earth before going to the other side? Did we mention to the people that we most cared for that we loved them? Were we certain to go to heaven or might we be heading the other way? But hey! Wait, breathe and stop thinking. The most common fact that I heard from different religious leaders on the radio the other day was that none of them knew when the end of the world is to happen nor did their respective 'sacred books' mentioned a date for it. I think the greatest danger in all that is when the day the world is really gonna come to an end...many won't pay attention because they would say "Do you remember what happened the previous time with the Mayans?!? That's another scam." What would you say?

Until then world, I do sincerely wish to all of you around the world a very successful 2013, in everything you do, wherever you are. If in doubt/confused you can always chat with the guy up there, He is there for you anytime of the day and year!

Below are a couple of pictures from my travels...hope you enjoy them and feedbacks much appreciated...:)

Another side of life

Hello World!

It's been a while since i've posted on the blog. I've been pretty busy with the schools happening at  Media Village, working with people from pretty much the four corners of the world, talented, wanting to gain media skills to be God's storytellers of tomorrow. We have had some great lecturers/ professionals in the industry so far and still more coming in the next few weeks...above all that...it's freezing down here in Cape Town, snow on the mountains, hailstorms happening from time to time...and weirdly some sunny warm days happening occasionally.

However in the midst of all this busy-ness, i'm really excited and glad to announce that the documentary that my colleague Shane and I shot in Nigeria in 2011, is soon to be released!
The Premier viewing will happen in Cape Town on the 17th August 2012, we are really hoping to have quite a number of influential people coming for the event, from people influencing different spheres of society, churches and christian ministries, to business leaders, etc...

After months of post-production hard work, the documentary which we hope to be broadcasted on CNN is soon to be finalized and would be made available on DVD. The trailer of the documentary on Human Trafficking in Nigeria entitled Another side of life has already been uploaded om YouTube.
Here is the link below.




Together with Anne Abok, director of Media Village Nigeria, Shane triggered the opportunity to go for a couple of weeks to Nigeria to shoot the documentary on Human Trafficking. Anne, who is not just the director of our sister base but is also a filmaker, and determined to fight against injustice, agreed to the idea and helped tremendously throughout the project. I was the 2nd cameraman/ technical assistant during the 3 weeks shoot, and i've got to admit, it was such a huge experience for me, thanks to all those who have supported me, financially or in prayers. I 've got no regret at all to have been part of the shoot, especially when the day i landed in Nigeria coincided with my birthday. Anne produced a featured Nigerian movie entitled Europe in my Heart, a very promising movie, in the aim to raise awareness against Human Trafficking in Nigeria. So far, we are hopeful that throughout the different awareness campaign that we've had alongside during our time, in different parts of Nigeria, using Europe in my Heart, we've been able to "save" lives from being taken away to trafficking.
Below is the link to the trailer.





As I mentioned earlier, the Premier of Another side of life will happen in Cape Town on the 17th August 2011, that is in about 2 weeks time! We are really hoping that the right people will come and be able to raise awareness and influence their networks so that we can soon prevent innocent lives from being robbed away.

Jeremiah 22:3-5

New International Version (NIV)

³ This is what the Lord says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place. ⁴ For if you are careful to carry out these commands, then kings who sit on David’s throne will come through the gates of this palace, riding in chariots and on horses, accompanied by their officials and their people. ⁵ But if you do not obey these commands, declares the Lord, I swear by myself that this palace will become a ruin.”

Jeremiah 22:3-5

The Message (MSG)

 ^1-3 God's orders: "Go to the royal palace and deliver this Message. Say, 'Listen to what God says, O King of Judah, you who sit on David's throne—you and your officials and all the people who go in and out of these palace gates. This is God's Message: Attend to matters of justice. Set things right between people. Rescue victims from their exploiters. Don't take advantage of the homeless, the orphans, the widows. Stop the murdering!

 ^4-5"If you obey these commands, then kings who follow in the line of David will continue to go in and out of these palace gates mounted on horses and riding in chariots—they and their officials and the citizens of Judah. But if you don't obey these commands, then I swear—God's Decree!—this palace will end up a heap of rubble."



I kinda like The Message version of the Bible...feels like it's clearer and more straight-forward.You can't now say that you didn't know that fighting injustice such as preventing and rescuing trafficked victims is not part of our mission in expanding God's Kingdom from now on..;)


Kenny

It's winter...it's freezing...been busy...

Hello Nations!

It's been a week or so since my last post...jeez...where to start...my daily life has been busy with work mainly...and that's a problem...not enough time spent with God...and yet I feel like God has been speaking through several people to me...i'm always amazed by that "way of communicating"...

Here at Media Village, two schools have started and been running for 2 weeks now...School of video Production and School of Photography...there's about +/- 30 students from around the world...from students with some great life stories to some that had to flee away from their country because of persecution. Students have started to learn the basic skills already, and this last week was on editing. A lot of these guys had asked me about my role at Media Village, to be honest, i always had to think through it, and try to summarize that...because, i'm kind of the I.T. guy (though i just follow instructions from the manual that the previous IT guy left behind), I oversee the students' editing suite, help/mentor them during their training, also help with the Production department at Media Village Productions for the "serious" projects...run around to find equipment...all in all...i'm just the technical assistant. It feels like i do 10 men's jobs...anyway.

Yet, this whole week, it felt like God was wanting me to spend time with Him...to be honest, i struggled...and yet God reminds me of his Grace and Faithfulness...I remember during a production shoot this, i thought, man i'm thirsty a ginger beer would be great, God. A couple of minutes later, our base director whom we had to interview, just asked who wanted something to drink...at that moment i just got this flash back of my "request to God"...This week also i was also reminded about that certain scripture in the Bible, that says along these lines, " You will be even more blessed when you bless those that can't repay you back." Don't get me wrong, i'm not a rich kid, (I don't even dare to have a look at my balance in my bank account) but God has been always faithful in helping me daily.

What struck me also was a quote that I found on facebook about having faith in God.

Human: Show me, and I will trust you.
God: Trust me and I will show you.

There is so many "needs" that we think they are crucial to us, and yet it's all about God. Seek first the Kingdom of God, and everything else will be provided to you. It's quite something to see how persistent God had been speaking to me this week...it sounds repetitive through this post but it is true!!!
I think i did mention previously, there was this sharing that i heard from Louie Giglio, and i keep thinking about it every time my mind gets a break. We tend to advise God on what would be good for us...God, I need this, and that, perhaps not that one, but the other one, and alongside, could you please get rid of X and get Y involved, oh, and by the way, sorry that I sinned, and just help me through the week, amen. When in real fact, GOD has always released to us what He had for us. He gave us everything, everything, starting from a brain. Let's use it since it's part of us. All that we need to do is to acknowledge God it what He has done and what He is about to do. Just be thankful, good or bad times. I think in the bad times, God always want to show us something that we missed along the way, and would want us to correct our path and keep on the right track.

Like the teachers would say, so what did you learn out of that?

Coming up!

Hello World!

It's been quite some times i haven't posted something on the blog....Those last 2 weeks been very hectically busy...from shooting a 3-days fundraising concert for Cancer research to preparations for upcoming schools at Media Village, School of Video Production I (SVP I) and School of Storytelling and Digital Photography (SSDP), to planning, directing, shooting and editing a 5 minutes welcome clip for our new students...also today it's been 3 years since I joined Media Village! Times flies indeed! I think there has been love and hate relationship moments, but hey, if i didn't face these 'challenges' well, i wouldn't have grown...right?

This reminds me of Izra...Izra is 2 years old or less...I think...He's a boy...if you were wondering...His parents Michael and Nadine are volunteers at the base...Michael is from Ghana, and Nadine from South Africa...these guys form a great couple...their life stories are amazing...Izra is still in the process of sorting himself to stand up and walk...yet he's still holding onto...whatever he can grip himself to...(He's got such a Great smile every time i smiled to him)... and yet at early stages of just standing on his feet, he would eventually fall down, knock himself somewhere...and cry...just like all of us at baby age...and still after much perseverance...he would eventually be able to stand up and walk on his own, try to run...and fall...stand up on his feet and run...and so on...Basically my point is if you want to stand up...be aware that you will fall also...feel some pain, cry but to be able to grow, you'll have to stand back onto your feet, dry your tears and keep trying until you get it right...Perseverance...It's quite a fact that i've faced quite a few tough challenges...not hectic...but serious...media is so unpredictable...issues just rise up the moment you'll least expect...it's like standing in the centre eye of a storm...but hey the sun shines after the storm...it's quite interesting...like this week i had quite a few tough giants to face...and yet it felt like a voice telling me, have a look to the verse of the day on my Bible app...YouVersion...thank God for Steve Jobs...got the iphone..got a Bible App with multiple version in it...anyway...back to my story...as I tapped into the app...the verse of the day showed up..


Why are you down in the dumps, dear soul? Why are you crying the blues? Fix my eyes on God— soon I'll be praising again. He puts a smile on my face. He's my God. - Psalm 42:11 (Message)


That was obviously the Verse of the Day! The fresh air of early morning...despite it's quite a freezing one over here...After that moment...I started seeing the bigger picture of why i was here in South Africa at this time of my life...Things just became clearer... : )


More to come soon ; )


Thanks to everyone who've been cruising my blog, from the United States to Australia, Finland, Russia through India, South Africa, Madagascar and my beautiful homeland, Mauritius...thank you guys for your support! Looking forward for your comments...good or harsh...much appreciated....


My friend Shane Vermooten is getting ready a trailer of the documentary we shot in Nigeria last October...Hopefully I'll soon post some lines in "The Scribbles" my adventures in Nigeria with pictures...


So More to come!


Until then...Take Care!

..Where I'm at...

Hey guys!

Just wrote another blog in "The Scribbles", or Scribbled a little bit about my experience flying over the Arctic. Hope you enjoy it.


In 2009, I told the guy who lives in the cloud (God) that I wanted to live a life of adventure with Him, and He showed me a scripture, Jeremiah 29:11, "I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out - plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for." - The Message
Little I knew what was I to expect since then.

Since I gave my life to God, I always had this curious question, how does God answer to prayers when there are billions of us mini tiny living beings on earth? How does He prioritize from responding to the most urgent need to the least one? Does He even prioritize prayers? Don't get me wrong any prayer is as important and valuable to the other ones...Does He have a call centre type of thing? Perhaps He hires immediately those who just landed in Heaven...sorry, I shouldn't make that kind of joke...He might be watching me write now...but still for me, these questions make me more curious about God...

God is omnipotent and omnipresent, that is, He's his got unlimited Power and can be present Everywhere. That sounds like a super hero! I wonder why no one has made a movie about God yet...

I think that God is also a movie maker, He's the Best Producer, Best Director, Best of EVERYTHING! In the Bible, somewhere, I think it's mentioned He's ways are not our ways. That's pretty obvious to understand, and yet we struggle to understand. Earlier I mentioned that I told God I wanted to live a life of adventure, well it happened and is still happening. FYI, I LOVE TRAVELLING!!!

In 2009 alone, I was privileged to travel to 3 countries, Reunion Island (attended Nations 2 Nations Conference by YWAM and was introduced to YWAM), Madagascar (jumped out from the plane to get onto the next one the following day), then landed in South Africa in September. Winds of winter was still blowing over South Africa, especially in Muizenberg, where I did the DTS (Discipleship Training School) with the international missionary organisation, YWAM (Youth With A Mission). YWAM was founded by Loren Cunningham, and is currently operating in more than 1,000 locations in over 180 countries sending out at least 10,000 missionaries to the fields. The DTS is a 6 months school where we are taught about the foundations to become an effective vessel to reach out to the world. To know God and Make Him known.

YWAM Muizenberg - September DTS 2009

The DTS consists of 3 months of lecture phase, then 3 months outreach. During my school, we had 5 outreach teams; 2 teams in South Africa/ Swaziland, another team to Kenya, India and Thailand/ Cambodia in which I was part of.

 Thailand/Cambodia Outreach team 2009

Outreach has been a great learning curve, very enriching in many ways. We had some great hosts, we did community works, reached out to prostitutes, performed at the local airport and in the local community, taught english to refugees...wished i had pictures to show you but someone dropped the hard drive in which i kept them...had to be one of the worst day of my life...anyway...back to the story...

During my DTS, I kept asking God, what was my next step after DTS, and He directed me to do SVP (School of Video Production), provided by Media Village (MV). Media Village is a branch of YWAM and as the name speaks for itself, is a Media Focused ministry. Media Village has got a Training facility but is also a Production house and is being lead by Graham and Diane Vermooten. One of Graham's wishes for Media Village, is not to become the biggest YWAM base, but to be the most influential ministry. Recently a team was sent to record the World Prayer Assembly in Indonesia where hundreds of thousands gathered to pray for the world, and was broadcasted to millions  of people around the globe. We sent one of the tv inserts broadcasted during the event regarding the Global Day of Prayer throughout the years since it began. I was privileged to edit that insert. 

The SVP used to be a 3 months school but has now become a 6 months' school. I was taught pretty much all of the basic skills needed to be ready to work in the media industry; from camera skills to editing, via scriptwriting, producing and directing. Lots of hard work and long lasting working hours was required but were worth it. Our lecturers were all from the industry, and shared quite a lot of their skills and techniques to us, but above all, they shared how much they need God to be able to make a difference in the media industry. 

I shared the room with one of my best friends, Cha Cha. He is South Korean and is very talented when it comes to camera works and editing. We made a deal that he would share his technical knowledge and I would help him with his language barrier. We would wake each other up, either to be on time for class or to revise for the tests. There was such a strong brotherhood bond created between us. He is a real brother to me. Today Cha Cha is helping out a YWAM base in India. As talented as he is, he mentioned to me that God was calling him to reach out to people, and India was his field. We're still looking forward to meet up someday in Korea.

 School of Video Production 2010

Location shoot for our 'Best' Music Video, Zamar, Take 5

From left to right: Cha Cha,
Butho (D.O.P*/Post-Production Sound engineer at Media Village)

Passion makes a difference from Kenny wong on Vimeo.

Take 5 Zamar from Media Village on Vimeo.

*Director of Photography

By the time we were graduated, I was awarded for the Best "Soft News" piece and I was part of the team having produced the Best "Music Video" for the class of 2010. Overall I think I came out 2nd or 3rd in class.

After my SVP in 2010 I did my internship with Media Village and since 2011, i've been doing my apprenticeship with Media village Productions. Since then, I've been to Namibia, Zimbabwe, Hawaii, Nigeria, Uganda and Rwanda, alongside with the production crew; been part of various production projects from producing Media Village schools' podcasts to Transformation documentaries, to live concerts, conferences, corporate events, an award winning short movie ("Dear Sister"), a featured movie ("Baroudeur", not with Media Village Productions). In the production of Dear Sister, I was the Key-grip and the Offline Editor. Being at Media Village has provided great opportunities, learning curves and skill development.

Media Village won the Redemptive Storyteller Award

for "Dear Sister", and was also part of the Durban Film Festival finalists' selection.

Dear Sister Trailer from Media Village on Vimeo.

*Visit www.mediavillage.info for more information about Media Village and its schools. (Discipleship Training School, School of Video Production 1 & @, School of Storytelling and Digital Photography)

So basically I travelled to 9 countries since 2009, and doing what I love doing, Media.

All of this has happened just because I told God that I wanted to live a life of adventure with Him. How about you? What have you asked God for? Ask Him for anything, He'll make it happen..Just Trust God and be patient.

"Don't bargain with God. Be direct. Ask for what you need. This isn't a cat-and-mouse, hide-and-seek game we're in." Matthew 7:7 - The Message

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you" Matthew 7:7 - NIV


Just Trust God and be patient.

Hello World!

Hey people! Welcome to Follow Kenny!

Finally after much thinking, I finally decided to start a blog....in hoping to share with You, World, about my stories over the last couple of years and basically what i've been working on since I got into media and away from home. It does sound silly, taking two years to start a blog...but hey, everybody is different right?! Thank goodness we've been created uniquely!

First paragraph of blog done! Hahahaha...

Blogging is quite a new thing for me...please bare with me.

Anyway, I'm Kenny, from the Wong clan...Kenny Wong Sin...when i wrote Wong clan, i meant it. There's a couple of millions of us out there, apart from China. Hahahahaha....I'm getting used to tell my friends...better be friends with a chinese, you never know what might happen tomorrow... I was born in Mauritius, my forefathers were from China. My parents were born and grew in Mauritius, so yes, i'm not 100% chinese, but i still look like one of them... ^ ^... I'm currently living in Durbanville, Cape Town, South Africa, doing my 2nd year of Apprenticeship with Media Village.

As mentioned earlier I guess the main reason for me creating a blog, was to be able to share with friends and strangers, young and old hopefully from around the world, stories from my travels, testimonies of people I've met who've made a difference in the way I think and do things, projects I've been part of but above all that, to be able to share with my Adventures with God!

Don't forget to have a look at the different pages of my blog; " The Scribbles", some written accounts of my encounters and experiences, "Projects Gallery" where you'll find the different works i've worked on while being at Media Village, there is also "Photo Gallery", a couple of snapshots i've taken from my shoots and travels, "My Stimulus",  video clips that i've inspired me to do what i'm doing today.

I hope you'll enjoy my blog, Follow Kenny, and be encouraged... : )