Austin Dingman
Lead Filmmaker | NETWORK TEAM
I’m just a small-town farm kid who grew up in Hartline, Washington (the definition of “middle-of-nowhere”) Growing up, church was a big part of my life. We were in church every Sunday, all my friends, family, and teachers went to church – it was just a way of life. Church-goers surrounded me, I knew all the bible stories, I knew who Jesus was, I knew that he died on the cross and rose from the dead three days later. But I don’t think I truly knew what that meant for my life. I lived a life seeking acceptance and wanting to be known by people.
It wasn’t until my freshman year at Central Washington University when everything really made sense. Someone shared the gospel with me in a way I don’t think I had ever heard it. They showed me what it truly meant to have a relationship with Jesus, that following Jesus wasn’t just a rulebook that I had to abide by, but rather that Jesus came, lived a perfect life, and died for us, then defeated death three days later by raising from the grave.
At that point I started to notice people around me as individuals. They weren’t just objects walking back and forth, separated from my own life. I realized that they are lost, broken, and in need of a Savior. I wasn’t doing them any good by avoiding conversations that could save them from an eternity apart from God. That’s when mission became real.
I went to school to study film and make movies. The plan was to transfer from CWU after two years, move to California, and pursue film down where it is happening the most. That wasn’t God’s plan for my life though. He had something bigger for me.
At the end of my freshman year, I met a guy who instantly became one of my closest friends. He took me under his wing and taught me everything I know about film. He became a mentor and, through my four years of college, I stayed in contact with him and continued to work alongside him until I was getting ready to graduate. At that time, he invited me to move to Pullman and work alongside of him here at the Resonate Network producing media.
We create videos that push the mission forward and highlight the importance of church planting across the Pacific Northwest. There are students here at Washington State University that are showing interest in what we’re doing and are volunteering their time to be a part of our team. We are training up new leaders with the hope of seeing them glorify God with their talents, whether that’s in the workplace after graduation, or on a team in a new city helping to plant more churches.