Greetings!

Our first week of filming ended pretty well. We were on schedule despite some rain at the beginning of the week and some hiccups with actor communication and transportation. And it took an extra effort by cast and crew to pull off some shots very late at night on Saturday night to complete the week.

A milestone for this week; Timoteo Perez, one of the leaders in the Yanomamö community of Coshelewateli, finally arrived from Venezuela on Friday, after months of wrangling over passports. As Timoteo got out of our van and had his first glimpse of the film sets, he was very excited. I said to him, "Welcome to Coshelewateli!" He smiled broadly. He and I can't communicate much without a translator, but he spent the next few days watching the filming, teaching the actors on how to act Yanomamö, and getting up to speed on the film.

Unfortunately, I spoke too soon in our last e-mail. Our lawyer in Caracas had said that several of the passports for the other Yanomamö guys were completed. It turns out that, a few days later, he was saying that it is hopeless and that we will never be able to get them. With great sadness, Bautista and the other Yanomamö headed home to Cosh. They are very frustrated with their own government, who apparently has cut off all passport renewals. Timoteo was able to come through a loophole of some kind and the grace of God. So we are trying to help him communicate what is going on Belize back to the others in his village in Amazonas.

Please keep praying for us. We have had some freak breakdowns of camera and audio gear. Nothing has stopped the filming, but it makes it more difficult to be without some key equipment. We see much of this as attacks from the Enemy – it is all so unusual. Pray for discernment and for grace with our gear and with each other.

Thank you for joining with us,

Tom Khazoyan –– Executive Producer, The Enemy God (Yai Wana Naba Laywa) film

Mateo may never be able to meet the real Bautista, but we hope that Timoteo will be able to be a bridge between his people and the Kekchi who represent them in the film.

Mateo has a large role in the filming we have been doing. It is a challenge for him, a contractor by trade, to become an actor and portray a man whose life has represents a turning point for his people.

As I have watched our rehearsals and filming, I am amazed by some of the performances of the Kekchi actors. People who may be farmers and laborers in their normal lives are discovering what it means to tell stories and assume characters for a film.

Some of our crew, too, are not professional filmmakers. They are also discovering new gifts and learning how to get into the flow of movie-making. One local Belizean, Victor, has become our dolly grip and a favorite of the camera crew. He has a great attitude and great instincts when it comes to helping on the set. Our crew jokes that we will someday be working for him as he makes movies in Belize.

? Pray for good, quick, solutions to some of the equipment problems we have been having. It is difficult to get things back and forth to the States. Even FedEx can take over a week to make deliveries! We have not be stuck, but we have had to make changes in our plans for filming in some cases.