Selcuk, Turkey

While we have been in Selcuk, Turkey God gave us many opportunities for our team to minister in the community. We made contact with the Governor, who was very excited about us being there, and wanted to work with us! He gave us an opportunity to take pictures around the town of the women, men, villages, ruins, and many other things. As we went around the town taking photos we were able to build many relationship with the people. We weren’t just any foreigners, but we became friends to these people and were really able to understand their culture. So many things in the muslim culture are misunderstood and we were able to brake down those walls and see things for what they really were. 

After we took extreme amounts of photos we put together a selection of pictures that we thought God could use to touch the people. The theme God gave us was exposing beauty and that was exactly what we aimed for. In each of the photos we put a word that matched that photo and the theme of the whole exhibition. 

[My exhibition photo meaning friendship]

[Hanneke and John Paul putting up photos]

[The exhibition. Photo: Christina Tyler]

During the exhibition we had many of the people come to look at the photos. Some that we had seen before and some that we had not! It was a time of being able to minister to the people and sharing with them what we were doing there. The people were very excited to see the way saw their world and how we could take something that they saw everyday and make it look beautiful. It was not only a blessing to them but also to us.

Greece

This last month I was beyond pushed academically while we studied the New Testament through the Inductive Bible Study method. I was determined to get the most out of learning and really driving in deeper into God's Word! God pushed me so hard and I was really able to see myself rise above what I thought I could do. However, the best part wasn't even about my own abilities but really about the depth God took me to. He showed me a lot of who He is through looking at the history of the Bible. That He is still the same today, able to do all the same miracles and wonders that He did back then. Challenging me to expect Him to do those things in my life and the lives around me today on a daily bases because He didn’t change, we did! 

[Cafe in Athens, Greece]

[Old Coins in the market. Athens, Greece]

 

As we have been studying we were able to see exactly where Paul was in many of the book in the Bible! We were able to be at some of the places he was in a lot of the passages. Like in Acts 19 when he was in Ephesus at the Theatre preaching about all the idolatry that was going on, we were right there standing in the exact place that Paul and the disciples were. A lot of the stones are now missing and fallen down, however, it really brought home all the passages that we as Christians have read for years! It was such a personal thing to be able to see it in person, imagine all of it in my head, and then to try to capture it with my camera!

[Ruins in Corinth, Greece]

[Ruins and old church in Athens, Greece]

South Africa

The whole PhotogenX Track School is made up of 23 students (6 boys and 17 girls), 4 staff, and Paul and Susi Childers, the leaders over the whole school. We are from 8 countries (America, Canada, South Africa, Costa Rica, South Korea, Australia, Holland, and Denmark) and all have the same common vision to reach the nations using photography.

(Selcuk, Turkey. Photo: John Paul Vicory)

The first month we were in South Africa was all about taking our photography to a new level and learning about photojournalism. I was really able to redefine some of the technical styles I learned back in college and put them to better use. It really stretched me to not hold back and to go out there and find that story/pictures that I want to tell. I was stretched to not just be satisfied with the photo I can get but to be willing to ask people on the street to move around for me so I can get a better photo. All of it was really good for me and stretched me to be better at what I do.


The last week we were in South Africa we separated into groups and went on outreach. My team of 5 went into a township called Guguletu, where we worked alongside a soccer coach named Eric that is linked with an organization called These Faces for Numbers. It is an organization to minister to some of the old kids within the township. The organization supports the team financial for soccer equipment and challenges the kids in the area of academics because they have to have good enough grade to be on the team. We were able to minister to the boys and take pictures for the organization to continue to raise support for them. Along with that we were also able to work with the locate church there that helps people with HIV/AID. They give them food and have become a big support to these people, going into their homes and taking care of them when they are too sick to get out of bed, and praying with them. We also spent time just walking around the community and hanging out with the kids. It was an amazing opportunity to reach out and really be able to see into the lives they live.

New Season

I have been a part time missionary for a little over a year and a half with YWAM (Youth With A Mission), along with studying photography. However, God has not only given me a vision as a part time missionary but a full time missionary photography. He has given me a heart to be in Africa using photography to get His message out to the world. To capture the heart of Africa the way God wants the world to see it and the love that is burning deep within Africa!

[Cape Town, South Africa. Photo John DeVries]

God is moving me into the next season in my life right now, from being a part time missionary to a full time missionary. He has really been opening doors for me, leading me towards my long term vision. One of the doors He has opened for me is to do a YWAM course called Photogenx Round the World. It is based out of the Kona, Hawaii YWAM base and run by Paul and Susanne Childers and their staff. The school is from September 27, 2007 to April 2, 2009, where we will be going all around the world doing missions work in addition to learning about world views, the Bible, and photography. During the school we will be going over 11 countries and I will be getting the hands on training to be a full time missionary photographer in Africa.