The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Filmmaker: Future of city rooted in love
The future of Lorain will grow out of the love that residents have for their city and each other, said an Emmy award-winning filmmaker.
De’Niel Phipps, 36, was keynote speaker for the 2017 Tabernacle Conference of El Faro Disciples of Christ Ministries. The annual event is a fundraiser for El Faro’s Performing Arts Ministry organized by the Rev. Crucita Marrero.
The event takes its name from the biblical Feast of Tabernacles. After escaping Egypt, the Israelites spent 40 years in the wilderness of Sinai, Marrero said.
But God supplied their food, clothes and their other needs, so the Israelites celebrated, she said.
“Our city is sort of in a dry wilderness at this time,” both in Lorain’s economy and in the Christian faith, Marrero said.
“So this piece brings us back to God because we want unity, we want prosperity, we want our Bible and we want to be renewed,” she said about the conference.
The Performing Arts Ministry aims for children and families to build a constructive relationship with God through creating, developing, rehearsing and staging dramatic shows.
Marrero also is the mother of Lorain native Kenny Santiago Marrero, an actor who met Phipps when they worked on the short film “Fin Del Ano.”
A native of Saginaw, Mich., Phipps now is based in Cincinnati but has spent time in northern Ohio, personally visiting Kenny Santiago Marrero and professionally as cinematographer on the documentary “Dispatches from Cleveland.”
“I said anytime Lorain needs something, I’m going to come out, doesn’t matter how big, how small,” Phipps said. Although Lorain has economic hardships, the city has love, a quality lacking in many other places, said Phipps, who added he has traveled to 43 of the 50 states.
Phipps spoke to the group from a stage set up for the conference, which includes prayer, song and plays outdoors at 1850 E. 29th St., South Lorain.
He recounted his own youth: At age 8, he lost his mother to prison; did not have contact with his father after age 11; and became a father himself at age 18.
Phipps said he became “that poor boy” until his grandmother, then age 63, took him in. She sacrificed much of her retired life to care for his family, he said.
A man at their church also worked for the local CBS affiliate, and in 1992 Phipps began working with him in the media ministry. Since then, he has gone on to work in a variety of news and entertainment projects, winning Emmys in 2008, 2014 and 2015.
He asked the audience to consider their own fingers as metaphors for their potential, talent, effort and persistence. “So many times in life we focus on our thumb, which is our laziness,” Phipps said.
The goal is to live life with no excuses, he said.
“If you change your heart and then change your mind, you can change your life,” Phipps said.
The conference continues at 11 a.m. July 16 with a Bible study and worship service. Musical worship will be at 12:30 p.m.; Marrero will speak at 1 p.m.; and an El Faro 13th anniversary celebration will be 2 to 3 p.m.