{Street Kid Ministry}

Well the time has come and I have a confession to make.  It's official: I have fallen in love.  Yes my friends, my heart has been stolen and I don't think I'll ever get it back :)  

For those of you who don't know, last week I traveled halfway around the world to visit the Philippines and work with my brother at his ministry center.  Even though I've only been here a few days I have absolutely fallen in love with this country and its people, and I never want to leave ;D

A few days ago we went out to do some ministry with the street children, who absolutely love having their picture taken :)  They were complete hams in front of the camera, and then screamed with laughter when I showed them their picture on my viewfinder :D  So enjoy this first post on my photographic journaling of this incredible culture - it's going to be a wild ride, but definitely worth the trip!!

This is Dagu :D  

The students here at the center go in groups of 3-4 to do ministry at various places, so they teach the children a short lesson and have them participate.  The kids absolutely love it :)

Bex <3

{Alaina}

I've always loved the song by Laura Story that says, "What if your blessings come through raindrops?" And I never saw that song so wonderfully demonstrated as I did yesterday :)  As kind of a 'final' assignment for our photography school, we were all scheduled to do an official client shoot with some different families from the area.  As we looked out the window before leaving, thunder rumbled ominously in the distance, and as we pulled into Garden of the Gods, the heavens opened up :)  But as we prayed and waited out the storm in the bus, the dark clouds slowly moved on and the sun came out, making the raindrops glisten all over the park.  So we all piled out of the bus and the families started to arrive.  Slowly, one by one, each group of two was assigned to their family and began scattering around the park until finally, my partner and I were the only ones left waiting.  And waiting.  And waiting.  Until we finally came to grips with the fact that our family just wasn't going to arrive.  So Alaina, one of the interns that's been here this week, volunteered to model for us and we set out across the Garden.  To be perfectly honest, I wasn't happy with this whole arrangement.  Why did my family, out of all the possible clients, have to be the ones to cancel?  So I moped around for awhile, and half-heartedly snapped some shots.  But as the sun shone brighter, and the red rocks of the Garden gleamed in the glow, I realized how blessed I am.  How blessed I am to have spent some of the best weeks of my life with such incredible photographers.  How blessed I am to have the ability to use the gifts God has given me for His glory.  How blessed I am to have such a gorgeous model to work with!! <wink>  So in essence, my blessing came through raindrops :)  Lots of them, but raindrops none the same!!  So without further ado, I present to you the gorgeous and awesome Alaina!!

Thank you so much, Alaina for being flexible and so willing to jump fences for us!!!  Thank goodness we never did get that $500 fine or get bitten by a rattlesnake ;)  

Bex <3

PS  I think I have officially sent a personal record of two blog posts in just a few hours :P