Recognizing the great need that exists to reach people with the gospel I decided to do some research on giving to missions. I chose my country, and then I went to work on Google. I wanted to learn what the giving in America has been like in the last ten years.

Like a lot of research on nebulous topics I would have preferred to uncover even more detailed data. For example, just how much of a decline in support of global gospel sharing has there been as a result of the recession and the accompanying loss of American jobs?

When a missionary couple is no longer financially funded as they once were, do they leave that area of the world where they have served feeling discouraged; or do they find employment locally that diminishes their personal energy and subsequently affects the building of new relationships? I wonder. I do know that raising support to go and remain on the mission field is an ever-present prayer concern for anyone who is called to serve.

In a podcast this week, God gave me a voice to address how PhotoMission sales can help supplement the income of talented YWAM photographers without taking them away from their core responsibilities. While I know some YWAMers, the vision to help any talented Christian photographer who has this ‘thing in his heart’ to go and serve, to go and build relationships leading to opportunities to explain “personal relationship” extends to all God’s people.

As we begin 2011, I hope I can count on you to put the images of PhotoMission’s photographers to work in all sorts of creative ways. When you do, you’ll be helping God’s Kingdom in two ways. You’ll bring fresh insight to fellow believers, and you’ll be adding funds to the PayPal accounts of your fellow servants. It’s a missions window overlooking fields that are ripe unto harvest.

And if you would like to listen to the YWAM Podcast, it’s Episode 34. The segment on PhotoMission is introduced by Bill Hutchison beginning at 17:36.

Three years ago, I traveled to northeast Brazil to visit a missionary-friend of mine and his family. I went there to encourage them and to see their work up close. The experience altered my worldview and helped me better understand how God’s church grows in remote regions of the world.

One day as I was walking through a village near the Equator, I suddenly found myself surrounded by seven curious children. My eyes were diverted from the loose boards that served as roofs over many of their homes as a type of silent friendship began to form among us. With my camera doing double duty as a translator and mirror, each image I took brought requests for more. Meanwhile, I shelved a long-held misconception about children always being happy. For when I looked through the lens of the camera, I saw tiny faces that were a blend of reserved smiles, pain and uncertainty that had little or nothing to do with me.

I couldn’t help but contrast this experience with one I had had the night before when I visited the local church where my missionary-friend is the pastor. The congregation listened intently as God’s Word was taught outdoors and across the road from the only street light for blocks. I noticed that the worship leader was about ten years old, but his smile told me he knew God’s peace in his heart. His two musical companions did also, along with twelve other believers, nearly all of whom were children. Throughout the night, I witnessed mature Christians who were serious about their faith, not prone to distraction and who were keen to support and encourage one another.

Until then, my concept of spiritual maturity in Christ had been constrained by making a distinction between Christians who were chronologically young and those who were mature in their faith based on my random human formula. I had never realized that children can comprise an entire church and serve it well. It was a good insight and something God knew I needed to learn.

The interesting detail about the children living in the village, and those I met in the local church, is that they share a cultural phenomenon. Brazilian children often grow up not knowing the name of their father or enjoying his presence at home. This harsh reality sets the stage for tender hearts to be open to the Good News about our Heavenly Father, His love and His enduring proximity. The problem is that there are not enough Kingdom workers in Brazil, and this gap leaves a huge hole in my heart for the children I met and photographed.