“Our Hope is to Be A BLESSING to Others”
“The Lord bless you and keep you. Make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.” — Lyrics from the song, “The Blessing”
By Dr. Tyrha M. Lindsey-Warren
The words from the song, “The Blessing” by Cody Carnes, Elevation Worship, and Kari Jobe, inspire the second season of the Waco Family & Faith International Film Festival, which kicks-off on July 31, 2020 with our 1st Annual Community Barbecue and Back-to-School Picnic and the opening of our film submissions on August 15, 2020.
Given all that is going on in our world today led by the unpredictable backdrop of the Coronavirus, the Festival team wanted to start our second season featuring the voices of families from Waco and across Central Texas to sing a blessing over our community. Here is a sneak peek of “The Blessing,” on our new YouTube channel.
The full version will be released on 7/31. The song/video is about 4 minutes long and features around 15 vocalists and musicians. The video will be available on the festival’s YouTube page, social media and website at WacoFilmFest.org. Many thanks to Dr. Stephanie Boddie for being the inspiration for the effort, along with Dr. Horace Maxile, who served as Musical Director, and Cody Nethery, who served as Co-Producer and Editor.
In addition to our Blessing Project, we also continue to live our mission of being “dedicated to EMPOWERING the creative spirit, SERVING with heart, and CELEBRATING all!” On July 31, 2020, in the parking lot of Extraco Bank at 1700 North Valley Mills Drive, we will continue to serve the Waco community with heart with our 1st Annual Community Barbecue and Back-to-School Picnic. Due to City guidelines, this event will be a DRIVE-THRU picnic with all of the traditional fixings, from FREE barbecue prepared by the Extraco Bank Barbecue Pit Crew to FREE school supplies and backpack distribution, fun film gifts, and fabulous music played by DJ Auggie! Thanks to Mr. Alex Eichenberg of Extraco Bank, Mrs. Rosemarie Tatum of the Delta Alpha Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Mrs. Jocelyn Williams of Grassroots Community Development, and Susan Krause of the YMCA for your wonderful volunteerism and support of this effort.
In conclusion, our Festival team believes in the power of film and storytelling to empower and change lives for the better. We ALWAYS work to do our part for the betterment of our community and our world in service of humanity. The Waco Family & Faith International Film Festival will continue to be an agent for positive change as well as work to open the hearts and minds so that we all may treat each other a little better, be kinder to each other, and perhaps love each other a little better because at the end of the day, we are all more alike than we are different.
We look forward to seeing you on July 31, 2020, from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., in the parking lot of Extraco Bank (1700 N. Valley Mills Drive, * Waco, Texas 76710 (and while supplies last)) as we celebrate our community at the 1st Annual Community Barbecue and Back-to-School Picnic! You don’t want to miss it! Blessings!
Dr. Tyrha M. Lindsey-Warren is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Marketing at the Hankamer School of Business at Baylor University. At Baylor, Dr. Lindsey-Warren teaches Advertising, Digital Marketing and is the Founder of the Baylor Business Advertising Summit. She is also the Founder and Producer of the Waco Family & Faith International Film Festival. In her spare time, Dr. Lindsey-Warren sings jazz professionally and has opened for GRAMMY award-winning jazz musicians. Dr. Lindsey-Warren is married to Sidney Warren, a successful entrepreneur.
The Act Locally Waco blog publishes posts with a connection to these aspirations for Waco. If you are interested in writing for the Act Locally Waco Blog, please email [email protected] for more information.