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     Hope Now For Youth is a Christian emergency rescue team for young men,  ages 16 to 24, who are gang members or have criminal records. Through  caring and helping relationships and employment, they aim to lift gang  members from the streets to a life of hope and success.
     Read twelve incredible stories of spiritual restoration through Christ and how it has affected not only the lives of these men, but that of their families. Their stories illustrate the power of the Gospel message to change the course of the human spirit.

    Over the years I’ve had the opportunity to visit parts of the south, but I never had the time to explore.  In the summer of 2009 & 2011 I took some time and roamed the back roads of the Carolinas, Georgia and Lousiana.  I found a fascinating country where some areas were booming, and others  abandoned to their poverty.
    Places where traditions seem odd or funny and yet others where it appeared time had stood still.  It is a wonderful place, where the next hill or turn in the road could bring a smile or perhaps a tear.

        The Kings River that flows through Central California and is a river of distinction in several ways.  One, it is divided into three unique and deliberate regions with specific functions and  issues.  It is also only one of two major rivers in the world that does not flow to the ocean.  The other being the Jordan in the Middle East.
        These images focus on the many uses, issues and beauty of this river environment. How man has used it, reclaimed it, and at times, abused it.

       The Harbor is a place of contrasts. The unique simplicity of its purpose is a sharp departure from the complexity of the souls who live here.  
        It is against this backdrop that the people’s lives intersect at The Harbor. They all seek it, some find peace, some succeed, and some self-destruct.   The contrasts are a glimpse of all of us, seeking much the same thing.....a place to be ‘safe’.

     On the small island of Traena far out in the Norwegian Sea is one of the most unique  festivals held in the world.
    There  musicians gather for three days of music encompassing all types from rock, to pop to folk. Thousands make the trek from all over Europe and beyond for this unique venue.
     The festival includes a concert inside an ancient cave above the arctic circle.
      With 24 hours of daylight, there is much to explore and experience.  Take a look

     Tucked away in a suburb of London lies Abney Cemetery. An abandoned, 30-acre site of overgrown, neglected graves, a Gothic Chapel and  a maze of pathways.
    Thousands of headstones, some dating to the 1800’s  have been desecrated and left in disarray.  Many of the graves date from WWI, or from the great flu epidemic of 1917.
     The Chapel in the center shows evidence of the Victorian era with an outside entry designed for a horse drawn hearse.  It is an eerie place.

      The Big Island of Hawaii is a land of geographic contrasts.  This massive island, (compared to the rest) is the youngest in the chain of seven, and the only one with an active volcano.  Recent massive black  lava flows (1983 to the current day) descend the volcano’s of Mauna Loa  and Kilauea continuing to transform the landscape. 
      The tonal qualities shown both from the volcanic dry side, to the towering waterfalls  show an incredible geographic contrast in small place.  It truly is a land of fire and water.

    From the outside it looked like another old warehouse in a former industrial center in Pinedale, California.  Historically it had a more sordid past. A series of 10 warehouses were once  Assembly Centers for thousands of Japanese of American ancestry in the first days of WWII.
    In 2007 the last of these buildings was demolished, so I took one last look inside seeking a visual link to a darker chapter in our nation’s past

    In June of 1978, then former governor of California Ronald Reagan attended a campaign barbeque held in his honor at the Paso Robles Fairgrounds.   The afternoon was blazing hot.  Activities called for a rodeo, BBQ and speeches from Republican dignitaries.  Reagan played his role elegantly, riding a horse in the mini parade to the rodeo, and with wife Nancy, covering all the political bases.  Reagan was in his element!
  

  On a hot summer morning in 1977, Marvin Martin, barricaded himself inside a small house in what used to be a motel and fired on San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s deputies. After a  three hour standoff,  tear gas was fired into the building, which quickly caught the  structure on fire.  Martin came out firing.  Deputies  responded,  mortally wounding Martin who,  continued to reach for his weapon.  It was one of the first cases in the country that appeared to be a “suicide by cop”.