Matt Smith is a photographer from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.  He is spending his summer tree planting in Northern BC and will get married in August 2009. In April Matt spent 10 days in the Democratic Republic of Congo using his skills as a photographer to capture images of life in Africa.    

Matt writes about his experience:

I was excited to work with MBMSI in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It was a great experience to visit the projects running in the DR Congo and meet the individuals involved with them.

There was such beauty in the eyes of the people that I photographed.  Beauty – but also a sadness, and often hardship. It was a very different experience to observe and to capture, and it was difficult trying to be invisible as I took photos, yet know full well that I wasn't.  

Photographing the people of the DRC was a conflicting experience. I wanted to be able to explain to them the purpose behind why I was taking their pictures. I wished that I could explain that the pictures would be used to encourage and to raise awareness about the projects that MBMSI supports.  

I feel that as I photographed the Congolese, I was given gift after gift of their being. A little piece of each of them is now being used to tell stories and to encourage others to help, to pray, and to join in the journey of living out the Kingdom of God.