starting off the new year. 

Aurora Rodriguez, center, prays with members of the Ministerios Restauracion Ebenezer Church at the former site of the Blue Lagoon Waterslide Park in Vacaville. The Ministerios Restauracion Ebenezer Church recently purchased the land and plans to turn the site into a retreat center.

This image is © 2014 Fairfield Daily Republic and may not be reprinted or used without permission.

the solano county islamic center wants to expand.

this image is © 2013 Fairfield Daily Republic and may not be reprinted or used without permission.

Through the curtains.

Channeling one of my favorites from Sam Abell.

this image is © 2013 Fairfield Daily Republic and may not be reprinted or used without permission.

hoops, hip-hop and hope.

The On Eagles' Wings ministry came to Rapid City to bring the “resurrection to the reservation." The 40 person young adult group uses hoops, hip-hop and hope to evangelize to teens and young adult Native Americans. “We go where the youth hang out,” Joe Donnell, 33, a Native American evangelist, said. In Native communities, that often means a basketball court.

In the first photograph, Tyrone Sudden Brave, laying on the court, prays with Joe Donnell, center top, and other members of the On Eagles' Wings group while waiting for the ambulance after he badly injured his leg during a pick-up basketball game.

these images are © 2012 Rapid City Journal and may not be reprinted or used without permission.