Special thanks to Joe Flores, Jay Olivier, Michael Melendez, Vicki Lucas of WoodsEdge. Our Prayer Shield members and Leslie for the successful filming of 3 new wholyFit videos:
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Photo courtesy of Jay Olivier
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WHOLYFIT BASICS
Based on Scriptures from Romans and Galatians
Anyone of any fitness level will love this video!
Mostly levels 1 exercises, a few level 2 exercises
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WHOLYFIT PROGRESSED
Based on Scripture from Psalms 63
For those who want a little bit of a challenge. Lots of strength and stamina, but nothin’ crazy.
Mostly level 2, a few level 3 exercises
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SLO FLO
Christian Alternative to Tai Chi!
Based on the Yang long series and set to American Sign Language sentences of affirmation and praise of God’s never-ending character and faithfulness!
Three Parts included in one video:
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PART 1: 10 minutes- basic with lots of repetition
PART 2: 15 minutes- a little more complexity of content, less repetition
PART 3: 20 minutes- you get it all! This is what you work up to. How fun is that?

Laura’s Journal Trip to Costa Rca 13
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Day 7
I return today. Today I read chapter 20*, “return to the valley”. It’s about the watersong: how after living in the high places, the greatest desire is to go back down to the valley below to help others to reach the highplaces and know the Shepherd. And so we become part of the waterfall and dive into reckless abandon of self service out of the joy of love for the Shepherd.

Photo by Jay Olivier

We love those whom He loves and so we delight in ministering to those He loves. The waterfall is the church- all those who love the Shepherd. The water sings about going to the lowest places, going lower still in service to others. Much- afraid has been given a new name: Grace and Glory. Sorrow has been turned to joy.; Suffering to Peace. I have discovered my hinds feet on high places and now I will sing the watersong as I return.
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“From the heights we leap and flow
To the valley down below
Sweetest urge and sweetest will,
To go lower, lower still. *
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Make haste, Beloved, be though like an hart
On mountains spicy sweet;
And I, on those High Places where thou art;
Will follow on hinds feet:
As close behind the hart, there leaps the roe,
so where thou goest, I will surely go.” *
* Hinds Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard

Photo by Michael Melendez

Photo by Michael Melendez

Photo by Michael Melendez

Photo by Michael Melendez

Laura’s Journal Trip to Costa Rca 12
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Day 6
I shared some of what Jesus told me in our special time with my friends Leslie and Connie on the beach. I lost my eye-glasses in the sea being prideful about the under-tow. God knows how to teach you lessons that are aggravating at the time, but prove to be funny later. It’s good to laugh at yourself.
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ZIP LINING IN JESUS
For a faith that’s strong to the core… “Zip lining with Jesus” is the way to build your core strength by developing complete dependence on God.
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It took me about 8 tries before I got the hang of zip lining. First I tried to “muscle it” and hold myself up with my arms. I soon realized that this was impossible. You’ve got to just lean back, lift your knees and let the gear hold you up. It’s the last thing you want to do: give up all control when you’re flying high above the tops of the highest trees of the jungle! But by about zip #9 I finally just let go and wished I had learned earlier. All we had to do was hold up our knees and we all had sore abdominal muscles but what a fun way to build “six pack abs”!
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It was absolutely impossible to hold myself up on that zip-line with my arms. No one could have done that. It is as impossible as trying to live a perfect life without sin. No one can do that either. We all need Jesus to cleanse us and the Bible says that His strength is made perfect in our weakness. Zipping with Jesus is the same. “Let go and let God” is the saying most are familiar with, but it’s more than that. We’ve got to come to the end of our reliance on our own ability and strength so that God’s majesty and power can be evident in our lives and He can free us to experience Himself.
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Did you think that you had to work your way to God? No, He loves you and has already made a way. Just come to Him in prayer and believe, tell God you are coming to Him because of what Jesus did on the cross to make a way.
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We know that no one is made right with God by obeying the law, but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified. Galatians 2:16 (NIV and NASB)
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To come to God by faith alone is intellectually dangerous isn’t it? But if it were’nt dangerous it wouldn’t be as intriguing- right? That’s why it’s called “faith”. Life with Jesus is an adventure. He is definitely the most exciting person in the universe. No, He is not safe, but He is loving. Life with Jesus is exhilerating!
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“I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” - Jesus (John 10:10)
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Wha…? Did you think the Christian life is boring? Far from it! God will ask you to do things that are so out of your comfort level that you will need to rely on Him. All things are possible through Jesus. All promises have their “Yes” answer in Him. Lean back and enjoy the ride!
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Lean back and enjoy the ride - life with Christ. He is such a mystery, such an adventure, it will take a life time to search Him out. The Bible promises that if we seek Him, we will find Him.
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Photo by Michael Melendez

Photo by Jay Olivier

Photo by Jay Olivier

Photo by Jay Olivier

Photo by Jay Olivier

Photo by Jay Olivier

Photo by Jay Olivier

Laura’s Journal Trip to Costa Rca 11
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Day 5
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Ahhh… all the stress is over and the feeling of a job well done is good. We worked really hard to prepare for this video and now comes the rest. We actually were able, by the grace of God, to film each video in one take with maybe a single minor touch up on a part afterwards. Even in practice it had been difficult to go all the way through without a mistake and to stay together and we expected it to be even harder with cameras on us. We asked the Lord for extaordinary focus.
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We did the Slo flo completely by memory with no cue track because we found working to a cue track ruined the artistic expression it required. It was difficult to memorize. We prayed that God would give us super-focus and that He would help us to remember everything. Miraculously, He did. What are the odds that we could have performed each routine, all the way through, without major mistakes? No way we could have done that without God’s powerful intervention into our minds.
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We knew well our weaknesses and prayed continually, “We trust in Your character. You are faithful. We trust our bodies to You. We trust our minds to You. Those who believe in You, you never disappoint.” He totally did not disappoint us, in fact He did more than we could have possibly imagined beforehand. Truly this video was sovereignly planned and carried out by God. We could never have done it in and of ourselves.
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AND WE COULD NEVER HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT OUR PRAYER SHIELD. Now I know how important it is to pray for your missionaries. They truly are in desperate need and can do NOTHING without prayer. Prayer is the real work. We may have been there in body, but you all were there in spirit right alongside us. You have invested your prayers and energy into these videos and God will bless you with the fruit of it. You will be able to give it to people you love, knowing that you had a major part in making it happen. You had our backs. You were there in the warfare, in the victories, in the struggles. You held back the Enemy, you loosed the angels. Our prayers were answered instantly. How often does that happen?!!! It was because there was a big group of people praying who were united in heart and purpose to glorify the King and reach people with His love. THANK YOU! THANK YOU FOR PRAYING! (Keep praying now through the end product.)
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Thank you to Vicki and Yvonne and Melanie and Janet and Pastor Jeff and everyone at WoodsEdge for sending us and supporting us to do this outreach project! We hope it will help people to care for their bodies in a way that is fun, meaningful, comforting, will help them to have a long life of service to the King and will yield eternal fitness as well.
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What’s eternal is always the friends made: Leslie, Jay, Michael, Joe, Alex and Louis. We all really enjoyed each others’ company- the crew and us wholy-fitters got to know each other and I can truly say we all have a sincere affection one for the other.
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Now all I want to do was sleep. My husband booked me in a real hotel for a couple days to unwind. It is beautiful. It has towels. Everyone is really nice to me. I slept for 23 hours in 2 days.
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I have not spent time with Jesus all alone for 25 years. I mean, I have quiet times, but often I am interrupted with phones and tv and internet and dogs and fires of all types. As I sat enjoying being with Jesus all alone, I kept thinking someone was going to bust in at any moment. Did I put the “do not disturb” sign on the door? I checked again.
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What happened between me and Jesus in our special time is just between He and I. Even if I tried, I couldn’t possibly explain it in words. It was wonderful. I worshiped, He sang to me and I to Him. We danced, we ate, we talked, we read Song of Songs and Hind’s Feet. I journaled. He gave me specific direction for the video production. He revealed Himself in a new way to me. I am different and will never be the same person again. I hope that you will take time out to see what Jesus is like when you are all alone with Him.
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Suffice it to say that Jesus planted the seed of love in my heart, it bloomed and I sacrificed all my dependence upon human love on the altar in order to receive the truly divine love of Christ. I made one more step toward being crucified with Christ, one more promise of my love to Him and He to me. His banner over me is love.
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Photo by Michael Melendez
On way back from the church ruins we Stopped for lunch and again for a cup of coffee

Photo by Jay Olivier

Photo by Jay Olivier

Photo by Jay Olivier

Photo by Jay Olivier

Day 4
I was so overwhelmed with the beauty of the location that I forgot to tell you how the actual filming went! Ok. The best part! There was no electricity when we got there and the crew had been given substandard cables. We had left at 4:20am to catch the “golden hour” and now we had missed it. Now in addition to praying against rain, we prayed for God’s energy and power to fix the electrical problem. There would be no filming without it.

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On top of all that, I was struggling with a simmering stomach ache. I must have drank bad water. We prayed for a while… and God told me I needed to confess the burden of stress I felt in this pressurized situation. Once I expressed this burden and that it was not mine to carry, I asked for cleansing. I had taken lots of remedies but it would have been impossible for me to film expediently in this condition.

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The boiling stomach (that had sent me across the street twice to beg use of the bakery’s bathroom) stopped- that stomach ache went away immediately - surprisingly - like it was never even there! i am not exaggerating. I felt at my best, at my strongest. We had prayed that God would show Himself mighty on this trip and He did! He showed Himself in a new way to us. Just then the producer called out they were ready to film- they had “McGiver-ed” the wiring and it worked.

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We took our places and just as I stood beside my mat so that the cameras could focus, what seemed like a bucket of cement came splattering out of the sky onto the mat! I jumped away but not before the Pigeon poop splattered all over my pants (and all over all 3 mats!). In the bible birds are symbolic of demons.

Photo by Michael Melendez

Photo by Michael Melendez

Now that the crew was used to us praying at every turn, I said to the evil one outloud, “Oh no you don’t! I claim this ground in the Name of Jesus!” (Then, just in case it was all natural causes, I picked up a rock to throw at the bird.) But I really do believe that the enemy was trying to desecrate what we were doing. The poop splattered all over all the mats and it was a ridiculously large amount of poop for one pigeon. The gardener helped us hose off the mats and I washed the poop off my pants as best I could, but you still may be able to see the wet spots at the beginning of the video.
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In addition, a little later, a well-dressed man walked right into the camera field and peed on the wall of the church.
Desecration attempt #2? This trip has been so full of miraculous answers to prayer - sickness instantly healed, rain stopped, mountains moved… I think that satan must have been mad, but all God would allow him to do was poop and pee on us.
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Below are the Scriptures we held onto for this trip. The last thing we wanted was just to film an exercise video. What we want first and foremost is for the annointing and power of the Lord Jesus Christ to reach out to people through us. This video is truly a testimony to the active interest of God in every detail of our lives - of your life, and His mighty power at work through His spoken Word.
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“I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy. Nothing shall in any way harm you.”
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“Everywhere you put the soles of your feet will belong to you.”

Photo by Jay Olivier
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* Hinds Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard

Photo by Jay Olivier

Photo by Jay Olivier

Photo by Jay Olivier

Photo by Jay Olivier

Photo by Joe Flores

Photo by Joe Flores

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Day 4 Filming the Progressed Routine: Psal 63
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The Ps 63 routine also says “My soul longs for Thee. My body thirsts for thee in a dry and weary land where there is not water.” I long for that sanctuary to be planted in my heart. I feel that way almost all the time, trying to be satisfied with God and not being able to see Him or touch Him. But this is a good place to be. We should always be desperate for Him and then He will satisfy us with Himself. This life is like being in a desert - a spiritual wasteland - so far from God. Sorrow and sadness and challenge and waste and pain…
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In my book*, it says
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“Cannot I do with you, Much-Afraid, as this potter? Behold, as the clay is in the hand of the potter so are you in my hand.’ (Jer 18:6) *
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But through Jesus we have access to God through the cross. We come to Him through His sacrifice for us, but even afterwards, we return to the cross over and over again, to be made new, to be made like Him in His death.
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In the Psalm 63 routine we did “Cruciform” position never knowing beforehand that there would be a huge stone cross that the camera men would be able to zoom to. The words that are cued are this: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me and the life I now live, i live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.” This is a hard Scripture. What does it mean? Well i can say that I have learned something new about the cross, that it is here where we are remade. It is here where we die to live and where we are resurrected to new life. It is here where the seed of our natural desire for human love is buried as a sacrifice so that divine love can grow in its place. This is true satisfaction: God’s infinite love is so fulfilling that no other love comes close.
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“I’ll turn my hands upon thy heart,
And purge away thy dross,
I will refine thee in my fire
Remake thee at my cross *

Photo by Joe Flores

Laura’s Journal Trip to Costa Rca 8
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Day 4
Filming the hardest routine of all tomorrow. I have to get up at 4am and be loaded in the van by 4:20am. I am afraid I won’t wake up . I can’t sleep. Our friend from Costa Rica, Leslie, is spending the night tonight to accompany us on the shoot. We stayed up talking and laughing and sharing about the wonder and love of Jesus. We shared life stories: I told her about how Jesus miraculously healed me of asthma, rheumatoid (reactive) arthritis and Epstein Barre virus through laying on of hands by the elders of my church at Johnson Ferry Baptist in Georgia. That’s how Wholyfit was born- I started teaching it and sharing the story of the healing power of God and how exercise is part of His plan for health.
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Now I’m awake at 1am. There is SO MUCH NOISE! Someone is clomping around right outside my door and a bunch of people are talking loudly right outside my window like it’s noon or something! I wonder if Leslie is awake too. It’s 3 am and I’m still awake. Arghhhhhh! I throw my pillow against the wall! It’s no use! Leslie starts laughing - she has not been able to sleep either. We both start laughing at my ridiculous pillow throwing tantrum. We name the loud person outside “Mr Clompin”. We can’t sleep. No way. We talked till we had to get up. We talked about the Shepherd of our hearts and cried and laughed. It’s funny, I don’t feel the least bit tired.
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We are trying to get to the ruins of a certain church to film in the “golden hour” as the sun rises. The story goes that that the church was partially built ( in grand fashion) and an earthquake knocked it down. They rebuilt a second time and an earthquake knocked it down again. Next the story goes, that a little girl saw a vision of the black Madonna and Child some blocks away, so they abandoned the initial site and built the churchwhere the vision was seen.
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The twice ruined architecture of the church has been turned into a a garden: a church without a roof adorned by God’s nature more beautifully than any builder could have fashioned.
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“I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld Your power and Your glory”…These are the words to the Ps 63 routine

…and now I understand these words with a new meaning that Jesus brought me here to find. When we think our lives are ruined, it is only so that we can be a church without a ceiling, open to the Lord of the heavens in a new and wonderful way that is better than anything we could have conjured.

He will make your ruins into a beautiful garden prepared for you to meet with He Himself. He makes me to lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for His Name’s sake.

Oh twice ruined! He will give you a new name. She who was once called, “Unloved” He will call “Beloved”. He means for us to carry the Sanctuary in our hearts wherever we go. He will indwell us with His power and His Spirit and never leave us. Then we will not have to travel anywhere to be in the Sanctuary. His Sanctuary will be in our hearts.

In my book I read,
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“O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colors, and lay thy foundations with sapphires. And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones” (Isa. 54;11)

Photo by Jay Olivier

Day 4 Filming Ps 63 “Sphinx” Posture

In Ps 63 is also the “Sphinx” position. This reminds us that we all have to go through the desert to emerge as royalty. All God’s servants have traveled through the desert -Abraham, Moses, Jacob, Joseph and my favorite: Hagar, Sarah’s maid, unloved, outcast and ruined. She is the one who said, “You are the God who sees me” when God rescued her.
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In my book* i read,
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“My rarest and choicest jewels and my finest gold are those who have been refined in the furnace of Egypt”
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“She stopped over the lonely, lovely little golden face,” of a flower growing all alone in the desert “so bravely” under a feeble drip of water…”What is your name, little flower, for I never saw one like you before.
The tiny plant answered at once n a tone as golden as itself, “Behold me! My name is Acceptance with Joy!” *

This is the flower that grows in the companionship of sorrow and suffering and bears a beautiful face and song and with it comes peace and joy in the midst of any circumstance.

Chubascos for lunch

Photo By Joe Flores
Connie and Oliver at Chubascos

Photo by Joe Flores

Beautiful Kids

Photo By Joe Flores

Back into the city

Photo By Joe Flores

Dinner

Laura’s Journal Trip to Costa Rica 7.5
DAY 3

UP TO MOUNTAIN
The Shepherd is called me to go with Him into the mountains.
It was beautiful on the way up.

Photo by Jay Olivier

We stopped to look at a waterfall.

Photo by Jay Olivier
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I am reminded of the book I am reading about the Shepherd skipping on the hills as we navigate up this steep, trecherous road. As He skipped and leaped up on the mountains we tried to follow but there had been an earthquake and landslides at various intervals stopped our ascent. The first time we had to stop for over 20 minutes.


Photo by Jay Olivier

Photo by Jay Olivier

Photo by Jay Olivier

We got out of the van and saw the most beautiful sight: rolling pastureland, a little house, and a real shepherd guarding his cows all far off in the distance. We took pictures and enjoyed the view.

Photo by Jay Olivier

Photo by Jay Olivier

Photo by Jay Olivier

Photo by Jay Olivier

Photo by Jay Olivier

Photo by Jay Olivier

Photo by Michael Melendez

Photo by Michael Melendez

Photo by Michael Melendez

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Then we remembered to pray. We put the souls of our feet on the ground and claimed it in Jesus’ Name. After all, Jesus can move mountains. The road cleared in about 5 minutes. This happened about 3 times.
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We reached the top and of course prayed again that God would keep away the rain till 3 pm. He did it again. His glory even rolled in with the clouds right as we faced toward the mountains - you’ll be able to see it in the video. It was very dramatic.

Photo by Jay Olivier

Photo by Jay Olivier

Photo by Jay Olivier

Photo by Jay Olivier

Photo by Jay Olivier

Photo by Jay Olivier

Photo by Jay Olivier

Photo by Joe Flores

Photo by Michael Melendez

Photo by Michael Melendez

Photo by Michael Melendez

Photo by Michael Melendez

Photo by Michael Melendez

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So we filmed the 2nd video- the WholyFit Basics routine high up in the mountains of the rainforest in a hummingbird sanctuary at Peace Lodge in perfect weather and light conditions. Thank You Lord! I have never seen such instantaneous answer to prayer. This is the second day in a row that God has sovereignly prevented it from raining until we were finished. I know people are praying because this is special. The rented jib even worked - well - a little better. They went to Radio Shack and tried to fix it. Luckily Michael is really good at operating a job, otherwise it could not have been used with any effectiveness. Joe, you outdid yourself! This location was beautiful!
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* Hinds Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard