The Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA) video team has been documenting stories of gospel advance across four continents, capturing moments as varied as a Bible delivery by helicopter in Papua, Indonesia, a woman's conversion in Cambodia, and a congregation gathering for worship in West Africa despite persecution. In a feature published in the July–August edition of Alliance Life magazine, team members reflected on the deeper purpose behind their work: connecting the Alliance family in North America to the realities of global mission through visual storytelling.
"We want to tell stories with curiosity and empathy," said Josh, director for Video at the Alliance National Office. "Through the stories that we capture, we hope to transport viewers and engage their imaginations and their hearts — and be the bridge between here and there." Team member Andy recalled one assignment in particular: flying a newly completed Bible translation — the product of 65 years of labour by two generations of C&MA missionary families, Ed and Shirley Maxey and their son Buzz and his wife Myrna — from village to village in Papua. "Witnessing Buzz give the Bible to someone who helped and knew his parents, someone he hadn't seen in twenty years... everybody started crying. To be able to capture that was really special," he said.
Team member Olivia described filming in a Central Asian valley where the crew stayed overnight with a local family in an area with no other known believers. "We could feel that darkness and that weight," she reflected. "It connected our hearts to people in a deeper way and gave us a lot of respect for the international workers and what they do." The video team's portfolio now spans Indonesia, Cambodia, West Africa, and Central Asia, and the Alliance Life feature underscores the C&MA's century-long commitment to making global mission tangible for its congregations — a distinctive of the Alliance movement since the days of founder A. B. Simpson.
Source: Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA USA) — cmalliance.org
