Story is the language of our hearts. Media is the language of our times. We use both to share Jesus with the world.

We extend to you a unique opportunity – to join us in our mission to capture hearts and minds for Christ through media that matters. So please watch…then pray…then join us in person to learn more!

One of the best parts of my job is getting to see and document Christians who live out their faith in effective ways. Jim Kennedy is a Christian who does just that through his work at Economic Opportunities. A few months ago, we traveled down to Memphis and interviewed his staff and those who have been blessed by his mission work. Then, having heard their stories, I wrote dramatic content which we shot and edited with their interviews. I hope you enjoy the final product.

Click here to watch in HD.

Richard Ramsey

Kevin, Shane, Kyle and I just returned from Houston last weekend where we met with several pastors and church leaders and hosted a training sessions for their small groups’ leaders.

Also exciting, is that while speaking with the churches, I am already hearing of the many different ways in which they are going to use the study. One church in the Dallas area, is even constructing a set on their stage to correspond with the study!

Several of the churches have a strong calling to outreach and therefore are doing a mass mailing to their neighbors to invite them into their homes to get to know each other and watch the series.

I met a precious lady who works at an assisted living facility (one of a chain of ten) in the Houston area. Her boss gave here permission to lead the study each week in the corporate living area. If the study goes well, then she will be granted permission to conduct the study in all of the facilities!

My Bible study leader here in Louisville and her husband are hosting lunch once a week and showing the series in our City Hall!

Another church has plans on showing the Good Friday episode in a theatre with candles in a solemn-assembly atmosphere and then launching the study after the Easter season.

I cannot wait to hear all the stories that will come about through the release of the Easter Experience. It certainly makes those challenging months of filming two summers ago more than worth it!

Please join us in prayer now as we devote this study to the growth of the Kingdom and edification of our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Make sure you visit our new web site at: easterexperience.com and sign up to join our EE social network!

To Him who is able to do above and beyond all that we could ever ask for or imagine, to Him be all the glory.

In His Hands,
Cibby

At this time of year we are often reminded anew of the great work that the Father did by sending his only son, Jesus, into the world to save a lost and sinful people.  Jesus is the ultimate example of humility and showed that God desires bring himself low to reach people as they are. Paul reminds us in Philippians 2 to

“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,  who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

 In light of this amazing truth, we want to emulate Christ in this way through our ministry – to reach a culture with the gospel story, through a medium that they use and understand. 

Praise God for giving us much more than we could ever deserve in the form of His Beloved son, Jesus Christ, and the salvation that comes through Him!  May we all be humbled and seek to be servants of Him and one another as we continue to share the good news of Jesus’ birth, life, death and resurrection. We pray that you will ponder these great truths and let the truth evoke a sense of awe and wonder at the God who came to live among us.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Staff at City on a Hill Productions!!

The blog video that you’re about to watch is a great example of all that God has done and all that He’s yet to do in the ministry of City on a Hill Productions.  You’ll learn more about who we are and what God is up to.  

Since it’s release H2O has reached an untold number of people with the truth and message of Jesus. We rejoice with each and every story we hear of lives changed and restored. Hear from church leaders who have used H2O and experienced the resulting connection and life change in their groups and people they minister to. Here are some of those incredible stories…

Kevin, Cassie, and I recently drove to The University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana to interview brothers of the Lamda Chi Alpha fraternity.  As it turns out, their advisor, Steve Parsons, has been leading them in weekly Bible studies often centered around the H2O series.

As a result, many of these young men had come to know Jesus Christ. We had the privilege of interviewing these men and attending one of their Bible studies at their frat house.  It was incredible to see a room full of Christian and non-Christian guys glued to the television as Episode II played, and to see and hear how God has used H2O to break down barriers and give these guys the freedom to discuss and seek after Truth.  It was also such a blessing to spend time with these guys and here about their new walk with Jesus and the changes He has brought to their lives.

As a new staff member, it is such an affirmation and encouragement to continually see how God uses this ministry draw people to Himself.  I hope the testimonies of these men and their mentor will affirm and encourage all of you who have served with or supported City on a Hill Productions.

Richard Ramsey
Ministry Support Director

At our fall event last week we were excited to share several awesome testimonies of how God has used the H2O series to reach people’s hearts with the gospel message. We gathered more stories than we could possibly fit into the time we had to share them… Here is one such story.

This will also be my first real personal entry to the City on a Hill blog, even though I have been creating video content for this here blog for a good long time. It is one of the joys and stresses of my internship at City on a Hill Productions. A position only a select few will ever achieve in their lifetime. A coveted position. A position often referred to by those who know as “indentured servitude”.

Why am I here, doing this? I decided to write about that particular story. (Out of a good many I could have possibly chosen.)
So I shall start in the beginning… I was born in a small run down apartment owned by my parents in the east end of Louisville in July of 1989… OK. So maybe not that far back.
I’ll start with more recent events. In 2006 I was 16 years old, and was only just beginning to feel the wind beneath my wings so to speak. Maybe I was a socially challenged homeschool student, (that’s a joke actually) but I had begun to really feel the calling of God on my life to pursue media. Then my parents decided an ordinary life with 7 kids wasn’t enough and they adopted 5 more from Western Africa. At that point I knew God was challenging my family to change our thinking in the area of family and ministry. What I wasn’t aware of was how God was changing and forming me for ministry in an area I began to have an inexplicable passion for. It happened as easy as breathing in a smoke filled room. I had to do it, even though it wasn’t always easy to follow through with. I didn’t get my desire to craft films and media with a neat little instruction package, so to speak, but I am blessed with parents who recognized my need to pursue this dream I had.

Fast forward a little. I am growing frustrated. I learned a lot through trial and error. Going to Africa I found the story, but struggled in learning how to communicate it. I do know that during this time I developed the most crucial connection I have made. Media is a mission field.
Yes I was ON the mission field, but I realized that what I was doing, bringing the mission field back to people safe in their homes through the power of visual storytelling, was a vocation in itself. I knew there was a language to learn, and I began praying that God would bring someone into my life who could help me better learn that language.
Enter City on a Hill. Stage left. It almost was that simple. I had placed this growing passion back in God’s hands a good many times, and it was during one of these spells where God proved he knew what He was doing, and that He knows how to keep secrets. I had no idea that there was a little production company growing up right beside me in my hometown. I couldn’t have dreamed that it was doing exactly what I was just feeling a desire to do, to use media to tell story and support missions, and to do that excellently. I am also pretty sure my mom did a good job of convincing Shane he needed to be teaching me. (Thanks mom!) Though I don’t think it hurt that I was not going to a full time school and was able to commit to an apprenticeship of sorts, and that I was able to drive. Believe me, I have run many an errand for City on a Hill. Many.

So you think that sounds easy? I wish I could write everything this has entailed, but for the sake of the ministry I will not. PETI would probably get involved if they knew how things really went down here.*

I continue to learn to communicate using this powerful medium of film, and I think I have found my home here for a while. I might have even convinced the staff I can be funny at times, which is quite an accomplishment, let me tell you.
I can only speculate what the continued journey will bring about. I am sure it includes fund-raising, and many projects I never dreamed I’d be given the chance to be a part of. Currently there are two specific projects I will be heading up in the near future I really should mention. One is a documentary in the country of Nepal I will be making this December. The other is “Shepherd’s Project” which has has been put on hold as we are extremely busy with other projects, like Easter Experience and such right now. It will be a very cool project though, and I am excited about it’s ministry potential. (hint: It’s about adoption)

There you go. That is my update for now. I hope you continue to enjoy reading and going behind the scenes with our ministry and the lives of the staff members who make this team of creative amalgamation. Thanks for listening.

Shepherd Ahlers
Intern/Apprentice

[*People for the Ethical Treatment of Interns]