Back in January I asked y'all to pray for me as I traveled to Thailand to capture images and stories of girls saved from sex trafficking. Thank you all so much for your prayers and support during my time out of the country, as well as your faithful prayers and support since then. This is a continuing project— image editing and organization is complete, and we are now working on writing for the book that, Lord wiling, will be published sometime next year.
I also wrote to you in June, asking for you to pray for me as I traveled to Kenya to document a school in Mombasa run by missionaries. All of the images are sorted and edited, and Carol (the lady I went with) is working on getting the non-profit set up for the school itself. I'm looking at putting together a short book about the school, and will start work on that in January.
God has proven Himself so faithful to me, and so gracious in His provision. Again, I quote that line from The Valley of Vision— "It is sweet to be nothing and have nothing, and to be fed with crumbs from the hand of my God." It seems this is a continual theme in my life… but I think that my perceived "lack" increases my awareness of His provision.
I'm writing to ask for your prayers and support for one more trip this year.
Isaiah 52:7 says, "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who bring good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, 'Your God reigns.' "
I believe that this is my calling as a missions photojournalist— to tell of God's faithfulness throughout the world, and bring it back to His people and strengthen their faith by saying, "Your God reigns."
Through a very long and somewhat confusing chain of "random" connections and God-ordained conversations, I met Amy Swift, a missionary in Rome. She works with Campus Crusades for Christ, and is using photography as an outreach to local college students. She has asked me to come to Rome to teach photography as a further outreach. I plan to leave on November 2 and return on November 24th, and the entire trip is focused on using photography to support and uplift the men and women who are actively building His kingdom.
Please pray for me!! I will visit family friends in Northern Italy, do some photography work for a mission base in Slovenia, teach photography to college students, conduct portrait sessions for various missionaries and families, document Campus Crusade's work in Rome, and possibly do some work for missionaries in Florence, as well. As before, I will regularly update here on my blog, so please make sure that you subscribe or follow to stay up-to-date on all that God is doing. You can also follow me on Twitter.
And please pray for me as I prepare! I am experiencing a lot of spiritual warfare in the preparations, already, and I'm struggling to trust that everything will come together the way it is supposed to. I need to earn or raise enough money for my ticket over there, and to cover in-country travel expenses (including transportation from city to city), as well as some preparatory expenses. It's so, so hard for me to continue to trust God's provision. I want to know how before I move ahead, but right now, God keeps telling me to trust Him.
Thank you all for your prayers. It is a blessing to know that I am uplifted by so many faithful friends.
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