A friend of mine, Stanley Leary, recently returned from covering the damage in Moore, Oklahoma. He wrote about his experience, and the need for a photojournalist to be “detached”, to be able to remain a little disconnected from the event he is covering. If you are too caught up, too deep into the emotion, you will not be able to be as effective and sharp in your duties.

I don’t know if I agree completely. While I was in Guatemala, I had no responsibility for anyone or authority over anyone. My sole responsibility was to photograph the Frontline Student Choir team and their interaction with the people they were ministering to both in song and teaching at the school.

I thought about Stanley. I thought about remaining unplugged, detached from the events so i could remain sharp. I couldn’t do it. There were times I was overcome with emotion.

If I was there simply photographing the school, showing the hard conditions the kids have to learn in, or showing a construction team helping a local pastor, or even the orphanage with those precious children waiting to be healthy enough to go home with their families…well, I may have been OK. But when you added in these awesome teenagers from First Baptist Jonesboro, teenagers that I know, that my wife has been involved with, the personal connection became too much to ignore. But I think that connection made the images more meaningful, at least for me.

You see, I know the story of some of our kids. I know how some come from less than ideal backgrounds. I know what a change has occurred in their lives. I know where they were in their lives, and where they are now. I know that connecting with the school kids in Guatemala City, with the children in the orphanage, seeing the type of life that children in this area consider normal, made them appreciate all the more the people that have plugged into their lives just as they plugged into these children, even if just for a few days.

I am so appreciative that I was able to accompany this group, to witness their love and kindness, to see them share with others the love that Christ has shown them.