Doing a New Thing

To all of our visitors far and wide who have either come and participated in SI's art ministry or have heard about it and are supporting it through prayer and keeping up with this blog:

Thank you, thank you, thank you for your participation and love for what God is doing in Jarabacoa through the arts. And, thank you for blessing me, Amy Babb, over the last two years as I worked alongside Francisco. I realized recently that I hadn't updated the blog since God called me back to live in America and left you all hanging here!

We had an incredibly successful summer painting murals in El Callejon (59 murals in all) and ended the summer with a dedication service. The community came out and we sang worship songs together and heard several testimonies of just how these powerful pieces of art are affecting their lives. It was a huge blessing for all involved.

At the end of summer, I had to say many sad goodbyes as I left behind the kids I had grown so attached to in El Callejon and especially Francisco and his family. It was very hard leaving the ministry knowing that we did not have someone at the ready to take my place (hence the reason the blog has not been updated!) Yet, we know that God is faithful in all things and is doing a new thing!

Until another comes along who can update this blog in English, feel free to visit www.stint.com and send an email requesting information on what's happening currently with Francisco and the art ministry.

Again, thank you for your prayers, patience and support.

God Bless!

Paint your face the color of hope!

We are halfway through summer already!  Due to the fact that I was down for 6 weeks after having some minor surgery, this is coming a little late.  I am pleased to announce, however, that we have started up the mural project in El Callejon again and are having great results!  Our first art team of the summer was lead by Nate Slabach, our staff pastor here at SI in the DR.  Because I needed to stay at home and let my foot heal, he jumped right in and supported our artists who came from the east coast.  One of the crew, Benjamin, decided to take on the challenge of addressing the prevalent issue of 'missing fathers'-- a reality many of the children of El Callejon deal with.  Below you will see his depiction of a family with the space where a father should be whited out.  To the right in the background is an image of Jesus, pointing towards the family, directing the father back to where he needs to be.  Below that you see the father bringing food to the kids.

11 yr. old Mikael, who has been silently watching us paint for the last year, finally approached Benjamin while he was painting and asked him what the painting meant.  Mikael's father left when he was very little and has not maintained contact with him.  Nate shares the story of how Mikael responded to this mural and to us on his blog.   You can go here  to read the story. Anyway, ever since then, Mikael hangs out with us every day and gets as many hugs as he can.

Check out the rest of these beauties!!

Springity-Ding-Ding!

Just a quick update to let you know what's been goin' on with us here at the art site.  We had 4 successful outreaches this Spring, each coming from different parts of the country: Jupiter Christian School in Florida, James Madison University in Virginia, Wintonbury Church in Connecticut, Front Porch Ministry from SLO California and a high school youth group from Chowchilla, California. Whew!  In all, we painted murals at the new Los Higos preschool and did an art activity with the students there, we painted signs for the same preschool and for our new social work site in Los Higos, spent 3 days at our special ed school, Genesis, doing activities centered around the rainbow of God's promise, painted tables and  benches for the Mata Gorda preschool, kick-started the next phase of mural paintings in El Callejon, did art in the park, art by the river, and art at the art school.  Needless to say I was covered in paint for over a month!! I had a fantastic time getting to know each individual and know that each site we contributed art to is very thankful!

Back in the Swing

Thanks for checking back in! I realize it's been months since I've updated this site-- most of that due to the fact that I, personally, had a very long winter break spent back in the States and have been ill off and on every since I got back!

I am glad to report that things are still going really well with us at the Escuela d'Arte. We have a few new students this year, which is always fun, as well as many returning students. One student in particular I want to share about.
Gary started coming to our school about a year and a half ago. He is an 18 yr. old from Haiti who came over to the DR to study Masters in Construction. I have asked him several times what this exactly means, but I am still unclear. He is learning construction and all the elements involved, but not actually DOING construction. I don't know. Anyhow, he is living with an ex-patriot English woman who is sponsoring him. She has sent many students to our school over the years and is one of our most avid local supporters.
When Gary first started coming, he could barely draw a straight line. For months Francisco and I literally thought he had vision problems because he just couldn't draw for the life of him. Yet, he persisted. Just yesterday he finished his first every Acrylic painting and I almost cried. I have learned much from this young man, who, through every kind of adversity thrown at him (growing up in the poorest nation in the world, being the only Christian in his entire VooDoo family, immigrating to a nation that is extremely racist against Haitians...) persists and endures. He speaks four languages. He openly worships Christ through constant singing. And he is becoming a great artist.
Often times when I think about giving up, I think of Gary. He is always the first student to show up in the afternoons and the last one to leave-- and always reluctantly. He comes every single day, often asking for suggestions on how he could do better and always thanking us with a sincere heart for teaching him. This is the kind of heart I wish to have before God and others: humble, thankful, perseverant and joyful.
I wish I had photos of some of Gary's first drawings (hmmm, I should ask him to bring some!) to post today, but here are a couple of him (one of him learning from Francisco and the other of him standing with the beginnings of his first painting):