Our wonderful friend and colleague Nessa is moving on to pastures new and we wanted to take just a moment to celebrate her!

For the last year Nessa has been doing a fantastic job managing our social media and supporting Aaron as they lead our youth ministry. We’ll miss her, but we’ve loved journeying with her as she explores her calling into the entertainment world, and we’re so excited for what God has in store in her next step!

Check out below to see her story of the journey God is taking her on:

Over the last few years I’ve really felt a stirring to be part of making the film and tv world a more ethical place to work.

I’m from a Film and TV background and have witnessed first hand the neglect that often occurs behind the camera. We hear about the mistreatment of actors and actresses behind the scenes but what is only just starting to be spoken about is the mistreatment of the many hundreds of crew who work long hours, are underpaid and suffer with mental health problems in silence. With some of my friends losing their lives to suicide.

We often hear about the ethics of where our food comes from, where our clothes come from and the mistreatment of workers in other sectors but the film and tv world is often one that is portrayed as a glitzy and glamorous environment to work in. When in actual fact, its very labor intensive and the issues are severely overlooked.

Over the pandemic, I began The Retreat Productions. A film and TV production company prioritizing ethics in all areas.

A few months ago, I headed to LA for some work meetings and to network. During this time, God did so much. During a meeting an opportunity for a well known platform to buy my script occurred. However, throughout the meeting, it became clear that what they were proposing was in no way ethical and would have meant that I would not have been able to be involved in making sure that everyone was able to work in a safe environment. So I declined their offer.

It was at that moment that God started putting people in my path the rest of the trip that further reinforced that I had made the right decision. Opportunities for more ethical ways of doing things arose and by the end of my trip I left confident in the knowledge that in order to make a lasting impact and change the culture, I needed to go back into that industry full time and make my God appointed vision a bigger priority.

It's a scary realisation to come to. It means a lot of change going forward but I’ve heard two sayings having been around Vineyard for most of my Christian life and they are; “ old orders are good orders until you get new orders”, and “you know, that you know, that you know when God is calling you to be situated in a certain space.”

I know, that I know, that I know, that God is now calling me into a new thing and it’s with that knowledge that now is the time for me to close this chapter in Birmingham and bring more of his kingdom impact into this industry.

Ways you can support this new adventure:

Financially support me - I’m raising £15,000 to cover things like flights, accommodation and visa fees. For more information and to donate to this cause head to my Go Fund Me page: https://www.gofundme.com/f/get-nessa-to-la
Pray - If you’re the praying kinda pal, please do be praying for this new adventure. There are high and low times ahead. I do really believe that any and all prayer makes a difference.
Hire Me - I am making up income by relaunching myself on a self-employed basis as a graphic designer and social media consultant. You can find my graphic design Instagram over on https://www.instagram.com/nessaccreates/ and you can stay in the loop on my personal Instagram https://www.instagram.com/nessa.chileshe
Share the fundraiser - I can't do this alone. Sharing it with your friends, family, or anyone you think might be interested could make a world of difference between hitting or missing my goal.
If you would like more information about The Retreat Productions and about me, you can head to https://msha.ke/nessacwrites/