Photography as a Ministry

I am STILL loving my photography class at church on Wednesday nights & will be sad when it's over in a few weeks. I have learned so much about my camera & how to use it but the past few weeks we've really gotten into photography as a ministry. It's so interesting to talk about different photographers who use their skill, resources & equipment to reach people. We talked about how photography relates to mission work, ministry work & people in general. We were given a few websites of ministries done by photographers all over the world & I looked them all up this week. Each very different in nature but ALL very special.

• Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep - www.nowilaymedowntosleep.org
• “The Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep Foundation is there for parents and families to help aid them in their Healing, bring Hope to their future, and Honor to their child. It is through Remembrance that a family can truly begin to heal.”
• Celebrate Life - www.lifecelebrated.org
• “It was begun as a way to give back to the community. It started as a challenge to take an active roll in the lives of the people that surround you. To give a lasting gift, one that transcends the difficulties we experience in our lives...the gift of memories.”
• Help Portrait - www.help-portrait.com
• “Help Portrait is a movement of photographers who are using their time, equipment, and expertise to give back to those who are less fortunate.”
• Operation: Love ReUnited - www.oplove.org
• “The last thing on your mind when your wife or husband arrives home after a 4 to 18 month tour, is capturing all this love– on film. Most people are so overwhelmed with emotions they forget to simply point and shoot the camera they are grasping of their child’s first hug, or that single tear of relief from a mother being able to hold her twenty year old son again. With the help of Operation: Love ReUnited and local photographers near your base, you can.”

Seriously? How cool is that - I was at first drawn to the operation love reunited because Stephen & I have friends that spouses are deployed and I think it's always so special to see the pictures of the couples and families being reunited. {I would LOVE to do this one day, and am already thinking of friends that I would love to do this for!}

Then I watched THIS VIDEO about help-portrait and was just in tears! It's a basic idea that you find someone in need, take their picture, print it, and give it to them. The video shows some photographers at a homeless shelter & they had women their doing hair and make up and it was a really special thing for them. They kept saying over and over that they felt SPECIAL, worthy that someone would want to take their picture, and some of them hadn't had their picture taken in many many years. It's just amazing what can happen when someone wants to use their gifts and abilities to help people & to reach out.

Which brings me to my Teen CBS lesson/talk for this week {although Teen is cancelled tonight because of the weather} - but the lesson was out of Luke 19 and being a trustworthy servant. It tells the parable of the 10 minas & how some servants doubled the kings money and one just hid it because he was afraid of the king. My talk was going to start with this illustration about my photography class & how god has gifted people with various gifts & until He returns, we must use those gifts for His glory! We should INVEST in others, befriend the friendless, love others with the way we live our life, testify with our actions, and use whatever He gave us! God is so funny, this morning as I was reading a devo it was about our gifts (from Eph 4:11-13) and how we are to USE our gifts for equipping, edifying and encouraging one another. WOW! It goes on to say "where He has gifted us and opened doors of opportunity for ministry, He also provides the strength and courage to exercise our abilities".

I'm not saying that one of my "gifts" is photography - but it is something I love & would love to use it to help people, to make people feel special & happy. I am really excited about one opportunity - our church does an "elements" service once a month with worship, baptism, communion & this month it's also baby dedication. I have signed up to take pictures of baptism, baby dedication in the service and pictures of the families before hand! They look for people to volunteer their time and services each month & I hope I get to do it this month! I am also going to get to take pictures at 8th grade night at eTeen CBS. This is what I love - getting to "use what I have" to help people. And after reading my devo that says where He has opened doors of opportunity for ministry, He provides strength and courage! I am nervous - but excited about to opportunity! I know that you all have something that God has gifted you with - so let's all band together and USE those gifts for God! I guarantee you, we will end up being blessed more than the ones we help! Well, that's all folks. I am home today snowed in :) I am going to work on my pictures from the wedding this weekend & will hopefully have them up soon! Thanks for listening :)