Posted on by Krista Guenin · 1 Comment

Peterson

I wasn’t sure what to post after my 30 Favorite images of all time. I mean, that’s kind of a hard act to follow, you know? So, I decided to share one of my favorite people.

When I met Ryan Keith of Forgotten Voices International, he told me the story of a boy named Peterson. Peterson was born with HIV. When Ryan met him, Peterson was a 7 year-old boy living with his mother and his 4 year-old sister, Prudence in a rural area of Zimbabwe. The very same day Ryan met them, Peterson’s mother died from AIDS. Before she died, she asked Ryan to promise to take care of her children – and he did. And that is basically how Forgotten Voices was formed – from a promise. The story continued as Peterson was left to live alone with and take care of Prudence, who was also born with HIV. Prudence had never learned to walk or talk and was basically given up on by her community. But Peterson took care of her – he carried her on his back to school and to physically therapy at the mission hospital nearby. She began walking, and talking, and was even given the job of chasing the monkeys away from the garden. But, one year after their mother died, Prudence died as well. And then Peterson lived alone…

It was after hearing this story that I knew I needed to go to Zimbabwe. And the entire time we prepared to go, I just kept looking forward to the day I would get to meet Peterson too. I didn’t know what to expect, but I knew this was a kid I needed to meet.

When we arrived at Peterson’s home, he was a bit shy to meet all of us.


We were thrilled to find that Peterson was no longer living on his family’s homestead alone. His aunt had moved in to care for him, and had hired a farm-hand to help out and take over the chores that Peterson had done. And in January he was supposed to move to his Grandparents’ farm to live with them and the rest of his extended family. What a blessing that his family has been able to step up and take care of him!


We were all surprised and thrilled to watch Peterson running and playing with his friends. He seems to be in great health and having so much help around has freed him up to just be a kid and enjoy life. What an incredible blessing!


He loved Adam’s video camera


and turned out to be quite the videographer himself…


As excited as I was to see Peterson happy & healthy, no one was more glad than Ryan. Peterson & Ryan have spent many days in Zimbabwe together and though they don’t speak the same language, or live lives that are remotely similar, they are good friends.


Peterson & Ryan showed us to the place on the property where Prudence and their mother was buried. He is such a brave little boy.


I am so blessed to have met Peterson. I hope that I will meet him again someday, and I pray that he would stay healthy and get to keep being a kid for as long as possible!

I’ll leave you with the many faces of Peterson…




Posted on by Krista Guenin · 17 Comments

My 30 Favs

In my mentoring sessions with Davina Fear, which were awesome by the way, we decided that it’s time for me to remake my website. Such a pity, since I never was able to get this one finished – but I think it’s time! My work and my goals have changed a lot over time, and I think that’s why I wasn’t able to get down to really making it happen. To help me with this whole process, Davina gave me an overwhelming homework assignment: choose my 30 favorite images of ALL TIME and choose one word to describe each image!! EEEK! I’m a bit indecisive when it comes to picking favorites (I don’t have a favorite movie, favorite song, or anything like that). But, I did it! So, I thought I’d share them with you!! And this time, I’m going to let them speak for themselves.


(the photo above was taken as an Associate for Real Life Weddings)



(the photo above was taken as an Associate for Grazier Photography)

























What I think is really cool is that of these photos 2 were taken in 2003, 1 in 2004, 3 in 2005, 3 in 2006, and 15 were taken in 2007! I mean, I knew that I’d grown a lot as a photographer in the last year, but that was really cool to see!

So, I won’t share my words with you – but I’d love to hear what YOUR favorites are, and what words come to your mind when you look at these photographs! Leave me a comment below and let me know what you think.

And be on the lookout – a new website is in the works…. yay!!!

Posted on by Krista Guenin · 4 Comments

Mimi & Papa’s Last Visit

Back when my nephew Tristan was sick, my Mom & Dad decided to come out to Boston for a few days to help my sister. By the time they got there, Tristan was feeling much better. They ended up spending most of their time here disinfecting every inch of the house. It was a fun surprise visit for the kids though – and for me too!

This is my Dad with baby Caeden. Caeden’s at that SUPER CUTE phase where he likes to make funny faces and watch everyone laugh. Here are 2 of his favorites…


My poor Mom was here less than 2 days before the plague hit her as well. We thought about calling the Center for Disease Control because this crazy bug infected everyone who came in the house (even just last week it got someone new who visited!) – but it was probably just the flu :)

[insert photo of my mom looking sick and miserable – but, um, she won’t like that so you’ll just have to pretend]

My sister wanted to start making some fun new memories for the kids while my parents were in town, to make up for the sad memories from the hospital. So, first we had a fun bath time blowing bubbles!

That’s me blowing bubbles for the babies! (photo courtesy of my wonderful sister, Kyla)


Do you think they liked it???




While Kyla & I were blowing bubbles at bath time, our Dad was making an enormous fort in the kids’ bedroom. Here they are, waiting for the big surprise…


The fort was huge, with mattresses on the floor for Tristan, Reilly & my Dad (well, he wasn’t about to sleep in the same room with his sick wife!) Dad even set up a little TV & DVD player. They laid on their mattresses, watched Stuart Little 3, and ate Lucky Charms until it was time to go to sleep. It was pretty cute!


Even with Mom getting sick, it was still a fun visit! Poor Dad got sick the day after they returned to Indianapolis. But, everyone’s better now – 2 straight weeks of fever & puke-free kids!!

Posted on by Krista Guenin · 7 Comments

The Lord Provides!

For the last couple years, I’ve been pretty frustrated with my SLOW computer. My sweet little iMac G4 was top of the line when I bought it back in 2002, but now, it can’t even handle the software I use the most.


Last Spring, I’d been seriously praying for 6 months for a lap top that could handle my work load, and make me a little more mobile. One night at Genesis, my pastor/brother-in-law was talking about meeting each other’s needs and taking care of one another. He opened the floor up to anyone who wanted to share a need. I spoke up and said “I need a laptop!” From behind me I heard a guy ask, “Mac or PC?” I, of course, replied “MAC!” After service that same guy came up to me and told me that he had a Mac laptop that he rarely used and that I could have it if I wanted it. Um, YEAH! So, all season long last year, I worked on my wonderful new(ish) laptop and things went great. Except, the laptop was also quite slow for editing in Photoshop…


So, I have continued to pray for a NEW computer &/or the money to buy one so that this season I can be more productive and waste less time waiting on my machine. Well, wouldn’t you know it? The LORD has provided!! Here’s what happened…

I was hanging out at my sister’s house one night. My brother-in-law came home and my sister was freaking out saying “give it to her, give it to her!!” I was wondering what the heck was going on, but didn’t ask. Eventually, he came over and handed me a gift card to the Apple Store saying “someone gave me this to give to you.” I opened it, and there was no amount written inside, so I just said “thanks, that’s cool!” My sister freaked out again and made him write the amount down for me (apparently I wasn’t freaking out enough :). So, he comes back over and hands me the card and I open it to find that the gift certificate was worth $4500.00!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Shut up!! I, of course, start crying and freaking out along with my sister and we’re all screaming and freaking out. I have no idea who gave me this gift – but I believe that in the end it was God providing for me in a powerful way.


But wait! It gets BETTER! I went out to dinner that night with some friends and was sharing the amazing news with them. One of my tech-junkie friends was grilling me on the specs of the computer I was going to get. I had been trying to decide between a really suped-up iMac, or a basic Mac Pro with room to grow. His big concern was the size of the monitor I was going to get. I had calculated that I could afford a 23″ monitor with the gift card. He thought I was insane if I didn’t get the 30″. I informed him that those cost $900 MORE than the other and that it would push me over the limit on my gift card. He nonchallantly says “well, then why don’t I pay for the difference so you can get the 30″ – you really should get the 30″ it will just be so much better.” Shut UP! And before any of you get the wrong idea, this is just a FRIEND – there’s no interest on either side. This is just a friend who could afford to spend $900 to help another friend become more productive in her business. But, it’s pretty freakin crazy!

He went with me to the Apple Store the next day and we picked out my new Mac Pro with a 30″ monitor, and bought it online. It arrived just a couple weeks ago and it is AWESOME! It’s so incredibly fast and the screen is just HUGE! I LOVE IT!!!




I am so thankful to whoever it is who gave me this incredible gift, and to my friend who made it even more incredible, and to God for making it all happen and for giving me some encouragement in this dreary season!!!

May God bless each of you in ways you would never imagine!!

Posted on by Krista Guenin

L-O-V-E

Ahhh, Valentine’s Day! A day to think about LOVE. The ones you love, the ones who love you. My Valentines are my niece and 2 nephews. We are in love :)

But what IS love, really? Is it an emotion? A state of being?

We hear it at every wedding we go to (or every wedding we shoot)… 1 Corinthians 13, the LOVE chapter. But, what if we stop on this day of love to really think about what it means?

———————————————————–

If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I knew all the mysteries of the future and knew everything about everything, but didn’t love others, what good would I be?

And if I had the gift of faith so that I could speak to a mountain and make it move, without love I would be no good to anybody.

If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would be of no value whatsoever.

Love is patient
and kind.

Love is not jealous
or boastful
or proud
or rude.

Love does not demand its own way.

Love is not irritable,
and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged.

It is never glad about injustice
but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.

Love never gives up,
never loses faith,
is always hopeful,
and endures through every circumstance.

Love will last forever,
but prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will all disappear.

There are three things that will endure-
faith,
hope,
and love–

and the greatest of these is love.

———————————————————————

Just think about that as you spend the rest of this day telling people you love them – and then spend the rest of your life REALLY LOVING THEM!

Posted on by Krista Guenin · 3 Comments

Shumba Shaba

After my frightening encounter with the “cops” in Bulawayo, we drove out to the Matopos to a place called Shumba Shaba for a leadership summit with some of the local leaders working with Forgotten Voices. For Adam and I, it was a bit of a break from “work” and a chance to relax in one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen. Check it out…
A woman walking through the bush on the drive through the Matopos.


Ryan walking up the ridge at Shumba Shaba. The landscape was created from massive volcanic activity like a billion years ago or something. The landscape is like nothing I’ve ever seen before.


Sunset on our first night at Shumba Shaba


Our first morning, Adam & I both woke up at dawn to catch the sunrise. Here’s Adam, filming me taking a picture of him with the sunrise behind


The early morning light on the valley


Sunrise from my balcony


This is my AMAZING cabin. The cabins were all built into the rock, and most of us had these amazing views (though mine was admittedly one of the best :) from walls made entirely of glass. Part of the floor in my cabin was the rock below, as was part of my wall. It was really lovely. Too bad I’m a scaredy-cat and couldn’t sleep in there by myself… It was just TOO many windows and one too many field mice popping up out of the rocks in my bathroom to steal a granola bar. I made a mad dash to the main cabin to bunk with the guys. They thought I was nuts, but were nice enough not to make too much fun of me :)


A fence in the early light


One of the rescued horses on the property. They wander freely all over the place and are just beautiful.


One of the cabins from below


A cool rock


The tree canopy


More of the crazy volcanic landscape. These giant boulders are scattered randomly all over the place – sometimes stacked one on top of the other like God was building a tower of blocks or something.


The valley on the other side of the peak


The leaders praying for the nation, and for rain on the side of Shumba Shaba


Obert, one of the leaders at the Mtshabezi AIDS Project


Gordin, another leader at Mtshabezi


Pastor James from The Rock Church


The BEAUTIFUL sunset that evening


The horses in the valley below as the sun set


And then there’s me – in the side mirror of our van :)


Posted on by Krista Guenin

Zimbabwe – A run-in with the “cops”

Ah! I almost forgot the best story of them all!! The day after we visited The Rock, we ran some errands before heading out of Bulawayo for the week – and I got into a bit of trouble.

Adam and I went into town to buy a rain coat for the Bishop’s daughter, who’s in secondary school near where we were heading. Seems like a simple thing, right? Not in Zimbabwe…

Adam & I found the store, and when we got there, there was a huge crowd queued up out front. This is the whole problem with Zimbabwe right now – there’s never anything on the shelves and when they get something in stock everyone lines up to wait for it. Luckily, we got there just as the doors were opening and so we pressed into the store with the rest of the crowd. As a good documentary photographer, I was taking pictures. Granted, I know that’s illegal there, but I thought if I held my camera on top of my bag, and shot without looking, maybe I could get some shots without drawing attention to myself. Sounds like a great plan, right? Well, I was wrong.

We were in line waiting to buy the coat, and a guy came over telling me he was a policeman. (He wasn’t wearing a uniform or anything, but he could have been part of the CIO). He told me that I can’t take pictures in the shop. I apologized and said I would put it away, no problem. Acted as innocent as I could, smiled real big, and kept saying that I just had it out and didn’t realize that’d be a problem. So, I shoved it back in my shootsac and acted like it was no big deal and he walked away. But as we’re buying the coat, I see this guy telling everyone he passes that I have a camera. So, I’m trying not to freak out, and praying that this will be the end of it.

We go outside and start walking towards the car when this guy comes up with another “cop” in plain clothes. They tell me that I’m not allowed to take pictures. I say, I didn’t realize and I’ve put my camera away and that I don’t have any pictures (not entirely true, but I was freaking out and afraid that I could be taken to jail and start an international incident or something – not exaggerating). I showed the guy photos from the sunset the night before trying to show him that there’s nothing bad on the card. I even tried showing them a photo of the store I took outside and deleting it in front of them, in hopes that that would pacify the situation. The guy just yelled at me and said that just because I delete the evidence doesn’t mean I didn’t commit the crime! They said that maybe we should just go down to the police station (eeek!) and I asked (as respectfully as possible) if they had some sort of badge and could identify themselves as officers. They acted offended and said “let’s just go to the central station.” So, I tried desperately to call Ryan at TCZ while Adam tried to rationalize with these guys.

I couldn’t get through to the seminary, and they just kept harassing us. My friend Adam was trying to be very diplomatic and helpful, but basically made me freak out worse. As I’m trying to text Ryan, I hear Adam ask the guys to call over the police officer in uniform on the other side of the road. What the crap?!?! I think he thought that if these guys weren’t cops, that that would scare them off. Well, it didn’t! So, in a swift move, I formatted my memory card and got rid of all the pictures (in the end that wasn’t necessary, but better safe than arrested in Zimbabwe!). The real cop comes over and talks to the guys in Ndbele and then the guys decide that we should drive them to the police station. They actually want to get in our car! I’m freaking out! Adam is trying to talk to them about “compensating them for their time” dealing with us. Meanwhile, we’ve been there for 30 minutes and are drawing a crowd. So, the guys get in the car, we drive around the corner and Adam starts trying to bribe them. That takes so long that 2 real cops come stand by the car – which freaks out the fake cops and we drive around another corner. Adam tries to bribe them with the equivalent of $3 US – they’re offended and let us know that the bribe will be split with the real cop too so it needs to be more. So, then Adam tries the 3,000,000 Zim plus American cash. Instead of using a larger bill, he tries a ONE DOLLAR BILL! By that point I was almost more angry with my friend than these guys. ONE DOLLAR?????? Either bribe them or flatly refuse and drive away, but geez! They were, of course, offended again.

In the end, we got away with giving them 7,000,000 Zim dollars ($7 US) and a couple bags of chips.

It was the strangest experience of my life. And I thank God that they weren’t actually police or CIO, and that we made it out with our freedom in tact, if not our dignity and definitely not the photos…