Hope For the Children of Haiti - the boys

So, you've met some of the girls from Hope For The Children of Haiti - now meet a few of the boys...

Mikenlove hanging out on the porch at the Boys' House


stuck inside on a rainy day



oh, forget, let's just go play in the rain! Boys don't mind getting wet and dirty, right?



they sure love football!



I can't get over their view from their football field!


Rejoicing over a goal :) This is back at the orphanage where they were playing football with a plastic bottle. It was rather impressive.



One of the things I love about boys in other cultures... They hold hands with each other! It's precious.


Jefthe looking very serious


studying hard


Richecarde smiling for the camera


and this kid was laughing so hard he fell down :)


The boys were a totally different set of characters than the girls. Much less camera-shy. Some even went out of their way to pose for me - too much even. :)

They were also a really fun group of boys who laugh a lot - which is always a good thing, especially in a place like Haiti!

Hope For the Children of Haiti - the girls

If you've been following my blog, you know that I went to Haiti in May/June to document the work of Hope For The Children Of Haiti. I've held off on blogging about it because I wanted to focus on getting the first few weddings up first. That, and I've got like a zillion pictures I'd like to share, so I had to take the time to narrow it down a bit.

I'm finally ready and I thought I'd start with the girls at HFC. There are about 30 of them, ranging from 8 -17 years old. It took a while for them to warm up to me, and to stop running away from my camera, but it was really fun getting to know them. And it was a great reminder that teenagers are teenagers, no matter what country you're in :)

Here are a few of my favorites of the girls!


waiting to be introduced to the visiting photographer ...


hanging in their room - giggling and having fun



Aw, Debbie, she's such a sweetheart. And would you get a load of those eyes!! Gorgeous!



Wislandy, the baby of the crew. Such a cutie!


Listening intently to a sex-ed talk. Their eyes aren't glassed over or anything ;)


Chrystel... Little Miss Attitude and the woman in charge (if you ask her). But, I found her in this nice moment doing chores where she was all alone, and let her guard down a bit, and I almost got a smile.


Fabiola hanging out the back of the Tap Tap (it's basically a pick-up truck with a metal cage on top to keep the passengers safe, or dry)


And, last but not least, Nerline. This girl ran and hid from my camera the ENTIRE time I was in Haiti! On the last day, I had had enough, and I stalked her relentlessly until I got a couple photos of her before she saw me. Somehow, this made her love me dearly. Go figure :) So, here we are, right before I left to go home. She couldn't stop hugging me and even cried when I left. That's what I love about teenagers... they're totally unpredictable.


I wish I could share more with you all, and tell you stories about each and every one of the girls - but there just isn't enough time in the day! :)

If you're interested in supporting Hope For The Children of Haiti, and helping these girls get the care and education they need to make a difference for their country, please click here.

Get Drenched

This post has been a LONG time coming! With all of the traveling, eSessions, and now weddings - I've been a bit behind on my personal work. But I just had to get this one done this week! I couldn't wait any longer :)

On Easter Sunday of this year, my church held a baptism service both in the morning at Hope Christian Church, and in the evening at Genesis. Before getting baptized, each person got up and shared their story and explained why they decided to make this commitment. It was very powerful to hear their testimonies and both services were just amazing!

In the morning, we had 3 boys from the youth group get baptized. Our Youth Pastor, David went into the water with them and prayed over each boy. It was really cool to see how confident and excited these guys were that morning!




It was especially cool to witness Sarah's baptism. Her father had the honor of stepping in to the water with her. It was definitely a special moment for both of them.


Later that night, some of my friends at Genesis also took the plunge. The testimonies were very real, very emotional, and very powerful that night. My brother-in-law, Michael is our Pastor and he was so excited to pray for and baptize each of them. It was such a blessing to witness!



This is one of the girls in my LIFEgroup, Elyse. She's just amazing, and I was so proud of and happy for her that I could totally not keep from crying. Even now, I'm tearing up!




And this is my girl, Meaghan, yo! ;) She's also in my LIFEgroup and is getting ready to go on staff with Campus Crusade. I am still praising God for the impact this night had in her life and in the life of those around her!! (If you're interested in supporting Meaghan in her ministry, let me know, or click here)



What a wonderful way to celebrate Easter! Check out the slideshow for more...

Back From Haiti!

Well, I'm officially back from Haiti and back to work! It was a great trip and I'm really excited to go through the 4,200 photos I shot! But, first things first - I've got engagement sessions waiting for me. So, I guess you'll all have to wait a little while too...

To tide you over, here's a shot of Bolosse - the area of Port-au-Prince where I spent most of my time.


More to come!!!

Out of the country!

Well, it's about 4 hours before I have to leave for the airport, and I still haven't packed for my trip to Haiti! But, such is life :) It'll all get done somehow, even if it means I don't sleep - at least I'll sleep on the plane that way. haha!

I'll be in Haiti until late Monday night, June 2nd. Please pray for a good safe trip. Pray that I would stay healthy, and that this picky eater would be able to eat whatever is put in front of her ;), and pray for some awesome photographs that HFCH will be able to use to increase their ministry in Port-au-Prince!! Thanks for taking this journey with me. I can't wait to come home and share some photos with all of you!

I will be without email & internet access until Monday (eek!), so if you don't hear back from me, that's why :) I'll do my best to respond to all emails when I get back to work next Tuesday.

and because posts without photos are lame... here's a shot from my very first missions trip to Mexico back in 2002...


Have a great week!!

Hope For The Children of Haiti

One of my portrait clients is on the board for an organization called Hope For the Children of Haiti. Well, they're not just on the board - but they've adopted 3 teenage boys through the ministry! To say that Hope For the Children of Haiti is a big part of their lives would be quite an understatement.

A few weeks ago we started talking about the possibility of me going down to Port-Au-Prince to document the ministry's orphanage & school - and of course, the kids. Well, yesterday we bought our tickets and it's official! I am so excited about the opportunity to work with HFC, and for the chance to visit Haiti for the first time! I have many friends who have visited Haiti, and this orphanage in particular, so I'm really looking forward to seeing it with my own eyes, and bringing that back to all of you. I'll be heading down there at the end of the month, so stay tuned for photos and stories from Port-Au-Prince this summer!!

Zimbabwe elections today

Please pray for the people of Zimbabwe today as they vote for their next president. Pray for a fair election, and for peace no matter what the outcome.

You'll be able to follow the elections at the BBC news website...here