I’ve officially left on my next TREK… This time I am headed into various regions around southwest Ethiopia near the Omo valley and along the Sudanese border. These areas are very remote and are home to some of the most interesting tribes in the world (Mursi, Bana, Hamer, Bode.)

A group called Service in Mission (SIM) is bringing me over for a couple of different missions. SIM has been working in SW Ethiopia for some time now and for the first week and a half or so I plan to be documenting some of those projects. I’ll be working very closely with Trent and Tabby Cox, both veterinaries that spend a lot of their time caring for cattle and livestock in the area. Most if not all the tribes in this area are pastoralists, meaning they live off the land and their livestock. Therefore, the well-being of the livestock is directly related to their own well being. I know Trent & Tabby have had a huge impact in this area and I can’t wait to share some of what is going on in there. You can see the current info video about Trent & Tabby’s mission here by clicking here.

The second part of this project will entail going into a few even more remote areas, regions in which few if any outsiders have ever even briefly passed through. SIM has chartered a helicopter flight to get us in here because it’s not accessible by land, boat or any other method. My mission here will be to shoot a series of images that effectively share with the viewer the needs, if any, of the people living here. I’ll be working to help Trent to provide him with rich media to powerfully convey the needs to potential donors and ultimately raise the money to address them.

Quite a few fantastic photographers have been in and around the Omo Valley and the images they have come out with are nothing short of stunning. Some of the finest portraiture I’ve seen come out of here comes from Joey Lawrence (he shot the image above,) if you haven’t seen his work yet, you should definitely check it out here. (Click Personal and then Absynnia.) Another compelling series of images comes from Phil Borges, click the link and be ready to be blown away!

In the end, it’s my understanding that SIM would like to establish long-term projects and build relationships here, with the ultimate goal of sharing the Gospel. As Trent told me via email, “Our mission is to get the Gospel into the ends of the earth, and this, is pretty much the end.”

As this trip developed, I increasingly saw a need for motion picture. Although I’m capable of doing motion work, and often do, I really prefer to focus on stills and let someone else that is passionate about the motion handle it. This is where TK McKamy comes in the picture. TK is joining us in tonight and I’m super excited about it. In the past 6 months, TK and I have done quite a bit of work together in Dallas, creating short highly-styled pieces for a Dallas-based media company. He’s a fantastic shooter, editor and all-around stellar guy and I’m super jazzed to have him helping me out. He’ll be assisting me here and there but mostly I plan for him to be leading the attack in telling this story through film.

Now I’m in Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia and tonight I will be picking up TK and then heading south to meet up with Trent & Tabby. We appreciate any prayer! Please pray specifically that God will lead us to capture the stories He wants to share with the world, for safety in travel and that lives will be impacted, both ours and also those we’ll be visiting.

After spending time with Trent & Tabby I’ll be heading north near to Lake Langano where my good friend Aaron White is getting married. Aaron is a director of project development for Samaritan’s Purse in Addis and has been living here for about 4 years. He’s an awesome dude and I’m having fun catching up with him right now in Addis. After the wedding, I plan to head north to Gondar and possibly Axum where I will meet up with another friend Lane Davis, a photographer beginning a photographic journey around the world with a church based in New Zealand. His work is fantastic as well and can be seen here. I’ll spend a few days exploring with him and then plan to head back to the States around the 18th of April.

I’ll be out of internet access completely, possibly for 2 weeks but will be sending updates here if at all possible. So check back soon for updates!