During this time of lockdown we are informed that internet usage and video services such as YouTube have doubled and some Google searches have gone up by 200 to 300%. This is good news for us as we have seen rises in the viewing numbers of many of the programmes on our YouTube channel. In addition to that, our local church began producing weekly mini services which are broadcast via YouTube to numbers which far exceed those who would have attended the building.
Believe it or not, a significant number of people in many church congregations do not have internet access and so have relied on DVDs or CDs to keep them connected. We recently received this report from someone we produced a Bible series for a few years ago:
“Mr S. who lives in West Sussex has just finished watching my ‘Bible Alive!’ 10 DVD set for the FOURTH time! I’m not sure where he got the set from – maybe from an Exhibition I held some time ago”.
When we make programmes and put them on YouTube or send out DVDs we don’t often hear feedback but when we do it’s a great encouragement. We can look at numbers on the YouTube record but we just cannot calculate what impact the Word of God contained in those programmes may have had on individuals.
In case you are interested in the Bible Alive! series, here is an example https://youtu.be/4ZYT_tUytAg
We praise and thank the Lord for the invention of television and internet and continue with the vision God gave us to use this technology for His purposes and the propagation of the gospel!

We were reminded of how much technology has changed again recently when an old friend we had worked with many years ago passed on to glory. We remembered that we had made a video of the Christian Camp he used to run in Bude, Cornwall so we dug it out and watched it, cringing at the low level of picture quality which was the best we could do in those days, around 30 years ago. However, we enjoyed the memories of that time and found the message was timeless.   So we decided to add it to one of our You Tube channels under a section entitled Vintage Videos. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7CHpKfkBN8

It’s worth making a tribute to Rev Leslie (Bertie) Keenan who was a charismatic pioneer vicar in the days when that was unusual! Many of the people who appear on this video are now in glory – Stuart and Christine …., David Chaudhary, Tom Lloyd and others. It’s great to have this legacy of them all. The title and theme of the Camp was ‘In One Accord’ and I’m sure God’s blessing was felt by all as they came together from different denominations and walks of life to worship and praise the Lord. We regularly saw healings and miracles and people’s lives were changed. It was Psalm 133 in action: “Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! … For there the Lord commanded the blessing – life forevermore”.

If you can bear with the low quality picture and editing this video is worth watching. Some of you may even remember attending these camps and recognise people there. Look out for more Vintage Videos coming soon.

Technology has come a long way since the days when we started out as ‘Mission Recordings’.  Thirty years ago when a missionary wanted a video made of their work it meant travelling to where they were with heavy equipment and following them around for a few days. The script had to be written and the material edited back home with more cumbersome equipment. Some weeks or months later the finished product would be copied onto VHS tape and sent to those interested. We did this for several missionaries in various parts of the world. Phillip has visited over 30 countries. Nowadays no matter where in the world the missionary is, everything can be done from the comfort of our own home using a Smartphone, photographs and a computer with internet. What is more, the picture quality is a good deal better than anything we could do back then! We recently made this short video clip for our church’s missionary in Cambodia as she and her family faced a termite disaster. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xRe_DtXBys   This involved Sarah filming herself and her home on an Smartphone and sending us all the separate clips via an internet file-sharing service. We then downloaded them onto a computer and edited them into a meaningful story with the addition of some music. The result has been used to give all her supporters an up-to-date graphic description of what has happened with a view to gaining more prayer and financial support.   So praise God for all the technology advances of computers, internet, Smartphones, YouTube and much more! Let’s keep using them for His purposes and His glory!

Some good news for the New Year!!

Do you have old videotapes that you can no longer play? Maybe they are home videos that hold precious memories and you would love to see them again. You don’t want to throw them out and they are taking up space on your shelves.

We offer a reliable and professional service in the transfer of videotape to DVD. We can handle VHS, SVHS and MiniDV tapes at a cost of only £7 per tape. Your DVD will come surface printed in a plastic sleeve.

There is no charge for blank tapes. Extra DVD copies are only £1 each. A DVD case is provided on request at 50p extra. We can also transfer audiotape to CD.

For more information or to place an order email Sheila@pdtmedia.com or contact us via our Facebook page

I’ve been a Christian for over 30 years and I’ve usually found that people in general do not really understand what a Christian is. They have various ideas which may be partly true but there are many misunderstandings and misconceptions about it so I’ve begun a series of talks. In the first one I try to define what is at the core of being a Christian. Here are some excerpts ….

Firstly I’ll tell you what I don’t mean: it’s not a system of behaviours or a set of rules or even the worship of a god, although some of those things may be apparent in my life.

Remember “religion attempts to relate humanity to supernatural or spiritual elements”

The overriding factor in being a Christian is having a changed life. You can’t be born a Christian. You can’t even be brought up or trained to be a Christian. At some point in your life you have to go through a change which is actually a spiritual experience. You have to have a revelation of something you did not know or realise before. The Bible calls it being “born again”. So what does it mean to be born again? This is where the genes come in….

To hear more and understand what I mean about genes, watch this talk at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pdNukbEZ8A

In March this year we braved the snow to film the Above Rubies Ladies’ Retreat near Reading UK. Nancy Campbell’s theme was The Glory of the Home. It was a refreshing change to hear Biblical truths boldly expounded which are now so contrary to the world’s way of thinking.  The home should be the heart of family life. God has called women to be “homemakers” but the world has tried to get them out of the home, doing other things. Nancy calls us back to the home to make it a place of glory where the children can be safe and content. There is some thorough Bible study on the Hebrew meanings of various words connected with house and home. Activities in the home such as mealtimes, prayer, worship, decoration and fellowship are given their rightful place. The home is a dwelling place, a resting place both for ourselves and for the Lord. There is nowhere we would rather be!   A set of 6 CDs or DVDs is available for purchase through our website Shop page. The sixth disk contains several testimonies from ladies on various aspects of their lives in the home. Here is the first session in full to get you interested! https://youtu.be/ltz1S7ifc2Q

It’s coming up to the time when the church celebrates Pentecost – the event which happened in Acts Chapter 2. The scriptures record that the 12 apostles were all with one accord in one place. They were obeying the last command of Jesus before He ascended to heaven – not to depart from Jerusalem but to wait for the Promise of the Father – the baptism of the Holy Spirit. He said they would receive power and be witnesses to Him in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth. As they waited they prayed and suddenly a sound of a rushing mighty wind and tongues as of fire appeared and sat on each of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other (unknown) tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. At this time there were Jews from various nations gathered for the Feast. They heard the apostles (Galileans) speak in their own languages declaring the wonderful works of God. Then Peter explained this phenomenon as a fulfilment of Joel’s prophecy and proclaimed the gospel of Jesus’ death and resurrection to the crowd. They repented and were baptised and that day 3,000 souls were added to the church. If the Holy Spirit had not given them the ability to speak in other tongues none of this may have happened. It was a miraculous breaking of the language barrier. There are around 7,000 distinct languages in the world and thanks to many dedicated bible translators some of them now have at least a portion of the Bible translated but many still do not. People need both the Bible and good Christian teaching in their own language. Since we recorded Roy Godwin’s teaching in 2014 his five sessions on Prayer and Blessing have been dubbed into 7 different languages – Swahili, Turkish, French, Welsh, Portuguese, German and just recently Farsi. More are to come and we rejoice that the teaching is reaching more people, causing growth in local churches around the world!

Modern technology can be used for good or bad purposes. It used to be said “the camera never lies” and a picture would serve as accurate documentary evidence of an event or person but things have changed in recent years. We can no longer trust any image we see to be a true representation of reality. At PDT Media we have found green screening (or Chroma key) is a useful way of superimposing your subject onto a virtual background and so creating a more interesting and relevant composite picture. You do need a large area of green though. The one you see in this picture can be folded up and packed into a circular hoop. We also have Chroma curtains which we use for some scenes. Green is used because it does not contain any skin tone and provides the best contrast. When editing you have to isolate one area from the rest. Blue can also be used but green is better but you must warn your subject not to wear green. Any clothing that matches the background too closely will also key out, punching a hole in your subject’s body, or making him invisible altogether. In the use of the green screen we seek to enhance the basic image in order to communicate more effectively to the viewer the message we are bringing. So when David is talking about Jerusalem we can transport him to that location and thereby bring to life what he is saying.