#But God

 

 

Jeremy and Emily Freeman had lived through one tragic loss after another. His wife’s mother had passed along with Emily’s brother. Then Emily’s sister had Toby, who would pass away as tinyinfant.  Now, within weeks, their youngest son Trey, had gone through the autoimmune disease that took the lives of their family members all in what seemed to be just a few months. Just when you thought nothing else could happen to #jeremyfreeman, #emilyfreeman, then their two sons, Caleb and Clayton were in a horrible automobile death defying accident.

Have you ever wondered or asked yourself the question, “When does all the bad stuff stop in my life?”  Have you ever questioned your Creator by saying, “Isn’t it enough?”  Jeremy and Emily were flying to the scene of this horrible accident as they were called and told their sons in the rain had spun out of control on I-35 in Norman, Oklahoma and an eighteen wheeler drove them thousands of feet into the pylons.  Nobody could live this kind of impact as their car stood helplessly in a dark night in the rain when the truck did not see them parked at 55 miles per hour.

 

Because of the #butGod, they did not die, but what would take place after this was horrific for any family.  The oldest son Caleb had stopped breathing, and his head was found resting on the front grid of that huge truck at sixteen years of age.  Caleb was thrown into the back seat with lacerations and had blacked out.  
Remarkably, an MMA fighter Brad Frakes, had just driven past the collision slowly on this rainy December night and something said to his heart, “Stop, you need to go back.”.  Reluctantly, he pulled over, parked, and ran from his car on to the scene of the horrible accident.  #bradfrakes looked into the truck and saw Caleb was slumped over and not moving and this event began what would be a life-altering sequence of events for the family, for friends and even Brad.  

#pastorJeremyFreeman, #FBCNewcastle and Newcastle High school was going to show up at the OU Medical Center just to see if Caleb was going to make it out alive.  #NEWS4, #ABCNEWS5 in Oklahoma City and #CBSNEWS9 began covering the story.  #AliMeyer the anchor at NEWS4 showed a keen interest in the story.

As a result, a feature documentary movie #butGod was made of this miraculous story, and you will not want to miss a minute of what happened.  It began a #butGodmovement that has continued since 2017.  I was called to direct a picture that would impact my life like #BeyondTheGatesOfSplendor did with END OF THE SPEAR.  

This is an emotionally packed miracle story and without God, you cannot survive any crash like this one.  Laying lifeless, with tubes in Caleb, the journey was about to begin and this is where Caleb first came into my life.

As a film director, it is always fascinating how stories find us.  Many years ago I kept trying to find stories that went beyond imagination, but in recent years there has been a turn in how we find treasures to move from the Holy Spirit.  I’ve never really been much of a fan of Christian films due to the lack of quality and because of spiritual immaturity.

When I received a call late one night from Pastor John Dickey, Hillcrest Baptist Church in Stillwater, Oklahoma, I was introduced to Pastor Jeremy Freeman of First Baptist Newcastle and his family was on the call.  Caleb had gone from Oklahoma City, transferred to rehab to the famous clinic in Denver and was now in Omaha.  

They had watched a film where in 2015 Larry Jones had interviewed me about my stroke and how I was miraculously healed.  The film had gone viral to over 300,000 and I believe they were indeed led to watch what happened.

They wanted me to pray for Caleb.

From this moment on, I was swept into a story that we didn’t have any idea how the movie would even end.  Defying all odds, there was one miracle after another that took place and you have to watch this compelling story to actually see the miracles in real time. 

News stations came and interviewed me about how I got involved as a filmmaker and I simply said, “It’s all about the two words Pastor Jeremy used when asked about his family’s condition and how Caleb as doing. He simply shared, BUT GOD, and these wo words had already began a movement of prayer like I had never seen before among teens.”

What happens next went so viral, but even more importantly began changing the lives of young people.  In other faiths from around the world, there is no activity for healing through the precious blood of Jesus.  In fact, while we respect every faith, for those who believe in Jesus, your story, your life can truly change.

If you would like to know more about how this transformation can happen in your life, you can go to several websites. First you can check out our non-profit ministry, give to help support Caleb at veritasmissionfilms.com.
Jeremy Freeman and Caleb Freeman share a dynamic ministry of evangelism where they speak everywhere sharing this amazing #butGod story to thousands and thousands of people from hundreds of churches.  They are seeing thousands come to know Jesus as their Savior and there is nothing like this happening in youth to this size.

Our entire film team was inspired by this story and how it can impact other people today.  Our faith will be on the line, but as Caleb’s grandfather shares, “A faith that cannot be tested, cannot be trusted”.  Ken Freeman truly has been another anchor in this family’s beliefs for years.  

FINAL WORDS OF WWII

Lorretta Segars was an incredible elementary teacher who grew up in the wake of Sand Mountain, Alabama.  Her father, Fred Camp was a purple-heart veteran during World War II and he met her mother in Tuscany while on leave in Tuscany Italy.  

Inspired by their amazing love, she wrote a book entitled, Sand in Tuscany chronicling history, their unique love, and much more. #sandintuscany is embraced by the United States Military and veteran families as a “boots on the ground” story of love and war.  

FINAL WORDS OF WWII set out on a mission with Jimmy Segars, Lorretta’s husband and their son, Michael Kirk Segars. This group of Executive Producers took a great risk, to fund a feature documentary and sent our film team to Italy, where the young couple fell in love in the middle of a horrible war.

A screenplay has been written entitled, WAR BRIDE completely inspired by this amazing family and their dedication to God, country, and lifelong service.  Jimmy Segars was a purple-heart veteran who served in Viet Nam for his country.  Their bravery, commitment to those who serve in the military is highly admired.

Heroes began to emerge in furthering journalistically investigating the 88th, Blue Devils with the 313th Combat Division during the military theater in Italy through everything.  What was most amazing was finding the last two military veterans alive, who wanted to share the story they lived. Leading the interviews was purple heart veteran Fred Camp in his mid-nineties, just like the final men still alive.

Sam Studstill was the second purple-heart veteran from Georgia who served in the same divisionshared his dramatic journey of being drafted at the age of eighteen into the first “all draftee division” in World War II.  Sam was another hero from the war whose humility is a symbol of the “greatest generation”. The special draftee division was never expected to do well, but this group rose to the call to duty in a way heroes do. #Bluedevils command are now the 88thReadiness Division and contribute invaluable foundation from their historian.

Tom Story was the third purple-heart veteran from Virginia the last hero the film team located.  He and his wife provided an invaluable story of the perils of war and what it was like to not only live through one horrible fire fight after another.  Tom would arrive home from battle and never discuss anything.  CNN and many other leading groups tried to do an interview, but he refused to share anything, until two of his comrades in arms came forward. He so respected his band of brothers; he was honored to share his story too.

These became the final words for all three men whose memorial services were filled by churches who loved them.  These were men who did not want to talk about what they did, but rather talk about their fallen soldiers who stood alongside of them.  In an emotional re-telling of the front lines, these brave men were moved to tears.

Loretta Segars had reached out to Chuck Norris to consider if he would consider their story in film. #ChuckNorris referred them to our team knowing we had completed documentaries over the past many years.  We spoke and discussed how Mr. Norris had placed his brand on #LastOunceOfCourage and we placed her book, Sand In Tuscany into adjudication.  This was one of the highest rated books in over 300 submissions to our film company.

She was such a powerful woman and her thousands of hours researching her father and mother’s life began the journey for the feature documentary.  As a grammar specialist, she had a way with words.  Her family was completely emersed in a local Baptist church in Alabama, where Fred, her father had served as a deacon.

St Francis of Assisi always said, “Preach, and if you have to, use words.”  This was the Camp family’s legacy.  His wife could not even speak a word of English, but she married this soldier and the journey in this documentary will span almost seventy years.  When their mother passed, Lorretta decided to write and tell their story.

After we premiered the film, Fred passed away and he was so happy how everything was completed telling the story of their love from his daughter’s heart.  Later, Lorretta too would pass away as #OceaniaStudios began meetings in Los Angeles to place WAR BRIDE.  The great part was that Loretta and Jimmy got to attend film festivals where they were honored and won.  

To date, FINAL WORDS OF WWII is the most highly acclaimed film Oceania Studios and Veritas Mission Film Association has ever produced.  There is footage from journalists embedded from the government where some film footage has never been seen or experienced. The cooperation of the United States Military and the 88th Readiness Division helped make this film possible.

When you leave a legacy, you want to have an exclamation point and the FINAL WORDS of WWII is only beginning.  With the families whose relatives served in WWII, Oceania is creating a series in the major military theaters. This award-winning film has birthed its own legcy to be an in-depth look at the “boots on the ground”, the “at sea”, and “In the air” men and women whose lives will never be forgotten.  

If you have a family member that has ever served on a foreign front, this film is for you. It’s content connects to the heart of those who are called by “Distant Drums”.  Women served alongside of the men and what happened to the United States Armed Services displays the remarkable sacrifice of some of our last great heroes.

JOY IN THE MORNING

When you stop to consider how many hours all of us have left, it’s not many.  We all consider how precious time is, but Jenni Kufahl understood the importance of the minutes.  She was diagnosed with cancer as a young mother with a hard-working husband, coach and seven amazing children.

During this time, she is going to face the victories and the defeats of this horrible disease. She will be engaged with per children and husband, minister to her siblings and parents and beat cancer, then have it come back in a way that would change everything.

Thanks to a special commitment made by her mother as one of her last wishes, Deani chose to carry the banner for Jenni’s story.  She and her husband, John Merrell executive produced the inspiring film documentary JOY IN THE MORNING.  But this would only be the beginning leading into a book of a family touched by the Heavenly Father. Deani would not rest until all of this was completed in His time.

Jenni’s loving parent narrate her story in an amazing journey covering the last two years of her life.  Her brothers and sister’s inspiring words of hope bring a family to their knees filled with hope as their relationship to the Christ helps them cope during the worst of times.

Most impressive are the heartfelt words of Heath and their children as they reflect on a selfless wife and loyal mother who changed all their lives.  What makes this story different from all the families who go to war against any form of cancer?  Everyone copes differently, works to create hope, and focuses on bringing comfort where it is needed most.

Jenni’s story is different because of a deep-seated resolve toward life and eternity.  She decided to move into a world, where moments mattered. Literally, when she was close to her life being over, a sense of urgency prompted her to even share with the medical team, the importance of knowing Jesus Christ as their Savior. Her relentless passion toward sharing the gospel filled with courage and gallantry in the face of life being over.

Taking a leap off a diving board takes faith, but Jenni took a bungee jump off the bridge of eternity and embraced the fears, spread her arms into her lasting destiny. She did this with such beauty, elegance and grace, the world around her stopped.  We have not been the same since her life and like Paul, she broke the chains of life into a loving God’s arms.

As the filmmaking team led by Heather Olive, my lifelong friend and first-time directorial debut, she was able to capture the essence of this story. Heather understood the family, was a co-teacher with Heath at Christian Heritage Academy and had become a close friend with Jenni.  She knew the pain, her family’s closeness and drove all of us closer to the heart of God in the process.

An exciting book is being written that further extends to tell the story and Deani is responsible for this deeper dive into JOY IN THE MORNING.  When Deani asked me to step in as a writer, we needed a larger team.  Award winning musician and producer, Stephanie Musser spent four months with her providing the footprint for the book. Then, as I began writing the book, my own father passed away unexpectedly from leukemia.

Dealing with grief is hard enough, but when you see the authenticity of this family, the power of losing someone, shut me down.  For several months, I had trouble even writing about loss.  This is when I personally began to uncover the reality this entire family had dealt with for so long.

Considering the children, their age at the time when their mother transitioned and how young they were, only God could have provided for Heath and his family in this way. No matter how young or how old you are, Johnny Merrell a pastor in Tulsa and one of Jenni’s brothers said, “Hope hurts” and these words bury into our soul.

Jeff Moore worked alongside of Heather and I on the editing as we carefully placed these hours of interviews into the award-winning documentary film. What an amazing team of experts, an amazing family and experience is now available to purchase.

Count the hours and you will see there is not much time left.  What are you doing with the moments?  How are you making time for your whole family?  Have you allowed any conflict or separation to invade and destroy your family dynamics?  Do you have unresolved situations or are you serving God in unity.

Treasure your time, make it matter and learn from the author and perfecter of our faith through the eyes of an ordinary woman, who lives extraordinary in the face against death.  If Jenni could speak to you today, this story will reflect her convictions which are worth following because they teach us about how we can have joy, inside of our own mournings.