Moving House

I was moving house. As I was packing things, I ran across a folder of my artwork on the Life of Jesus (see Art Gallery). Being another thing I had to worry about, I asked God, "God, what am I going to do with these drawings?" I had been asked to draw a set of 10 pictures on the Life of Jesus for someone, but they never came to use them. I packed the folder in a box and thought nothing more of it.

An Unexpected Phone Call

One early morning, my phone rang to hear the voice of the Head Elder of my church greeting me. He asked me to bring the folder of my Artwork to church because the topic of the Bible study that day was "God The Artist". He wanted to show people my drawings of Jesus. So, I agreed to bring it.

The Visitor

As the Bible study started, some were saying how people who have been gifted by God in the Arts often use their gifts against Him. For example, a sculptor would sculpt a statue to worship. Others would make use of their gift of drawing, painting, and photography to create provocative images. And we see many of such works being displayed in public places in the form of billboard advertising, TV commercials, etc. In an attempt to balance the discussion, the Head Elder chipped in, saying that we should counteract all that, and use our art skills to promote the Gospel of Jesus Christ. At this point he pointed to me, asking me to show my work to the people in the class. As I did so; I added that we could indeed promote the Gospel through pictures - no words have to be said, no preaching to be done - just through a simple picture for all to see.

After the Bible study was over, a young man came forward to ask if he could look through my folder. I had never seen him before. He was a visitor. As he looked through my pictures, he asked me,

"How much will it cost to put one of these on a billboard?"

I shook my head saying,

"I don't know. I have never looked into it"

but it dawned on me that what he was proposing was a good idea! A Godly idea? Was God answering my question that I asked when I was moving house?

The young man then proceeded to say that he would be willing to pledge some money towards the cost of putting one of these pictures on a billboard. He asked for my email address.

The Pledge

Two days later, I received an email from him saying,

"Good afternoon, Elma. Further to our conversation last week, I would like to pledge an offer of $1600 to start a billboard campaign. Need we delay? Let me know when to transfer."

I couldn't believe my eyes; he really was serious. I knew this was from God, so I had to start investigating on how I could make this happen.

When I asked the young man about himself, the story got even more incredible. He works abroad and whilst on holiday here, he stumbled across my church and joined the Bible study that was taking place at that time. What were the chances of all this happening, if not God-orchestrated?

God never ceases to amaze me, how He orchestrates events in such fine timing... to help us do what He asked us to do:

Mark 16:15

He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation..."

© Elma Larsen. All rights reserved.