Category Archives: Mission Trip

J.B. McHose House

This Sunday the Youth Group from my church is having a fundraiser for our Mission Trip to Milwaukee. It is a two tiered fundraising effort.

When: Sunday 2-4 PM
Where: The Historic J.B. McHose House – 921 5th Street – Boone, IA

But what is it?

I’ll just steal Alisa’s description from Facebook:

Come take a tour of the beautiful, historic McHose House. While there check out and purchase some beautiful youth-made art. We will be selling cute mugs for a flat rate and having a silent auction for our canvases.

This is will be our last fundraiser before the Boone FUMC youth group heads off to Milwaukee, Wisconsin this summer on a week long mission.

This is an free-will offereing, open house event so feel free to come and go but I can’t promise the cookies will still be there at 4pm.

So you can tour the historic McHose House and pick up some high quality hand-crafted local art. On a canvas or on a mug. Win! Win!

Here are some of the canvases that could potentially be for sale:


Hopefully I’ll see a few or many of you there!

Matthew 28:6

I took a couple of other images before picking my Easter image.

Here are the other 2. One I actually sent out with Happy Easter text messages.


In the end, I found the Jesus statue to be a bit confusing and the cross on top my church to be derivative of my earlier work. Yeah, I’m that self-aware.

On a personal note, I’d like to take the time to thank Jason Baier for coming out and supporting the Youth Group Mission Trip Fundraiser at Panera last night. He got to enjoy some edible food, hear some harrowing tales of nearly lost Maroon 5 CDs, and meet some of my favorite people. Some of my other favorite people. I have several groups of favorite people. You might be in one of them. Play your cards right.

The fundraiser appeared to be a rousing success. The last count I saw was over 80 people came out and supported #Methodists2Milwaukee!* Even people who think Panera food is a bit on the gross side came out to support the Youth Group. That is commitment folks!

So thanks to Jason Baier (and everybody) else that will help fund our Youth Group’s mission of taking Jesus’ message of God’s love, forgiveness, and grace to The German Athens of America.**

*I might be jumping the gun on that hashtag.
**Marginally worse sounding than A Great Place on a Great Lake or Mil-town.

Panera Youth Group Mission Trip Fundraiser Night!

Today’s journal entry is from the SHAMELESS PHOTOGRAPHY 139 FUNDRAISING DIVISION.

THIS Thursday night my church’s Youth Group is having a fundraiser at Panera Bread in Ames. From 4 – 8 PM, bring in the flyer below and a percentage of the cost of your meal will go to help fund our mission trip to Milwaukee this summer!


I can’t emphasize this point enough. You HAVE to HAVE this flyer. It can be old school (printed out, folded up, in your pocket) or it can be new school (a digital copy on your phone), but you have to present a copy of this flyer when you order for the Youth Group to get a cut of your meal.

2009

Time to take another stroll down memory lane. This was the last time I appeared in a calendar. Probably will be the last time I ever appear in a calendar.



January


February


March


April


May


June


July


August


September


October


November


December

The last day to order a 2016 Photography 139 Calendar is approaching quickly. Very quickly.

You Can Sit With Us

WHAT FOLLOWS IS A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 SHAMELESS MISSIONARY DIVISION…

As many of you may or not know, for the last several years I have helped chaperon my church’s Youth Group’s Mission Trip. We have went to Kansas City, Minneapolis, Kansas City, and Martin, South Dakota.

Next June, the Youth Group will be going to Milwaukee and I will be going with them again.

It is one of my favorite weeks of the year because there is no other week of the year where I grow more as a person and as a christian. I often describe it as the best free vacation a person can go on.

The truth is while it is debatable whether or not it is a vacation (depends on what you enjoy… I enjoy hard work, Bible study, and working with kids… sleeping on the floor… maybe not so much) but it isn’t free.

It costs in excess of $500 per child to send these kids out into the world to do God’s work.

Therefore, the Boone First United Methodist Church Youth Group has began the earnest work of raising funds to cover the costs of their trip. Last Sunday they cooked and sold chili. Their next project is to sell shirts with a message of hope and acceptance.

I could describe the message of the shirt, but why come up with my own words when Pastor Sarah has already explained is so well:

It all started in High School Sunday School at Boone First United Methodist Church with a discussion about the need for kindness in this world. Even small acts of kindness can have large effects on the people they touch. So the youth started to brainstorm ideas of how to make a difference around them. Part of the solution: a simple t-shirt that could invite people to know they are friendly, welcoming and inclusive. Help us make a bold statement with this Tshirt that bullying is “out” and kindness is “in.” Although the funds support the youth mission trip, we found this message to be important beyond age and church walls. Join us in creating a movement to show ways we can be nice to others in every aspect of our lives, including the clothes we choose.

Here is a look at the shirt.



FRONT


BACK

You are probably thinking, “Wow! What an amazing shirt! How much does one cost!”

A Unisex shirt is $19.99
A Ladies shirt is $21.99
A Long Sleeve shirt is $24.99
A Hooded Sweatshirt is $39.99

There are two ways to order. The easiest is just to follow the link below and order the shirt yourself:

WEAR YOUR WELCOME

Another way would be to give me your order and I’ll get it placed. The advantage to that is that it will save you $5 shipping. The deadline to order is December 20th.

Thanks for your consideration!

Might as well share a few of my favorite mission trip photos from over the years:


That should just about cover it.

South Dakota

Probably past time I posted some pictures from the mission trip to South Dakota.

In reality I could tell a thousand stories about this trip and write a page about each picture, but I’ll hold back and be satisfied with a brief description of each picture. If you want to know more, chances are you know where to find me.

I will point out that they split our group into 4 separate groups. Because of that I don’t have pictures of some of the kids and lots of pictures of the kids in my group (TEAM INVASION!).

Also, these are phone pictures. Sorry about the quality.



Sunset, the first night in Martin, South Dakota.

\
Part of Monday night’s activity. A photo scavenger hunt. That Boone FUMC won!


Another scavenger hunt photo.


Another scavenger hunt photo.


Not part of the scavenger hunt, but part of the scavenger hunt journey.


What is the hand holding?


How many Martin residents died in WWII? Summer and Pastor Sarah show the answer.


The local college.

Lots of spiders and snakes and other insects in Martin, South Dakota.


Ben (from Youthworks), MacKenzie and Sarah painting stucco. Which is the worst thing ever to paint.


Katelyn waiting for somebody (me) to hold the ladder.


Alex making a new friend (Willy).


Bennett High School, home for the week.


The view from the top of a hill overseeing a Lakota Pow Wow Ground.


The view from the top of a hill overseeing a Lakota Pow Wow Ground.


The blazing hot sun.


No sign of man for miles.


Learning a Lakota dance.


Lakota dance.


Lakota dance.


Jentry helping Andy study the Bible.


Sarah, MacKenzie, and Amber painting a picnic table at the Bennett County Nursing Home.


Alex scraping a picnic table.


Katelyn scraping a picnic table.


More Alex.


MacKenzie, Sarah, and Amber painting.


Alex painting a picnic table.


Katelyn painting a picnic table.


Amber and Sarah with puppies that kids brought out after we dropped them off after Kid’s Club.


Amber and Sarah with puppies that kids brought out after we dropped them off after Kid’s Club.


Sarah with a puppy.


Puppies!


Katelyn soaked after Kid’s Club Water Day.]


Sarah at Kid’s Club.


MacKenzie at Kid’s Club.


Amber at Kid’s Club.


Shelby (Youthworks) getting doused at Kid’s Club Water Day.


Alex getting a balloon smashed on his head at Kid’s Club Water Day.


Amber at Kid’s Club.


Eric, we will never forget you.


Amber making a deal. Jim got the worst end of the deal. He has to watch GOSSIP GIRL.

I often call the Youth Group Mission Trip the best free vacation ever! But truthfully, it is the week that I grow the most as a human being. In about every way imaginable.

Instagram: July & August

Time once again to look at some of my favorite Instagram work from the last couple of months.

Of course, if you follow me on Instagram or Twitter, you have seen all of these before. Just act like you are surprised.


I’m pretty excited by how far I got to expand my photo map in the last two months.

AND…

I can’t wait to see where life takes me in in September and October.

AND…

You can follow me on Instagram: @photography139

2013 Mission Trip

A couple weeks back I went with my church’s youth group to Kansas City on their annual mission trip. Here is the video I put together to show the congregation on Sunday:



Of course, if you subscribe to this blog via RSS Feed or email, you will actually have to go to the website to view the video.

We weren’t allowed to take cameras on the trip, but our facilitator Joe (an Iowa State Man) took several pictures for us. I also was able to snap a few with my phone.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the trip:



Jake showing off the meal we prepared on Thursday Night.


Our spaghetti feast. We had a communication breakdown with Urban Plunge and didn’t realize that we were responsible for the meal on Thursday night. Thankfully, Jim Jordan donate $40 for the trip that we were able to use to buy and create a perfectly edible spaghetti feast.


Ryan, Shawn, Joe, and Gabe in line for food.


Curtis assigning us work to do.


Moving mattresses to the attic.


Corbin and C.J. moving a trunk.


Corbin, Shawn, Ryan and I moving a exam table.


Sarah and Alisa


Maddie


Sarah


Paige


Emily C.


Amber and her injured fingers.


Emily C., Grace, and Maddie serving breakfast/


Sarah and Jordan prepping lunch.


Corbin and Carter doing dishes.


Paige and Emily W. sorting clothes.


Gabe and C.J. doing dishes.


Hope/Faith Commons Area


On the stairs to the Game Room at Hope/Faith.


Getting instructions on how to bag flour.


Sarah cutting open a 25 lb bag of flour.


Jordan and Maddie bagging flour.


Corbin and Carter bagging flour.


Jake and Grant bagging flour.


Amber sweeping up four.


Sarah and Emily C. outside of Harvesters.


Group photo outside of Harvesters.


Prayer Walk


Some Hope/Faith Statistics


Amber and Sarah


Grace


Maddie


Emily W.


Pastor Sarah


Amber


Shawn, Carter, and I breaking rock.


C.J., Jake, and Gabe cleaning glue out of a tub.


Gabe, Jake, and C.J. cleaning glue out of a tub.


Grant pulling weeds.


Grace and Maddie working with neighborhood kids.


Paige working with neighborhood kids.


Katelyn waiting to break up more rock.


Ryan and Shawn goofing around.


Emily W., Katelyn, Shawn, Ryan, C.J., Gabe, Corbin, and I loading the truck up with rock.


Grant and Amber


Emily C., Amber, and Sarah posing with neighborhood kids.


Carter and Paige taking a break.


Paige and Alisa having their hair braided.


Group Prayer


Emily C. and Ryan vacuuming the floor.


Corbin and Carter cleaning the boys room.


Gabe and C.J. playing “interrogation”.


Grant preparing to cut down vines.


Gabe and Katelyn weed “whacking”.


Paige cleaning a mirror.


Shwan, Alisa, Jake, Nancy, and Pastor Sarah putting cots together.


Ryan and I doing something I don’t wish to discuss.


Grace nursing Pastor Sarah’s head injury.


Basketball Break


Jake with the board.


Fans


Paige, Jordan, Maddie, and Grace showing some of the kids at the shelter some dance moves.


Group Prayer


Grace, Maddie, Gabe, and Ryan enjoying breakfast at homeless shelter.


Sarah defying the laws of physics.


Group Photo


Katelyn, Emily C., Grace, and Maddie on The Viking.


Paige and Alisa were very impressed by “bro-tanks”.


Paige enjoyed The Boomerang. Alisa did not.


Emily C. with the bear she won.

All in all, the pictures don’t really do the experience justice. I have many stories to tell about this trip. It was one incredible experience after another.

365 Day Photo Challenge: 22-28

This week was a bit of challenge with the mission trip taking up 4 days of my week, but I still managed to get my pictures in, even if some of them might not make much sense to you as they relate to theme.


Day 22: Grey
Day 22: Grey

Day 23: I Drew This!
Day 23: I Drew This!

Day 24: D is For...
Day 24: D is For…

Day 25: Ground
Day 25: Ground

Day 26: The Everyday
Day 26: The Everyday

Day 27: Black + White
Day 27: Black + White

Day 28: This is New!
Day 28: This is New!

Here is the list of the next 34 themes:

Day 29: Perspective
Day 30: Friendship
Day 31: Workspace
Day 32: Something Beginning with N
Day 33: Incomplete
Day 34: Skylone
Day 35: Fresh
Day 36: Early
Day 37: This Means a Lot to Me
Day 38: A Sign
Day 39: Peek-a-Boo
Day 40: 2 O’Clock
Day 41: Beverage
Day 42: I Love Doing This!
Day 43: Macro
Day 44: Fast
Day 45: Trash
Day 46: The Best
Day 47: Cooking
Day 48: Exercise
Day 49: Someone You Spoke to Today
Day 50: Lost
Day 51: Stairs
Day 52: Slow
Day 53: A Room
Day 54: Yellow
Day 55: In the Background
Day 56: Culture
Day 57: Entrance
Day 58: 10 Minutes from Home
Day 59: Corridor
Day 60: Lucky
Day 61: Cluttered
Day 62 Dangerous

Looks like a pretty excellent list!

Youth Group Mission Trip – Minneapolis

I might have said last week that this random Wednesday collection was going to feature Maddux. Next week’s collection will feature Maddux.

A couple weeks ago I had the great pleasure of helping chaperone the youth group from my church on a mission trip to Minneapolis.

As you have undoubtedly heard, my point and shoot went kaput on this trip, so I didn’t get as many photos as I wanted. However, with the pictures I had taken and pictures contributed by Sarah and Maddie I was able to put together this video of the trip to show during the church service on Sunday.



Of course, if you subscribe to this blog via email or RSS feed, you will have to go to the website to watch it.

One note on the video. I do think it ended up being the perfect song for the video and I really struggled with the song until I ultimately settled on this acoustic version of Live Like That by The Street Prophets.

I think this song and this version of the song worked perfectly for the video. I played with the original radio release, but I decided it was too hard of a song for our congregation. But I found an acoustic version of it on YouTube performed by The Street Prophets for KLove radio.

While searching for the perfect song I listened a lot of the Matt Maher station on Pandora while walking Naima.

Originally, I was going to go with Matt Maher’s Hold Us Together.

Then I changed to Brandon Heath’s Give Me Your Eyes.

Then I changed to Jason Gray’s Remind Me Who I Am.

Then I changed back to Matt Maher’s Hold Us Together.

But once I found the acoustic version of Live Like That, the choice was obvious, even though I love all those other songs.

Even though, you’ll see these pictures in the video, here are some of my favorite pictures from the trip:



Bible Study on a Hill


What 1 Ton of Rice Looks Like Before We Got There


What 1 Ton of Rice Looks Like When We Are Done with It!


Maddie Boxing Rice


Kiley and Sarah getting their hair done at Mary’s Place


Emily During Bible Study


Paige, Kiley, Grace and Erica Ready at Feed My Starving Children


Finishing Up at Feed My Starving Children


Blessing the Food Packs at Feed My Starving Children


Sarah, Grace, and Alan Making Boxes at Emergency Foodshelf Network


Jacob and Marshall Boxing Meat at Emergency Foodshelf Network


Erica, Gabe, and CJ – the end of the frozen meat line at Emergency Foodshelf Network


Bagging Noodles at Emergency Foodshelf Network


Erica, Maddie, Amber, and Kiley Sorting Clothes at ARC


Brenton, CJ, and Jacob Sorting Clothes at ARC


Gabe and Jake Organizing Clothes at ARC


Marshall, Jake, Alec, and Alan Working the Back of ARC


Sarah Styling in ARC


Minnehaha Falls


Breakfast!


Andrew During Bible Study


Alec and Grace Draining the 1 Ton Bag of Rice


Emily and Amber Weighing Rice at Second Harvest Heartland


Sarah Sealing Bags of Rice at Second Harvest Heartland


Paige Sealing Bags of Rice at Second Harvest Heartland


Steph and Ryan Sealing Bags of Rice at Second Harvest Heartland


Erica, Amber, Sarah, Emily, Maddie, and Grace at the Global Market


Ammie and Paige Playing Sorry at Mary’s Place


Jake and Kids Showing Off their Creation at Mary’s Place


Brenton, Sarah, Grace, Emily, Amber, Erica, Jacob, Paige, Steph, Jake, Ammie, Allan, Ryan, Yours Truly, Gabe, Jake, Alec, Maddie, Kiley, Sarah, Andrew, CJ, and Marshall at the Sculptue Garden

It was an amazing trip and I hope I asked back for next year’s mission trip.