Courtney

PoP- The Allums

Oh my goodness-- there are NO words to adequately express how I feel at this moment!! This day has been a looooong time coming!
God led me to be a part of His ministry 3 years ago. I knew then who my first family would be-- but it has taken us this long to get everything worked out!! -- Even if it was FREEZING today-- and even if it rained on us as we prayed together-- but was worth every degree my body temperature dropped!! Lets PRAY that no one gets sick from this!!

Meet the Allums. This is one of the MOST precious families I have ever had the honor of photographing. We have been praying for them for over 10 years. We started out as strangers then... but God definitely gives you a love for those you pray for.

Through events at church, and accidental run-ins in Wal Mart, posts on James Christopher's Caring Bridge site, and bone marrow drives, we have become friends. My children feel as though they know James Christopher through all of the prayers they have prayed for them. Not a week - or often a day - goes by that we don't pray for this precious family.

The amazing thing for me is that when we take part in something to help enourage the Allums-- we ALWAYS leave feeling more encouraged and inspired by THEM than we could have ever done for them! They are so full of God's joy that it is literally contagious!!

James Christopher (he is the oldest child) was diagnosed with Fanconi Anemia (FA) when he was very young. This can cause so many different problems, but especially with the immune system. Little sicknesses that we don't even give much thought to - such as a sinus infection - can actually be life-threatening to a child with FA. Immediately upon diagnosis the Allums and their entire community went into "prayer mode" and have been there ever since. Through prayer James Christopher has grown and flourished, far exceeding his doctors' expectations. He has been involved in many different ministries and has been a huge component in bone marrow drives across our nation- and even met with President George W. Bush to pass laws to make bone marrow donation easier and cheaper than ever. Many, many lives have been saved thanks to James Christopher's willingness to speak out and share his story with others.

Please, please visit James Christopher's Caring Bridge site http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/jameschristopherallums to read more about his life and his family. You can sign up to receive updates to let others know his praises and needed prayers. He also has a guestbook that you can write words of encouragment in-- please take a minute to do this.

I could go on and on and on about the unselfishness and generosity of this family-- but it won't take you long to learn that through his blog. But I ask you to PLEASE join me in praying for this family. Pray for God to continue to bless them and draw them close to Him. Pray that He will touch James Christopher and heal him. For I KNOW this family would shout it from the mountain tops and give all of the praise and glory to God-- they already DO! Pray for the ministries this family is involved in. They have litereally touched thousands of lives. They know that prayer is exactly what has brought them this far...

It is truly one of my greatest honors to be a small part of Portraits of Praise. I am so touched that God would use me to hopefully bring a little ray of sunchine in the lives of others. To help others praise Him during the storms of life. I thank God for this family and for being the inspiration to this ministry.

PLEASE tell other photographers and families about this ministry. The links at the top tell who qualifies as a recipient, what they will receive and what other photographers need to do to serve.


Heal me O' Lord, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved; for You are the One I praise.
Jeremiah 17:14

T-shirt Sponsors!

I am sooo excited to report that we have had MANY step up to the plate to be sponsors for our t-shirts!! I will be posting them all on here as soon as I have a final list. I just want to say a BIG THANK YOU for all of those who are involved and who have supported this ministry!!
I am pinching myself --- God has truly blessed us!!

The picture posted is our LOGO-- that is what the t-shirts will look like on the front. The back will have the sponsors names or verses. They will be a sky blue =)

Each child that we minister to will receive a t-shirt, and each photographer that signs up will receive one!

Thank you sooo much!!!!

Official PoP Photographers

PoP is so blessed with photographers who are willing to give of their time, talent and resources. I am so thankful to them for allowing God to use them in what I know will be a mighty way.

Vanessa Diel- Vanessa Diel Photography
Mattie K McGuffie- MattieK Photography
Margie Nielsen- Nielsen Photography
Shelby Shelton-- SSShelton Photography

This is not a ministry that they are joining on a whim. Each one has taken the time to pray about their involvement and have even signed a pledge to pray for these families and to help meet their needs. They are an awesome group of Christians that I already feel a bond with.

**Unfortunately-- we need MORE PHOTOGRAPHERS! Please spread the word. We have so many families in our area that fit the criteria for this ministry-- so please tell your friends to tell their photographers! Send them this blog!

The email to get involved is portraitsofpraise@rocketmail.com

Please pray for these photographers-- that they will be a light in a dark time in the life of a family. That they will provide a moment of joy, that will point the way to the Prince of Peace.

Please pray for the families that will be ministered too. They are the heart of the entire ministry. Please pray for the wisdom of their doctors, and that the Lord will surround them with people who will pray for them and encourage them.

Please pray about YOUR involvement. Look under the links above for some ways you can be a part. We need sponsors, helpers, donations for t-shirts, people to work on fliers and brochures, and people to PRAY and help in the lives of the PoP families.

Also-- when choosing a photographer for your own family... please consider supporting a PoP photographer!

I am so thankful for everyone that has expressed interest so far-- I thank God for you!!

We will be listing sponsors and helpers soon-- please join us!!  Look at the info under all of the tabs above and contact us for any questions or concerns!!

Thank you!!
In Him---

Jeremiah 17:14

Praises!!

I am sooo excited to announce that we have received information from more photographers!!
Thanks to all of you that are getting the word out! Let's keep it up!

Post the information and send emails to all of your photographer friends.

We will be accepting families in 2012-- and we need to be prepared so that we don't have to make a single family wait.

No photographer will be expected to take more than 1 family per month. So it shouldn't impede on anyone's responsibilities too much!

Praise the Lord for the ones we have so far--- I will be posting the names of the photographers soon so that you can support them! You may already know a few by seeing the "official PoP" photographer sunshine on their wall or FB.
Thanks you for everything!! We are blessed....let's spread it!!
Get PoPping!!


Jeremiah 17:14

Portraits of Praise!!

Please take a close look at this ministry website!
Go to the link to the right that says ALL ABOUT PoP and it will explain what it's all about.

Pray that  God will get exactly who wants to be involved in this ministry.

Also pray for the families that will ministered to. I want this to be a moment of calm in the midst of a terrible storm.

We are so excited to see that God can make something from NOTHING.  We give Him all the glory for what he has done through this ministry-- already-- and what He WILL do.

Please email portraitsofpraise@rocketmail.com for more information or to sign up!

Pass the word!

Jeremiah 17:14

It's launched!!!

Praise God for helping us to finally get most of the kinks out to get this ministry launched!! I have some photographers who are already signed up- and a few who are praying about it. I will be posting those names soon under the link above.
This is so exciting to see this vision finally coming to alive.
I have an email that is ready with the necessary attachments to send out to ANY and ALL photographers you think may be interested. Please email portraitsofpraise@rocketmail.com and I will send it to you.  We tried to make it as simple and cost effective as possible. Feel free to read through everything.

Also email me if you are willing to donate your time or talent. We have many areas that we could use your help... maybe not so much now--- but I know this thing will grow and I'd love to be prepared for it.

We are not planning to accept families for this until after May 2012. We are just trying to get some photographers in place for now.

We are also accepting family sponsors. For $75 you can sponsor a family session. You can do this anonymously, or I will be happy to list you or your business under the sponsor link. This money will be used to pay for the prints, cd's and other products for the families.

You can also donate to the organization. We would loooove to be able to provide t-shirts to the child we are ministering to along with the session. We would also like to provide them for the sponsors eventually. It would help spread the word and get more people involved. We want this to spread like a wild fire!!

Please be in prayer for us, the photographers, and especially the precious families that we will have the privilege of ministering to.

LET'S get POPPING!!! 

Jeremiah 17:14~