I spent the day yesterday with Jerry Jenkins – he was in Chicago for meetings at Moody, and asked me to do some new photo work with him.  His next novel to be released soon, “The Brotherhood,” is based in the city of Chicago.   Jerry is an outstanding author, but likes to be known for his role as husband, dad and grand dad.  I’m glad I can call him a friend.
Click above to visit the Tyndale web site for more information on this book.

One of my favorite clients is the marketing department at the Covenant Village of Northbrook.  I often have the chance to work with Darlene and her team in developing new marketing materials by photographing the people, staff and places in and around their property in Northbrook, IL.  Yesterday was one of those days, and these photos are a good sampling of what I get to see, experience and document when I’m there.   The residents know how to really enjoy their golden years living in a unique and high quality facility.

You may enjoy visiting their web site:  The Covenant Village of Northbrook

My second trip to China was like no other.  I traveled to some remote, rural areas, where Christians are thriving and growing in numbers.  One of their most serious limitations is the availability of Bibles.  That’s where VOCA comes in – we maxed out our current funds and delivered (personally) 7,500 brand new Bibles.  The joy and emotion was exceptional.  I wish you could have been there – but I hope this video will give you a flavor of what I experienced with my team.

I returned home from China a week ago today, but the “faces and places” are still with me in so many ways.   The culture and character of the Chinese people gave me a wonderful opportunity for such a variety of imagery.  (click on the collage for an even larger view.)  My work with VOCA has been challenging but rewarding.  If you can, visit the VOCA FaceBook page.   We’d love to have you become a “fan.”

One of the more challenging and fascinating photo shoots of the year for Mary and me is our annual coverage of the National Religous Broadcasters convention in Nasvhille.   Each year, there are unique and notable speakers and guests, and this year’s events included Mike Huckabee, Chuck Colson, “Son of Hamas” author Mosab Hassan Yousef, and music guests Keith and Kristyn Getty and the Gaither Vocal Band.

I was covering Founders Week at Moody Church in Chicago this week, and one of the keynote speakers was Wess Stafford, the President of  Compassion International.  Before he began his message, he introduced 5 Moody Bible Institute students, all of them were former Compassion “sponsored” children from developing countries.  Each of these students is doing exceptionally well, and they are an amazing tribute to the success of what sponsorship can do for a young child from a needy place.
For information about sponsoring a child, visit Compassion International.

Today is the 20th anniversary of the opening of the Berlin Wall, the world-famous structure that divided East and West Berlin.  And I had the privilege of being at that wall a few weeks later on an assignment.   The photos in this collage include the Brandenburg Gate and Check-Point Charlie, one of the most well know military check points in history.  It was a unique opportunity for me to be precisely at the place that history will talk about into the future.

The most popular “tourist souvenirs” became pieces of the wall – and even though there were vendors hawking the physical remnants of the wall, I was able to grab my own personal “memories.”   This photo shows a couple chunks I picked up on my own.

Possibly the most extraordinary prison in America today is the State Prison at Angola, about an hour from Baton Rouge, LA.   Warden Burl Cain (author of Cain’s Redemption) hosted Ruth Graham and friends this past weekend, and I was doing the photo work to document the teaching ministry to the inmates. We walked among, talked to, and had fellowship with with life-sentenced murderers, rapists, and other violent criminals. They were like brothers to everyone on the team.

This was my third visit to Angola, and come away each time very moved by the depth of spiritual understanding and true spiritual freedom that these guys have.

I had a wonderful opportunity recently to partner with the Total Living Network to do the production stills of the taping of a promotional video.  The featured spokesperson was Gavin MacLeod, a well-known TV actor, noted probably best for his role as the captain on The Love Boat TV series and the Mary Tyler Moore Show.   The new product series is called “Character Classics,” published by the Character  Building Company, and written by very well known children’s author Tony Salerno.

To learn more about the above:

The Total Living Network    www.tln.com
For more information on Character Classics, please contact Carie Villotti at 630-801-3627 or email her at cvillotti@tln.com

Character  Building Company   www.characterbuilding.com

We had the privilege this month of working with senior designer Rick Schroeppel at Abingdon Press in Nashville in doing a custom photo shoot for a new book entitled “Listen My Son.” It’s always a pleasure to turn over the digital files from a shoot and our Photoshop work to a creative individual who can really do justice to our work. We are very pleased with the result of this new product. You can see dozens of other book designs by Rick at his site, Elm Tree Design Studio.

We have been fortunate to consider Abingdon Press and the United Methodist Publishing House a part of our client base for over 30 years.

The author of this book is Lee H. Butler, Jr., a professor of theology and psychology at the Chicago Theological Seminary and is well known as an African American pastoral theologian.