When we launched the LIA website in the fall of last year, we picked three pictures for the front page that represented the work LIA does and were beautiful and meaningful to us personally. We met and talked with every person pictured in our gallery, but these stood out to us. I could tell you amazing stories that have rocked my world.

The first picture on the front page was of a lady in our HIV/AIDS care and support program in Ethiopia. She has a powerful testimony of how the small resources that our partner church provides to her have been empowering.

The picture of the child is from Mathare slum in Nairobi, Kenya. I thought that this picture captured the beauty and power that happens when children in the slums are empowered with food, education by their local church.

My favorite picture is of an elderly man who lives in the community of one of our partner churches in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He suffers from blindness and begs on the street as his primary source of income. Our church partner now cares for him on a consistent and regular basis. We were able to spend some time with him, praying, laughing, and listening to his story. His hope and joy in the midst of overwhleming poverty will forever inspire me.

Just recently, a team from Southeast Christian Church went on a short-term trip to learn how LIA serves to empower local churches in Ethiopia. During their trip, they had the opportunity to ‘get their hands dirty’ with a small project that would further the work of our church partner in their community.

Their project was to improve the ‘dwelling’ (a pile of trash) of the elderly gentleman that is featured on our website.

Here is the BEFORE picture of his dwelling:

This was his "house." He kept warm under a blanket, but had little else. It has actually gotten a little worse since we were there, but not by much.

Here is the AFTER picture of his dwelling:

Justin and I both teared up a little when we saw these pictures. This AFTER dwelling may not look like much to you or I, but it protects him from the elements which will keep him healthier over the long-term. And almost more importantly, it brings him a sense of dignity to him, which is valuable beyond words.

The beauty of this project wasn’t that this team came from the USA and ‘saved the day.’ Rather, they came alongside an existing relationship between a local church and someone that the church already serves. The teams focus was on serving to empower the church, who is serving to empower the poor and marginalized within their community.

This summer I will be going back to Africa and I'm pretty sure I will get to see our friend again. I will be working on a documentary on our work with street kids and then leading a couple of short-term teams through Ethiopia and Kenya. (More to come on those projects later.)

“14What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” (James 2:14-17 NIV)

Posted by JJ Peterson at 3:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I hadn't received a call from my agent in a while, so when my phone buzzed telling me I had an audition notice in my in-box, I asked my friend if I could look at my Yahoo on his phone immediately. The message said that the project was called "SPIDERMAN." I wasn't sure if that meant the movie, a commercial, or parity, but knew it would be fun after looking at the character description of "Spidey Dad."

"He's late 30's to 40's and & very likable. (Once again, my headshot makes me look ten years older, but at least they think I'm likable.) Looking for slapstick /physically comedic & agile actors. (Agile is my middle name.) In the spots he wants to believe he's a super hero and wears his version of the Spiderman costume and does his version of being a super hero action person. (Go on.) He rides a silly bicycle going maybe 2 miles per hour and falls off over a bush and in the next spot he swings a rope and falls into a puddle of mud. (Yes please.) Guys should go as all out as they can to put their own version of a 'Spiderman' costume together. (Oh, I have to see this.) Feel free to go all out if possible. If this isn't possible, just casual dress but comfortable enough to ride a bike in the studio."

When I tell people I live an interesting life, this is what I am talking about. I just wish that for once, someone else could be with me to experience what I get to see and go through on a fairly regular basis. I think I need an entourage.

When I arrived at the studio location with my red shirt, jeans and Mexican wrestling mask, I quickly realized that I was WAY underdressed for the part. Two gentlemen were pacing back and forth in the hallway outside a room where I could hear Eye Of A Tiger playing while a fellow thespian auditioned inside.

One man stood about 6'4' and could not have squeezed his full frame into his head to toe Long John's if they had been one centimeter smaller. The spaces between the buttons that ran up his front, the ones that normally overlap, pulled apart to reveal patches of his hair covered stomach that had not seen the sun in a while. One button was even missing, giving a great view of his "outty" that seemed to follow me no matter where I moved throughout the room. Added to the ensamble was a pair of soccer shorts, deck shoes, and a pair of goggles sitting atop his buzzed hair that matched the length of his goatee. He didn't say much, but did very well practicing his attempts to fly.

Friend number two was dressed in a full body white leatard. I wish I was kidding. He also chose to cover up his nethers with some sweat shorts, but he took the outfit a few more steps into creepy than Long John. As much as I wanted to keep my distance I did have to admire his intentionality in matching his black Chuck Taylors with the halter top half shirt adorned with a bedazzled "S." This fit snugly just over his belly bulge and sometimes bunched up a little too much when he sat down, forcing him to stand and pace the majority of the time. But, the pièce de résistance was the purple Micky Mouse beach towel fastened to his shoulders with safety pins. Let me tell you, this little dandy brought the whole outfit together in a way that can only be described as magic.

The oddest part about all of this is that when two more guys showed up in full regaillia, I'm the one who felt increcibly odd and out of place by the way I was dressed. I also quickly realized that wearing a mask would defeat the purpose of getting my face on camera. So I had to step into my audition wearing only a button up red shirt, jeans, and tennis shoes. How could I have been so naive?!?!

The audition went well. I did exactly what the description said. I road a bike around, fell into some mats like they were bushes, grabbed a hold of a rope swing and pretended like I fell into a mud puddle, all while Eye Of A Tiger motivated me on to glory. Pretty standard fair for an afternoon of audition.

Today I got the e-mail saying that I had made it to call-backs, which means now I audition in front of the director, producers, and client. So tomorrow I get to go through the whole process all over again. Can't wait.

I'm still not sure what it is for. I could be pitching Viagra for all I know. Either way it is going to be fun. I can't wait to talk about the next phase and the potential shoot. I'll post either way, but here's to hoping my next blog talks about actually falling into a puddle of mud and what it feels like to be Spidey Dad.

Posted by JJ Peterson at 11:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

From the heart of my bottom...

Posted by JJ Peterson at 9:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My boss was was trying to catch up on a few of the outstanding piles of 'stuff' on his desk today and we came across two articles that he ripped out of The Economist Magazine a few months back. Though this article is now a few months old, I'm certain that it didn't get too much circulation, so let me share a few of the high-points as a teaser for you to read the full article.

To some degree, I believe that most if not all of us can agree that climate is being negatively affected as a result of man-made pollution. I'm not arguing that point here. What I would like to draw attention to are the consequences of climate change on the poor, particularly in sub-sahara Africa.

As the above image depicts, Africa has a seemingly marginal contribution to the cumulative carbon emmissions, but is likely to reap some of the most dramatic consequences. From ever irratic weather patterns to famine inducing droughts, Africa is feeling the impact of the world's carbon emissions.

Poverty is not something we typically talk about in conjunction with global warming, but it does and will have dramatic effects on the world's poor, dispite their lack of contribution to the problem.

Posted by JJ Peterson at 4:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

For the last two years I was able to make it to the Sundace Film Festival with a group of students from Fuller in the Theology and Independent Film class. Sadly, this year just didn't work out. I had a couple chances, but it would not have been wise. I'll have to figure out another way to get some good scoops on films before everyone else.

If you are looking for some Sundance action, then try downloading 10 of the short films from this year's festival free on I-Tunes. I have not seen any of them yet, but they are all in the process of downloading right now. I'll let you know which one is best. You can find them at WWW.ITUNES.COM/SUNDANCE.

Also, my friend Rebecca is there reporting for the LA TIMES, blogging and having fun. (That's how I found out about the short-films.) You can catch her and her cohorts here at The Envelope.

Finally, the forum that I usually attend at Sundance has started. If you are interested in following the discussions on faith and independent film, then there are some great discussions at the Windrider forum blog.

So, while I can't be there in person, I can get a taste, and hopefully you can too. I am a little sad I have to wait with the rest of America to see what will be coming out of there this year, but I will be back. Oh yes, I will be back.

Posted by JJ Peterson at 9:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Recently I was strolling through the Virgin Mega store in Hollywood and stopped by the sale table to see what fun things were being pushed aside for newer stock. I noticed a book called 50 Facts That Should Change The World. 2.0, and it was 25% off the sale price. What a deal! I started thumbing through it and saw some pretty crazy stats. I'd like to occasionally offer up some of these facts on this blog. I will try not to comment very much on them, but allow them to speak for themselves. Some are more challenging than others, but all are shocking, and as the book is titled, should cause us to begin changing to world.

So to kick off this new series, here is fact #1.

The average Japanese woman can expect to live to be 84. The average Botswanan will reach just 39.

Posted by JJ Peterson at 2:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I had heard of TOMS Shoes before, but never really understood how brilliant this company is. This company was founded on the principle that for every pair of shoes they sell, they would give away one pair to a child in need. From the very beginning TOMS Shoes put other people first. By December of last year they had already given away over 115,000 pairs. Check out the video below that shows a little bit more of what they are all about.

I have seen first hand what a pair of shoes can do for a child through the Life in Abundance street children programs. Every one of the kids enrolled in our program gets a new pair of shoes, along with other necessities. Most of these kids have grown up never owning a pair of shoes, let alone a new pair. These shoes help prevent disease and injury. Little things like new shoes and clothing, things that we all take for granted, can help former street kids feel a new sense of pride that they can be like the rest of society. They can now get jobs, go into shops and not stand out in a crowd. Plus, a number of the street kids have now started shoe repair businesses.

TOMS Shoes inspires me because they made putting others first a priority and because of that, they are changing the world. (Plus, the shoes are great and shipping is free in the US. It doesn't get much better than that.)

Posted by JJ Peterson at 11:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Living in Southern California offers some unique opportunities.

As I walked in to Talent Entertainment Network for my first agent audition I was told to take a seat next to one occupied by one of the dime a dozen blonde beauties so prevalent in LA. Even though barely over 18, not much about her was real. I scanned the autographed pictures that lined the walls. Some looked vaguely familiar, but I only fully recognized Claudia Schiffer and Jake Lloyd. (The young Anakin Skywalker) If this place was good enough to represent a Guess? girl and Darth Vadar then they were good enough to represent me.

They called in my friend who would float in a flood for her audition first. She opened by mentioning that she brought in a prepared monologue, but couldn’t remember all of it since she was a little hung over. Her chosen audition piece, the example of the fullness of her potential, happened to be from the opening scene in Pulp Fiction. Let’s just say that her interpretation involved throwing a few chairs and included the classic lines, “Nobody F—-ing move you mother f—ers!!” To which the agent simply replied, “Thank you, now let’s read this Revlon commercial.”

When Little Miss Botox departed, I was left sitting for a bit while the agents in the other room tried to keep their laughter and comments to hushed whispers before they called me in. After introducing myself I sat down across a table from Rena and Paul. We all sat in silence for a few seconds while they looked at my headshots and resume.

Paul said, “I see here you were a comedian.”
“Ya.” I replied. “I traveled for a few years in an improv group around the country.”
“Cool. Then be funny.”
“What?”
“Go ahead, just be funny”
This is quite possibly the worst thing you could say to me. I started to feel a little like I too had a hangover. “It doesn’t really work that way with improv. You play off other people, get suggestions from the audience, you know, stuff like that.”
Paul was not impressed. “Well, are you funny?”
“My mom thinks so.”
Evidently that didn’t impress him either. “Well… then make me laugh.”
I quickly jogged my memory for any and all fart jokes, but I was blank. “I do have a monologue prepared. I could do that?”
“Is it from Talladega Nights?”
“No” I had chosen to take a little bit of a higher approach to comedy and picked a piece from Mark Twain’s Exracts from Adam’s Diary. The journal entry about Adam being upset at Eve for wanting to keep a brontosaurus as a pet no longer seemed funny or ideal.
Rena chimed in, “Don’t worry. You won’t be able to make me laugh. I don’t laugh at anything.”

With that bit of encouragement I stood to my feet, shaking, and sweaty to begin what could make or break my chance of being represented by this agency.

“She has no discrimination. She takes to all the animals–all of them!” I started with my hands over my mouth just the way I had practiced in the mirror and then threw in the classic wrinkled nose followed by sweeping my hands downward. Perfect execution.

“When the brontosaurus came striding into camp, she regarded it as an acquisition, I considered it a calamity; that is a good example of the lack of harmony in our views of things.” That’s when I lost it. I accidently said “example” instead of “sample.” How could I have been so stupid? I couldn’t remember any of the lines that I had worked so hard to imbed in my memory. I started saying things like “You know what I mean” and “I’m totally serious, not even kidding.” When did Mark Twain ever say, “I’m totally serious?” I felt like taking a cue from Silicon Sally and breaking into Pulp Fiction and hoping for the best.

I struggled through the next 90 seconds of babble and then dropped my head to signify that the torture was over. Rena, as promised, didn’t even break a grin through the whole thing, but Paul snickered a couple times before saying, “Thank you, now let’s read this Kodak comercial.”

Evidently my reading of the Kodak, and subsequent Safeway, commercial must have blown them away because I am now officially represented by Talent Entertainment Network. Now all they have to do is get me into auditions so I can just be funny.

Posted by JJ Peterson at 9:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A while back, I filmed some shorts for the LIA blog on people who inspire me. In the process, we filmed a couple that didn't make it to the blog. Specifically, we filmed some at our favorite restaurant Domenico's, a Pasadena hidden secret, that we felt might come across as trite in comparison to people who were raising funds for the food relief or micro-loans. So at the time, we decided not to post them.

However, the reality is that the people who work at Domenico's, it's family owned, make our lives brighter by the way they live their lives. They are gracious, hospitable, generous, kind and have made us feel at home since we started going there a year ago. Plus, they have amazing food. Seriously, Fuller people, get on this.

These videos started out as a way of talking about how we try to get out of the office to be inspired, but because of the way they are, the Domenico's family gave us a whole other illustration of inspiration.

In this holiday season, the people of Domenico's inspire us to do everything we do with a smile and with hospitality. They remind us that even little things can make a big difference in the lives of others. They remind us to welcome the stranger and go the extra mile even when it is not required. While it may seem like a little thing, Domenico's inspires us to be better simply by they way they have allowed us to be known and feel at home. May we do the same for others.

Here are a few short clips. (At the time we were planning on going on a diet and not returning for a while. That didn't really happen, but sadly, will be soon.)

Introducing Dominico's from Life in Abundance on Vimeo.

Here comes the magic itself.

Calzone Goodness from Life in Abundance on Vimeo.

Here is where we break the bad news. See how they respond? We love these people.

Not Coming Back for a While from Life in Abundance on Vimeo.

Now this is what puts them over the top, an unprompted, unrequested, gift of happiness. (This is why we need to go on a diet. We refer to these as "Pillows of Joy." They are a secret family treat that is not on the menu, but they share with us.)

Pillows of Joy from Life in Abundance on Vimeo.

This season, commit to bringing joy with smiles and little gifts from the heart.

Posted by JJ Peterson at 10:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

... to see Slumdog Millionaire as soon as it is in a theater near you. You will thank me, especially come Oscar time when none of your other friends have seen it yet.

It is touching, it is funny, it is dark, it is hopeful, it is real, it is dazzling, it is beautiful, it is gritty, it is all this and more. But above all, it is just plain good. See it alone, on a date, or with friends. And then, take everyone you know to see it. You may hate me for over hyping it, but you would be stupid. Just go see it and then we can talk.

Also good, but hard to recommend... Frost/Nixon and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. Both great films, but not easy, for different reasons.

Posted by JJ Peterson at 12:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)