Alright friends- here is my part two from my adopt a box supporter art inspired by my race. Part one is here if you missed it. As I did before I’m adding a few links here and there of old relevant blogs in case you’re interested. Enjoy!
The Philippines (Month 7)
In the Philippines we worked with Kids International Ministries. Our host had been wanting to work on a mural project that would involve a hashtag scavenger hunt involving multiple murals which visiting teams could go looking for. I had the pleasure of being appointed to be project manager in getting this vision started. I helped brainstorm the hashtag (#kidshiddengems) and I organized work on multiple murals that we painted while were were there.
The piece for this month is a gemstone in the style of the ones I painted on the mural at their headquarters. I also used this lovely greenish blue color for the background, which is reminiscent of one of my favorite bodies of water I’ve ever jumped into:
Here is an Instagram post of me painting gemstones
And some of the gemstones I painted
Argentina (Month 8)
We worked on a YWAM base in Argentina and had the pleasure of meeting some incredible people. One of them was a painter named Jorge. At the end of the month he said he had a gift for us. It was a massive painting of a heart. He explained to us that it symbolized the church as the body of Christ, and how we each play a different role in bringing Jesus to the world (1st Corinthians 12). He then proceeded to cut the painting into six pieces, and gave one to each of us. This is a small version I made based on my section. I’m still so impacted by this sweet gift, and wow have you ever watched an artist cut up their painting in front of you? While talking about the heart of Christ?? It’s powerful.
You find the full story in this blog post. (I lapsed into poetry at the end if that increases your interest at all)
Chile (Month 9)
This was a fun one. Chileans have so much hospitality. This was true of so many of the countries we went to but Chile in particular makes me think of tea and cookies and coffee and all sorts of delicious homemade things our hosts and others made for us. The napkin on this piece is actually from Chile, from one of these teas that the church ladies would do every week. Another delightful thing about Chile is the coast. One day our host took us on an outing to the beach and I saw some of the most breathtakingly blue water I think I’ve ever seen in the ocean.
Bolivia (Month 10)
When I think about Bolivia this is the image that immediately comes to mind. During our time there, my team spent over 100 hours in busses, visiting about half a dozen different places in the country. It was both breathtakingly awe inspiring and completely terrifying to look out the bus windows and see the jungle stretched out beneath you, or to be trundling along a little dirt rode that traced the very top ridge of a mountain with the clouds enveloping you. We spent a lot of the time during those bus rides just praying safety and protection. This was one of the times I had the strongest sense of my life being completely in God’s hands. But instead of the fear you might expect, I settled into an overwhelming peace- a peace that passes understanding. It was like relaxing and leaning back and finding the Father’s arms wrapped around me.
A short summary/review of our time in Bolivia
Peru (Month 11)
For Month 11 my team and I spent our time slowly working our way up the coast doing ATL and making our way toward Equador for final debrief. We spent about a week in a little beach town where we got to meet some lovely people and have some amazing encounters with the Lord and what He had for us there. We stayed pretty much right on the coast and I spent a lot of time walking on the beach. I’ve been to a lot of beaches (now all over the world) but this one had the. coolest. rocks. ever.
Seriously- I took a good 40 pictures of just rocks. They were so cool.
But they weren’t just rocks. For me these rocks were an encounter with the Lord. Here I am geeking out about some rocks and God starts giving me these insights and reminders through them. First I get this overwhelming sense of the Father’s closeness and how He delights in my delight. He knew how much I would love those rocks and as I walked around looking at each one it was like he had taken special care making each and every one of them especially for me and so that I could enjoy them. I also was struck by the fact that no two rocks were the same. They were all unique and beautiful in their own way. It feels like an old cliché but its so true and so deeply moving if you really let yourself think about it. God made you completely unique and beautiful and he delights in you.
Cliché or not, I had a really lovely time with Jesus looking at some rocks on a beach in Peru.
Because I know you’re dying of curiosity, here are a few of the 40+ pictures I took of said Peruvian beach rocks.
And that’s a wrap! I will be doing a random drawing to see which of my supporters these pieces will go to. Maybe you’ll get one! Big big thanks (once again) to each and every one of you. Thank you for supporting me and praying for me and reading my (sometimes extremely delayed) blogs (better late than never ya know), and just making all of this possible in general. You all are the best and I am extremely grateful. Sending love and prayers and hoping you all are doing well in these strange and uncertain times. Here’s to a new year and all of the things that the Lord is going to do in it.
Much love and God Bless,
-Hattie
Happy New Year. I’m following you as I did when you were far away. So glad you had an edifying “year “. The bus on the Mt. reminded me of Peru. I did the same thing by trusting God to keep us from falling off !!!! Loved the cool rocks and the art work, ?? love you so much and wish you a happy birthday ?? in 2 days. Nana
This is beautiful – when I think of Bolivia, that is the exact image that comes to my mind too ??
Thanks for sharing these photos and your art.