Bridge the Gap

Community by student Tiffany Bentley

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 06:14:00 +0000

Community.

by Tiffany Bentley

It's a word that we misuse on a daily basis, though it's also something we claim to have achieved. It's an "easy step" in our lives, something that happens naturally. We put it on the shelf, we mark it off our checklist. Done. Accomplished. Out of the way. And we move on.

But community is more than what we have made it out to be, and more important than we comprehend. It is more than showing up, more than talking, more than listening (even though these all play a part in the process). Community is connection. And what better to connect one heart to another than a mutual love for God and, through him, a genuine concern for each other. We fool ourselves if we think, even for a breath, that he is not the thread that bonds us. If one heart breaks, they all should. I am not advocating that we absorb each others problems, but rather, that we be aware of them and offer encouragement in the purest, least self fulfilling way possible. Self righteousness is not love, even though it can convince us other wise. Good intentions can be all too easily twisted if they are not offered from a place of understanding. The challenge is to support each other not by our own strength, but by the strength of God. Without him as the foundation for our relationships we are crumbling towers. We are the charred debris of a barricade. We are tiny scraps of a carefully rendered portrait.

This is more than a place to socialize. How we interact with and regard each other is crucial. We use the analogy of war a lot in the church: "We are soldiers of God, the world is a battlefield for the soul". But do we believe it? Do we fight for each other?

Our lives are not a game. We can no long hide behind the mask of being a child. There is a time to be serious.

The greatest defense against darkness is light. And we have a way to access that light. We have God.

And he desires to see a community established in light.

Postmodern Learning

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 18:41:00 +0000

"What's happening is this – most of today's younger generation and even many of the baby boomers of the 50's, 60's, and 70's prefer to learn through spoken and visual means rather than written word.

Studies have shown this trend. A 2004 study reported that “literary reading in America is not only declining rapidly among all groups, but the rate of decline has accelerated, especially among the young.” This reflects a “massive shift toward electronic media for entertainment and information.”

But this wave is much deeper than a learning style preference, more than just preferring to watch TV and listen to music. There is also a strong move towards relational, non-linear learning.

he problem is that most of our preaching, Bible studies, evangelism and discipleship are reader-oriented and linear-sequential in thought. Also, the post-modern's learning style involves a more 'poetic' language than a scientific language."

This is from http://storyrunners.com

Tribeca Artwork and Artist Statement

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 05:35:00 +0000

The World I’m Always Waiting For

Some experiences simply fall into the recesses of our memory until triggered to recollection. Often through unintended connections to the senses or even in unconscious dreams, these fragments race to and contend with our thoughts. This work reflects a few rather small but significant instances in my life that I have rediscovered in my dreams. I chose three of the most rendered memories I had including a perfect sunset, hellish tales told at summer camp, and the first time a stranger remembered my “usual.” The historical facts of the actual events are quite hazy to me, yet the dreams are vivid. The five weeks I have worked here began with several sculptural environments that are the most accurate descriptions of my dreams. Since then I have madly tried to recreate these in my native two-dimensional mediums finding some success, but unable to capture its fullness. Seeking this ideal I now understand that the current condition of my work, or even our world, is interconnected with my hope for completion as well as my inability to achieve it. Consequently I expectantly rest in the threshold.

-Alex

Very Late Tribeca Update

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 05:24:00 +0000

Hey y’all,

Thanks so much for your prayers over this past summer. I apologize that communication was a bit sporadic. For some reason, this summer like no other seemed to hurdle on so fast and I could barely find the handrail to grasp. I’ve attached the project newsletter that one of our staff wrote. It contains a little bit of a description of the Tribeca Summer Project as a whole and information about each of the tracks. If you need a reminder, I was on the arts track.

I’ll go into more detail about the project in my next newsletter in a week or so, but a few quick words of cool thing God did:

1. He definitely knit the community together and worked a lot of issues out in student’s lives and in staff’s lives through the process of artmaking. While this can be painful at the time, each person on our project voiced how thankful they were that God used New York and the process to refine us majorly.
2. Our staff team was amazing. Everyone gave 110% and were always ready to lend a hand even when something wasn’t their direct responsibility. This is the first year that every single staff member has emphatically stated that they want to come back and staff the project again.
3. People from all walks of life in New York heard and saw the Gospel in a variety of means. Through our artist feasts and our exhibition, we were able to continue the conversation with many of them. I’ll get more into their stories in the next letter, but here’s just a few cool interactions: Two of our students were interviewed by two high school students filming a
documentary on the way the media has distorted women’s self image. One of our students had dealt with an eating disorder and was able to, on camera, share her testimony with these two girls and as a result of the filming, the entire high school class heard the Gospel as well.

At FIT (New York’s famed fashion school), we met a man from the Dominican Republic and a man from Haiti and were able to share about the project and our own relationships with Christ. We also met a fashion major who then proceeded to come to every single one of our artist feasts and would come hang out in studio with us late into the night all the time. I could list story after amazing story after amazing story, but I’ll save that for later.

4. God is doing something at SCAD through the summer project. I was thrilled to have Jenn, one of our student leaders from SCAD Atlanta come to New York this summer and to grow in her own walk with God and in sharing her story. She’s already excited to take back what she learned to SCAD.

5. Personally, he definitely began to refine me in the aspect of leadership as I was constantly faced with either my inability without Him to accomplish something, or when I charged ahead and did it anyway, worked out some of my stubbornness!

I can’t say enough how much I appreciated you bringing us before the Father this summer. I can recall on multiple occasions getting an email, a text, call, or facebook message indicating someone had prayed for the project and almost always, it was very specifically for something we were struggling with just before. Thanks for interceding!

As for next steps, I just returned from our staff conference in Colorado and I’m at my parent’s house in Florida “recuperating” a bit. I’ll be headed back to Atlanta on the fifth. There’s some exciting and at the same time, scary, changes going on this next year with my job role and I’ll be rolling more of that out in the next letter. For now, please just pray for wisdom in preparation for some new things.

Thanks!
Bonnie, or as the Tribeca students called me, “Bonquisha”

Tribeca 09 Update 2

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 11:04:00 +0000

Our show starts in less than two hours! I wish I could have written more to update y’all over the last few weeks. We’ve lost internet at our studio, housing, and office and today I was able to jimmy rig a connection at our housing temporarily. I will send a more detailed update later tonight or tomorrow, but be praying specifically for the students and people from the city that our group has met and have been invited to tonight. Pray for the conversations that are spurred from our installation concerning death, resurrection, and the redemption of the earth.

Tribeca 09 Update 1

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 18:25:00 +0000

So I've been here for two weeks now and I'm already amazed at how well God has knit our team together. Melinda, my co-director and I were just discussing how much we love our staff team and how on top of things they are. They are such servants and have taken their individual roles and run with them. The students arrived about 5 days ago and we have quite the creative and social bunch which is great. Community building and vulnerability is already happening in safe situations.

Tomorrow we have our first day on campus with the students. This week our focus is being good listeners, asking good questions, and exploring well as we do Soularium with college students all over Manhattan. With our understanding that everyone is somewhere on their spiritual journey, either moving towards or away from God, our desire is that the students learn how, in the power and prompting of the Holy Spirit, to connect these individuals stories and struggles with God's epic narrative of creation, brokenness and rebellion, redemption, transformation, and ultimate hope. Pray for us to take steps of faith and to see college student's lives changed this summer.

The students are in the middle of creating their pitches for our collaborative art installation exploring the topics of death, resurrection, and the new earth. We're excited about being able to present our experiences with a holistic Gospel including our own explorations of what it means to be changed by Christ, and to one day be raised back to life and experience a new earth of which we just see a shadow now.

One of our student's grandfathers died yesterday unexpectedly. Please pray for her and the rest of her family and she grieves and figures out plans to return home for the memorial services. Pray for us as a community to grieve with her and to be able to encourage and love on her.

I've posted a few pictures below of our last few days. I hope it shows you just how awesome the community God has brought together truly is!

Thanks so much!

Bonnie, AKA Bonisha

Students performing their "getting to know you" collaborative sketches

On the top of Rockefeller Center with Amy,

one of the staff girls I'm mentoring.

Save 1-800-Suicide

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 04:01:00 +0000

You can find out more information on the site of one of my favorite organizations ever, To Write Love On Her Arms, but if enough money is not donated to the hopeline, it will be taken over by the government and the compassionate and confidential nature of the number will be breached. So...Pick Up the Phone!

Artwork from the show

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 04:56:00 +0000

Some of these photos were taken by me, others by a well-known New York photographer, Alicia Hansen. All of these pieces were produced this summer by students and staff on the Tribeca summer project in response to conversations with God or with people and students in the city. They explore the topic of rehumanization.

In the current culture of consumerism, over stimulation, electronic relationships, isolation, and hipster sarcasm, it is not surprising that the art coming from this culture feels fractured and dehumanized. As Christians, we believe God reconciles us back into relationship with Him through unconditional love. Then, He calls us to be in relationships with one another that mimic this profound love. Rehumanization comes through relationship, forgiveness, and relentless love.

Feel free to browse the artwork, click to see a larger view, and many of the artists have their own websites, so click their names and see what else they're working on. Enjoy!

Jayson Choe

"Snapshots of the City"

Written Word

Whitney Mayer

"Untitled"

Silver Gelatin Print

Tiffany Egbert

"The Return of She"

Digital Photographs

Brandi Voigt

"In Process"

Mixed Media

Joshua Nix and Evan Huwa

Video

Click below to watch the two videos.

Bonnie Whitley

"Till We Have Faces"

Mixed Media

Collaboration:

Matthew Miller, Cam Tran, Jayson Choe, Sarah Kelly

"Pursuit"

Digital Collage

Emily Brink

"Imaginary Sun"

Watercolor on paper

Collaboration:

Desiree Rindahl and Brian Dang

"Undone"

Acrylics on Unstretched Canvas

Ethan Jackson

"I Am More Than Alone"

Mesh Screens, Transparency on Paper

Rebekah Ronnenberg

"Led"

Acrylic Paint, pastels on canvas

Matthew Miller

"Untitled"

Digital Enhancement

Sarah Kelly

"Desire"

Acrylic on Canvas

Collaboration:

Rachel Roehrich, Brandi Voigt, Tiffany Egbert, Carlee Lingerfelt

"Breaking Free"

Mixed Media

Sarah Riedel

"Restoration"

Acrylic, Oil on Canvas

Tim Novak

"5 Minute Sketch"

Video

Watch below

Emily Kilroy

"Still"

Oil paint on canvas

Carole Sconfito

"Untitled"

Mixed media on board

Sarah Kennedy Irwin

"Imago Dei: Dorothy Sayers"

Oil on Panel

Beth Suessenguth

"Valued"

Acrylic on Panel

Collaboration:

Julie Brewer, Angelica Richie, Stephanie Hoon, Emily Kilroy

Collaboration:

Sarah Kennedy Irwin and Bonnie Whitley

"Fix. 167: Interior Anatomy of the Heart"

Woodcut, acrylics, found object

Julie Brewer

"Undone"

Oil on canvas

Desiree Rindahl

"Looking for Love"

Mirror, Acrylic Paint, Plaster Cast

Cam Tran

"Restoration"

Photographs

Jennifer Buell

"NOLA Sister Series"

Photograph transfers, yarn, thread

Collaboration:

Lauren Casler and Carole Sconfito

"Fleet of Feet"

Stoneware clay, acrylic

Each miniature shoe was hand-crafted with the intention of becoming a gift to people that Carole and Lauren meet on the streets of New York City. In the next few days, these shoes will be given to a variety of New Yorkers, including homeless people, businessmen, street vendors, and doormen, along with asking thoughtful questions about their lives. We hope to find out what it's like to walk in someone else's shoes.

Angelica Richie, Kaitlin Niewoehner, and Rachel Roehrich

Dance

Filmed and Produced by Whitney Mayer

Video Installation

Brian Dang

"Heart 2 Heart"

Oil on canvas

Clare Sturni

"Open Expression"

Watercolor, Pen and ink

Sarah Riedel

"Hesitation"

Mixed Media

Collaboration:

Joshua Nix, Rebekah Ronnenberg, Evan Huwa, and Whitney Mayer

Photographs

Lauren Casler

"Will you dance?"

Stoneware clay, metal, ceramic glaze

Evan Huwa

"Dialogue"

Wood, stain, glue

John Cliver

Collaboration:

Beth Suessenguth and Kaitlin Niewoehner

"Rainy Restoration"

Mixed media, dance, painting, music, compilation

On July 5, 2008, at 12:30pm, Beth and Kaitlin performed in Washington Square Park. Beth had four 2x2 canvases set up as Kaitlin prepared to dance in front of them. There were five sections of the piece with distinct themes. Loneliness was represented as blue, despair as green, stress as red, brokenness as brown, and restoration as white. The music began as Beth painted a simple blue picture and Kaitlin danced in a blue shirt. With each change in music, Kaitlin removed a layer of clothing to reveal the next theme represented by colored shirt. At the same time, Beth moved canvases and changed the color of paint. During the last section-restoration-Beth came to dance with Kaitlin, and Kaitlin painted with Beth. The piece was five minutes long.

Watch footage of their performance here.

Carlee Lingerfelt

"The Great Reversal"

Watercolor, Pen, and Ink

Collaboration:

Ethan Jackson, Sarah Kaplan, Joelle Morgan, Timothy Novak

"Untitled Collection"

Watch the footage below.

George Macdonald

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:38:00 +0000

So while I don't necessarily agree with all of his theology, George Macdonald penned a poem about ministry in the city that really resounded with us this summer in the midst of hard times and facing a completely broken city and people.

I said, "Let me walk in the fields."
He said, "No; walk in the town."
I said, "There are no flowers there."
He said, "No flowers, but a crown."

I said, "But the skies are black,
There is nothing but noise and din";
And He wept as he sent me back;
"There is more," he said, "there is sin."

I said, "But the air is thick,
And fogs are veiling the sun."
He answered, "Yet souls are sick,
And souls in the dark undone."

I said,"I shall miss the light,
And friends will miss me, they say."
He answered, "Choose tonight,
If I am to miss you, or they."

I pleaded for time to be given,
He said, "Is it hard to decide?
It will not seem hard in heaven,
To have followed the steps of your guide."

I cast one look to the fields,
Then set my face to the town;
He said, "My child, do you yield?
Will you leave the flowers for the crown?"

Then into his hands went mine;
And into my heart came he;
And I walk in light divine,
The path I had feared to see.

~George MacDonald

Week # Something...I've lost track

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 21:16:00 +0000

I meant to send this email 3 days ago, but our internet went down.

Its been a crazy couple of weeks. I’m very excited about the direction of
the artwork (exploring the idea of re-humanization and what it means to be
fully human as God intended). Students have gone out on campus quite a bit
now and have had so many conversations with people about where they’re at on
their spiritual journey. Many have been able to share their own experiences
with God and testimonies and some have shared the Gospel in a variety of
other means.

You may remember that a student from Savannah College of Art and Design
Atlanta came on the project here in NYC as well. Her name is Stephanie and
we’ve been meeting for the past few months. God totally provided for her to
be here and the funding came in at the 11th hour literally. Last week she
and another student were on campus doing Soularium at Columbia University
and together they shared the Gospel with this girl. She made a decision to
trust Christ that day and they’re setting a time up to follow up with her.
Praise God for new life!

On another note, one of the students here has been seriously ill for the
last week. Please pray for healing and for wisdom for the doctors. We’re
heading to the doctor again today and praying that things get figured out.
I praise God for these students who even though they just met her two weeks
ago have come around her to love on her and pray for her.

Finally, Sy Rogers will be speaking later today to the entire project, all
90 of us (inner city and campus ministry included). He does an amazing talk
about healing and forgiveness for sexual sin. I think many of our students
will be heavily impacted by this. Pray for them to be attentive and to
really glean what God would have for them in this time with Sy.

Thanks so much for your continued prayers. Please pray for me that I would
be filled with the Holy Spirit and be yielding to Him moment by moment. I
think so often I can do things in my own strength without even a second
thought and my desire is to do things out of God’s strength. Pray for me
also as I plan our last few training sessions. That I would speak with
clarity and that my words would be His.

Oh on another note, things with my bank and the debit card situation finally
got worked out and my claim has been processed and approved. I was able to
get a temporary debit card for now. Thanks so much for your encouragement
and prayers in that situation.

Some pictures for you:

Hanging out with some of the girls from the arts track

At the top of the Rockefeller Center with Deanna, a staff girl I'm coaching

Pam and I co-led a Bible Study on the Chicago Summer Project 4 years ago.

Now we're both directors on the Tribeca Summer Project!

Chillin' on the subway

Update from a crazy week

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 19:15:00 +0000

So the students arrived last week and we've been going, going, going. They are a great group and I'm really enjoying getting to know them. Continue to pray for their growth and development this summer as they take steps of faith.

Our focus in the artwork this summer is rehumanization. In other words, we're asking questions about what it means to be fully human and what it means to restore broken humanity to its original creation. We're also exploring our role in that. Its such an important topic, particularly with the lack of relationship happening amongst college students and city dwellers these days. They don't know how to have even a normal conversation with their friends, they're so accustomed to faux relationships on facebook, instant messager, and through texting.

We went out to various parks in the city on Friday in our groups to do Soularium with people that we met along the way. I went out with one of the students and we got into two amazing conversations. One was with a gal originally from Croatia but here on a grant to study at NYU, the evolutionary genetics of one particular type of fish. She came from a Catholic background and said it was very unusual for anyone of faith to be in that field, but that more and more she saw how God's hand was in creation.

The second conversation was with a woman originally from Israel who is currently living in London for three years to work with university students. We didn't even say anything about the topic of rehumanization to her but she opened it up and we had a very long conversation with her about humanity and God and the role that He plays in the restoration of original creation. It was truly amazing. Pray for her. She definitely comes from background in Judaism but seems to have mixed her beliefs with things from eastern religions such as reincarnation. God to her is eternity.

Things seemed to have worked out with my bank account. My claim went through obscenely quickly and was approved, so all the money that was taken out was restored and all fees associated with it as well.

Finally, a quick prayer request. One of the students has been pretty ill this past week (its not contagious) but nearly passed out in church today and we're getting her into the doctor tomorrow. Pray for her quick healing and for the doctor's to have wisdom with her body.

Thanks!

Urgent Prayer Request

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 03:15:00 +0000

Hey y’all,

I have a huge prayer request for you. Yesterday I received a call from my bank letting me know they saw some unusual activity on my card. Turns out someone somehow stole my debit card number and pin and has been charging it up in Atlanta. So far over $600 dollars has been charged. They’ve closed the card down and have the account on temporary hold until everything clears. Thankfully since I have a good bank, with fraudulent charges, they’ll put all the money back and clear any overdraft fees that were incurred. But it will take sometime and I am currently moneyless in New York City. Luckily, some places do take visa here so I’m able to temporarily use my credit card and friends here are helping me out lending me cash until it gets taken care of.

As you can imagine, this is pretty frustrating considering I’m out of town and in a place where I can’t do much of anything but wait. But I am convinced that God is in control as much as I don’t like feeling out of control in this situation. Please pray that it gets taken care of quickly and that nothing else was charged to the card before it was cancelled.

You might recall that about a year and a half ago, my house was robbed and they attempted to steal our identities. Luckily we were able to take care of things in time with our banks and with alerting the Credit Bureau. Please pray that nothing else has been stolen.

This occurred on the day that all the staff arrived here and I am convinced that there’s some hefty spiritual warfare going on here, not just in this situation but in many staff members lives. Some have had to drop out due to last minute medical complications and one of the other project directors here is in major pain.

Please pray for us to trust God in the midst of these situations and to have wisdom in what to do next.

Thanks!
Bonnie

Packing yet again...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 31 May 2008 02:20:00 +0000

So I'm packing yet again, preparing to head to NYC in about a day and eight hours. I thought I'd post up the postcard I sent to many of my supporters to show some prayer requests for the summer.

My next post will be from New York!

Many Travels

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 22 May 2008 16:55:00 +0000

I shudder to think how many miles I've travelled over the last few months, but thankful that God has protected me along the way. I was so blessed to see a former student's graduation from college just a few weeks ago. Courtney attended last year's Tribeca summer project and was one of the girl's I discipled on project. She's now teaching British Lit and Theater to high school students.

Left to Right: Julie, Courtney, and Me!

Julie, pictured above, is a student I've done some phone discipleship with over the last year and gotten to hang out with a few times. She is a Theater student at Winthrop University in South Carolina and is incredibly gifted. She's written some amazing scripts, received awards for directing, and for lead actor. God really put her on my heart last year as her story is very similar to mine in some ways. Pray for her, she's coming to New York City with me this summer and this will be a huge step for her. Since deciding to go on the project, her mother has disowned her. However, in the process, she's discovered that she has several family members she's never met who are strong believers, and are financially supporting her to go to New York!

Just last weekend, I had an opportunity to take a vacation for the first time in a long time and chose to head to San Diego to visit one of my best friends. She and I met while staffing the Chicago Inner City summer project four years ago. We had a great time, watched Prince Caspian in its premiere, and went surfing! I came out with only minor injuries. Note to self-avoid rocks.

(Pre-wave thrashing)

I'm in Florida now and spoke at Mrs. Lawson's Sixth Grade class at First Christian Academy. They are a great bunch of kids with great questions. This week was spiritual emphasis week for them and they've been talking about being firm believers in Christ.

Anyways, that's all for now, getting ready for New York and trying to figure out how to keep my bags under 50 pounds. Couldn't I just fedex myself?

Unveiled07 Promo Video

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 23:03:00 +0000

Check out the Unveiled07 Promo video. For more information about the Unveiled Conference, go to http://www.unveiled07.com

Forgiveness

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 14:26:00 +0000

This is unrelated to my summer in NYC. A final update is still coming on that. I just came from our biennial national staff conference in Ft. Collins, CO that around 5000 staff attended. One of the things they focused on was the tragedy at VA Tech and the 3 Campus Crusade students killed that day. In a seemingly unrelated note, a former UCF student has been developing an amazing short film series going through the basics in a parable style. The first is on forgiveness and is utterly amazing. What really struck me about the video was that he chose to use the journal entry of a slain VA tech student involved in Crusade. Mary Karen Read penned a favorite quote the day before she died. "When a deep injury is done us, we never recover until we forgive."

Exhibition Update

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 20:59:00 +0000

On my last post, you can view some photos of the show. I'll upload some videos in the next few days. It amazes me that in all the craziness of finishing things and building the structure and preparing the gallery, that its finished and how God has been using it. In the next few days I'll write some posts sharing stories of the conversations that we've had with people explaining the pieces and how God has enabled us to share the Gospel and to challenge people to think more deeply about their spiritual lives and life in general. it has truly been amazing.

Pray for tonight. It is the last night of the exhibition and I'll be working a shift which means I'll be interacting with the people who attend, sharing the vision behind the pieces with them and getting to know them where they're at.

The show is called 2x2 and the artist statement behind the exhibit explains it all.

2x2

We can't do this.
We shove things into memories or poems or paintings but our real purpose can't be shoved into anything. It's too big. We asked the question, "What image best represents God?"

The answer isn't fitting on a 2x2 panel.
But we liked the name 2x2 and we kept it. It represents our process-in attempting to answer the question, we didn't do it alone. We teamed up with each other, with the community, maybe with you. This is not the art of isolation, this is the art of a group of creators from across the country.

We're trying to do something here.
We're trying to make art because we were created to create, because we were created to know and magnify beauty. We're trying to answer an unanswerable question and that's what you'll find in this gallery-our attempts, our successes, our failures. You'll find the best ideas we came up with to answer that question.

But where do ideas come from anyway?
That's our point exactly. And because these ideas don't really belong to us they're not ideas that are meant to be thought about alone. Talk about them with someone-a friend, a lover, maybe a stranger in the gallery. Make sure the ideas you came with aren't the ideas you leave with, and maybe they won't be yours.

Exhibiton

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 19:35:00 +0000

The exhibition

Exhibition begins tonight

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 18:55:00 +0000

So, I've been very lax in writing the last two weeks. Things have been pretty crazy and the time has had its ups and downs. In the last 3 days, I've gotten about 7 hours of sleep. Last night, i didn't even bother to try. We were up all night putting one of the structures together that displays some of the artwork students and staff have developed this summer. Please pray for tonight and this weekend. Tonight is our private opening where supporters of the ministry and the summer can come experience it for themselves. Students have been handing out the invitation cards to the show all day, including one student, Nick, who headed down to Union Square in a pink tutu...yes, I'm serious. Pray that people who are seeking would come to the show and that we would be able to engage in great conversations this week/weekend until the show closes. Project ends in less than a week and I'm saddened to be leaving this community.

Studio

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 15:47:00 +0000

One of the students I'm working with, Jessi, hard at work.

So this past week students and staff alike have been beginning to work on some of the pieces for the exhibition, hashing out in art some of the answers to the questions we've been asking doing the image surveys on campus. The one we're exploring in detail this summer is the question, "What image would you use to describe God, and why?" This is not so that we can paint a million crosses or doves, fishes, or images of what we think Jesus looks like. Instead, we're asking ourselves the question, how can we explore, in art, characteristics of God that speak to humans are always seeking for in other things? Its been a great experience so far.

Today the students are finishing up a collaboration between themselves and one other student, exploring how they've responded to the image survey and what their image of God is. They have a critique this afternoon, our first in fact.

Here's some images I took late last night in the studio.

Jessi at work on a perspective.

Another of my students, Courtney, hanging with "Scoops" also known as Paul

Myself with Jessi and Courtney

Far from Eden

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 03:49:00 +0000

As I write this, I think abot the past week and how incredibly hard it has been, but how much God has met each one of us. I think for me its been particularly hard because I think for the first time, I'm allowing myself to witness and feel the pain of how far we've come from Eden and not immediately close myself off to it.

That said, I had a rather unexpected encounter Wednesday night. I was heading to meet a student and as I came down the subway stairs, I saw a girl who appeared to be homeless and was shaking. I interpreted the shaking to mean she might be on some sort of high or coming off of one. I smiled at her, but in my stupidly normal fashion of keeping my destination in mind, walked pass. As I passed her, I heard her quietly say under her breath, "Someone, please help me." I was torn, knowing that I greatly desired to meet up with this student, but also knowing that I had no money on me and with all the homeless in New York, I questioned myself, how do you know when to stop?

I continued on through the turnstyle and immediately was convicted by the Spirit that I needed to turn around. I argued with God and said, "I'm going to be late, what can I do". It's not that I haven't had experiences with the homeless. I spent a summer working in inner city Chicago and working at Georgia State means every day being confronted by and working with the homeless. But I was exhausted and plainly not following God in the moment. After arguing for a few seconds, I decided to make a u-turn and see if she was still there through the bars by the turnstyles. (If I were to leave the station, I wouldn't be able to use my metro card for another 20 minutes, which plainly meant I would never make it to my destination). I didn't see her, so I turned to catch my train.

Immediately I heard God practically screaming, "You need to go back!" Rather huffily in my mind I said, "FINE." As I headed up the stairs, I saw her still there. I walked up and asked if she'd like to get something to eat. She heartily said yes. We headed up the stairs and across the street to McDonald's. As we waited in line at McDonald's, I asked her her name. She shared that it was Shamekka. I told her that that was a beautiful name and she turned and looked at me so piercingly and said, "for a minute, I'd forgotten and thought my name was dog." As she said this she explained that people had been throwing change at her, accusing her of being a junkie, and calling her names. I assume that's why she was shaking as I walked past, because she was completely lucid.

God immediately brought to mind the name of one of my students, Laura, and I called her to come down and have dinner with us. Shamekka was so excited to have a coffee. She said that that was one of the things she really missed and I could see such joy over something so small. As we ate, she shared non-stop her story. It took everything I had not to bawl my eyes out right there on the spot. She's 19 and has been on the streets for only 3 months. If you were to make a list of the horrible acts that could be perpetrated on someone save murder, she's experienced them all...violated in so many ways.

Just two years ago, she had an opportunity to attend Florida State University, but left the financial aid paperwork up to her father, with whom she doesn't have the greatest relationship. He also has a problem with addiction. He didn't fill it out and she didn't discover it in time. As I listened, I learned so much about how its so easy for these young kids to end up on the streets. Her arms speak of knife wounds inflicted in a homeless shelter. Her forehead shows the remaining bruises and bumps of an attack not long ago that left her unconscious on the ground until someone called for help. Though I heard sadness and so much anger in her voice, I also heard her saying over and over again for two hours how much God provides for her every day. She shared of the blessings and miracles that she's experienced that have fed her and encouraged her over the last few months.

She spoke so much and shared of her need for human conversation and interaction, that it had been so long since anybody had really talked with her, had really listened to her, had really hugged her. As I sat hear, I looked for opportunities to find out where she was in her spiritual journey and to steer the conversation towards the hope found in Christ. As we talked more, I found out that she comes from a Baptist background and that she believes as she put it, in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. She said over and over again that she wants peace of mind, but needed so much to talk that I could barely get a word in edgewise. So instead, I asked her what we could pray for her about. She gladly answered, and you can pray with us that God would provide these things for her.

1. That she would know whether or not her father really cares for her.
2. That she would find out what happened to her mother and meet her at least once.
3. That she would get the $70 dollars she needs for a room.
4. She wants a job, particularly one with computers and designing websites.
5. She would like a laptop as well as she loves working with computers.
6. Pray for SAFETY. Pray that God would protect her.

As I was praying through these things with her and Laura, God brought to mind that I could pray through the Gospel and that would be a way of sharing His good news with her. He totally brought the words to mind. When we were done praying, she had tears in her eyes and so did Laura and I. I found that I had a card for the church we've been attending, Origins Church, in my bag. God led me to invite her to come to church with us and her eyes absolutely LIT UP. She exclaimed quite loudly, "Oh I would love to go to church and to have friends to go with!" Pray that she does show up and that God would protect her. We're going to meet her by the subway stop at 9:30 am on Sunday. Pray that the message would impact her and that the church would be able to help her out.

We had the opportunity to take her shopping for some toiletries and snacks and talked some more. She was like a kid in a candy store. Laura at one point had run up to the apartment and gotten her a Bible, which she absolutely loved and kept exclaiming over it. We headed to the train station because she thought she might be able to stay somewhere up north for the night. She gave us huge hugs and kept encouraging us and exclaiming over how much she loved us. We swiped her through to the subway and she came back to the bars that separated the turnstyles and put her hand through and just wanted to hold our hands and thank us again. At this point Laura and I were practically about to weep. Shamekka didn't want to let go, we didn't want to either, but we knew that it was time to part ways. As she walked away she told us she loved us and would see us soon.

As I sit here and write this, I am about to weep again over the goodness of God for letting me experience that even though I turned away at first. I could have missed out on such an amazing conversation, an amazing woman, a life-defining experience if not for Him. I found out later that night that my roommate Julie had been rushing to get on the train the past week and had seen Shameka and given her a few dollars. As she walked away, she prayed that someone would be able to engage with her and share with her God's truth. Little did any of us know what God would have in store.

But, once again, back to the beginning of my post. I am so torn up inside now when I think about how far we've come from Eden. A place where man was in right relationship with God. He walked with God, there was no death, no murder, no hunger, no pollution, no rape, no abuse, no violence, and no war. Yet, the act of rebellion has completely broken up what it means to be made in the image of God. All of us were created that way, all of us have in some way a reflection of God, but its as if we're looking in a shattered mirror. My heart breaks that I can't bind up every wound, that I can't provide a house for every homeless person I meet. I am shattered that men and women could go for days, weeks, months, even years without having a conversation with another human being. I am angry that the Church isn't doing more. I am angry at myself for walking away sometimes and thinking my time is more valuable than a human life.

If anything, this experience has shown me how to begin to love with God's love, how to have compassion, how to accept that I'm not perfect, but that in my weakness, He is.

My sin, Oh the bliss of this glorious thought. My sin, not in part, but the whole is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more. PRAISE THE LORD, PRAISE THE LORD OH MY SOUL.

Spiritual Conversations

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 20:51:00 +0000

Today, I took two of the girls I'm working with, Courtney and Laura, and we headed out to Columbia University to do the Soularium Image surveys both to collect information to create a foundation for the art we'll be working on as well as to engage in spiritual conversations and hopefully, to share the Gospel with people who are seeking.

The ironic thing for me is that 4 1/2 years ago, the one thing I desired more than anything was to get my masters degree in Architecture at Columbia University and to live as an architect in NYC. God changed my heart over a very short timespan and I find it so interesting that He has brought me back to the place I longed to go to, but this time, with a different purpose.

I went out with Laura to do the surveys and we met three women. Jessica, Jennifer, and Zipporah. Jessica is a grad student at Columbia and an atheist. Jennifer is a freshman at Barnard who just happened to be hanging out at Columbia. She's studying Economics. Finally, Zipporah is a woman, originally from Belize, who just happened to be taking a break at Columbia. Though we had good conversations with both Jessica and Jennifer, they were cut short. But what started out as an unlikely conversation with Zipporah as she wasn't really into the image surveys and needed to leave, God in all His planning and hilarity started a nice rainshower and thunderstorm with massive lightning bolts that drove us to shelter.

For about two and a half hours, we engaged in a deep conversation with Zipporah and were able to share our own testimonies and the Gospel with her. Zipporah knows alot about the Bible and her worldview is such that it is a mix of Judaism, Greek Orthodox, and Islam. I know...quite the combination. Zipporah's hangup is that she believes that Jesus is the son of God, but not a man. That He is savior, but still a man. She believes that the reason He was put here on earth was to teach us obedience and good works. She knows quite a bit of scripture, but takes passages where Jesus calls Himself the "I Am" and where He forgives the sins of others and claims that man mistook what He was saying and treat Him as an idol. We're hopefully going to meet with her on Saturday. Pray that the Holy Spirit would reveal the truth to her.

About to head out again, thanks for your prayers!

Students, Students, Students...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 03:16:00 +0000

So all of our students arrived yesterday and they are a CRAZY bunch. Many of them are from the South, so I'm picking up a major drawl. I've gotten to meet all three of the girls that I'll be meeting with for discipleship this summer: Jessie, Laura, and Courtney. Jessie is a graphic design major, Courtney is a theater major, and Laura is an English major, so we have quite the spread of creative giftings. I've gotten the chance so far to connect the most with Jessie and she's an awesome awesome girl. Pray that I'm able to really connect with the other two in the next day or so.

Today, the students explored the city and got their bearings with the subway. We spent part of the afternoon at the Top of the Rock, otherwise known as the Top of the Rockefeller Center. It has an even more amazing view than from the Empire State building. Tomorrow we're getting up bright and early to meet together to discuss resolving conflict (don't worry, we don't already have any that I know of, this is more of a preventative measure) and to begin "track orientation". I've mentioned before that there is a track for students to do straight-up campus ministry, some to do international students ministry, and the track I'm on, arts in ministry. So we'll be introducing them to what we're doing this summer as well as starting the dialogue of what it means to integrate art and faith. Pray for us!

Thanks,
Bonnie

A List of things We've Done in New York

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 16:51:00 +0000

So some other staff members and I have decided to document all the exciting things we've done and seen while we've been here in NYC. This will be an ongoing and consistently updated list. It may not be what you expect.

We have:

1. Been to the BOTTOM of the Empire State Building
2. Seen King Kong ducking to get in the elevator of the Empire State Building.
3. Sang karaoke with Broadway hopefuls at a singing diner (we weren't supposed to be singing along).
4. Went to the coffeeshop that inspired the coffeeshop on friends...We didn't get coffee.

Sheer Exhaustion

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 14:08:00 +0000

Its amazing how exhausting this city can be, just finding a way to travel from point a to point b seems to sap your energy. Thankfully we have a day off today and can explore the city as tourists. The students will arrive tomorrow. Many of them even a few days ago still had aLOT of support to raise for NY. Pray that the remainder would come in quickly and that they would step out in faith to make phone calls.

As we've sat through planning for the summer, we've got a basic schedule. For the track I'm staffing (the arts track), we'll spend two days on campus meeting students from all over NYC and doing the Soularium with them (more on that later). We'll be in our art studio Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday each week designing pieces based on students responses to what they think describes God.

Also, this year to make sure that students are spending time with their Creator so that everything they do will flow out of that, a guy down at Campus Crusade headquarters has actually designed a devotional for our arts track that will be integrated into each day and particularly into studio time before they even start working on a piece each day.

Really, the main goal of this summer is to learn or become better at integrating art into our faith. God made us with the ability to create and an ability to connect to others through our creativity and it would be a shame to waste that.

I'll be meeting with three of the arts track girls each week for discipleship. Pray that we would connect and that they would be open to discipleship.

Ok, now back to Soularium. Soularium basically begins as a survey. 5 questions, you might normally see them on a typical spiritual interest survey, but there's something different about the way students answer. They have to give their responses through 50 photographic images. And they love it! We used it at Georgia State University and students thought it was great. I was really struck in particular that several students when asked to describe God chose the image of church doors chained shut.

This tool enables you to go really deep really quickly. Students share alot from their own lives that they wouldn't normally in a typical meeting on campus. It allows for deep connection and hopefully, a connection to the Gospel. This is the tool we'll be using on campus to get results for our art as well as with the intention of learning how to step out in faith to share what we believe, but also, to become better listeners as we meet with people.

So pray for us as we go out on campuses over the next few weeks, that God would lead us to people who are truly searching.

You can check more about Soularium out at http://www.mysoularium.com.