{SOI.africa.january.19-29.2011}

Blessed...There’s really no better word to describe my life over the last 10 months. As I entered 2010 this year I found that I had a love for photography and I set out with a goal to pursue the craft more in depth and see where that took me. Little did I know that the Lord would open doors I never even began to fathom existed. Doors that have led to opportunities for taking pictures of so much of the love that I’m surrounded by daily and doors that have allowed people to come into my life that have blessed me beyond measure!

Last month the Lord showed me another door. A door that would lead to Uganda, Africa, specifically Gulu and Kampala, in January of 2011 with Sports Outreach Institute (SOI) (http://www.sportsoutreach.net/.) I hesitated very quickly...

Now don’t get me wrong, I have a huge heart for Africa, monthly I support Mocha Club’s project that helps widows and orphans in Africa, and have always wanted to go to Africa. In years past I would have agreed without hesitation and never looked back, but being one year older there came a twinge of fear that I had never felt before. “Africa is unsafe. You can’t afford that. No one will be interested in supporting you. You won’t do anything in the grand scheme of things...” Yes, these were the lies that I was hearing in my fear. I pushed the Africa door away and walked the other way for a few weeks only to find my steps kept leading me back to that door through thoughts, conversations, and people. I continued to pray over that door and whether God was really calling me to that door and that’s when I heard it. “Go. I will provide. I will take care of you…” and then the day before I was to commit to the trip, I opened my mailbox to find a check that I had completely forgotten was coming and that just happened to be for the exact amount of what I needed to pay the very next day to commit myself to this trip.

Needless to say I am now committed to traveling to Africa January 19-29, 2011 with Sports Outreach Institute and I am beyond excited! ...and get this… God has a serious sense of humor with all these doors He's been opening... He has blown my mind again and opened another door for me through this trip. I will have the amazing opportunity to be the official photographer to document the whole trip under the organization of Silent Images (http://www.silentimages.org/.)  I’m am ecstatic about this journey and feel honored to be able to ask for your support to come along beside me through this trip. Here are a few ways that you can do that…

 {PRAYER… and lots of it!}

• Please pray as I prepare for my time in Africa.
• Safety for our team during travel and our time there.
• That God would open doors for us to love on as many people as possible while we are there
• That God would be the center of our entire trip.

::and/or::

{DONATE}

• donate directly to my trip directly to Sports Outreach Institute online.  visit http://www.sportsoutreach.net/donate.html, click through "to donate now," and then designate your donation to "Outreach Trip" and type my name, April Walker, into the line below.  Payments can be made by credit card and are tax deductible.
• you can also send your tax deductible check, payable to Sports Outreach Institute with“April Walker – Uganda Jan 2011,″ in the memo line, directly to Sports Outreach Institute, Attn: Donor Relations, PO Box 11855 Lynchburg, VA 24506.
• and lastly… and the most fun way in my opinion… {africa.photo.sessions.raffle}

$10 per ticket enters you to win 1 of 3 photo sessions with me (you must be within 60 miles of Charlotte, NC to win unless you want to fly me to hawaii). to purchase raffle tickets simply email me --aprilmwalker(at)mac(dot)com -- even if you don’t want your picture taken, this would make a great gift for someone if you won!  the raffle begins today, October 27 and ends January 19 and I will contact the 3 winners upon my return to set up the dates of our sessions!  you can also purchase tickets by emailing me directly at aprilmwalker{at}mac{dot}com.

{all proceeds will go to the SOI Africa 2011 trip}

thank you in advance for all of your support and I can’t wait to share my images and time from Africa with each and every one of you upon my return! also please feel free to email or leave a comment with any questions!

with heart felt gratitude,

April Walker