People tend to chase after big things. But God can use small things to glorify His name.
Steven Faucette, a member of Rock Springs Baptist Church in Easley, wandered around the Hilton hotel where he was staying and met a hotel employee. Faucette said, “We began to chat a bit and got to talking about my photography as I had my camera in my hands.”
Faucette showed the worker a few of the decorative refrigerator magnets that he made and offered her one. She chose a magnet with a hummingbird because she said it reminded her of God’s presence, and then they prayed together.
Faucette is a self-employed computer technician in Williamston, S.C. In his spare time, he uses photography to make greeting cards, postcards, bookmarks, and magnets. Faucette captures flowers, butterflies, mountains, and birds with his camera. But he also enjoys photographing trains and hot air balloons. (You can find his work here: https://www.agilitypix.com/home).
“Faucette captures flowers, butterflies, mountains, and birds with his camera.”
What’s so important about someone doing photography?
“Because God gave me a gift and I’m using it,” he said. “I don’t see it as promoting me. I want to inspire people to read the Bible and to worship.” Faucette continued, “The butterflies inspire, the wildflowers inspire, everything inspires [us] to worship at some point.”
Whether someone likes butterflies or has a loved one who likes trains, Faucette hopes his pictures will make an emotional connection. His motivation is “to inspire people to read the Scriptures.” He finds creative ways to include Scripture in his works. Both his magnets and bookmarks often have biblical references.
Faucette likes to make bookmarks because they are simple, and something one can hold onto. He said he gives them out to people of all ages and hopes to pique their interest in picking up a Bible and seeing what else God has to say.
He has taken his bookmarks to restaurants, botanical gardens, and even his alma mater, Furman University. He said that even the college kids love them.
Faucette said giving out a bookmark may impact someone whom you don’t expect it to. “You can’t think that somebody’s not going to want it,” he said.
It’s rare for Faucette to hear back from someone who he’s given a bookmark to, but he doesn’t do it for renown. He said, “I always felt like, ‘Well, if I get praise and honor and glory here, then I’m not going to get it in eternity.’” He continued, “I try to invest in eternity more than anything. I want to know that something I’ve done matters” (Matt. 6:1-4).
He recalled one truth that was shared with him years ago by his dad that’s from an old poem, “Only one life, twill soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last” (“Only One Life, Twill Soon Be Past,” C.T. Studd).
Early in his life, Faucette had a desire for ministry. He sang in the church choir and participated in music workshops. By the end of high school, he knew how to play the French horn, trombone, trumpet, and the basics of flute. Faucette even attended a ministry camp at Anderson College.
“I thought I was destined to be in church music,” Faucette said.
But God had other plans. After high school, Faucette enrolled as a music major at Furman University. But during his sophomore year, Faucette flunked music theory.
“It devastated me to be told I could not continue in the music program at Furman,” said Faucette. So, he switched his major to religion.
Faucette said, “Some people just seem to know what they are good at and what type of job where they will be successful. That’s not me.”
But throughout his life, there was a skill developing in the background. While he was in college, Faucette served in the audio-visual department, and he gained experience with a video camera. After college he took classes in drama and lighting and worked at a local cable T.V. company through a communication arts program at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Though he knew much about film, he didn’t explore photography until he went through a difficult season in his life. Faucette said he heard about digital photography but didn’t have the funds for it.
It wasn’t until after he was inspired by a Sunday message at church that he chose to pursue photography. After the sermon, he decided to dedicate his photography skills to God. Faucette said he told God, “If you help me pay for a digital camera, I’ll do it for your glory.”
He began with a point-and-shoot Kodak camera that was far from being professional. He had no editing software, just the camera and lens. He loved waterfalls and took hikes to capture them. Overtime, Faucette developed his skills, bought better equipment, and began to use his photography for postcards, greeting cards, business cards, bookmarks, and magnets. Much of his work is sold in various souvenir shops across South Carolina. But he continues to give his work away for free when there is an opportunity to minister.
Faucette includes fun facts and a Scripture reference on the back of the bookmarks.
Faucette has made an impact on many who have received his bookmarks. But making an impact doesn’t mean perfection. Faucette said he’s felt like he’s failed God often, but God has been faithful. His mercies are new every morning (Lam. 3:22-23).
Faucette’s encouragement to readers is to “discover your passion or gift. Give it to God [and] see how He develops it to build His kingdom.” He said, “Just get out there and do it and see what happens.” He added, “It’s not likely to be something that happens immediately but rather one step at a time.”
Faucette said he never realized that photography could be used for ministry.
“You just never know what God’s got planned behind something like that,” Faucette said. “It could be something so simple as a bookmark.”
Scripture passages for reflection: 1 Cor. 1:26-30; 2 Cor. 4:7.
—You can connect with Steven Faucette by emailing him at sfaucette@charter.net.