i know we all say this as a year ends...but i'm going to join in the masses anyway and say "i can't believe it's already December.."...with Christmas around the corner, and a new year beckoning...the older i get the harder it is to wrap my mind around how quickly time seems to fly...

and it has been a whirlwind of a year....a year of experiencing parts of life i've never had the chance to taste before starting this journey in Africa...some good experiences...some sweet and joyful...some bitter and hard...and painful...

despite all of that, though... God stays the same.
He really is a rock.
to stand on.
He doesn't move...
and i'm thankful.

i know it's been a few months since my last post...but just wanted to share a few highlights...

a while ago, I had the privilege of doing henna for a bride...it's tradition to get henna done for ceremonies like weddings...it was my first time to do henna on a bride...so i made lots of mistakes..but, that's how you learn, right?
I designed the story of Ruth for her feet..and then for her hands i did designs for some verses in Song of Songs 8:6-7 ("Set me as a seal upon your heart...")...
I was only able to do the planned designs on her hands and arms...we still got to tell her the story of Ruth, but we ran out of time and ended up just doing random designs on her feet...

it doesn't look like much, but it was so much work, and took hours...and my hand hurt so bad..ha. but it was a cool experience...and good practice ..




In Sept. I took two trips, one to London for a arts in missions conference, and the other was to kenya...
here are some pics from london...it hasn't changed much since spending a semester there several years ago...



we only got to do like a day and a half of sight seeing in central London..however such a short time did not keep me from one of my favorite places... i went to starbucks 3 times in that day and a half :)...i miss that place...it felt like home :)...


this was the college we stayed at for the conference..it was about 45 min. by train outside of the heart of London...


the artist in residence at this college was an amazing, vibrant, creative, full of joy and life..woman...and she was my favorite part about the week ha...she would paint during worship, and would encourage others to do the same...

she also had an exhibit set up at the college, and walking through looking at her pieces was a worship experience in itself...

she has my dream job...

here is some of her work that I really liked...





a day after getting back from London, i left for kenya to participate in a retreat my home church hosted...it was such a refreshing time...surrounded by people who truly care...are such incredible supporters and mighty prayer warriors...(thank you, Pinelake...for being so amazing...)







and last but not least, i got to do art during a worship service at the church i'm involved in here...They had a Missions week, and one of the pastor's gave me his sermon before preaching it, and i got to do art to illustrate what he spoke about...

it was just cool to use art to encourage the body of Christ...just as musicians encourage the church by leading people to the throne through song, it was cool to get that same opportunity..except through visual art...(well, at least i hope it was encouraging ha)...

the sermon was based out of Psalm 136...

if you look closely at the Psalm, you can break it down into 5 themes...it starts out talking about God and who He is, then it goes into creation..then salvation...then deliverance, and then daily life...Then, the phrase "for his steadfast love endures forever" is threaded throughout all of it...

i started out w/ 3 big panels set up on easels...

in the middle panel I painted a young girl..not having tapped into the steadfast love of God ...



Then, I took the middle painting off...and underneath was this phrase...which is verse 23 of the psalm...


under each word, i did a painting for that theme of the psalm...so one at a time i took the words off and underneath was the painting...


so, the first is creation...to represent when the psalm talks about God creating the heavens and the earth...and man..
then, salvation...since the psalm talks about God delivering the Israelites from Egypt with a mighty hand...


then deliverance...it goes into God delivering Israel from all her oppressors...so the painting is supposed to represent God delivering us from our oppressors today...to free us from our slavery of sin...not so we can be free to sin, but so we can be free to follow and obey Him...and experience Him...

and then daily life... to represent God providing for our every need...(vs. 25 "He who gives food to all flesh, for his steadfast love endures forever")


the last step was uncovering the middle part one last time (the phrase that said "He who remembered us in our low estate")...and underneath was this painting...it's supposed to be the girl from the beginning...with hope now that she is in the arms of our God...who is able to save to the uttermost those who call on him...
whose steadfast love is from everlasting to everlasting....

and the faces at the bottom represent people of "all nations"...because God wants all peoples...to the ends of the earth...to experience His steadfast love...

so, this is what it looked like at the end...
not sure if it made sense...
but it was fun at least...and cool to worship my God through art...

anyway..so that's all for now...

may you all be blessed during this holiday season and find joy and peace in the presence of our God...

so, here's some work I just finished for various projects....hope you enjoy!

One of my teammates has done LOTS of work putting together people group profiles...photos are unavailable for many of the groups, so she let me paint portraits to put in place of a photo...there will be more to do, I think...but, these are the ones I have finished thus far...


Manyika of Mozambique


Krim of Sierra Leone



Hausa of Ethiopia


Hausa of Sudan


Luyana of Namibia


Chopi people


Marghi of Nigeria


Also, I did a few more henna paintings to give as gifts...


Story of Mary and Martha


Story of Elijah when God spoke to him through a still, small voice...


In July, the Flavors of Africa project was finally launched...here's one more painting from that series....





anyway, that's all for now...

May you're day be blessed and filled with the Joy of our God....

Henna:

The art of henna painting on the body is a practice that has existed for centuries in India, Africa, and the Middle East. Carine Fabius, in her article Mehndi: The Art of Henna Body Painting, talks about how even as far back as 1200 B.C., henna was used by the ancient Egyptians to dye their nails and hair, as well as dying animal skins and textiles. Since the henna plant contains cooling properties, even women living in the hot Indian deserts would paint their skin to cool down their body temperatures. Henna is "traditionally practiced for wedding ceremonies, during important rites of passage, and in times of joyous celebration. A paste made from the crushed leaves of the henna plant is applied to the skin, and when removed several hours later, leaves beautiful markings on the skin that fade naturally over 1 to 3 weeks."

Despite henna's ancient history, it is still practiced today. Various pockets of people groups around the world still hire henna artists to decorate their skin for celebrations or special occasions...or even just for the fun of it...

The thing about henna is that it has no meaning....it's mainly for decoration, so the designs are solely decorative and are not painted for any purpose other than to be beautiful designs on a woman's skin...

until now....

The last project I got to work on involved henna. But instead of just learning henna for henna's sake, I had the privilege of learning henna designs that actually tell Bible stories...M's working in South East Asian countries developed a bible storying set using henna designs, turning bible characters, events, places, etc. into symbols that could be placed in intricate designs...so, when the designs are painted on a woman's hand who is not a believer, she's actually signing up to have painted on her hand a redemptive story that has the potential of changing her life...a story that could be an open door to lead her to a saving knowledge of Christ...

The past few weeks, I've got to spend lots of time practicing henna, and even designing some bible stories not yet created in the Bible story set....

and, two Sundays ago, I got to join another m in a henna party, where she invited national ladies who were not believers to come and let me practice henna on their hands...and with each story, a Bible story was told....which means with each story, His love...in a way...was being written on their arms ....and hopefully the Spirit will work in mighty ways...since His word does not return void.

It was an awesome experience...to get to use a unique form of art to plant His truth in the lives of women who desperately need His peace...


...stacie graciously let me practice on her feet while she was logging thousands of photos...



...the stories I did on her feet: this one tells the story about the sinful woman who anointed Jesus' feet with expensive perfume, and her tears, and then wiped them with her hair...



this is the story of creation...



..this is one I got to design...it's the story of Abraham and Isaac, when God tested Abraham's faith...



...this is another one I got to design...it's the story of the Passover...when God led the nation of Israel out of Egypt...



...this is the creation story, but it's easier to see as a drawing than on a foot ha :)...(and i didn't design this one...it was already created)

These next two paintings are henna paintings...in the long process of learning where to get henna powder, how to make the paste, etc., 2 nationals helped us tremendously, tutoring us on how to make it, and then encouraging us as we attempted to draw the henna...(one of which said, after he saw my very first attempt at it, "you must practice on EVERY hand you see"...haha...in other words... "you have a LONG way to go..." haha...but, it's been fun to learn)...

anyway. to thank them, I painted them each a painting...I used henna designs, but put color to them...and, well. paint. instead of henna...

this first painting is the story of John 4...with the woman at the well...we got to show these paintings to the ladies at the henna party also, and it led to some awesome conversations....so that was super cool.
(explanation: the heart with the cross in it at the bottom right corner represents Jesus, and the flower above the heart represents the woman. in the middle, there is a circle with other circles surrounding it...that represents the well...with 2 jars on either side. the jar turned upside down represents the jar the woman was drawing water from. the 6 hearts inside that jar represent the 6 men in her life...her 5 husbands, and the man she was with at that time who was not her husband. the other jar that's white represents Jesus, and the water he offers. The sun above the white jar represents the Light of Christ that exposes our sin...the rays arch over and hit the woman's jar...because Jesus exposed her sin, and freed her after it was brought to the light...the blue swirls throughout represent water...the water He gives which is a spring leading up to eternal life...and finally the little stars at the top represent all the people who believed in Jesus because of the woman's testimony.)

(this painting is the story of Abraham and Isaac when God tested Abraham's faith...it starts in the left corner with the 2 stars...one for Abe, and the other for Isaac...the hills with the path leading up to a star represent the path they took leading up to the altar...scripture says they carried fire, wood and a knife with them up to the place of sacrifice...so the fire is there, and the wood and knife are underneath....sort of...next to the fire is the angel who came and stopped Abe from killing his son, and after the angel, there is rams horns caught in a thicket...because God provided a substitute....and then renewed His promise with Abraham)

anyway. sorry this post was SO long. just had lots to share. :) but, if you read this far...thanks so much for caring!!!!

...so my mom and sister came at the beginning of this month, and we had such an awesome time! it was such a blessing...and gift from the Lord, really, to have them come (it was my first time to see them in about 8 months!!!)....i know it seems like forever ago, but I still wanted to post some pics. :)....i wish i knew joburg better, because then I could have shown them some WAY more cool places, but at the same time...it was cool that they got to experience what's normal for me living here day to day, so hopefully when i go home, well...at least 2 people will have a frame of reference and be able to relate when I tell them stories and such ha.
anyway...mom and michelle, thank you SO much for sacrificing your time and money to come see me! it really meant SO much!!!!...and it makes me EVEN more excited about coming home for Christmas. Lord willing. ha. so, Christmas, hurry :).



we went to the lion park one day...no, it was definitely not even close to a safari--where the REAL lions live...but, i guess seeing fake lions is better than seeing none...ha



took mom and michelle to the Organic market....we all stood at a pottery booth for about an hour trying to make decisions...ha...



one cool thing we DID get to do was go to Cape Town. it was my second time to go, but first time driving...and don't worry, i got lost. a lot. but, thankfully, despite that, we still made it to some cool places....



those tiny dots are michelle and mom...and i really didn't feel like i was that far away from them!...



sunset on top of table mountain....we picked the perfect day to go up...and of course it was beautiful....





accidentally cut off the first word of the sign...ha. oops.









A couple of days after my family left, my home church came to do a mission trip in Pietermaritzburg....we worked with an orphanage that cares for some of the most beautiful children I've ever met...most of the kids are aids victims, but are alive today because of the miraculous hand of God....the workers there told us it's rare to go throughout a day working in this place, and there NOT be a miracle....


they're also involved in ministering to families in need...I think, every month they hand out 2 tons of parcels filled with food to families in Sweet Waters, but that doesn't even come close to meeting all the needs...







anyway...guess that's all for now...

i'll leave you with a verse...

"Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory. Whom have i in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."--Ps. 73:23-26