GOD'S PLAN

"God's Plan" is a documentary photography project that follows a character named Jim Pitcher, an 80-year-old retired unmarried person who went to China in 2007 and fell in love with the Chinese people, culture, and food. He began teaching English in China and after coming back to Syracuse, he established the Chinese-American Friendship Association (CHAFA) to create a second home for Chinese students. He began to tour Syracuse with students and organize different cultural events. At present, CHAFA is a hub for all international students from all different institutions, and also local residents. Jim believes his journey and CHAFA are all part of God's plan.​

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But when I talked with him about CHAFA, I sensed there were much more conflicts embedded in his story. That curiosity made me follow Jim as a protagonist and find the conflicts in his story. It took me several meetings and multiple long conversations for many days with him only to discover about his past familial traumas, sexual traumas, his support community group, his healing journal, his faith as a Christian, his 80 years of single life and the actual social impact that CHAFA is making.​

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God’s Plan explores the social realities, crisis and psychological dilemma through Jim’s personal life, and the religious and social point of view of Jim about the journey from his trauma healing process to CHAFA. ​