From California to Ohio, from Mazatlán to Melbourne, our little cohort-that-could has been creatively spending our ‘outreach phase’ from within our homes. We’ve been calling it ‘international outreach’, haha. I realize that probably sounds rather confusing to some, especially YWAMers that are so used to hitting the mission field with just your backpack and bible in tow (which by the way, I was 100% ready for!). But I am so grateful that our leaders decided to seize this opportunity to use what we have, from where we are, at a time that probably needs our art more than ever before. After all, there’s basically a captive audience just waiting for new content to flash across their screens right before us. Why not take this chance to use all of these online platforms well?
I wanted to give you all a little glimpse of some mini art that I’ve been working on the past month. These will be leaving my hands very soon and getting mailed out to friends and family across the country that have been on my heart. It may be you! Some of these pieces were created for a specific person in mind; others, the image came first and the giftee came after, with some thought and prayer. Each piece was inspired by a character in the bible and their admirable characteristics, particularly their special relationships with God. One of the cool things about gifting art like this is that you just never know what God will do with it once it exits your bubble. My job is done, now God will use these to speak whatever He needs to speak.
For funsies, here are few clues for you to try and guess which character belongs to which card *answers on bottom
Barnabas: Whose name means, ‘son of comfort’. Sold his field, aka source of income, food, status, and comfort as an offering to the Lord.
Stephen: “Lord Jesus, receive my Spirit.” Faithful servant, friend, and advocate who up until his stoning assumed his role as translator between father and creation. A true saint.
Mary(sister of Martha): Loved extravagantly with a singular focus. When people stared at her in shock and incredulity she stuck to her guns.
Asher: Happiest of tribes, blessed with an abundance of olive oil. “May you always feel like you’re God’s favorite!”
*Answers: (1. Row1, Column2) (2. Row2, Column1) (3. Row3, Column1) (4. Row1, Column1)
I had a swell time diving a little deeper into each character, particularly the more obscure ones that I’d never paid any mind to before. I can’t tell you the dozens of times I’ve glazed over the name Barnabas without really giving his story a second thought. Perhaps there’s a name in the bible that you’ve always taken for granted or assumed you knew everything about them because the 5 verses in the bible that mention them. But oh, are those powerful verses. It was a privilege spending time with these saints and martyrs of the past.