Dear brothers and sisters, 

At the beginning of 2021, God has filled my heart with gratefulness  and new hope because the second draft of the script, which I think is  the most difficult part of the script development process, is almost  complete. The plot, characters, the number and content of scene  breakdowns in each episode have been determined. The next step is to  write the dialogue. We pray for wisdom to write a dialogue that can  truly reflect the character’s heart and build up dramatic tension. 

In the new year, facing the aftermath of the US presidential election and the still growing epidemic, I see the importance of this  project more than ever because: 

1. When we cannot gather or meet face-to-face, churches and  Christians should not stop evangelizing. In this isolated state, high quality visual resources to reach people are constantly being  searched for. 
2. In a social atmosphere where divisions are intensified and hatred  is prone to be provoked, Christians should always take the  initiative to love and care for the LGBTQ+ community, try our best  to understand them, rather than labeling them with stereotypes  and resisting engaging with them due to fear. 

These two evangelical goals are never easy, but they are even  more difficult in today’s environment where the LGBTQ+ issues are  politically polarizing and controversial. In this past election, different  positions towards this issue even determined who people voted for.  Although we want to minister to LGBTQ+ people, Christians are now  facing much more hostility than we did before. Furthermore, the  LGBTQ+ activists have a great influence in education, media, and

cultural areas that impact our children on the daily basis. Nonetheless, LGBTQ+ community is an unreached people group who are cut off from  the true Gospel. They rarely accept invitations into church (except gay affirming church). Their view towards Christianity is often distorted and  misled (i.e., “God hates homosexuals”; “homosexuality is the greatest  sin”; “the Bible is outdated when claiming that homosexuality is a sin”; “God made me this way, so I have the right to act on it”; “God is cruel  and cold,” etc.). No matter how much the media and popular culture  validates their desires, people in the LGBTQ+ community still have many struggles, feel isolated, and endure trauma and pain on their own. Their real needs are the same as ours: Jesus Christ’s freeing Gospel. In order to  effectively share the Gospel with them, churches need to be equipped  with the right tools and knowledge on how to extend our welcoming  arms and start the conversation, so the broken hearts will meet God’s  love and truth. 

These few observations have pushed us to continue our efforts to  complete this script despite all kinds of difficulties. Aside from our own  job (for me, I am a homemaker), we dedicate our free time to this  project, responding to God’s grand calling to make something much  bolder and bigger on a scale that is well beyond our own abilities.  Despite knowing how limited we are, I look forward to achieving several  milestones by completing this project:  

– This will be the first fictional film and television work in the Chinese  Christian community that focuses on caring for the LGBTQ+  community. 

– This will be the first original TV series in the Chinese Christian  community. 

– This will be the first Gospel-oriented TV series product designed to  be used in small group setting to engage conversations in the  Chinese Christian community. 

Storytelling in film and video is a less common platform to share  Gospel within Chinese Christian communities. I slowly saw the vision God  wanted to show me when I studied psychological counseling in college.  It became clearer after I came to the United States to study filmmaking.  In 2013, witnessing the uproars during Taiwan’s gay marriage legislation, I  saw the spiritual needs of the LGBTQ+ group and the powerful influences of the media on steering public opinion. Later, when my husband and I served oversea Chinese students in Pittsburgh’s university campuses, it  became evident to me that we needed to find the entry points to

engage with this postmodern generation who grew up in the soil of  virtual spaces on the Internet, connects with people through social  media, and surrounds themselves with bright screens of excessive videos  and gaming. We need a different platform to effectively communicate  with this generation. Our strategies for evangelization need to evolve. We need to understand the power of stories that can touch people’s  hearts in a non-traditional way because this is a generation who tends to experience the truth through appealing aesthetics rather than  reasoning. By combining both powerful stories and visual appeal, this  new form of evangelism will be like a spring of water that will quench a thirsty and lost heart that seeks Christ. Through years of praying and  exploring, God led me here, to a mission I am devoted to fulfill. I believe missional art is one of the missing pieces of our Gospel work, and now is  the time to seize it. 

In 2016, after continuous thinking, investigating, and research, this  product was positioned as original TV series for an audience of small  group gatherings. In 2017, Taiwanese film missionary Mina Cheng joined  this project, so we entered the preparatory period for writing. In 2018,  Two Springs Media was officially established as a 503(c)-non-profit organization in the United States. In Spring 2020, I returned to Taiwan and started the script writing process. This year, this development process has  marked its fifth year since its conception (2016-2021). 

The threshold to enter the media industry is always high. The  reasons are (1) a successful film script often takes years or even more  than ten years to develop; and (2) the production cost is high. A quality  film/TV product requires trained professionals and equipment to  produce. Trained filmmakers are not abundant resources because of long working hours and a working environment with high risks. However,  the return of investment still provides strong incentives. On one hand, the  visible return of a high monetary profit in this business is possible. However, from the missional point of view, what we really care is the  invisible return of sharing the Gospel in an innovative way: by tapping into the power of discourse, we could influence the next generation’s values and shape our future culture. 

From the very beginning, our organization decided that we are a  non-profit, and we do not want to attract investors who seek profit  returns in producing film and television programs. Instead, we depend  on God’s lead and take every step with faith, supported by the  dedication of our brothers and sisters. We are also convinced that God

will affirm what we do by providing enough funding for the production.  Therefore, we decided to take the necessary steps in the next few  months to enter the fundraising stage. By request, the interested party  will be able to access the story outline, role description, and production  budget in detail. By providing an insight to the project, we look for  similarly minded individuals/churches to commit to helping us finish this  project. 

Before then, I want to give you a quick glance of our finance. We  received donation of USD $17,327.23 last year and spent USD $1,027.03.  The surplus was moved to the saving reserved for our movie production fund. The organization’s budget in 2021 is USD $17,174. This number  includes the cost to produce a short promotional video in order to  publicize this project, pre-production cost (crew and cast search…etc.),  other fundraising and administrative costs.  

We are also in need of your prayer in these areas: 

1. Website production: Please pray for our website production and  logo design co-workers. This is an important step for us because  after the website is launched, we will be able to connect to our  supporters and other resources more effectively and timely.  
2. Book translation: Please pray for our translators who are translating  resources for parents on the topic of gender education. We  consider this is another aspect we can do to equip brothers and  sisters on this issue in this fast-changing cultural landscape. 
3. Please pray for our board directors, who have been faithfully  supervising the operation of our organization on every revenue and expenditure. They have provided many good inputs to  advance the ministry. Please pray that God will continue to give  them wisdom and walk closely with God. 
4. Please continue to pray for me and Mina’s creative work. I know  from heart that this is not a task that we can accomplish with our own ability, but we have been constantly experiencing the power  from above and know that we can continue to trust in Him to  finish the work He has started.  

If you are led to contribute financially to the goal of finishing this  project, please mail check to us. All donations will be provided with tax deductible receipts. You can write a check to Two Springs Media, and  mail to: 

Two Springs Media  

P.O. Box 81518, Pittsburgh, PA 15217 

At the time of writing this letter, Chinese New Year is less than in a  week. I wish you all a happy Chinese New Year, and may God bless you  abundantly!

Dear Brothers and Sisters, 

Thank you for your prayers and warm greetings in the past few  months. After 70 days of traveling, our family safely returned to Pittsburgh  on April 16th.  

When we arrived Taiwan on February 4th, the number of COVID-19  cases just started to surge there. Governments at all levels began to  mobilize communities, companies, and schools to pull up the line of  defense against the epidemic. The government’s central command  center was established to prepare for a war against the epidemic. We  first quarantined in an Airbnb for two days, and then went to Zhongli to  participate in a 4-day and 3-night course at the All Nations Worship and  Praise Ministries. This was a camp that could not be held at this time, but  it still took place as scheduled. It went smoothly. Thank God, our family  was able to regain strength in the Spirit and prepare to face the next  challenge. 

We came back to Taipei after the conference and learned that  all schools will postpone the start of the spring semester for two weeks  until February 25th. I needed to start working on February 13th when our  office rental lease started. Therefore, Steve and my father took turns  taking care of the kids when I started working. This was very challenging  for Steve as well because he still needed to work and attend  conference calls at night to accommodate the USA time zone.  

The working hours are always very intense. I worked about 5 hours  a day to discuss, develop, design the storylines and background of the  characters in our 6-episode mini movie series with Mina Cheng, a  Taiwan-based Film Missionary. This is a story about the struggles of sin  and humanity as well as God’s divine intervention and redemption.  Writing a Christian movie script about homosexuality is like digging up and building a road on a wasteland without a map or directions. We  shovel and shovel. Each dig makes you sweat all over, but there is no  guarantee you will find the way. We often exhausted every idea and  inspiration, but God gradually revealed more of the character’s inner  world and emotions to us. Their pain pierced my heart. No, it’s not my  heart, it is our Heavenly Father’s heart.  

This is a tiny office without any decoration. It is a place where we  often felt burnt out and overworked. However, I felt God’s presence so  profoundly in this small space. Mina and I often felt overwhelmed just by  thinking about how we can finish this amount of work. But time after  time, we are pursued and persuaded by God’s overflowing love and  compassion towards this group – a lost group who believe our world can  bring them peace (which is not true). Therefore, this group resists almost  all opportunities of change and true hope. So many testimonies of  people who formerly identified as homosexual prove that the LGBTQ+ movement is not their hope. Homosexual people desperately need the Gospel just like anyone of us. 

The LGBTQ+ world is an unknown territory to most Chinese  churches and Christians. We don’t know them, how to approach them,  and sometimes resist entering their world. Attending church can be  difficult for that community. A well-known Christian author and teacher  Rosaria Butterfield, who formerly identified as homosexual, once said,  “The power of a narrative is that it can take people to places they have  never been(paraphrasing).” That echoes what we want to do. I hope by using film to tell a story of the LGBTQ+ community, Christians can begin  to understand this group. By creating small caring groups, people with  sexuality/gender confusions will feel welcomed by the church. 

During her time in Taipei, Teresa has adapted more than  expected in school. She liked her classmates, had made great progress  in Chinese, and enjoyed after-school activities such as pulling bells, inline  skating, and taekwondo. We originally scheduled to return to the United  States in early May when the scriptwriting was scheduled to finish.  However, with the multiple air tickets cancellations, the rapid changes in  the epidemic, and the challenges from the reversal of day and night  schedule for Steve, we decided to return to the United States earlier as whole family even though my writing has not been completed. 

After we returned to the United States, we needed to adapt to a  completely different lifestyle under the impact of the epidemic. I still  meet with Mina online every Monday night to continue discussing the  script. Compared with working face-to-face in Taiwan, the number of  working hours has been reduced, and the progress is slower. But this is the reality that we have to accept in this special period. However, to be  with the whole family, to worship and serve together, to look to God and  experience Him with faith…these are precious and irreplaceable  moments! 

At this time, when the epidemic is raging in the United States, I  urge the brothers and sisters who read this letter to pray for the United  States together. As the epidemic continues to spread and many lives  are lost, I am saddened for this country. The uncontrollable spread of  the epidemic reflects two things to me: the many missteps of the government and the stubbornness in people’s hearts. It’s a generation  who wants to satisfy their own pleasure and desire at any moment. They  don’t care about this life, or eternal life. I prayed and cried out to God,  “Have mercy to heal this land, forgive our transgressions, save our lives,  may the plague will calm down.” 

Please also continue to pray for the progress of the script writing  and our next steps. During the 70 days in Taiwan, we completed the first 

round of script writing for the six episodes, which focused on story  development and character setting. After returning to Pittsburgh, we  are now in the second round of script writing. The second round focuses  on the detailed development of each episode and each scene. In the  third round, the focus will be on dialogue writing. After returning to the  United States, my challenge has been finding enough time to write while  my primary role is taking care of the children and housework. The time  difference when working with another country also puts a lot of pressure  on my routine and rest. Please pray for me to have strong physical  strength to stay the course. 

The original work plan is to complete the script in June this year  and to start raising funds for filming in the second half of the year. We  aimed to start filming in 2022. Now because of the epidemic and travel  restrictions, we don’t know whether it is possible to meet the original  goal. Please pray for us to continue following God on this task. May  God’s wonderful plan be fulfilled so that the power of the Gospel will  enter the lives of LGBTQ+ community. 

Thank you for your financial support. So far this year (2020), the  donation we have received is $4,273.89, and the expenditure is $811.87,  mainly for the rent of the office in Taipei and the rent of the U.S. Postal Office’s mailbox. In the future we will transfer the unused balance to the  film’s shooting fund. 

If you feel led to partner with us in this ministry financially, you can  write a check to Two Springs Media, and mail to:  

Two Springs Media  

P.O. Box 81518, Pittsburgh, PA 15217 

In Him,  

Phoebe Sheng  

Producer of Two Springs Media

Dear brothers and sisters,  

As I am writing this letter, our family is preparing ourselves to leave  Pittsburgh for Taiwan for a journey we have been waiting for. It feels a  little bit unreal, but God is the one who makes the way. We will be  traveling to Taipei on Feb 2nd and stay there for a few months. I plan to  finish the scriptwriting for this mini movie series “One of Us”(tentative title) and produce a short promotional video with other Christian filmmakers  in Taiwan.  

It was not an easy decision to leave the place where I call it home  and my identity which I love and accustomed to, even just for a few  months. As I take the steps to follow God’s lead, what God wants me to  put on his altar is my desire to accompany both of my children full-time  as they are experiencing precious developmental stages in their lives;  my sense of security from the relationship and routine in my own home;  the brothers and sisters I care and find spiritual support from; a stable  and comfortable life that I can have control over.  

As the time gets closer, my heart gets tightened and the struggles  are stronger. However, this is the calling God has put in my heart since  2013. He asked me to walk out of my comfort zone and follow Him. I  have been praying for many things and He answered me one by one. Now is the time to respond to Him and learn to live by faith, not by sight.  

In the past year, I am so grateful that God has prepared a group  of faithful and wise board members to form our organization, to help me build a foundation to start the important preparation stage of movie  production. We saw the urgency of using media to outreach this  generation, but the field is in desperate need of high quality gospel  centered media content. This is a mission field that requires more investment and efforts, especially among Chinese churches. Visual 

communication and story-telling has great potential to engage young  people, particularly in cultural related topics, such as LGBT topics which  the opinions of our students are mostly shaped by their peers, teachers,  

and other secular influences in the society and campuses. We need  qualified Christian workers to serve in this area, to own this powerful  communication tool and to translate Biblical worldviews on these topics  into the language that’s easily accessible for the postmodern generation.  

As we embark on this journey, we are constantly reminded that  life is always before work. Please join me to pray that this truth can be  deeply planted in my heart that God is not unable, and He needs us to  work for Him. What He is longing for is that His children can enjoy Him in  any circumstances. It’s His mercy to show us how big the field is so that  we can see how lacking we are and how much we need to rely on Him.  Our true fulfillment is to please His heart, to be molded like Him, not even  the sense of achievement from the completion of our work.  

We have a few prayer requests: 

1. We are sensing a lot of pressure and spiritual attack since we  decided to have this trip as a family. Please pray for our family’s  unity, spiritual protection, a good communication pattern and  trust between Steve(my husband) and I in the face of pressure.  
2. Please pray for my emotions and self-identity to be guarded by  God. As an artist He gives me a lot of emotions to help me create and inspire, however it’s always a constant struggle because in  reality overwhelming emotions can bring damages in 

relationships. Please pray for my heart to think about “whatever is  true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure,  whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent  or praiseworthy” (Philippians 4:8) and filled with God’s truth, not  lies.  

3. Please pray for our family’s adjustment in Taipei. We will be staying with my parents. I will be working during the day and my older  daughter Teresa will be going to fourth grade in a new school, 

speaking and learning every subject in Chinese, a language she  has never used in a formal setting. 

4. I will need to finish our script, and a movie promotional video with  my filmmaker missionary friend Mina Cheng, during the time while  I am in Taiwan (Feb 2nd-May 6th).

Financially, we need USD$3069 in the first quarter of 2020 to cover  the script writing expense in Taiwan, which includes location scout,  office rental, and fundraising expenses such as postage, and producing  flyers. In April, we hope to finish a promotional video, and we will need  USD$3900 to rent location, equipment, hire crew and actors….etc.  

If you feel led to partner with us in this ministry financially, you can  write a check to Two Springs Media, and mail to  

Two Springs Media  

P.O. Box 81518, Pittsburgh, PA 15217 

We are so grateful that we can serve together with you and God  can use us to bring a vision to reality. With your prayers and support, we  are looking forward to amazing things to happen this year! Wish you a  blessed year of 2020!

In Him,  

Phoebe Sheng  

Producer of Two Springs Media

Thanks to our Lord for His faithfulness and grace upon us!  

     Although the overall climate in the United States today towards ANY efforts to help or  outreach people who struggle with homosexual desires are getting more and more hostile,  God continuously shows me his unwavering love and commitment to this special group of  people.  

     A recent example is the California AB 2943 Bill which makes it unlawful for any person  to sell books, to provide counseling services or anything else that helps someone  overcome unwanted same-sex attraction or gender identity confusion. The bill is now  under California’s senate judiciary committee which is the final stop before the bill  becomes an official law.  

The news broke my heart as this country is turning away from God further and further.  At the same time, I was scared about our upcoming film project because now it looks just  like the target of this bill. Under the pressure of the potential threat of being suit, I almost  think about giving up.  

But a few days later during my devotional time, Lord spoke to me in this passage: 

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and  help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. All who rage against you will surely be  ashamed and disgraced; those who oppose you will be as nothing and perish. Though you search for  your enemies, you will not find them. Those who wage war against you will be as nothing at all. For I am the LORD your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, do not fear; I will help you.” (Isiah 41:10-13) 

This was Lord’s promise and it comforted me immediately.  He is the Lord among the  raging sea. He knows what is going to happen and he has the power over everything! 

Thanks to God although there have been time of doubts and difficulties, He continues to  open many doors and we have seen many progresses this month, several are listed below: 

1. After a long period of research, consulting, and much prayers, we decided the best structure for this ministry is to establish a new nonprofit organization. Praise Lord now all of the board of directors are finally in place and we can start filing the  application for establishing the nonprofit organization.  
2. I had a chance to talk to a Christian lawyer who is very familiar with the bill that tries to stop Christians to help homosexual people. He analyzed our ministry method and affirmed me it carries a very minimum risk. He encouraged us to move  forward. I am really grateful to be able to find a lawyer who is experienced in the  matter and like-minded.  

Here are several items to be prayed: 

1. The application of incorporating the nonprofit organization with the State can go through smoothly and timely.
2. We plan to gather all the board of directors soon to discuss and pass the organization’s bylaw.
3. Phoebe needs to focus on the script writing again. which requires a lot of alone and quiet time. To get the script “right” is the most essential element of this entire project. Pray that she will be able to focus and will have good script discussion  group time with several other friends throughout the script writing process.  
4. To prepare filming the 1-minute teaser in Taiwan next year, Phoebe and our prospect director Mina have started looking to building up the team in Taiwan. We hope to find a good cinematographer and two male actors to play the main character  at his age 5 and 12 for the teaser.  

Thank you for your labor together in the Lord!  

In Him, 

Phoebe Chao  

2018.5.21