Band Together for Christ 2019

This is an event that I love to attend and photograph every year. It is such a great way to bring the community together. From all the different churches to non-Christians to local businesses, it is such a uniting event.

If you would like to see my posts from some of the previous years you can view them here: 2018, 2016

This year was a little more adventurous than usual…

It started out like any other day, but the weather was especially nice. It was quite cooler than usual, but it was an appreciated break from the hot summer we had.

There were so many great things for the kids to do. There were physical activities, art activities and the Faith Christian school mascot was walking around for pictures!

I thought this “slug bug” had a beautiful paint job and lots of people stopped to admire it with me.

It was great to see all the families involved with the event.

Life Hack: Never grow up so much that you forget how to have fun!

Then the concert itself began!

A special moment that I enjoyed watching was when they asked veterans and active-duty military to come forward. I watched a veteran help another veteran get out of his chair. They stood next to each other in such strong brotherhood, it was beautiful to watch and photograph.

One of my favorite parts of being a photographer is the people-watching from afar. Knowing how to pose people is an important part of the job, but there is something so fun about capturing moments just as they happen naturally.

One of those moments was seeing this woman worship in the crowd.

I could not have planned her recklessly joyful worship at the exact moment that the words on the screen said “Who the Son sets free oh is free indeed…” But I am thankful to have been there to witness it and capture it.

When I wasn’t having fun watching the crowd react to the music, I took some time to enjoy the music myself.

While capturing these shots, I was enjoying the beautiful blue skies in the background. But sadly, they would not last much longer.

Soon, a torrential downpour began and the event was forced to end. But God is still faithful and reminded us of his promises…

It looked like Rosie’s Sno Biz was at the end of the rainbow!

The event will be continued on October 19th at 5 pm at the Five30 Event Center in Marysville.

More information can be found at https://www.facebook.com/BandTogether4Christ/

We hope to see you there!

She Matters 2019: Day 2

After Day 1 of She Matters, it wasn’t hard to wake up early to come back! I made sure to enjoy some of the cute details and decorations of the event that might have been overlooked in the rush of the first day.

The meals of the event were provided by Clark Avenue Coffee, Sunflower Market, and Cool Hand Lukes.

After food, we made sure to start off the right way with some more worship!

Our second speaker of the event was Hannah Payne. She is a UCLA student that has been acting and modeling for the past 10 years and recently appeared in the Netflix original series, 13 Reasons Why.

She shared some hilarious stories about life to start off and then went on to share advice that has helped her to stay connected to God while attending a non-christian college.

Our next speaker was Ruthie Bolton, a 2-time Olympic Gold Medalist, a USA Basketball Female of the Year, the Sports Illustrated Best Woman Athlete by home state, and one of only 4 players to be named to the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2011.

Ruthie credits to her successes to God. She believes that her purpose is to use her gifts to inspire others to do their best and be a light in the world.

“If I am only remembered for being a basketball player, I believe that I will have failed in my job on this planet,” - Ruthie Bolton

Our final speaker was Mayor Preet Didbal, mayor of Yuba City. She is the first Sikh woman to hold the highest elected office in an American city. She shared her amazing testimony, which moved numerous hearts.

We had so many great speakers and volunteers, but what truly made this event so special was each and every girl that attended. There are no words to describe seeing young women believe in themselves and support each other.

This event became so big that we had to keep adding tables and tables until the room was full! I hope that this movement only continues to grow because every young girl deserves to hear that she matters.

She Matters 2019: Day 1

I was so blessed to be able to serve at this event this year. She Matters is a conference, held at Hope Point Nazarene Church in Yuba City, centered around discipleship of young women.

We are passionate about speaking worth, acceptance, and love into the lives of teenage girls.

As daughters of Christ, we are not alone! We are all created in the image of God. - Hannah Maddalena

My mother, Stephanie Scellato of Scellato Designs created the floral design pieces for this event.

I was so blessed to be a part of an event that had such a powerful and positive atmosphere that brought women together.

True sisterhood isn’t a clique, it’s a team.

We started the evening off with some wonderful worship led by Chanta Apodaca and Jessica Suarez.

Our first speaker was Tara Armstrong. She founded She Shifts Culture with the following tagline:

WE PRAY. WE EMPOWER. WE UNITE.

WE ASK, "WHAT CAN WE DO?", AND DO IT.

WE WALK IN LOVE, WE WALK IN AUTHORITY, WE WALK IN INFLUENCE.

WE LOOK WITHIN OURSELVES AND THEN BEYOND OURSELVES.

......AND SHIFT CULTURE.

Tara spoke about how we all have some little personal flaw that we don’t like about ourselves. She compared it to a little dot on a big white page and brought up how we fixate on the dot, and not everything else around it. We are our own worst critics, so she made each girl write down a lie that they believed about themselves.

She then asked if anyone would like to share theirs. In a giant room filled with young girls. It was intimidating.

But Mikayla, shown below, bravely volunteered to go first. If sharing a personal detail wasn’t intimidating enough, Tara requested that she stand on a chair so everyone could see her. She confessed the lie that she believed, that she was not pretty.

To combat this lie, Mikayla needed a truth to hold onto. To help her, the whole room erupted with female voices saying, “MIKAYLA YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL! MIKAYLA YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL! MIKAYLA YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL!”

This was such a powerful moment, banishing this negative self talk and replacing it with God’s truth and love. After Mikayla, many other girls volunteered to share their lies with the group and Tara invited everyone to nail their lie to the cross.

A rush of young women came to the altars, they were all packed side-by-side, united. I’ve never seen the altars this full at a regular service. It reminded me of my mission trip to Brazil, where the the altars became so packed that the isles were filled with people!

The first day was obviously a big success and I was so excited to see what God would do the next day!