I cringe a little bit when people ask me what I do.
What do I do? I do a lot of things. It’s kind of hard to explain. I do things that run in lists in my head, things that stress me out, but ultimately, things that keep me up at night with creative anticipation.
I love my job.
What I actually do is that I’m a Storyteller at a missions organization called Adventures in Missions. (Isn’t that the best job title?)
My job has a couple of different parts to it, but one main part is that I’m a member of our fantastic video team. I spend about half of my time in a back room strung festively with café lights, and sit back to back with a group of wildly talented videographers. It’s fantastic.
We venture out every once in awhile to film someone who is making the world a better place – occasionally hopping on a plane with a million pounds of gear to chase down stories around the world.
Then when we’re back, we crawl back into our cozy little room where we weave hours of footage into a two-minute masterpiece. (… that’s the goal, at least.
I love my job for a million reasons. I hate going to bed at night and refuse to take naps. My mind is so full of things I want to learn and create and do, and going to bed sometimes feels like a waste of time.
I truly feel like I wake up every day and fulfill the purpose for which I was put on this earth.
I tell stories.
Early in February, I had the amazing privilege of going on a short trip to Guatemala. It was led by a great man named Jeff Goins who wrote a book about what happens when your life intersects with God. I traveled with a fantastic group of people that, by the end of the week, felt like family. We met amazing people, hung out with the cutest kids, and spent time talking and dancing with the most beautiful abuelos that I’ve ever met.
And the best part was that I was there to tell stories. I trucked around Antigua with my camera, filming the experience as it unfolded.
It was an honor to capture the stories that happened that week.
And now I get to share it with you!
Here’s a small snippet of the world I exist in every day – a small portion but one I’m incredibly proud of. 🙂
[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/63106135 w=500&h=281]
Wrecked, Guatemala from Adventures In Missions on Vimeo.
Want to go on the next Wrecked trip? You can!
(Photos and videos taken by Stephanie May for Adventures in Missions)
Wow! This is fantastic, Stephanie. By far the best video I’ve seen you do. Your skills have gone to a whole new level. Thanks for your commitment.
Thank you Seth! That means a lot!! 🙂 It’s my pleasure. Absolutely.
Steph! This is beautiful and amazing. I love it.
Thank you Susan!! 🙂
GAAAAH I just grinned through that whole video. It’s so, so good Steph!!! haha excuse me while I go share this everywhere now.
Wow, I loved this! Thank you for sharing and the hard work you put in!
It’s so wild to me how much in the last year God has placed missions work at the front door of my heart. I say that because I’ve honestly always resisted the idea or concluded that God had other things for me. My girlfriend is going on, The World Race come September and my church is doing some awesome missions work….and just everywhere I’ve been online lately from blogs to news articles always seems to make me think about ministry on some foreign field. I think I’m gonna check out this Wrecked trip for sure!
Thanks again for sharing!
Jeremy, I’m so glad! It was a great trip, I highly recommend it. Thanks so much for reading!
Loved the video!!! I shared it with a group of 10 high schoolers (14-18) who are giving up 10 days of their lives to go serve on a missions trip in Denver this summer. Thanks for all that you do, Stephanie! Your journey as well as Jeff’s has inspired me to lead this team. Some of these students have never been outside of LA. A few of them have never done a trip like this. We’re road-tripping from LA to Denver and partnering with the Center for Student Missions. Should be a blast! Thanks for continuing to inspire me and them and so many others!
Melissa- I’m so glad!! Thank you so much for sharing that! Say hi to my city for me when you’re in Denver. 🙂 Thank you so much for reading and for being such an encouragement to me. Good luck leading the trip! Let me know how it goes!
Loved the video!!! I shared it with a group of 10 high schoolers (14-18) who are giving up 10 days of their lives to go serve on a missions trip in Denver this summer. Thanks for all that you do, Stephanie! Your journey as well as Jeff’s has inspired me to lead this team. Some of these students have never been outside of LA. A few of them have never done a trip like this. We’re road-tripping from LA to Denver and partnering with the Center for Student Missions. Should be a blast! Thanks for continuing to inspire me and them and so many others!
Wow! You are amazing! You perfectly captured the trip by using the perfect shots and words to tell the story, and the music was absolutely perfect. Down to the last bubble pop! I am so glad to read that you know this is what you are created to do bc it is quite obvious that’s true. Thanks for sharing your gifts Steph!!
You’re so sweet Dawn. I loved making the video. It was so fun to get to see your lovely face every day. 🙂 Love you!!
Oh girl – your stories keep me in tears. Especially those stories that I was honored to share with you! Your work is fabulous and I’ll forever appreciate that video. Love you.
You are so sweet Alene!! It was my pleasure to be a part of a story with you! 🙂 love you!!!
The is a fantastic video Stephanie 🙂
Thank you Sarah!!
Great video! That’s so exciting that you have work you do that you can’t wait to get started on in the morning and you have a hard time going to bed because you want to do more! That’s the dream! I want to get to that place — I feel like I am on my way.
Thanks Erika!I’m so glad you’re on your way!
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