Video shot with IPhone

Shirt Contest So Far.

As you might know, Rachel and I are selling shirts that I designed for our mission trips and we challenged our friends who bought them to take unique photos of themselves wearing them. We promised a free shirt to the winner that could be given to a friend or someone I meet in Nicaragua on their behalf. There were no limit on the ammount of entries. The only rule was that it had to be creative and uploaded to facebook with us tagged in the photo as well to see it. Well the contest ends June 15th so I thought it'd be fun to share what we have so far in one massive compilation. Thanks to everyone who submitted, and we hope those of you who have yet to submit will still join in the competition.

Our first submission(s) came from our friends from church who are newlyweds, Adair and Daniel Warren. Gotta love the boston terrier!

Next came submissions from Sandy that were used for the initial ads, taken by me.

Sandy later sported her shirt while celebrating a much deserved Spring Break with some friends. And then Gabby (pictured to the right), another former classmate from the Education department at Southeastern shared this one with the comment of how much she loves her shirt!

Meanwhile, as Rachel and I celebrated Spring Break in Houston with my family, we were able to share shirts and stories of the mission field with The Goldy's two boys. (That was a great day altogether. We were able to share stories and time with them, lunch with my mom at Fuddrucker's, run a few errands, and finally watch The Hunger Games).

On that same trip, we delivered shirts to my nephews and brother-in-law (who you'll see later,... lots), showed off his shirt and his muscles.

And then... We got this doozie. Phillip Slaughter and his fiance Randi submitted this AWESOME photo just a few days later, and I knew that it was on!

Sure enough, less than 24 hours later, we recieved this incredible two-horsed feat from Katherine Clark, the horse whisperer herself.

Just when I thought things were beginning to get interesting, I recieved a text from my brother-in-law, Eric with this photo... And the caption reading, "more to come..." And boy did they.

                                

    

 Seriously, I've been getting texts of these awesome roadside attraction photos for nearly every day over the last couple weeks. They were already going on an epic roadtrip so they decided to make an adventure of it visiting Roswell, Smoky the Bear's gravesite, Los Alamos, a spaceship-shaped McDonalds, sand dunes, lava rocks, cave dwellings, the world's largest pistacio and jack rabbits, a replica Stonehenge, and even an R2D2 mail box that my nephews would love to have in their front yard I'm sure. Probably even the little boy that Rachel babysits! My friend Phillip (pictured above) once won a bet by wearing the same clothing all week long at a Christian conference. This is right up there, but in Eric's case, he sweated through this thing and may deserve a replacement shirt, haha. But we'll see. The contest continues!

Speaking of which. Here's my friend Jacob sporting the shirt on his honeymoon. He wore it on his honeymoon!! Love it! And here's a little quote I have to share from Jacob after buying the shirt in effort to support us. "I really like the shirt." "Thanks for supporting us." "Well thank you for desinging a missions shirt that doesn't look like crap!"

Congrats on you marriage you two. Rachel and I were so glad to be there to witness it.

Lastly, the girl I recently took senior photos of even bought one of the shirts that I just so happened to randomly have in my truck that day. Throughout the fundraising process, I've repeatedly become speechless by the graciousness of strangers who are helping to honor God. 

Thanks everyone who has bought a shirt, and to those of you who have even submitted fun pictures of yourself wearing them! We are so grateful for your support and hope that you'll all continue to pray for us as our mission trips approach and still have final funds to raise. Most of all though, please pray that God will continue to shape and mold our hearts to be more like His own. Love y'all! -Matthew

Senior Session (April 2012)

I was recently asked to do a Senior Session for a, "friend of a friend." It's always such a privilege to photograph someone who is fun and open for an adventure, and that's exactly what happened on the day we shot. There were nutria rats, crazy duck people, and hot, hot temperatures. She was such a sport though, and here are a few of my favorite (untraditional) senior portraits from our day in April.

 -Have any favorites of your own?

Look Familiar?

If this ad, led you to my site, I'm so glad. The girl modeling the shirt in this picture, is actually a dear friend from school, Sandy. She was gracious enough to pose for a quick picture the day she wore it to school. 

As the picture says, this shirt is being sold to raise financial support for short-term missionaries going to NICARAGUA & MONGOLIA this summer. Well I didn't have quite as much space to write an eye-grabbing slogan as I'd have liked, so I'd like to explain more here. Those short-term missionaries are actually myself (Matthew) and my girlfriend/best friend Rachel. I have been asked by Vision Nicaragua to travel to, (you guessed it) Nicaragua in order to shoot new video and images for their websites, as well as serve the people of Nicaragua. My girlfriend Rachel is in vet school, and traveling to Mongolia to also use the talents that God has blessed her with, in order to share His message! I love that God is sending us both out for Himself this summer, and can't wait until an opportunity arises where He places us on the same missions field, together. For now though, we are at least working together to raise our funds and support! I designed these shirts (as seen in the image) and had them printed by a friend at Silky Screens (Printshop in Denham Springs, LA). We are selling the shirts for $20 ($25 if shipped), and all proceeds are going to be split between Rachel and myself. We consider ourselves blessed to be called, but can only go with the generous help of others who wish to join in this mission, and assist in sending us. I hope that you will prayerfully consider supporting us both, and know how grateful we are, simply for having read this.

So who are we anyways? For anyone who may not know us, but have stumbled upon this site via a flyer or friend, I will briefly share a little about ourselves.

So here we are at Christmas time, with my dog, Kotoke. 

Isn't it nice to put a face to the name? 

We met three years ago at a Christian summer camp that we were both serving at. It was my third year to work as a videographer, and her first to be a counselor (before serving as a wrangler the following summer). The camp is Sky Ranch, in Van, Texas for anyone interested.. Turns out we had mutual friends and to make a long story short, I wooed her!! God has strengthened our friendship over the years through common interests in growing with Him through the study of His Word, love of our families and friends, a mutual desire to share Christ/serve others, and being that I'm super hilarious (to her) and creative doesn't hurt either, haha just kidding. 

I (Matthew) really am surprised at times that Rachel doesn't mind putting up with me. I love photography and videography. I was actually a film-major before switching my major to Elementary Education, and starting over at SELU. I'm almost done though, finally!! But I do still have a love for photography and video. Rachel has been the primary subject of my photography over the last couple of years though. 

I love chances to be creative. That's one of the reasons why I'm so excited about this trip. I have always wanted to use my film/photography talents to serve on the missions field. I also love teaching though. The two times I've been to Kenya before, I have served as a teacher/missionary. It was one of the greatest experiences of my life!

 

This is just one group of my many kids. (Notice that I'm clean shaven there? My mom misses those days, haha.) Rachel and I both love serving others though, and are so grateful for this opportunity. She has wanted to be a Veterinarian Missionary since she was 12, and now she's in her second year of Vet School, and about to partially fulfill one of her dreams. I'm so proud of her! I can't wait for her to have a similar experience to the ones that I've had in Kenya. Mongolia sounds so amazing. Not only will she be working in the city/villages to tend animals, but she'll also be leading Bible Studies and sharing her faith. I love that! You have no idea how excited I am for her to have this opportunity. She has a great heart and is the most genuine person I know. (And I'm not just saying that because she'll probably read this! Haha, if you knew her, right now she'd say, "Ohhh Matthew. You're ridiculous." with a smile.)

As for myself, I never anticipated that God would use me on the missions field. I know that He's always teaching me, and that He can work through me, but I'm not sure if I'll ever feel worthy. I am humbled to serve Him. Everytime I get to mention His love, (even when I sneak it into a school lesson, which I have done! Take that public schools!) I am always in awe of the fact that He. uses. me. I love getting to spend time with the little ones, share Christ with them, play with them, make them laugh; whatever the case may be, I am honored to do so, and consider it the hugest blessing ever. 

That's why I am preparing to be a teacher. I feel called to serve the children and families of developing nations, and what better way than to teach them? I still remember the day I told my Massai friend Joseph Kotoke, (Remember my dog's name? He's where it came from.) that I wanted to serve as a teacher, and that Rachel desired to serve as a Vet. He shouted with joy! He said, "That's so good man! Our home needs that. The greatest needs in our culture right now are for 1. teachers, and 2. doctors to help our animals!" He saw Rachel and I as the, "one-two punch" so to speak. I just see two individuals who are blessed by God for having the desires and opportunities to serve others in His name. . . Thanks for reading this. I hope that you'll pray for us please, that God would raise the funds to get onto the fields that He's called us to, and also for joy, safety, and compassion in sharing His truth. -Matthew Anderson