Open: A Photographic Art Show & Silent Auction Benefit

So I have been working on this little side project for a bit now and thought it was about time that I shared details here on the blog (considering the project is taking place this coming weekend.) What started out as a bud of an idea has now formed into a full fledged benefit art show featuring a bit of the photography of, yours truly. Kinda scary and cool all at once.

The show this weekend marks the beginning of a crazy cool busy summer for me ending up with a missions trip back to La Mision, Baja California, Mexico with the BFC and Be2Live gang. Last time I went on this trip I ended up filling an empty spot at the last minute and being as I was at that time living out of the state I literally didn't go to one meeting or attend one group fundraiser or meet up with one person that was going on the trip beforehand. Big. Time. Slacker. I know. I literally showed up the day we were hopping on the plane saying, "nice to meet you" to about everyone I saw, besides my cousin Bianca and a handful of old time BFCers I already knew. But this time around, two years later, it is a different story. I actually signed up when everyone else did, put some hours in at group fundraisers, attended a few meetings and met just about everyone of the 40+ people going on the trip. There is something pretty awesome about pulling together as a group to work towards a goal. Friendships form and deepen and the anticipation of event heightens all along the way. I can't wait to see how this missions trip shapes up for us all.

I know that people always say that you get more out of the experience missions trip than you give. So I won't repeat it again. But what I will say is that you can't help but be moved by such experiences, that pull you out of your little comfy life and force your senses into overload. Suddenly your eyes widen, your ears perk up, you bounce along in the back seat of a bumpy van going wherever they take you to do whatever they tell you to do. You build a house, you play soccer in a mountain rimmed field, you deliver boxes of supplies and watermelons to families all around town and you go inside to hear their story, you serve lunch to a hundred or so happy kids and you cuddle orphaned babies in your arms. Your heart opens

And upon returning to your home, back to comfy-ness, you can't help but carry a little bit of that openness back with. This was my prayer and my heart upon returning from La Mision two years ago, that my heart would be open to the world around me, right here, right now, everyday, the broken and the beautiful. It is certainly a process that I have not always been successful at but in the journey myself and others from the trip have begun to open doors and form friendships and serve right here in our own community, one step at a time.

Openness is a philosophy I share within my approach to photography. My senses are on overload to the world around me. I'm not a landscape photographer, or an aerial photographer, or a livestock photographer (and if you are one of these things and you happen to come to the show this weekend, don't expect any brilliance here.) But what you can expect to see is a view into a bit of the gloriousness God has brought along my path on the periphery that I simply marveled at then scrambled to capture in the best way possible with open eyes and an open heart.

Come out to the show. Come support our cause. And leave with an open heart.



And here are the details:

Open: A Photographic Art Show is taking place at Brewsters, a local coffee shop, and feels like it is shaping up to be a bit more like a festival than just a show. Along with the actual art there is a combination of caricature artists, hors d'oeuvres, spoken word presentations and music by some awesome local artists including Justus Martin, Zachary Heston, Kirsten Nickisch, Rachel Patterson, Luke Brady and Harrison Havery. A silent auction will include photography artwork valued at $30-$500 with all proceeds to benefit the 2012 Bible Fellowship Church Mexico Missions Team in our journeys & local Mexico outreach missions including...

Open Arms Childcare Ministries.
www.openarmsmexico.org

This no-cost daycare is doing awesome things for this community. #1 They are providing childcare to the families who need it most at no-cost. Keeping kids safe during the day as their parents work to support them as well as keeping families together and kids at home with their family instead of an orphanage. #2 They are changing the lives of the children and their families and the community with the message of Jesus Christ. #3 They are growing, growing, growing. Even bringing kids out of orphanages and back home with their families.

Door of Faith Orphanage.
www.dofo.org

This place is like nothing I imagined. I would seriously love to live here. The orphanage is like a little community in itself with a collection of homes that house 6-8 girls or boys of the same age with one house parent or couple. There are meandering sidewalks through the playground and laundry building and fellowship hall and dinning room where all the kids eat each meal together. These are some pretty happy kids in this place. (as you may have been able to tell from my pictures from the last trip.)

I can't wait to get back to this little valley on the Pacific and to see some familiar faces again.

"Whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him." Colossians 3:17