5 Ways To Use your Camera as an Outreach Tool

MISSIONS PHOTOGRAPHY SERIES~Part 4

These are ideas that has been growing in me for quite some time. Outreach does not need to stop just because you have a camera in your hand.  Maybe you are the team’s official photographer or you might be on assignment for an organization. My supposition here is that this piece of equipment can enhance your outreach abilities. When I say outreach, I am talking about evangelism, pointing someone towards Christ in word and deed and by planting seeds. I can’t say that I have always done all of these, but it is something I have pondered and begun to be more intentional about. While this is a missions series which implies going to the outermost parts, these are things that can be used even in your home country and local communities.

This is Grace. She was so grateful to receive a hot meal and what she called a real coat at a soup and coat giveaway by 422CHURCH.COM in Norristown, PA. Having a camera in my hand has opened many doors to conversations that I would't normally be bold enough to start.

Here are 5 possibilities in no particular order.

1. Give away FREE prints. It is a common courtesy and a great marketing tool in the wedding industry to shoot the floral arrangements and cake, and then to give an image to the florist and caterers. But what about the people that you shoot in poorer nations who almost never own a print of themselves. I know of one photographer who travels with a small portable printer just for such situations. And still others who travel with Polaroid cameras. What do you write on the back? I suggests words of encouragement. What do you say to them? I suggest words of friendship and gratitude. 

     What if you are a missionary living in a new area? This maybe a great way to meet the people around you, to begin a relationship as well as learn their names and stories. It also gives you a visual of the people you are praying over and they remember your kindness.

     Several organizations have sprung up in recent years…Help Portrait is one….photographers around the world volunteer for one day to take formal portraits of those that are least likely to ever have had one taken and give them a print that day without charge. These photographers do this yearly as a way to give back and not promote themselves. Consider setting up a photo booth at your next community outreach, printing and giving the photos away. You would be surprised at the reaction especially those that need a lift in spirit.

2. Sponsor a photo contest or show and then follow-up with outreach opportunities. I was privileged to be a part of something like this in Russia where I was able to teach a photo class as followup to a photo contest that was promoted locally through Russian social media. The young people that came were unchurched and were not at this event to hear a missionary speak but rather the words of a photojournalist (who happen to be Christian). Three-quarters of the way through the session, I gave my testimony as it relates to my photography. It was non-threatening and pointed the students towards the sponsoring church. When I left, this same church was brainstorming for ways to keep this group of young people engaged through photography-related events. I know for a fact this church continues to use photography as an outreach tool. This past Christmas I had the privilege of contributing to a photo show for its local community outreach called Christmas Around the World.

The photography group in action, learning, doing and at the show.

3. Teach a photo workshop to children and have them tell their stories. While working in Argentina, my team from CBU was able to invite kids to come to a week-long workshop for the arts. We taught painting, drawing, photography, drama and writing. At this workshop, we were more free to be open with the Word, so each night we had a theme and someone to give a personal testimony that related to the theme. At the end of the week, the kids had a public showing of their work in the community and parents were invited. The best report was a mother who could not believe the positive changes she had seen in her son in just one week. His art had grown but so had his outlook in life. 

     There are several organizations that put cameras in kids hands.  They teach them about basic photographic techniques and release them to tell their story. Many times, these are kids who have been traumatized and cannot verbally express what they feel but putting a camera in their hands allows them to visually express their world and tell their own story in ways that we might not be able to. It is a also a great way to mentor them, build relationships and find more effective ways to speak into their lives.

     I was in Uganda last year where our team was visiting a home for displaced children from a conflict area. We were to spend one-on one time with the children. The young lady I was visiting with was very interested in my camera. I almost never let anyone else use my equipment, but something was different this time around. I (reluctantly at first) put the strap around her neck, changed the settings to automatic and gave her basic instructions. We walked around the facility as she gleefully but seriously captured her friends. We would stop every once in a while and talk about the things she was seeing. Her images were stunning. They were a much different perspective than I would have taken...they were hers-- someone who was living that situation not a temporary by-passer like me. I am not sure who spoke more into whose life that day...my words into hers or her images into mine. 

Images shot by 10yr old Scovia, the young girl at Uganda Jesus Village where I spend
an hour or more teaching photography and talking about life. The image on the left is of
one of the house mothers named Susan, when Scovia took this image we stopped and
talked about the look of love that you can see in Susan face and what that means.

4. Develop a self-image talk. Have you ever photographed someone who has very low self-esteem or very down on themselves? What words of encouragement can you give them when you show them the image on the back of your camera? What scriptures come to mind that speak of worth and value? This is where I want to see the person not for what is physically before me but for how Christ sees them and for who they really are in Him. Have a very short pep talk prepared but be ready to take it further if they open the doors for more. Sometimes you may need to give this talk before you make the photo but also be prepared to not take the image. This means respecting their wishes. Always leave them feeling better about themselves and who God made them to be. (1 Samuel 16:7, Jeremiah 29:11, Psalms 139:14, Matthew 6:25-34)

Kim praying with a young girl in South Africa.
(Photo by JP Young)

5. Exercise the spiritual gifts God gave you. If you have the gift of encouragement, take the time to speak with your subjects before or after you shoot them. If you have the gift of prophecy, gifts of knowledge or even healing, use the few minutes you have to speak into people's lives. Show them the images you took on the back of your camera and begin to speak what God gives you. You can simply start by saying, "you know, when I look at this image I see...(at this point you start declaring what God says that they are)". It does not have to be a drawn out sermon but rather a nugget of truth that they can hold onto. This is an exercise in faith that I am working through now. It takes prayer and knowing the voice of God. It means being obedient to speak what He is telling you to speak. It means making sure what you say lines up with scripture and contains words of life. This doesn't need to be spooky but rather a natural yet purposeful progression of allowing God to work through you. 

The camera is only the tool to open the door to another's life. What you do with it depends on you. Do you click the shutter and walk away, or do you allow God to speak through you? The camera should never be something you hide behind. For me, it has given me the freedom to speak with others that I otherwise might never have done so without it in my hand. It has become a tool for starting conversations. By talking to the people and learning their stories, it has opened up so many doors and hopefully it will for you as well if you are purposeful with it.

Children love the camera. They will naturally congregate to the person who pulls one out. I talked with this young man in a village in Northern Uganda several times over the course of two days. I will always ask the kids about their  hopes for the future and what their current challenges are. This almost always leads to encouragement and prayer.

     When I am on location specifically for ministry or personal photography, I am much more about relationship first. Now, as a photojournalist I have been trained to not interject my own story into the mix but to be objective about what I capture. When on assignment, I do my job first. I am still relational but more careful about not giving my subjects too much information about myself. When you do this, they begin to give you what they think you want to hear and it is not completely genuine. When I am finished and I know that I have captured the story and done it justice, then I begin to walk in steps 4 and 5 above. I will encourage the person in whatever way that they need. I will speak into their lives. When appropriate, I will pray with them for their needs and concerns, and if it is applicable, I will tell them how God helped me overcome similar situations. I never force it.  I let my conversations develop naturally out of questions that I ask them and what they themselves reveal about their life. What this means is that I listen and observe a lot. It is also important to be culturally relevent. Do not interject what you think they ought to do based on what you would do in your own culture. I also try to point them towards those that we have partnered with so that they can receive follow-up and more seeds can be planted. But most of all I get out of the way and let God do what he wants to do in that person. Like I said I am still growing in the area. I do not do this every time but the more I yield to Him, the more this form of ministry develops. I am amazed at how God knows exactly what each person needs.

Please leave a comment and tell us what has worked for you...or ideas you may have.