It started with a missions trip to Canton, Mississippi with my church's senior high ministry, where I was asked to lead worship and take some photos of the team in action. Out of that experience, I felt God calling me to utilize my talents and abilities in a whole new way. In the van ride home from that trip, a seed was placed in my heart to create a photography ministry whose proceeds would go entirely to help further God's kingdom here on earth. A year later Footpath Photography was born. It is my mission to use what skills, abilities, talents, and opportunities God has given me in the field of photography to bless others.
It's not surprising to most people who know me that I have chosen In His Steps Ministries in Canton Mississippi (inhissteps.org) as the base ministry which I desire to focus my giving. Founder Jasper Bacon has a God-inspired vision to minister to at risk children, juvenile offenders, and their families in one of the most poverty stricken cities in the nation. While traveling through the city of Canton, Jasper and his wife Carolyn pointed out the numerous scars of racism found throughout the historic city. They further explained the socioeconomic impact the culture had played in propagating the cycle of poverty in the area. Two distinct feelings overcame me during my week with Jasper, Carolyn, In His Steps Ministries, and my team from Grace Community Church of Noblesville, IN, as we spent that week outdoors in the heat (>100 F!!!).
There was a heaviness in my heart as I felt the weight of years of injustice and pain inflicted on the community. I realized the difficulty in bringing a community out of the conditions and habits ingrained from years of forced social limitations is highly diminished in the minds of those (including my own) who have never experienced or witnessed it. Though heavy, the entire weight of my heart that week can't compare to the crushing weight placed upon those who live in Canton.
Then there was the enormous hope. Seeing undeniable works of God in the lives of the people who served, as well as those who were being served during the week, made me realize that God is active and hard at work in Canton. I felt that by the end of the week, we got to see what appeared to be two sides of how God blesses us- being the receiver of His blessing, and by BEING the blessing to others. I can't imagine and have yet to experience the latter without the former to this day. Jasper Bacon and In His Steps Ministries have been God's hands and feet in the community. Helping remind them that God and His people have not forgotten or given up on them, the ministry fills multiple needs. The most striking need I witnessed was the display of love shown to those children whom the community have given up on- those who are in authority over their lives have considered them a lost cause. In His Steps gives opportunity to bring education through tutoring, loving discipline through athletic instruction, and most importantly the love and eternal hope that is Christ Jesus into the lives of these children. (Visit inhissteps.org for more information!)
As God has revealed my eyes to both the need for support in ministries such as In His Steps, as well as the potential use God may have for me in utilizing what He has blessed me with, I have pursued the creation of this ministry- Footpath Photography. It is my hope that Footpath Photography may experience the same two sides of God's blessing that I have personally experienced in the past. I know I have been and am continually blessed by God, and it is my hope now that Footpath Photography, with your help, will be a blessing to others!
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