Photojournalist for Children's Relief International

Hey friends!

Did you know the Gospel writer Luke was essentially a journalist? It blew my mind when I learned this. Luke wrote both the Gospel of Luke and the book of the Acts of the Apostles by shadowing the disciples, documenting their work, and interviewing them to get their eyewitness accounts of the life of Christ. His journalistic efforts and accounts in his Gospel and in Acts have changed countless lives over the centuries. I know they have certainly changed mine. But not only that they have inspired me on my journey as a journalist and storyteller.

I want to tell you about this journey and how God burdened me to do something similar to Luke – to be an agent for change by documenting the work of God around the world.

Let me step back a few years. By the end of college, I knew without a doubt that the Lord called me to pursue photojournalism for missions. With this conviction, I enrolled at Dallas Theological Seminary in the Media Arts and Worship program. While I worked on my Masters, I sharpened my skills as a visual storyteller and developed a strong biblical and theological foundation.

A few months after graduation, I met Children’s Relief International, through a good friend who interned with them. I immediately fell in love with their vision, to take the light of Christ to the poor of our time. Their determination to accomplish this invigorated me, as well as their strong conviction that the poor deserve to have their stories told with excellence and with dignity. Our hearts for the Gospel and for the poor were aligned perfectly.

After a few weeks of prayer and consulting friends and mentors, I picked up the phone and made the call. I accepted the job. Now, I serve as their Photojournalist & Missionary for CRI.

What does this look like?

Before I explain my role, let me throw this bit of information in. One of my favorite things about Children’s Relief is that we work with national/local church leaders. In other words, we don’t just go in as foreigners to start our own programs, but we partner with national leaders and churches overseas to help them reach their community with the Gospel. This is where I come in – throughout the year I will travel to our different projects around the world to meet with our international staff. I get to sit down, listen, and document the stories of the Lord’s work – just like Luke.

To do this I need your help.

I can’t do this on my own and I don’t want to. One thing I love about support raising is the community that rallies around you. So I want to invite you to join my financial support team. By partnering with me, we will create a ripple effect as we accomplish God’s work – like dropping a pebble in a pond. Like Luke, if we faithfully share our stories of God at work in the lives of the poor, than we too, in our own small way, can change dozens and dozens of lives for eternity. With photojournalism, we won’t just document stories, but we will document stories to change lives. All this to say- I am stoked and I would be honored to have you partner with me.

What can you do next?

1.     To join my support team, click here. 

2.     To join my prayer team and receive a newsletter every two months, sign up here. 

3.     Have a question? Ask away. Email me at Ashley@childrensrelief.org

Story Behind the Photograph: Cochabamba Air & Jasmin

After forty-eight hours of flying, layovers, and an overnight stay in Santa Cruz, we finally made it. The seat belt lights went off. We landed in Cochabamba, Bolivia. I looked around me. My mind felt frozen. I had the jitters and I already dreaded the day I would have to leave.  These were my first few moments in a developing country.

 We loaded the bus and drove out to our hotel. I hurried to a window seat, pulled out my camera and captured everything I saw. I never thought the air back home seemed polluted, but when I smelled the Cochabamba air, it was freshness unlike anything I had smelled before. We weaved around cars on the dirt roads. Stands with umbrellas cluttered the sides of the streets selling fresh fruit, vegetables, and meat on sticks. Everything seemed so new and so fresh, yet so fitting. It was a whole other world to me, but at the same time it felt so familiar and so much like a new home.

 The main roads in the city seemed chaotic like all cities. But when we drove out to our village, everything slowed down. Men herded their cattle through the streets. Boys strolled along on bikes. Women and children worked their village’s convenient-like stores selling bags of water, sodas, and candy. We pulled into the drive away of the home of one of the families we would be working with.

 We gathered every morning with the men, women, and their children. I had never seen such eagerness, energy, and excitement to start a church in a village. The energy was contagious. I felt it not just among the adults, but among the kids too, especially my dear friend, eight-year-old Jasmin.

 Each afternoon, our teams would meet back at one of the families’ homes to share stories over hot cups of green tea and pastry breads. After we finished our meals, Jasmin and her friends would pull Kendall and me down to the floor. Sitting Indian style, we gathered around with the girls as they taught us Spanish and giggled at our attempts. Kendall brought with her a bilingual Bible stories book. The girls loved it. They would press their fingers to the pages, read the Spanish words, and make us repeat after them. On the last day in the village, Jasmin’s mom let her accompany us on our last visit walk around. Those next few hours play in my mind like a old timey movie reel. So vivid. I could never forget what would happen.

 Jasmin led the way. She took me  by the hand and guided me and my interpreter, Sindy out to her friend’s house.  Once we reached the door, Jasmin knocked and shouted over the wall, asking her friend to come outside. Normally I would talk with the families and share the Gospel story, but this time I took a backseat role and watched Jasmin do her thing. This little eight-year-old friend inspired me. Jasmin began telling her friend about Jesus. Sindy stood by her side to help her with any details she might forget. As the minutes passed, I saw Jasmin and her friend bowing their heads and closing their eyes fiercely tight. Her friend wanted to give her life to Jesus. Sindy stepped back. With a big grin, trying to contain her excitement in a whisper, Sindy told me what happened. Jasmin and her friend turned to us and smiled so big. We all just looked around at each other and laughed.

 There was no other way I could imagine ending our time in the village. We headed back to the house, so Sindy and I could catch my taxi back to the airport. I realized that day, some of the most difficult experiences happen for some of the best reasons. As we all hugged and shared stories of God’s work in the village. Jasmin stood near the back waiting to see me. She came up to me, wrapped her arms tight around my waist, and we cried. She handed me the best gift I have ever received, a framed photo of herself. I didn’t know what to say. I had no words. My sweet friend opened my eyes to so much. Her energy and excitement for Jesus revived my life, just like that Cochabamba air. 

Official Launch of Written Shutter

I have spent the last several months brainstorming, writing, praying, and seeking wisdom as to what to name my new business. Words and photographs play tug-a-war with my heart. The dance between words and photographs has grown to consume my heart.  And finally, I get to introduce to you (drum roll please): Written Shutter.

 So what does “Written Shutter” mean? Written Shutter combines two powerful forces: writing and photography. With my camera and pen, I gradually sink into each person I meet, layer after layer. Scuba divers sink under the ocean’s waves. They swim against the current and dive deep into the heart of the ocean. In the same way, through words and photographs, I dive into a person’s rhythm. I go against the rushing current and sink into the everyday moments. The interview and the camera are just an excuse to be with the people.

 Written Shutter is about kicking back and spending some hours immersing into the depths of a moment. Over the past two years, I have become excellent at freezing over my heart.  Vulnerability rattled me like an earthquake. Eventually my walls came tumbling down. Yet, this world-shattering leap of faith freed me. We all tend to mask, deny, or hide ourselves to some degree. My heart is to let my shutter and my pen open the soul of each person.