I have enjoyed every year that God has allowed me to go the mission field, but I must say, this was the greatest year yet. God really touched my heart this year. We visited churches, talked to amazing people, preached in public schools, stayed in a rural home in the mountains, and were heartbroken at the leper hospital.  If you would like to view pictures I took from the trip, visit the North Valley Baptist Church Philippines Missions Page. You can also watch the video we made for our Missions Conference entitled, Making a Difference. I pray these will help you to see, YOU can make a difference!

Here is some of the gear that I bring on the Missions Trip.

I have the awesome opportunity to go with our church on the annual missions trip.  I document the whole trip with pictures, a blog and video.  (Check out the Missions trip website – real content will be available on October 6)  It has been an annual trip for me, and I love it!  It is truly a highlight of my year.  I covet your prayers. During the trip, I will take thousands of photos, hours of video, work on daily blog posts for nvbc.org, and have the privilege to preach several times. (This year I’m supposed to preach to a small churches we support and a large public school.)

I have quite a bit of equipment I use to document the amazing work being done by our missionaries in the Philippines.  I’ve accumulated quite a bit of technology/tools in the past 5 years of going on this trip.  This is more or less my checklist for this year’s tech equipment.  I would love to hear what you use or any suggestions.  Also, follow the trip on the Missions Trip website. I would love to read your comments!  Here’s my list of tech equipment for this year’s trip:

1.  MacBook Pro (2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with Snow Leopard)

Aperture on MacBook Pro

• Apple Aperture - I love editing my RAW images with Aperture.  I love the fact I can quickly edit my photos in full screen.  Time is of an essence.  Many times in the back of a jeepney or truck I’ll be editing my photos.  Thank God for Aperture…I would really hate for you to see my images before I use Aperture on them.
• Adobe Photoshop – After Editing my photos in Aperture I save them as jpg.  I then run a script to convert them to the right size and write the xml for my Slideshow Pro photo gallery.  I also quickly edit a few other images to add to the blog page and the photo page.
• Adobe Dreamweaver – I actually do not use Wordpress (like this website) for the missions website.  I created it from scratch in Dreamweaver, since it will only document about 10 days of travel, this works out just fine.
• There are other programs I use along the trip, but the above software I use most frequently.

2.  Nikon D200 – The D200 is a phenomenal camera. It’s quick (5 frames per second), durable (magnesium alloy body), has a large viewfinder and is an overall great camera. (Here are some photos from last year – make sure and check out this year’s when they become available)

• Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 Lens – I take the majority of my photos with this lens.  This is a great lens for the price.  I love the shallow depth of field with this lens.  It is a great overall lens.
• Nikon 10.5mm f/2.8 DX Fisheye Lens – I won’t use this very often, but this is a great fisheye lens for large crowds or small rooms where I want to get everyone in the picture.  You should definitely be able to tell which photos are taken with this lens.
• Nikon 70-300mm f/4-5.6G – This is a decent lens, and I use it when I need to get closeups outside with plenty of light.

3.  Panasonic HVX-200 – I’ve really enjoyed shooting video with this beast.  It’s not compact at all, but takes great video.  At times, my back does not appreciate this camera.  I carry it in my backpack until I need to shoot video.  I try not to carry to much equipment out in the open.  Most of the time, I just have a camera out.  I’ve been using the Panasonic to take SD video (using MiniDV tapes) the past few years, and I thought I would finally be able to shoot some HD using my new P2 Cards.  However, I did not realize when I purchased the P2 Card that it doesn’t work with Snow Leopard.  So, I may once again be shooting in SD…oh, well.

• Sennheiser Evolution G2 100 Series Lapel Mic and Receiver – I use this to record audio for interviews.
• Panasonic P2 Card - I don’t want to talk about this.  I’m still a bit bitter that I just bought it and it doesn’t work with Snow Leopard!  Really though, my fault, I should have done the research before hand.

4.  Apple iPhone – This will keep me company on the long flight to and from the Philippines.  I’ve already preloaded it with games, music and video for the looong trip.

• Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones – Special thanks to Carl Harter, I will be in noise cancellation peace on the plane ride.  Carl has graciously lended me his headphones this year.  Good thing too, my Shure in-ear headphones that I usually bring were broken by one of my children during the course of this year….oops.

5.  Apple iPod - I have an old iPod nano for simply playing music, so I don’t use all my battery life of my phone.  This works out great when we are in the middle of nowhere and trying to sleep.  I’ve been able to sleep like a baby while roosters are crowing underneath the hut and people are laughing at us (they find Americans trying to sleep on the bamboo beds quite amusing, I think) thanks to the iPod nano and my Shure headset (may they rest-in-peace).

6.  Apple Airport Express – I use this to create a wireless network in my hotel room so I’m not chained to one area.  This is both good and bad.  Bad, because sometimes I fall asleep trying to work on the comfort of my bed.  If I don’t update the website one day,  you know why.  If possible, I may try to broadcast a live video of the Iloilo Baptist Church with Dr. Rick Martin.  I don’t know if it’s going to be possible, but I’m going to try and create a wireless network to do this.

7.  Flip Mino – This year will be the first time I’ve brought this.  I will use it to shoot video when I don’t have time or the energy to get the Panasonic out of my backpack.

8.  There is a lot of other random things like external hard drives, extra batteries for the laptop, camera, and video camera.  Also, because we break up into 2 groups at times, I will also be bringing a Nikon D100 and a Canon XL1 for the other group.

Well, I hope I didn’t bore you too much with this list.  If nothing else, I have a checklist of what to bring! I once again ask for your prayers, please follow the Philippines Missions Trip online and let me know what you think!

Michael Moyer

In a week and a half, I leave on the annual Missions Trip to the Philippines.  It is always a highlight of my year.  I have the privilege to document the work being done by our missionaries. Every year I take thousands of photos and hours of video.  I post pictures and a description of the days events online every night. (view photos and videos of previous years) Usually, when we return, I have about 2 weeks to complete a 10 minute video.  The way the dates fall this year, I will only have about 3 days before the conference begins and about 5 days before we show the video.  This has prompted me to find ways to create a professional video quickly and to create much of the video before I leave.

I recently found Animoto.com.  They have a very simple service.  You upload pictures or short video clips (or use theirs).  Arrange the pictures and add text.  Then choose a song (or upload your own).  It creates a very professional looking video in minutes.  Check out the short video clip I created in a couple of minutes using their stock video, a couple of my photos and some of my music. Of course, I would have to create much more than this, but this gives you an idea of what can be done quickly.

I think this could be a great help to churches that want to create first class videos/slideshows but don’t have a lot of time to do it.

UPDATE:

Here are 2 videos I create using Animoto, Motion and Final Cut Pro. Can you tell what pieces were done in Animoto?

Disclaimer: If you use the animoto link, you get $5 off and I get a month of free service. I was going to write about this before I knew about the referral program. I love Animoto, and if I could get a month free, I would love it even more.

In the Spring of 2001 North Valley Baptist Church began it’s live streaming video ministry.  We started the ministry for one young man who had cancer and was unable to attend church but desperately wanted to.  We had some brilliant volunteers in our church who set up the whole system.  It has come a long way since then and the video quality of the services are incredible now.  We have spent thousands of dollars on the setup. (read about our live streaming set up) Many churches, however, do not have the technical expertise or the equipment to live stream their services.  What if a small church has sick members who are unable to attend, but has no money to spend on setting up live streaming?  Is there a solution for them?  There is now!

Technology has come a long way since 2001 and there are now free services to live stream your church service. Of course, with any free service, there are drawbacks (like advertisements).  But if you have a situation like we did in 2001 and don’t have the money or technical know how, here are some great solution.

1.  LiveStream.com

LiveStream.com

In literally 5 minutes, I was set up and broadcasting live from livestream.com.  It is very straight forward and simple to broadcast live.  I simply attached my Firewire camera (you can use USB as well) to my computer, clicked “broadcast now”, and clicked “go live”.  I found the interface to be attractive and simple to use.  Below is the live streaming interface.

LiveStream.com Live Streaming Interface

Here is a short clip I recorded while preparing for a session at the National Pastors’ and Workers’ Conference. Notice, the quality is very good. The noise at the beginning is because I was watching live from my other computer and it caused feedback. Because it’s free, there is an ad at the beginning.

10GB of storage is available with the free account, This would be helpful if you want to make past church services available online.

Free Live Streaming from livestream.com

2. Ustream.tv

Ustream.tv

Another free option is Ustream.tv. It took a few more minutes to set up a Ustream.tv account. It wasn’t as simple and straight forward as livestream.com, but there seems to more features available. For instance, it is very easy to set up a poll, add text, and add video to your live stream broadcast. Broadcasting live is very simple, click “broadcast now” and then “start broadcast” and you are up and running.

Ustream's Broadcasting Interface

The advertisements seem to be a bit different than livestream.com. The advertisements are mostly ads overlaying the video (like youtube) as opposed to one commercial at the beginning.

Both livestream.com and Ustream.tv seem to have great quality and are free. I would love to hear what you think. If you have used either company or have any other suggestions, let me know in the comments.

Michael Moyer

Additional resources:

North Valley Baptist Church Live Streaming Video and Archived

How to Set Up Live Streaming for your Church (not free)

Also, see article, “How to Live Stream Your Church Service for Free.”

North Valley Baptist Church was started in Santa Clara, California 34 years ago. The church is located in the center of the Silicon Valley. If you were to tell Pastor Trieber 34 years ago, he would be able to preach to people around the world LIVE, he would not have believed you. Yet now, 34 years later, he preaches to people around the globe – both live and throughout the week via archived video. The sun never sets on the ministry of North Valley Baptist Church. There are people watching the services, almost 24/7 and 365 days a year. We receive emails on a daily basis from people who watch our church services – To God be the Glory!

We have people regularly ask us how to set up a live streaming video ministry for their church. I hope to give you the basics of how to live stream your church service.

Equipment Needed to Live Stream and/or Record Your Church Services

In order to set up your auditorium, you will need some equipment. Here are the items you will need. I will list what equipment we use, you may use different types of equipment. This is just to give you an idea of what you need. There are much cheaper solutions for smaller churches. There is a PDF at the end of the article describing our old (cheaper) set up.

A Decent Computer

• We use: an Intel Core 2 Quad 3.2 GHz Processor with 2 GB of RAM running Windows XP

Windows Media Encoder

• This is free software for encoding the church service live. Window Media Video can be watched on both Mac and PC.

A Video Capture Card

• We use: the Aja Xena LHi (We use this because we work with an HD signal)

Video Cameras

• We use 3: (2) Panasonic HVX200 HD Cameras and (1) Sony HDR-FX1 Camera
• We use HD Cameras because we have HD LCDs in the auditorium we use as well.

Audio Input

• We mix our audio separately from the auditorium mix. We have a separate sound board for the internet video.

Streaming Server (if you are going to live stream your services)

• There are many different companies that would like your business. We have a man in our church that has set up a streaming server. He does a very good job for a very good price. He also does this for other churches. I can get you his contact info if you would like.

Video Mixing Board (if you have more than one camera)

• We use: the Edirol V-440HD (once again, we use this because of the HD signal)

(3) LCD Screens

• We use: (3) Samsung SyncMaster 215TW (one for the live streaming computer and two for the video mixer)

Setting Up Your Equipment to Live Stream Your Church Service

Below is a diagram of how to set up your auditorium for live streaming. Once again, you can change out the pieces. It doesn’t have to be exactly like our set up. If you want, you can have one camera and audio source and go directly to your encoding computer.

Church Live Streaming Diagram

Encode the Church Service Using Windows Media Player

Once you have the video and the audio hooked up to your encoding computer. Use Windows Media Player to encode your church services. We’ve found that around 300kbs is a good bit rate. This allows decent quality and also enables many different users to watch the services. If your bit rate is too high, many will not be able to watch your services. Windows Media Player pushes the video stream to our streaming server and saves the file automatically to add to our archived services.

Send the Video Stream to a Streaming Server

Your streaming service provider will supply details on how to do this. The streaming server allows multiple people to watch your service simultaneously.

Create a Link on Your Web Site

Once you are done, create a link so others can watch online. If you are unable to do live streaming video, you can still follow the above steps and then post your church services online for others to view later.

I hope this is a help to you. Please let me know if you have additional questions, I don’t have all the answers, but I will do my best to help.

Additional Resources:
Check out North Valley Baptist Church’s Live and Archived Video!
Download a PDF of our old (cheaper) live streaming configuration
How to Live Stream Your Church Service for Free

Michael Moyer