Hello, friends! I flew back from San Antonio today. The Film Academy and Festival were absolutely amazing! I'll have to write more about that later. The other news is very difficult. Friday night, just as we were getting ready to kick back and enjoy the world premiere of Ace Wonder, a few of us found out that one of our friends (and fellow crew member), Joe Ruggiero, died as the result of a collision while driving a utility vehicle.
I worked closely with Joe while I was part of the props department and the news came as a tremendous shock and a very hard blow. All of us knew Joe and loved him. He liked hanging out with us on the weekends and even came to a few of our worship services on Sunday mornings. He was rough around the edges, but he had a great heart. He was true to his friends.
I don't know if Joe was a Christian or not, but I have reasons to hope and believe that he may have made that decision before he died. That is a rather detailed story that I'll have to write and share later. Meanwhile, please be in prayer for us, and for the crew, and for Joe's family and friends. His grandmother also died on the same day, which is a double blow for the family.
One specific prayer request is that the unsaved members of the crew and all of Joe's unsaved friends and family members would be forcibly struck with the brevity of life and their need for salvation. God could use this on a huge scale to impact sooooooo many lives.
Thank you for your prayers. We need them very badly right now. Many of us have never lost a friend before, and this is a very hard thing. God is faithful to sustain us. He is our source of strength, comfort, and peace.
We love you, Joe. We'll miss you.
