I vividly remember an event at a local Silvercity Movie theater that surprised and disheartened me. I had gone to see the big, explosive THE INCREDIBLE HULK (Ed Norton, Liv Tyler, William Hurt, Tim Roth) and was particularly interested in it as much of it had been shot in Hamilton and Toronto Ontario. The theater was pretty full and the movie certainly delivered on decibels, special effects and things being smashed, destroyed and squashed.

What I wasn’t expecting was a continuous glow from cell phones and blackberries and iPhones in the row down from me. A group of about 6 teenagers were texting throughout the film. Three immediate thoughts struck me: 1) What could be so important that they had to be texting during the film? 2) Why would they pay $12 to see a movie and then not watch it? 3) If this big Hollywood blockbuster with non-stop action and big budget effects couldn’t keep the interest of these kids… what chance did I stand with our films?

It was this 3rd thought that disturbed me the most. And it comes back to a central common question that exists for both those looking to share the Gospel as well as entertainers: “How do you reach people who are not interested in what you have to say?”

This very question came up on my latest cross-country trip while doing more interviews for THE 12 BIGGEST LIES (our next documentary). I was delayed in the Dallas Fort Worth Airport because of Hurricane Alex and was trying to connect to the internet but didn’t have an ethernet cable. Surprisingly the fellow sitting next to me (a senior systems analyst named Wayne Thompson) had an extra one and gladly shared it with me. (The name stuck with me as we have a Wayne Thompson who works for us.) I asked why he’d have an extra one and he said that his wife would say the same thing and that he always over-packed. I jokingly said that in this case I think he “packed just the right amount!” Wayne even said that I could keep it as he was about to rush to his flight.

Before he rushed off though we introduced ourselves and discovered that we were both in types of ministry work. Quickly we began discussing the very question I raised earlier: how to reach those outside church, outside ministries, those who have no interest in anything to do with faith or religion or a personal relationship with Jesus Christ?

After he left I was struck by what a nice guy he was and was thankful for his generosity of the cable as I could get some work done. And then another thought struck me: you could try to reach people with high energy thoughts and debates (like Alex Jones – who we interviewed); or with deep touching personal testimonies (like Angelina Steenstra from “Silent No More”); or with a remarkably wide body of knowledge (like Kerby Anderson – Point of View, Probe Ministries) or a number of other different ways (as we’re attempting with our documentaries like DRAGONS OR DINOSAURS?) or you could be a very nice person who doesn’t hesitate to share an ethernet cable with a complete stranger in an airport and show by example how Christ has impacted your life. I know that approach worked for me! Thanks Wayne.

- Blog by André van Heerden, Executive Producer/Director at Cloud Ten Pictures