Alan and Shelley Hillman have been busy lately. Very busy. After having a productive and busy weekend at the Massachusetts HOPE convention two weeks ago, they traveled last week all the way from Maine to Pennsylvania to attend the CHAP homeschool convention, one of the largest in the nation. (It seems we don't yet have any distributors in PA willing to go sell lots of our products to eager buyers at a place like CHAP – if you or someone you know in PA might be interested in Joining Us, read more about Becoming a Distributor.) They had a special treat while there, meeting up with our Director of Distributor Support, Scott Eash, pictured below.
The Hillmans don't do anything small, it seems. They have a strong desire to establish an atmosphere, even as a vendor at a large convention, where people can relax and enjoy fellowship while browsing their Honeysuckle Farms product library (and it literally looks like a library). They have had many wonderful opportunities to talk to and even minister to people by related the stories from the films in the Freedom Film Distributors catalog, as well as from their own journey of faith.
Of course, to get such a wonderful vendor display set up requires a hefty logistics effort, which Alan deftly handled with his two red monsters.
This past weekend was the MassHOPE homeschooling convention in Massachusetts, and was attended by our distributor in Maine, Alan Hillman and family. They had a wonderful time of working together as a family and talking with convention attendees about the films from the Freedom Film Distributors catalog.
After a successful convention weekend, the Hillmans are excited about upcoming events they have planned to promote the FFD catalog of films in their area. We look forward to more great news from the Hillman family and their home-based Honeysuckle Farms business.
We’re excited to welcome Josh Ferrell as the first young man to sign up with Freedom Film Distributors. He brings with him an incredible amount of energy and enthusiasm (hint: those are important if you’re in business). Residing in Wisconsin, Josh is excited to be promoting the Freedom Film catalog across his territory. After his mom discovered Freedom Film Distributors on Facebook, Josh became very excited about the opportunity to launch into entrepreneurship and develop business skills. His parents are fully supporting Josh’s new venture and are excited to see their son learn as an entrepreneur.
Josh is loaded with ideas for bringing God-honoring films to Wisconsin, including exhibiting at homeschool conventions this spring. Churches, Christian bookstores, county fairs, city events, and local tourist shops are all on Josh’s radar!
After being encouraged and influenced by Franklin Springs films, Josh knew that he had to take part in bringing these films to his community. He says, “My favorite film was Pull up A Chair with Nathan Clark George. What really spoke to me was, even amongst business with music and travel, he took time being the spiritual leader of his family. My dad had a deep conviction for taking time with my family reading God’s Word, and growing together as a family in holiness rather than letting someone else do his job. It was so neat because just after we started doing our family worship together, we watched this film and Nathan Clark George was using the same book we were using at the time… Nathan George’s family really shows that he is bringing them up in the Lord, and seeing the love His kids have for the Lord was a real joy. I also really enjoy his music, and having this movie to know what his life is like when he’s not recording really made me love him and his music more.”
We’re glad to have Josh on the Freedom Film Distributors team, excited to watch him grow, and eager to see what he will accomplish in his new venture!
We’re excited to announce that The Wintons, our distributors in the northern California area, have added some additional honors to their growing list of accomplishments. Jesse and Cody Winton competed in the California State Old-Time Fiddle & Picking Championships this past weekend, which is held annually in Oroville, CA, and they each won their divisions on mandolin and banjo, respectively, in this very lively musical competition.
Father Randy Winton reports:
“Jesse won the Jr. Division last year on mandolin, so he competed in the Open Division (all ages allowed to enter; is generally comprised of adults and prior winners no longer able to compete in their age divisions due to multiple prior wins) and won this year. Cody competed in the Jr. Division (12-17) and won on banjo. The picking championships are all three instruments, banjo, mandolin and guitar, competing against one another for the top prize. Each contestant plays two songs, one slow and one fast tune. They are judged by a panel in multiple areas using a point system; tuning, timing, tone and difficulty. Jesse played “Over Cincinnatti” and “1 Corinthians 1:18.” Cody played “Cotton-Eyed Joe” and “Reuben.” They chose not to compete on fiddle this year. They each received medals as well as a cash prize. They would love to compete at the National Picking Championships held annually at the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas in September. Lord willing, we would love to send them if the Lord provides the funds.”
What is more amazing than the fact that the two brothers are both champions in their respective instruments, and that Jesse competed against the adults this year, is that Jesse had an accident playing sports last week and fell very hard on his wrist. Though he did not wear it while playing, you can see the brace and sling he is wearing in the picture of the winners together below. His God-given skill is even more evident in light of these circumstances – that he had to play through injury and pain – and yet still came out on top.
More impressive than their display of skill is the fact that these young men are working together with their father to provide for their family through their bluegrass band and their promotion of God-honoring films through Freedom Film Distributors, and are ministering to people all across the west coast in the process. The Wintons are a wonderful picture of Christian family life – a demonstration of family culture that we hope continues to spread across the nation and the world.
Andy Keusal picked up a Freedom Film Distributors brochure at the Sufficiency of Scripture Conference in December of 2009. Being an entrepreneur at heart, and also a fan of Franklin Springs Family Media, the opportunity to become a distributor caught his attention.
The Keusals have watched many of the Franklin Springs films, but when asked which film is his favorite, Andy says, “Hard to choose, but probably A Journey Home, because it was so timely for me and for my family. I have been wrestling for years with leaving home each day to go to my corporate job, being gone for 11 hours, etc., and we have also been feeling more and more led to move to the country, get some land, and find a way to spend some more time together as a family, especially as we add more children to the household. So obviously that film really impacted us for a lot of reasons — here was a guy who had the courage to do what I have been talking about doing for years, and the way the story is told is so beautiful. I’ve watched it at least ten times, and my family has, too.”
Largely inspired by A Journey Home, the Keusal family recently moved from urban Columbus to a rural location in central Ohio.
Andy found Freedom Film Distributors to be particularly appealing because of his desire to work from home and spend more time with his family. “[Freedom Film Distributors] seems like a great way to ease into doing that, especially because the product is such a natural fit — I can’t think of anything I would be more passionate about promoting!
“Extra income is always nice, but the primary driver for me is freeing up my time, since I really have enough to meet my needs through my job — but I want to start creating other sources of income, so as to allow for eventually leaving my job. Of course, there are lots of ways to make additional income, but this one meets the other critical criterion, which is to be doing something that impacts people’s lives and advances the kingdom of Christ. If that were not true of an opportunity, I just don’t think I could consistently put time and energy into it, even if it created some decent income.
“My wife and I feel very convicted about doing this, and we are praying that our kids will really jump in and have fun with it, too, as we get started.”
Alan Hillman provided a report late Saturday of great success at the first homeschool convention of the year – the Homeschoolers of Maine Convention held Friday and Saturday in Rockport, Maine. While there was success in terms of product sales, even greater was the opportunity realized to fellowship with and minister to homeschool families through the Hillman family’s experience and by offering the life-changing films in the Freedom Film Distributors catalog. The Hillman family’s vision to do business as a family was on display, as their children helped them work their booth, including writing receipts for customers and making change, in addition to offering the products that their children make at home for their Honeysuckle Farms business. Their children were able to interact with other children of attendees and exhibitors, and the picture of a family working together proved to be powerful.
Alan reports: “Our daughter Abigail had also made some dolls called “His World Dolls” and each one has children that are from a different country. On our website she puts the family name, nationality, a little about their country, and the favorite family bible verse for that family. She sold three sets of those and thats a double blessing, actually triple: we are blessed to see other girls happy to play with innocent godly dolls (one little girl paid with her own money), our girls were blessed, and the final blessing comes from the fact that Abigail donates 10% to Operation Nehemiah Missions to the Sudan!”
The Hillmans created a wonderful booth display, including items related to the films they were offering to present a more tangible understanding of the content. This use of candles made by the West Ladies featured in the Homestead Blessings DVD series is one good example.
Interest was so great in their booth that they found themselves being flooded with shoppers even after many other vendors had closed their booths. Alan told us that “Shelley and I were both talking and ministering to separate people and all of a sudden we had 4-5 people looking at DVDs. The woman in the pink (pictured below) had walked a friend over and was going through each Homestead Blessing DVD and was explaining it to her what each one was about in detail. The other people there listened intently” and this customer’s sharing of her experience with the films led to her friend making a purchase before leaving. When your customers make the sale for you, you’re in good shape!
We are excited to see other distributors engage with the public at upcoming conferences and other events, so be sure to stay tuned for more updates. If you are inspired by the Hillman family’s example and are interested in getting involved, see the Join Us section of our website.
Distributor Alan Hillman and family sent this picture this morning of the sunrise in Rockport, Maine, where they are attending the first homeschool convention of the year – the 2010 Homeschoolers of Maine (HOME) Convention. In addition to representing Freedom Film Distributors, the Hillman family is exhibiting other resources and their homemade goods produced as a part of their Honeysuckle Farms family business. Alan shared this picture of their booth with their products displayed and we think they did a great job!
The Hillmans are offering a 15% off discount coupon to anyone attending the convention – just go to their event page on EventBrite, click Register and fill out the form to print your coupon. Be sure to let your friends that are attending know!
We’re looking forward to getting a report on how the convention goes and are eager to hear of the response to the Freedom Film Distributors purpose and product line. If you are interested in getting involved with us, or know somehow who might, visit the Join Us section of the Freedom Film Distributors website.
Thank you to Kevin Swanson and all of the many volunteers who made the Family Economics Conference a great success. Knowing that there are thousands of families across the country which are taking important first steps towards an independent lifestyle is extremely encouraging. Unfortunately for most, myself included, we have spent so many years attaching chains to our time and finances that it will take some effort to extricate ourselves. Conversations with brothers and sisters that are debt free, earning income from multiple different sources and growing a good portion of their own food gives me something to look forward to.
If you were not able to attend the Family Economics Conference, but are in need of the excellent teaching that was shared there, you can now order the audio and video.
I pray that we can all take the initial steps necessary to begin a journey which will lead to a life of true freedom for our children and grandchildren, both in Christ and in this world.
I’m having a great time at the Family Economics conference. There are many dynamic speakers sharing Biblical truths about the way we work and live according to God’s Word.
We’ve made many new friends and have signed up new distributors in Colorado and Kansas, and expect quite a few others in the coming weeks.
The most surprising event occured last night. As I walked by one of the vendor tables, I was offered a free Homeschool Enrichment catalog. As I accepted the magazine I did a double take and my chin dropped.
There on the cover was a huge picture of my son Michael.
As the shock wore off, I remembered a visit to our home from Steve and Terri Maxwell who we hosted while they were in Charlottesville for one of their conferences. Their ministry, Titus2.com has had a tremendous impact on our family. The Maxwell’s oldest son Christopher is an accomplished photographer and he had taken pictures of the children homeschooling a year ago for potential publication. I can’t wait to get home and show the family this cover.
We’re looking forward to the outgrowth of this conference in many families across the nation, some of whom are joining the Freedom Film Distributors team to engage in a family business that allows them to influence their culture through God-honoring films. If you think you might be interested in becoming an Event Host or Becoming a Distributor, visit the Join Us section of our website.
The Wintons began singing and playing together at home for fun, learning to harmonize and become strong instrumentally. What began as an interest in bluegrass music grew unexpectedly by the hand of the Lord into a family music ministry. They now perform a mix of gospel and traditional bluegrass music at venues throughout the United States.
The Winton boys, Cody and Jesse, have distinguished themselves as accomplished musicians on the fiddle, mandolin, banjo, and Dobro guitar. Cody and Jesse write some of their own songs, two of which are featured on the Winton’s debut album, ‘This World is Not My Home.’
The Winton family lives in beautiful northern California where they homeschool their sons, are raising their little adopted daughters, and have recently launched into full-time music ministry. They are thankful for the opportunity to share the gospel, encourage believers in biblical family life, and tell about the blessings of adoption at their concerts.
“We had a great concert. God poured out his blessings on us. We were able to sell 9 DVD’s as well as dozens of our CD’s. The three trailers we showed during our concert were very well received and we anticipate greater sales during scheduled movie nights which we are currently working on scheduling in this area prior to our move. They told us that there were about 500 people in attendance. The people gave a very generous offering to us as well. We are in awe of what God did to provide for us in this one evening. Between the love offering, DVD & CD sales, we received around 90% of what we were making monthly in our landscaping business. God is good and we look forward to seeing what He continues to do.”
The Wintons are currently planning their spring 2010 concert tour across the United States. They will be performing at the Family Economics Conference in Castle Rock, CO, March 5-6. For those attending the conference, be sure to visit the Wintons at the Freedom Film Distributors’ table!
