Becoming Fools
Becoming Fools"Becoming Fools" is a story that is waiting to be told. The film will portray the vision of Italo, a professional clown who invested in the lives of street youth. He spent years working with a group of street kids and dreamed of a holistic youth center that would provide hope and opportunity. He began to teach the art of clowning to street children to provide them a source of income. Sadly, Italo's life was cut short when he tragically drowned in February of 2011. Both Guatemala and these street kids lost a hero. [Watch a tribute to the life of Italo] Thankfully, some of Italo's friends and colleagues are continuing his vision. Families are fostering abandoned children. Organizations are providing family support services. Orphanages are casting vision of adoption. Athentikos, a film production organization, wants to honor Italo's life by telling this beautiful story of struggle and hope. They will document the lives of these street youth and capture the process as they learn the art of clowning to perform at parties and events. They'll also interview leading experts on street youth and families who are fostering children in Guatemala. All of these plots will converge at a public event next spring when the community is invited to watch the street youth perform with professional clowns and share their hearts. To understand this global issue, we must become fools, strip away our preconceived ideas, and listen to their hearts. CRWM Missionary in Guatemala, Joel Van Dyke, on "Becoming Fools"The Strategy of Transformation has been able to pull together 14 different ministries and churches that have been working in different ways with street youth. For the first time ever they are collaborating and dreaming about how they can work together on behalf of the 4,000-6,000 street kids in Guatemala City and their families. The excitement over the potential film project, "Becoming Fools" is great because it would serve as a catalyst for raising awareness and funds for the unified efforts of these fourteen-plus Guatemalan led ministries serving their own people. This is our chance to unite together to be part of the redemption of their stories for the glory of our Almighty God. Movies are not called motion pictures simply because they are pictures in motion, but because they have the power to profoundly move people. We saw this happen in spectacular ways with the "Reparando" film, and I see even more potential with the "Becoming Fools" project. Will you please join us in ‘Becoming Fools’ for the thousands of children living on the streets of Guatemala City? Learn More"Becoming Fools" ContextThe situation of the younger generation in Latin America is critical, with thousands of young people participating in violent street gangs and others prisoners of grinding poverty, homelessness, alcoholism, drugs and the effects of sexual promiscuity. The Strategy of Transformation, led by Christian Reformed World Missions' missionary in Guatemala City, Joel Van Dyke, is a leadership training program and designed to mobilize a new generation of grassroots leaders participating in the transformation of their communities by serving the least, last and the lost of their respective cities and nations. Today, the Strategy of Transformation network consists of 14 organizations and churches in Guatemala City that are collaborating and ministering to at-risk youth together. The stories of "Reparando" and "Becoming Fools" being told by Athentikos are rooted in the lives of leaders of the Strategy of Transformation Network. Guatemalans are rising up against all odds to serve, love and lead their own people, and are changing their city from the inside out. These films tell the stories of the fruit that is being born from the ministry that is taking place. (Read more...) There is an integral connection between World Missions, the Strategy of Transformation and Athentikos. During visits to Guatemala in the process of adopting their two now adopted sons, Scott and Amelia Moore were exposed to the streets of Guatemala City, to prisons holding gang members, and to the missional community of the Strategy of Transformation. Scott was deeply moved by the stories of the young men he met during those visits. He describes it as “being able to see stories in the eyes of the young men hiding behind the threatening war paint of their tattoos.” He felt responsible to do something in response to what he had seen. They returned home and formed Athentikos, a non-profit film production organization that would expose need and inspire hope through the art of story. The vision for their first film, “Reparando,” was born, a film telling the story of Guatemala's struggle to repair itself and its people following a 36-year civil war. The two main characters in “Reparando,” Shorty and Tita, had never met each other before the filming began. The Strategy of Transformation network and the filming of “Reparando” brought them together. They are now working together in vital ways to transform Guatemala city and its people with an entire network around them. Additionally, "Reparando" was nominated for several awards at various film festivals throughout the United States. Their second film, "Becoming Fools," will be a story about another member of the Strategy of Transformation network, Italo Castro. It is the hope and prayer of many that the filming, the final product and the final showing/event will bring the community closer together. |
