Capturing the Beauty
Anyone who knows John and I, knows that we love art, architecture, and design. When we travel, we always frequent art galleries, sculpture gardens, and gravity-defying buildings. Occasionally, we lug home an artsy memento or two.
Art is one of the ways our workers express their passion for the people they serve. I recently commissioned one of our Swedish workers, Maria Schilling, to paint Oceanview Township, Cape Town, South Africa where she and her husband have served the past seven years. I asked her to capture her feelings for the people and exude the essence of this colored* community. In her own words, “I really wanted to pour my heart into this painting as it has so much meaning for me and truly comes from my heart. As I was painting it, I kept seeing more things that I didn’t want to miss out on.” You can see the bold warm brushstrokes of her painting and hear the cadences of her heart for her people in a special video (click the image below to view the video):
Our work to serve people is beauty. It takes the beauty (literally means “favor”) of the Lord to establish the work of our hands. One of the verses I pray most regularly for my work is Psalm 90:17 (NKJV):
"And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us,
And establish the work of our hands for us;
Yes, establish the work of our hands."
Sometimes our work is so hard and complicated that the challenges dominate our thoughts and the messiness darkens our hearts. But when we take time to paint the faces of the people the Lord has entrusted to us, we will be just like Maria who “kept seeing more things that I didn’t want to miss out on.”
So let’s take a step back and again capture God’s heart for the people that the Lord has given us to serve. What patterns will emerge from your art about your people? We could express our sentiments by drawing a picture, writing a poem, journaling, dancing, quilting, photographing, or videotaping. May the beauty of the Lord establish the work of our hands to serve his people well. And may the trials of our work never drown out our fondness for the people. And may we take time to paint our affection, stroke by stroke. Our work is loving people.
Blessings,
Mary Ho
*An official term referring to a multiracial ethnic group in South Africa.
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