Cairo: Muslim Girl Cover-up

At the church I attend, I was asked to present a gallery of my photos from around the world. On Thursday, my daughter and I hung the photos, taking great care of the groupings and wall placement. On Sunday, when we arrived at church, I noticed a table and three-panel display advertising a summer camp placed in such a way as to completely cover two of my favorite photos. One of them is this photo of an eight year old Muslim girl in Cairo. We had chosen the photo as the opening piece because of her piercing eyes. The emotions and thoughts of, "How could you...how dare you...you are covering up MY photos," assaulted my mind. We all battle those kinds of thoughts when we feel our rights have been violated. But, within just a few seconds of having those thoughts I sensed God telling me to not worry. The right people will see the photos at the right time. It is great being able to trust God.

©Copyright Gary S. Chapman
(135mm lens, 1/2500 sec, f2 ISO400)

South Africa: Moment of Realization

To come to God we must all realize we can't come before Him as we are. We have too much junk in our lives. But that is where the good news comes in...the Gospel, as Christians call it. The start of the journey is to first realize that we do have junk (sin), to know that God loves us anyway, and to understand that He (God) made a plan to have a sinless Jesus Christ pay the costs of our wrong by dying for us. But how do you photograph that moment...something that is and should be a heart issue? Every so often those encounters with God are revealed in faces. We need to be ready and make sure our presence is not a disruptive intrusion.

(70-200mm lens at 200mm, 1/1000 sec, f4 ISO100)