It has been a year of change so far in every way possible for us here at Bedouins. Change of location: We were in NYC last year (which was a change in-and-of itself) but now we’re back down south in Alabama again. Change of faces: The bedouins staff has slimmed down lately, going from (at one point in time) a staff of 5 to just me and some really amazing volunteers plus our board of directors. Change of identity: on the surface level, we’re rebranding, redesigning and restarting our entire web prescience (remember those amazing volunteers I mentioned – Phil Moody is the man behind the new look that’ll be coming soon!). But beneath the surface re-design, Bedouins is also doing some looking in and figuring out exactly who we are. Story telling is our thing and helping those with amazing stories that are going untold is our mission, but we’re still thinking, talking and praying about what that looks like for the future.

So all of that said, I’m really really excited about everything. From the re-brand to the look in the mirror; from the slimmed down staff to the unknown that lies ahead for Bedouins: everything about it has me buzzing. I can’t tell you how great I feel knowing that we’re going to be doing something awesome…whatever it may be. We’ve had some amazing opportunities these last few years to tell stories from all over the world. Some of them we knocked out of the park and some of them we struck out bad, but we’ve learned quite a few things and the one thing that’s stuck with me and has me grinning ear to ear as I type this blog is this: There is a never-ending supply of AMAZING stories out there that are going untold and there is a MASSIVE audience waiting to hear them.

Anyways…enough of my blog-rambling, here’s a more important update: Not only will be we launching the new site in the not-too-distant future, We’ll be launching it filled with the KIINI project as the new content! I’m so excited and overly anxious to share the project with you as well as the beautiful new site, so make sure you stay tuned, keep an eye on our twitter feed (bedouins_intl) and spread the word…we’re back with stories to tell and we would love for you to be a part of the audience.

Thanks for sticking around through our blog-drought…here’s to a new season and some really amazing new stories!

We arrived at St. Phillips church about mid-day on our day with Bishop Matolo. It was out in the country on a plain, very different from the hillside churches we had visited early that morning. The congregation was led by Rev. Daniel Mutuku, a very friendly and humble man of God who welcomed us with open arms.

We took a small tour of their land where we saw little plots set aside for farming. The church family has started farming and selling various vegetables to sell to help support the building of the church. They want to be able to build a new roof, pour new concrete floors and build an altar. We prayed with them as they blessed the first fruit of their crop.

During this time the beautiful ladies of the church brought us tea and bread. They told us that the Bible says “Visitors do not visit without the church wiping the dust from their feet.”

Finally getting a chance to go through some of these photos from Kenya!

Meet Bishop Matolo. When Jessi and I finished our project with KIINI in Kenya we had a few days left at the tail end of our trip and used them to tag up with one of the CEC’s (Charismatic Episcopal Church) local bishops to photograph his diocese. I did a similar project during my last trip to Kenya in the western part of the country, so it was very interesting to see the similarities and differences in this, a more central and eastern area of Kenya.

We spent the day traveling all over Biship Matolo’s diocese and visiting several of his churches and local projects. The community there is so incredible. They work hard, and they work together.

The following are some of my favorite photos from the first place we visited with him. Each little church and congregation had its own little story. This first church was still in its “temporary” state; they are hoping to build a full size church with enough seating for the whole community.

This trip to Kenya for the Kiini Project was Jessi’s first trip to Africa and she had a blast.  It’s one of those places that it’s hard not to fall in love with.  Here’s a shot of Jessi from our day with Bishop Matolo in Muchakos.  Also check out some shots that I did for Times Square Church in Texas a few months ago when we were building homes to ship to Haiti HERE.

I’m down in Alabama for the summer (shooting weddings) and I arrived to an awesome surprise…the film from our trip to Kenya with Kiini was back!  I just downloaded it and did a really quick thumb through and it’s really really fantastic.  I can’t wait to get it all edited and start working on the project in the next couple of weeks.  Here are a few of my quick favorites from the bunch…be back soon with more!