Sunday, April 25, 2010

Bringing God to the Fight

Mount Pleasant resident Jody Bass, owner of Faith Fighting, holds a picture from his adolescence. As a youth, Bass had many run-ins with the law and decided after facing jail time to turn his life over to Christ. He is now a father of three, attends seminary school and works at Staples while managing Faith Fighting. “Nobody is too far gone. Man, I can’t express that enough,” Bass said. “Even if at first it’s not about God, what’s wrong with bettering yourself?”


The past month or so I have been working to tell the story of Jody Bass. I'm so thankful I had the opportunity to tell Jody's story, but I'm also very thankful I met him.

Jody is from Mount Pleasant, Mich. He has a troubled past, but has since moved on. He's now an active member of Potter's House Church, a father of three wonderful children, and a husband. He also works full-time at Staples and owns Faith Fighting, a Mixed Martial Arts training facility.

Bass is someone who choose to do the right thing in life. He has grown from his past and has turned his anger into a passion. He truly cares about his community and seeks to make the world a better place. He is not a pushy Christian, rather he is embracing. He listens without judgment or persecution.

In many ways Bass has given me faith in the church. He is an example of what we should all strive be. A genuine, selfless person, who seeks to help others.

Thanks to everyone who helped me in some facet of this story. I'm so thankful to the Bass family for accepting me, a total stranger, into their lives and allowing me to document it.

Some people travel to third world countries to document life. Some want to be photojournalist to expose all of the hatred and negativity in the world. For me, I'm content with covering everyday life. I think their is a lot of beauty in being normal.

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Saturday, April 17, 2010

Faith Fighting



Recently I have been working on a story on a man named Jodi Bass. Bass is owns an MMA training facility here in Mount Pleasant, Mich. He's also going to seminary school, hence the name of is business if Faith Fighting.

Last weekend I attended church at Potter's House with Bass and his family. During some down time I made this photo. It's amazing what happens when your bored and you start looking at things differently.