The Love of Art Easily Led into the Ministry of Caring and Sharing
A few pieces of abstract art by Havilah aka Lalita.
I was so pleased when "Helen," a member of the God Campaigns, invited me to come teach art to her son Andrew, his cousins, and a few neighborhood children during the summer of 2017. We had no idea that a few months of creative art and fun would lead to so many wonderful God interventions especially in one Grand Prairie family. However, that is precisely what happened. Enjoy the images and read more below.
Our weekly art sessions incorporated the scriptures, often read by Andrew. Then, the fun part of creating a piece of art to reflect what was shared from God's word. Everyone was able to express themselves individually and learn new techniques from one another. When a special occasion arose, like the 4th of July, we worked on a piece that was inspired by the holiday. We loved working with various kinds of mediums, acrylic, alcohol and ink, permanent markers and assorted embellishments. We decided to name ourselves, "The Out of the Box Artists" because we decided that we preferred our art to be something totally unique and non-traditional.
Art eventually led to other outings with the children as we visited a wonderful Museum in Fort Worth and our love grew.
Art eventually led to other outings with the children as we visited a wonderful Museum in Fort Worth and our love grew.
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It was during those days together that we began to learn more about the Gray family down the street and the horrendous conditions in which they were living. But it was Ms. Helen who felt so strongly compelled to essentially "adopt" that family. Thus, she began to minister to them frequently and seek the Lord for ways to provide tangible help to them. She discovered there were many needs as their mother had left many years prior. Their dad was an alcoholic and they were living off the meager veterans pension of their ailing grandfather. The three teenage girls and their brother's squalid living conditions and lack of parental love and guidance wore very heavily on Helen's heart. She and I prayed together often about this. But, she decided to take action. She shares these matters from her heart.
Gene Gray fell on the kitchen floor unconscious at the end of October 2017. He was taken to the emergency room, stayed in a coma from that time on, and died two and one-half weeks later tragically and unexpectedly of cirrhosis of the liver at only 38 years of age. His father Roy and his four children, a son aged 9, and three girls aged 14, 17, and 19, were overtaken with grief and shock at his sudden demise. I attended Gene's funeral and supported the family morally, prayerfully and financially, buying food for the funeral, cooking, taking the children to eat out, buying groceries for grandpa and the children, etc. Before Gene passed away, I was not welcomed at the house, and had never been invited in, but was given privilege to invite the children to my home and was able to pick them up to take them to other church events. I never went inside the house where Grandpa, Gene, and his children lived. After his death, the door was opened, and I went through it. What I saw was painful and shocking. I saw inhumane conditions that the children lived in, and my heart broke. I thought to myself, “animals live in better conditions than these children, and it's not their fault, they don't deserve it.” Gene smoked inside the house for many years and the walls were all yellow and smelled of nicotine. It literally smelled like hell. I had been noticing that the children had developed secondary smoke complications. I let my friends know about Gene's death and the family grieving the loss of a son and the father at Christmas time. First, Roy and the children were showered with Christmas presents, but never like this before. The Lord brought a lot of comfort through people coming and praying for them and giving them presents during that difficult time of loss and transition. After Christmas, we started the painting project as I was determined to allow the light of Christ into that home in more than one way. A friend from Shady Grove Church donated money for the paint, and the professional painter came in and painted the first three rooms. Then my dear friend Sherry and her husband Keith, who had been in the construction business for 30 years, adopted the project. They took painting and remodeling of the Gray’s home to the next higher level. 
www.revivetx.org/ If you wish to continue reaching out to neighboring communities in Texas, contact this organization and get involved. They are continuing to share the Gospel in specially tailored outreaches throughout the year. |
Healing for Grandpa Roy's Heart
When a man is hurting, it usually takes another man to help him see things more clearly. I am so grateful for the men of God who have been willing to step up to the plate and show love to this family. I called upon my brothers in Christ who I served along with in Revive Texas. I also reached out to organizations which support Veterans, Twenty-Two Kill, letting them know that Grandpa Roy had served our country as well in the army in Vietnam.
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While we were working on the home’s interior needs, trying to make the house more livable, God was working on Grandpa and the children's hearts.
The Lord was speaking to me in dreams, in my prayer time, and I sensed I needed to bring a man to witness to Roy as the head of the family. My "Revive Texas" friends came, we ministered to grandpa Roy together and led him into rededicating his life back to Jesus; it was powerful! Roy confessed to us that he was mad at God and blamed Him for killing his son, Gene. It became very clear to me that the Father was using us to show Roy and the children that He is a good, good heavenly Father; one that doesn't kill. It’s the enemy who comes to steal, kill, and to destroy, but Jesus came to give us life and give it more abundantly. |
The Girl's Get a Make-Over
While continuing to demonstrate the love of God and Christianity in tangible ways, the Lord placed it upon my heart to bless the three teen-age girls with a beauty make-over and Presbytery Day. That occurred one Sunday afternoon, in late January. The three girls were taken to my friend's Art Studio for a makeover. Four professional hairstylists came to cut and style the girls hair and give them manicures. But that was not all!
Several female spiritual leaders and myself took the girls to a separate room and hosted a Presbytery, praying over each one individually and speaking their identity in Christ into their lives. One of the girls accepted the Lord for the first time. Another wept and cried, receiving much needed healing and deliverance for years of pain and grief she had carried buried within her soul. All three were blessed and encouraged by the love, care, and ministry wonderful, anointed Christian women provided to them.
Psalm 139:14 declares, “I will praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” That’s the real message we all have wanted to send to these young girls and their family. On that Sunday afternoon, as we ministered not only to their “outer beauty,” but addressed the “inner beauty” of their souls, we prayed for their divine destiny and purposes to be revealed.
We pray that these tangible seeds and demonstrations of the kingdom of God will bear fruit in their lives. We pray also that they have been eternally changed and for God’s glory and divine plan, will, and purposes to be established in and through them.
Although I have served on the mission field abroad and at home, nothing has been as satisfying to me as stepping up to help a family right in my own back yard. God is so good, and so often we don’t have to go around the world to spread the love of God, although that is a noble, enjoyable and worthwhile thing to do. Why don’t you consider looking right in your own neighborhood, like I did? I know if you do, the Lord will show you the needs and He will gather up all the help, resources, and supplies you will need to get the job done for Him.
Psalm 139:14 declares, “I will praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” That’s the real message we all have wanted to send to these young girls and their family. On that Sunday afternoon, as we ministered not only to their “outer beauty,” but addressed the “inner beauty” of their souls, we prayed for their divine destiny and purposes to be revealed.
We pray that these tangible seeds and demonstrations of the kingdom of God will bear fruit in their lives. We pray also that they have been eternally changed and for God’s glory and divine plan, will, and purposes to be established in and through them.
Although I have served on the mission field abroad and at home, nothing has been as satisfying to me as stepping up to help a family right in my own back yard. God is so good, and so often we don’t have to go around the world to spread the love of God, although that is a noble, enjoyable and worthwhile thing to do. Why don’t you consider looking right in your own neighborhood, like I did? I know if you do, the Lord will show you the needs and He will gather up all the help, resources, and supplies you will need to get the job done for Him.
Click on this link to donate! LOVE SHARES
A financial gift in any amount will help us continue to sponsor and build the art vision for other "Out-of-the-Box" artists. We are so grateful that by sharing our love for art it has led to such a wonderful work of transformation in the Gray family. We know that there are many other children, teens and adults -- yes families at every age, who could greatly benefit from the kind of fun, fellowship, and relationship building that comes from sharing art together.
Your generous donations will help make this possible, so please consider giving a gift now.
Thanks and God Bless You.