One of the tasks the Iowa State team took on when they came to see us over Easter was to paint the interior of the ministry center, and as I look at the pictures that we have on the photo gallery (*shameless attempt to get you to go view them*), I'm reminded of a verse in John 15 that God kind of highlighted to me back in October of last year. Verse 16 of John 15 says, "You did not choose me, but I chose you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask of the Father in My name, He may give to you." We've long talked with Patsy about how we all wanted to have scripture and art work on the walls where the children can learn the significance and apply it to their lives, so were all excited when Hunter and his crew jumped right in to bring our dreams to life.
The first day they spent a lot of time cleaning the junk off the walls and masking out the line between the "earth" and "sky" that we wanted painted, then they laid the foundation of the blue sky and the green grass. There was a lot of detail work and more than once, someone had to clean a little paint off the windows that had errantly found its way onto the glass. That day's work kind of reminded me of how we've been laying a foundation with these kids at Una Esperanza, establishing relationships in the community, "cleaning the junk off", if you will, and laying a firm foundation for the Word of God to take hold of them.
The second day the painters started sketching out the trees and envisioning the details of what the scene would entail, where would the trees be, what scripture would be painted on the wall, what types of trees, etc. This reminds me of the visions that God has put before us as a goal -plans and ideas of ways to reach these Tarahumara Indians for Christ. Just as there were adjustments to the planned artwork to make it more beautiful, God has also brought about adjustments and tweaks to the plans we've begun, altering them slightly to give God alone the glory and to make the outcome more fruitful.
Finally, as the tree trunks were in place and the scriptures were posted on a banner across the trees (in Spanish and in English), the leaves were sponged onto the landscape, creating a lush background for the fruit that would be added at a later time (pictures of our kids, in this case). As I saw all the foliage on the trees, I was so excited. God had promised us fruit that would remain, and I was seeing so much room for all that fruit! It's such a visual reminder of all that God has promised to do through Una Esperanza, and we look so forward to the trees being full of fruit that will remain in Him and grow to full maturity.
