Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Speaking at Christian Academy's Chapel

I was asked to share about 1000 Words of Hope at Christian Academy's 4th and 5th grade chapel. My daughter Zoe tagged along, and as you can see, was more interested in being out on the floor with me than sitting on the sidelines like we talked.

It was a great opportunity to rephrase the mission and goals of 1000 Words of Hope in a way that a 10 year old could understand. This was more challenging than I thought, as I felt the hopelessness of prospects of being an AIDS orphan and never seeing your parents again was a little heavy for the crowd.

This made for a great opportunity to relate our giftedness as photographers to the different talents and abilities that they have. Hopefully seeing family portraits from across the world helps them think a little about the things they can do for others.

It was a fun way to start the morning for sure!

Monday, May 12, 2008

YOU'RE ALL INVITED!!

Come to our open house this Sunday for desserts and coffee, and to see pictures and handmade goods from Ghana!


This is a great opportunity to support the work of 1000 Words of Hope. Call or email me questions. We hope to see you all there!

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Wedding Photography Helps African Families

Last week we shot a wedding on beautiful Grayton Beach in Florida. This was actually the beach that Elizabeth and I got married on 5 years ago, so it was cool to be back. The pictures turned out great and it was awesome to be able to share with people there the work that we are doing in Africa.

Along with weddings, we do family and children's portraits as well. The proceeds go to provide families in Africa with portraits. Email me (matt@1000wordsofhope.org) or call 502-819-8857 to book a shoot.

Monday, April 14, 2008

Letters Out and Looking Toward October Trip


Earlier this month we sent out letters for raising support for 1000 Words of Hope. This has been a longer and more intimidating process than I anticipated, so naturally I am happy that it is officially underway. If you have not received any information about this project by mail and would like to, click here to get on our mailing list.

There is much to be excited about these days are we are solidifying plans to travel back to Ghana in October. We will back in Tamale for about 10 days, photographing families and working with friends there. After 10 days in Ghana we will fly to Nairobi, Kenya to photograph families there. We are extremely excited about the opportunity to shoot on both sides of the African continent in one trip.

It is a real honor to be a part of work like this. Everyday I am reminded of the hugeness of what we are doing. Though it is daunting at times, I am trying to embrace my own limitations when it comes to being apart of something that is so much bigger than I am. I know that the work will get done and with this, more people will have the joy and hope that comes with having a family portrait.

I am very excited to share in happiness like this again in October.

Friday, October 26, 2007

Day Two:Ghana

09.19.07

**there are some more pictures from "day two" to be posted, but the server for whatever reason won't allow me so I will have to do it later--hopefully then it will work. Hope you enjoy these! Don't forget to add your comment. We would love to hear.

(click on each picture to make them much larger)

We rise early in the morning after a good night’s rest and full bellies from Bonnie’s cooking we loaded the van and began the drive to our village. The day we had anticipated and replayed our minds start to finish and now it was time to try to see if the process worked and if so how well.



Here are just a few of the sites we saw on our way to our first tribe.

A mother bathes her little boy in front of her roadside store before a long day's work ahead of her.



And I think it's hard to be a mom, but here mom's don't only carry their children, but almost always with some heavy load of something on her head. Here a mother elegantly carries her little one on her back while balancing all that wood on her head mostly with several miles still ahead of her to go.



In a land of little, one must continually be resourceful even when it comes to building a fence.




We passed these two boys who were balancing virtually enough wood for a bonfire on the back of their bikes.




When we arrive at the villiage the children were in school, but soon they were dismissed as it isn't every day that they see vistors let alone white and from the United States. Look at the shear joy on these children faces as Zenda, my mom, simply twirls a wand making bubbles—it’s magic to these little ones.



...notice the little boy in dark orange in front as he feels his face after a bubble just landed and popped there



Below: See the little girl in front? Now notice her belly button. It is severely herniated—a sight soon to be common among the children in this village. This issue is probably something that could have been easily prevented in most cases, but without much help from outside the village, the midwives of this tribe are left to do the best they know how.



For us in America, a family portrait is something we take for granted, but in third-world societies a family portrait is a true rarity. I don’t even think that most of the people who sat down in front of my lens even realized what that big black thing on legs (my tripod) was doing anyway or at least until they received their print documenting their moment of confusion. I had not expected the stone expressions I would continually receive and that I would have to encourage, encourage and encourage some more each individual, including the children, to give me a smile when they would come to have their picture taken. Typically a smile is one thing I can help generate pretty quickly and easily, but here in Ghana a smile is something I had to work for each time I put a camera in front of my face. Fortunately, I was quickly able to find almost a flawless way to see those pearly whites. What to know my secret? Trying to speak their own language and not being able to do it very well. Love ya, lima, lima, love ya—over and over again could be heard coming from me. I heard Mary, my translator saying it fast and repetitiously after she understood what I was trying to accomplish so I followed suit even though I did not know what I was even saying! I think my attempts alone were so funny that they were gracious to me and gave me a “deep down in the soul” kind of smile. Here I was successful—even “knee slapping” successful from the Patriarch!



Same family, but here watch the woman on the back row disappear—too funny. She was blushing so hard that she went down to her knee trying to cover up her smile/laughing behind her family.



After everyone from the tribe had had their picture taken we decided to do something else that would fun. Children of all ages and languages enjoy a little Crayola. I know I do. Don't you? Anyway, it never ceases to amaze me in my travels how a little stick of colored wax can bring such timeless joy and imagination to every age let alone every culture.





This beautiful young lady bare's her tribal markings...slits cut into her cheeks when she was not even a few months old.



1000 Words of Hope is a project of Creative Differences, the non-profit we are forming. At Creative Differences we try to find creative ways to generate hope in the midst of difficult situations and we cannot do that without you! Embracing our creative differences to make a creative difference--we want to encourage everyone to look at their unique gifts and talents and find a creative way to give back in a way that is uniquely them. One of my mom's talent is a "knock 'em dead" manicure and polish (ask anyone who has recieved one from her)--I am not kidding. Here is one of the women who got to enjoy just a little part of that experience. Can red nail polish brighten someone's day? Of course it can! After all, part of a woman's nature is to feel and look beautiful--isn't it?. And if you didn't already know that just look at the expressions on the faces in this picture. Enough said.




On our way back to the compund after a long, but very successful day, we passed the Stadium for the African Cup: a $120 million dollar project. The juxtaposition of obvious poverty and money is overwhelmingly sad as Ghana tries to prepare for the upcoming African Cup in January amidst her people trying their best to make a way for their families



Back to our "base camp," Seed Ministry Compound. Today has been great. The vision for 1000 Words of Hope in our imagination had actually work in reality! And not only that, but four people came to Christ today too! The simple idea to give remote tribal people their first and only family portrait opened up yet another villiage to hear the name of Jesus!




Bob and Bonnie, the missionaries at Seed Ministry has asked if we could give each of their helpers (our translators) a family portrait too. We were so glad they asked. After dinner we started our first on-campus photoshoot. Here mom waves and makes noise trying to get the little baby Joanna’s attention. Thomas, her dad and one of our translators, holds her in his lap. Little did we know that within a few days, Joanna would become severely sick and running a frighteningly high fever and dehydrated. She most likely had contracted Malaria—a huge health crisis for the children of Africa. However, through much prayer the doctors were able to find the right medicines to treat her condition and her condition has continues to improve. Please keep Joanna and her family in your prayers.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Interesting Bit on Fundraising



This is Reynold Levy, president of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. Tonight I heard him speaking about fundraising for the Lincoln Center on Marketplace, a public radio program.



Here is the link to listen for yourself: http://www.publicradio.org/tools/media/player/marketplace/2007/10/25_mpp?start=00:20:00.5&end=00:26:20.0


Among other insights into fundraising, Levy highlighted the privilege he has of giving his donors the opportunity of contributing to the greatness of the Lincoln Center. He said that he sees himself as doing givers an enormous favor because their gift actually gives meaning to their lives that they would not otherwise have.

I found this to be very encouraging in the midst of gearing up our funraising efforts. It was inspiring to hear his confident excitement about raising money for the Lincoln Center and I empathized with his perspective on donors as participants in the organization to which they are giving.

Giving to Creative Differences offers similar meaning as giving to the arts. You are making it possible for hope to be generated in the midst of difficult circumstances in ways that have not been considered before. There is great potential for new approaches to helping others when creativity is encouraged and people are given the opportunity to share their giftedness with the world. There are similarities between Creative Differences and the Lincoln Center. However, we are going a step further and asking others to participate in the work of generating hope through creativity. Try asking the Lincoln Center to let you play in the New York Philharmonic!

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Our First Wedding Since Ghana Leads to Our First Sponsorship!

We met together with the couple whose wedding we will be shooting this weekend to discuss final details and they surprised us by sharing that they have decided to sponsor the 1000 Words of Hope Project on a monthly basis. This will be our first official monthly sponsorship and our letters have not even been mailed yet! Again we see clearly that God is moving ahead of us, constantly affirming his desire that we devote ourselves to this work.

It is comforting to hear others' support and excitement for this project. We are always excited about it and our thoughts about the growth of the organization or our next trips are always rattling around in our heads, but there is nothing like hearing someone else who understands what we are trying to accomplish affirm the importance of the work we are doing. This couple is so excited about the project that they have offered us the opportunity to display some of the pictures we took on our trip to Ghana during their reception. What a great opportunity to share the vision that God has given us both for future shoots in the US and trips abroad to give family photos to those who would otherwise not have them.

It is so exciting to see God working around every corner. I am convinced that my life before lacked the faith necessary to see God's hand in this way. But by jumping into this project head-on, Elizabeth and I have left ourselves with nothing but faith to rely and literally live on. I believe it is the greatest decision we have ever made together, and being apart of this work has truly changed our lives and perspectives forever.