harnessing the power of photography for good

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Do You Own A Camera?

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Do you believe that 90% of people have only taken photos on a camera phone versus a camera? In the article I was reading the author said he did not believe the statistic was true. I think his opinion is coming from a very American point of view. The statistic was not referenced so there is no way to know where it came from. However, there are other statistics that are well documented. Like the fact that more than 1.3 billion people live in extreme poverty barely surviving on less than $1.25 a day. And nearly ½ of the world’s population, more that 3 billion people, live on less that $2.50 a day. Overall 80% of the world population lives on less than $10 a day. These people are not spending their money on cameras. However, they are spending money on the ability to communicate. More people on earth have access to cell phones than toilets. Out of the world’s estimated 7 billion people, 6 billion have access to mobile phones. It has been amazing to watch the increase in mobile phone around the world over the past 15 years. These phones are not iphones with high quality cameras.

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Because people don’t have cameras they don’t have printed pictures of themselves. We at MissionFocused know this first hand as we interact with people we are talking photos of. We did not just want to be another bunch of photographers who come into a village and get a kick out of how the kids react when we show a few photo to them on the camera. Our desire is to leave them with a lasting image of themselves.

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This man told us he had one other photo of himself. Thank you Canon for making these nice little portable printers.cjoy-00942

Here are a few of the women who were thankful for their photos.

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Back to Oaxaca!

Mark Shreves and Cyndy Smith are flying off to Oaxaca tonight to serve with our ministry partner Adventures in Life.  They will be photographing AIL’s Fall Medical Mission in Eloxochitlan.  They will be taking portraits and printing photos too.  They will be back October 22nd.  Please keep them in prayer.

Don’t forget to check our FB page for updates during the week. Thanks mucho!

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We Are MISSION focused

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June 2016

Travelling, photography, people, missions, a good cup of coffee are just a few of our favorite things…We love Jesus!

We believe in using our photography gifts, talents, and creativity to bless and serve others.

We are ready and willing to go anywhere, domestic or international, to photograph and serve.

We are in the process of retooling and relaunching our site so we apologize if it’s a bit dated.  If you are interested in learning more about us, we invite you to check out our           Facebook page HERE for the most up to date info about what we are up to.  You can also email us at MISSION.focused@yahoo.com

We look forward to hearing from you!

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Serving in Oaxaca, Mexico with Adventures in Life Ministry

mf hope mf rezcueHelping the San Diego Rescue Mission celebrate 60 years of ministry

Music, Fun & Trevor

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Friends and family are coming together for a benefit concert to help Trevor and his family. If you are in San Diego come join the fun, enjoy are some great music from the Tim Timmons band, and say “Hi” to Trevor. If you can’t make it, you can donate online or just buy a ticket…all proceeds from the benefit go to Trevor.

Benefit Concert is Friday, April 8, 2016 from 6:30 PM to 9:30 PM at Horizon Christian Fellowship – 5331 Mount Alifan Drive, San Diego, CA 92111 – View Map

If you want to learn more about the event, please visit www.trevortime.com

Update and a few Photos from Our Summer in Oaxaca!

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We have been so busy serving and photographing all over San Diego and Mexico, we have neglected updating our site. We apologize for lack of new content and we will be updating what we have been  doing in last 6 months and share more about our fun crazy summer!   For now, here are a few photos from our recent trip to Oaxaca with Adventures in Life Ministry.  We will explain more about what God did soon…

Support Trevor!

trevor rawSupport local art and artists by attending RAW at the House of Blues San Diego.  Our own Trevor Stolebarger is going to be showing off some of his photographs.  Purchase tickets via http://www.rawartists.org/firstkiss to help support Trevor.

Give the Gift of Life

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A pair of these Toms Shoes will set you back $98. Buy these and Toms will help one person in need.  One for One is their motto. Right now our friends at Adventures in Life are offering you a chance to help a whole family in Oaxaca for life.  For $99 you can buy a Sawyer Water Filter for a family in one of the areas Adventures works in.  Areas where availability of clean drinking water is scarce and they can’t always afford to buy bottled water, so they drink water that is not clean or safe.  They have no choice.  A Sawyer Water Filter will filter 1 million gallons of water in its lifetime.  Realistically, for the life of the family!

This #cyberMonday and #givebackTuesday consider giving the gift of Clean Water!  You can learn more about Adventures in Life’s plan to give Sawyer Water Filters to the areas where they minister at the following link> http://conta.cc/1yE8RJp

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Canon Hawaiian Photographic Workshop

The folks at Canon are hosting a photo workshop on January 2nd, 2015.
You will have use of some cool Canon gear and lunch is included. Only $50!

Go to www.hawaiipauriders.org to purchase tickets
All proceeds benefit the Hawaii Pa’u Riders Equestrian Unit

Fall in Oaxaca

We had the blessing of photographing Adventures in Life Ministry’s first Fall Medical Mission in Oaxaca last week.  The photo above is the Team that traveled from the U.S. to serve with Dave and AIL.  You can read a great re-cap of the week at AIL Ministry’s blog HERE.

We will be posting more stuff and photos from the week soon.

Cut that out! Trevor’s surgery is scheduled for tomorrow…

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Tomorrow our friend Trevor Stolebarger will have the last remnants of cancer cut out of him.  Please keep him and his family in prayer.

If you want to help Trevor’s family offset some of the costs of battling cancer, you can go HERE to donate and you can read his thoughts as he has been fighting cancer.  We will keep yall updated here and on our Facebook page.  Thanks for keeping our brother in prayer!