With love from Phoenix: Happy Arizona Day!

It’s February 14th and you know what that means—Arizona Day! In honor of the Grand Canyon State, we are shining the spotlight on our newest church, Mars Hill Phoenix, with a photography contest. We put out a call to the church for shots that sum up the multi-faceted state of Arizona. Then we put out a call to the members of our content and design teams to create a panel of photo judges.

And the winner of the gift box packed tight with Resurgence goodies is . . .

Route 66, by Matthew DeYoung

Matthew said, “I got the amazing opportunity to spend time traveling along Historic Route 66 last year. In Seligman, Arizona we stopped at the famous Barber Shop. After spending a few minutes there we were introduced to Angel the Barber himself. This man is credited with actually saving Route 66 and having the government make it a Historic Road. While talking to him I was amazed at his pure joy for the town, the state, and the life that he lives. Angel has been featured in the movie Cars and is a rock-star in this town. While I was shooting he asked if he could see the photos; he continued to pull me over to the bench so he could see the photos that I had shot of his little town. After saying goodbye I walked away and will never be able to get that laugh out of my head. The sincerity and the happiness of that man is something I will never forget.”

Our runner-up is Gerry Groeber:

Gerry explained the background of the name, One Light Images:

“For me personally there is one light in my life and in this world and that is Jesus Christ. John 8:12: “Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’” The connection of light for me both in my beliefs and in photography made the name choice simple. In photography, light is the main component for the image whether in the shadows or the way the sun or light illuminates a subject. In life, for me, the light of Christ is the main component whether in the shadows or in the light.”

Here is a sampling of the photos we received over the course of this contest. Thank you to everyone who participated, and happy Arizona Day.

Anthony Sigala