By Emily Wiebe
On Wednesday, November 8th, Square One World Media hosted our fall fundraiser, Planting The Story. Our first fundraising event in several years, Planting The Story, was a rousing success! The event took place at The Leaf – the new conservatory in Assiniboine Park in Winnipeg – and online for viewers outside of Winnipeg.
For 76 years, Square One has been planting the story of Jesus in the minds of people around the globe through media. We continue to tell His story thousands of times, in hundreds of different ways so that people will come to know Him the world over.
Along with delectable hors d’oeuvres and an ice cream dessert, the nearly 300 guests at The Leaf and online enjoyed a silent auction full of unique prizes and a program featuring presentations on how Square One is currently telling the story of Jesus…
The Ella’s Backyard Vlog Russian team opened the evening with an energized skit showing how an episode of their program
comes together – from an idea, to audio
recording, to filming, and editing!
Square One’s initiative, The HIStory Endowment Project, was introduced and the first official Endowment Story unveiled. Designed to provide a secure source of operational funding for Square One, The HIStory Endowment Project is also meant to capture the stories of our community members. In exchange for a legacy contribution (made in your lifetime or as part of your estate) to Square One’s Endowment Fund, we record your story in a beautifully written and designed book for you and for our collection of Square One Endowment Stories.
The gift to the Endowment Fund, in turn, generates interest that becomes annual income for the work of the ministry in perpetuity. This results in a heritage of faith that will not only continue through your written and published story, but also through the continued spread of the Good News of Jesus to people around the globe for generations to come.
Guests to Planting The Story were also able to enjoy a presentation from Tales from Cottonwood Trails, Square One’s new Bible-based podcast for kids. The guests learned about foley, the art of creating sound effects through everyday objects. Then, three of the Cottonwood Trails voice actors (and some kind volunteers) took to the stage and performed a mock episode of the program packed with foley! It was such a delight to have the forest soundscape come to life on stage.
Finally, Cree pastor Howard Jolly introduced Come Sit With Me, the new project he recently
partnered with Square One to create, which is intended for Indigenous audiences. Howard had a moving presentation talking about his personal story of faith and how he recently visited the unmarked graves at the Fort Qu’Appelle residential school. He then performed the song he wrote in reaction to the unmarked graves, which is featured in episode 3 of Come Sit With Me.
Here’s what guests had to say:
We were warmly greeted and made to feel at home! The presentations were very informative and well presented! It was a very lovely evening! – Lorna
Everything was wonderful. It is very good that there was active interaction with the guests, the humor and a charismatic host made the event less formal. This helped create a warmer and more inviting atmosphere in the room. – Elvira
It was a most LOVELY event with great food, a fabulous venue, informative and very interesting program. - Sherryl
We learned so much about the ministries of Square One, we were entertained, and the food was delicious. It really was a fantastic way to spend our evening. – Heidi
Want to watch the recording of Planting The Story? Follow this link.