Missionary photo contest 2020: Culture winners

January 2021

What a year we’ve all experienced—and as our missionaries lived through it, many of them documented moments both momentous and mundane. Our SEND Missionary Photo Contest highlights these amazing images. Today’s Culture winners reflect the diversity of places in which SEND workers minister, from urban settings to very remote regions of the world.

Street food festival in Kyiv, Ukraine

First place: The warmth of simple pleasures

Photo by Dave Benzel, Bible teacher in Ukraine

Even though it is freezing cold out (maybe not Siberia, but still below 0 F with a stiff wind), people are out and about in downtown Kyiv, celebrating the winter holidays! I endured the cold just to be a part of it all and enjoy "society" (and the good food). My cultural background (Southern California) does not celebrate cold weather or even beings outdoors in large crowds (except at the beach!); God sent me to a cold climate and a culture that has taught me to embrace winter and simple pleasures!

Second place: Is it safe?

Photo by Brandon Fischer, church planting in Interior Alaska

Sept. 1-25 is moose season in our area of Alaska. Alaska bush village people live a subsistence lifestyle, gathering and harvesting from the land. Moose are the biggest animal harvested to help fill the freezer for the eight-month winter. We are only allowed to harvest bull moose in our area, and sometimes they seem impossible to find, even though you may pass cow moose after cow moose. In this picture, the cow stands boldly out in the open while the bull peeks out of the willows to see if it is safe. What he doesn’t know is that this photo was taken soon after Sept. 25, when he no longer could be hunted.

Illuminated umbrellas in Japan

Third place: Light shines in the darkness

Photo by Tiffany Neufeld, SEND Japan

The Japanese love nature. To highlight some of the fall colours, Showa Kinen Park in Tokyo had an illumination event that featured Japanese maple trees in pretty reds and yellows. The last part of the path had a field with this display of wagasa (Japanese paper umbrellas). Traditionally a wagasa is used in many cultural events and ceremonies in Japan. While I love the aesthetic of this display, I think it also shows how light (like Christ's) can shine through a culture.

Check out these photo contest winners from past years!
2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016

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