A lot of people have asked how we started The Archibald Project, and honestly it is one of my favorite stories to share:

Nick and I had been married for about two years when I felt a stirring in my spirit that something completely new was headed our way. Nick was an airline pilot at the time, and I was a wedding photographer. At the beginning of 2011, I sensed a feeling that I was supposed to reach out to an old friend and ask if I could photograph her two-year-old daughter. So I did...

The entire shoot I wasn’t quite sure why I was there. I kept praying, “Why am I here? Why am I doing this photo shoot for free?” I didn’t sense an answer, so I just assumed it wasn’t about me and kept shooting. Towards the end of the session, I asked the mom if they were going to have more children and she answered, “Well, we’re actually in the process of adopting.”

It felt like the clouds parted, and I heard a voice deep in my heart, “You’re supposed to go with them and document their adoption.” So I looked at my friend and said, “I think I’m supposed to go with you to Bulgaria and photograph your adoption.” And of course she was like, “Uh, well...let me talk to my husband...” and I was like, “Oh yeah, let me talk to my husband too!” Because Nick was an airline pilot, we were able to travel last minute to Bulgaria, enabling us to document the adoption of a seven-year-old boy with Down Syndrome.

It was the most beautiful and humbling experience of our lives. We were able to witness from behind our cameras a family choosing to love a boy just because. This child did nothing to earn his adoption or his family, he was chosen.

A few weeks later, after we had returned home and put the photos on Facebook, I received a message from a complete stranger, “We are now adopting a five-year-old who is chronically ill from Ukraine. If it had not been for your photos we would have never found our son.” That was the moment when we realized the power of storytelling to inspire people into action.

We formed our orphan care advocacy 501c-3 soon after and named it after the little Bulgarian boy who’s adoption started it all. Archibald.

Since this first adoption we have traveled internationally 19 times to work with families and organizations seeking to holistically fight the orphan crisis. We’ve learned the hard way who to trust, and who not to. We’ve learned that when it comes to vulnerable people we must investigate and ask hard questions because people’s lives are at stake, and people are worth it! We’ve seen corruption and redemption, and our hearts bleed for the vulnerable children and families who so often experience unethical standards.

Our desire is to see the orphan crisis eliminated. This does not mean there will no longer be orphans in the world, but this means that every child will have a safe and healthy home environment where they have the opportunity to develop and thrive! And this, my friend, is worth devoting our entire lives to, because we truly believe this can be accomplished in the next generation.