The Potter's School  ||  discipleship | scholarship | excellence

Excited for a week of photography, fellowship, and fun, ten TPS teens arrived Salt Lake City, Utah in mid-July for the first TPS Photography Field Workshop. Although the purpose of the week was to dig into photography, this trip accomplished much more. In five days the team grew close, making lasting friendships and spiritually encouraging one another. Each day the teens, along with the trip leaders Mike and Brianna Tittel, piled into the big van to photograph at beautiful locations all around northern Utah. Hitting the locations at sunrise and sunset made for ideal light, and the long summer days provided ample time for photographic lessons, critique, and discussion. Through the week, each student’s work improved dramatically resulting in some truly outstanding photography! But perhaps more importantly the whole team connected on a deeper level by truly expressing themselves and supporting one another. Many students commented, “This trip was the highlight of my summer.” We’re thankful to all who participated and made this first workshop a success!

Thank you to all who have supported the effort to bring Bibles to the people of San Antonio de Capapan, Honduras. We have met our goal, and then some! Thanks to many generous families and teachers, we not only have the original 60 Bibles, we now have enough to give every man, woman, and student in the village his or her own Bible. We are so excited to be bringing these Bibles in, presenting them to their new owners, and then immediately using them in Bible studies and school classes during the team's visit.

During this visit, we also hope to complete another goal we have been working on for the past few years:  providing every home a sanitary latrine. Picture an enclosed outhouse with a durable porcelain toilet that drains to a septic pit lined with concrete and bricks, and consider that a couple years ago none of the homes had even this, and you will understand the unsanitary conditions we are working to overcome. However, we are primarily just the resource provider, as it is the men of the village -- with occasional help from our team when we visit -- working together on each other's homes that is progressing this important work. It is amazing to work alongside them as they all work together to serve one another. We urge you to visit the village with us sometime, to meet these wonderful people!

Our next longer term goals include seeing each home with a solid floor and roof, and then with clean running water. The dirt floors and thatch roofs are home to parasites that harm the parents and especially the children, and the clean water is a long walk to a nearby stream. All of our efforts are in partnership with the Honduran Christian ministry, Predisan, that oversees this region, and especially with the leaders of the village who have organized and inspired the people in working together for their own spiritual, educational, and physical progress.

For those who wish to continue partnering with us and the village in these efforts, materials for each latrine are about $200. We are pleased to accept tax-deductible donations toward this purpose as well (we still have not paid for all the latrines), and to direct 100% of those donations to the intended project.

Thanks again to those who are partnering in prayer and resources for San Antonio de Capapan, Honduras.