On Monday, April 17, 2017 at 7:00 p.m., a premier screening of “Hacer Discipulos” will be shown in Ezell Chapel.
The film is the result of a collaborative partnership between Lipscomb Track Missions and Manna Global Ministries.
The film’s producer is Katie Bianchini, who graduated in December of 2016 from both the Journalism New Media and Spanish programs.
Bianchini is now in the Graduate Instructional Practice Program, working towards her goal of becoming a High School Spanish teacher.
“Creating this documentary was a pairing of both of my majors in Spanish and Journalism,” she said. “It just made sense.”
Bianchini grew up in Snohomish, Washington, and said that she always had an interest in learning Spanish. She came to Lipscomb as part of Track and Cross Country program, where she excelled and obtained numerous awards, including second and third place all-team conference awards, the ASUN Indoor Runner of the Week award and the mile at the Don DeNoon Invite with a time of 4:57.43. She also finished first in the 5000m at the Bellarmine Invite and the 1500m at the Joey Haines Invite in 2016.
During her undergraduate years at Lipscomb, Bianchini participated in several missions programs, and traveled to the Dominican Republic with the track team four times. The film “Hacer Discipulos” was an idea born during an internship that was required to complete the Journalism program.
Bianchini said that what started an idea for a short film about a mission trip ended up being extended into a full-length feature.“Originally, I just did it to fulfill the three-credit Journalism requirement, but now it has taken on a life of its own.”
Bianchini said that she did not anticipate the amount of time and energy that the project would require. “I finished the first draft in December, which I thought was the final draft, but we ended up adding to it, and trying to figure out how to tell a better story, and it turned into a ten-month project,” she said. “It’s much different than what the first draft was intended to be. It became special to me.”
The film’s title, “Hacer Discipulous” translates to, “making disciples.” The film runs approximately 22 minutes, and it is about Manna Global Ministries group and a program that they offer in both Santiago and Bobita Dominican Republic. The trips are geared towards making disciples out of high school and college students.
Sponsors are also provided for students in need in order to enable them to get through school and graduate. “It’s not like a traditional Missions trip, where you are working with young kids.” Bianchini said. “We are all college students, so it’s unique in that way.”
The documentary gives an overall look at the three aspects of Manna Global Ministries, comprised of a children’s (foster) home, Manna Christian School and the college in Santiago.
“The story also centers on Ranger’s story, the main character in the documentary, and the guy featured on the posters,” said Bianchini. “His story is representative of the many stories that Manna is working with in Dominican Republic.”
“Hacer Discipulous” is not Bianchini’s first attempt at producing a documentary. She previously produced a shorter documentary called “Chris Klotz: In the Passengers Seat,” which won the Best Documentary award at the Lipscomb 5 Minute Film Festival.
“I do really love videography. It’s really easy to tell someone’s story when it’s centered on Christ,” Bianchini said. “I love that aspect of being able to work with missions and do stories like this.”
Bianchini said that one of the best aspects of the documentary is the fact that many talented people came together to support her in putting together a quality product. Staff sponsor Professor Gibson helped her during the internship, and Mark Jent and Erin Gupton of Lipscomb Missions took over the project in December as the project expanded, and helped with edits.
“They hooked me up with Epic Life creative team who made the posters and helped develop the story even further,” Bianchini said. “What’s also really cool is that most of the music is originally composed by Kendra Weitz, my teammate and an extremely talented musician. It’s original stuff.”
After the film premiere, a panel discussion will begin that will feature people who started Manna Christian School, to answer questions about the ministry, and give information on how to become involved in missions trips and athletic mission trips.
Chapel Credit will be given for those who attend the panel discussion.
“I would recommend that anyone participate in a Missions trip. It’s life-changing,” Bianchini said. “We send interns for three to four weeks in the summer to pour into that ministry and fulfill requirements…and at the same time we create disciples.”
For more information about the Manna Global Ministries, visit www.wearemanna.org