Reaching Out Into the Multicultural Marketplace Through Art
Intro / Unexpected Development of a New Approach / Art As a Way of Strengthening These Relationships / Unexpected Side Benefits / Let God Expand Your Horizons
The longer I live, the more amazed I am at the multitude
of diverse opportunities there are for artists to express their gifts to honor
God and bless others. The limits to those possibilities are seemingly endless!
What encouragement this can be to a generation of artists that so often seems
to feel that unless they are 'successful' in the ways that the world tends
to label as 'successful' or worthwhile in terms of their art (for example,
with musicians, the sense of needing to have a CD/DVD out and being on tour
with it), they can tend to feel that they're not successful or that their
art is not needed or being validated, etc. This, to me, is not only sad, but
a lie which I think the enemy often uses to keep God's artists from full effectiveness
and which, I believe, often can tend to bring areas of frustration into their
relationship with the Lord as well, due to the many frustrations and pain
that can so often be associated with that.
Of course if God leads them to record a CD/DVD and go on tour with it, that's the best place for them to be! But I believe God has so many other possibilities for His musicians and artists to explore, as well, and 'the sky is the limit' is GOOD NEWS for creative artists!
What joy and freedom can result in being awakened to the
TRUTH that there are myriads of creative possibilities as we seek the Lord's
heart for direction re the artistic gifts He has given us!
I'm sure many of you have experimented with numerous ways of expressing your
artistic gifts, and I would love to hear about them and pass your ideas along
to our readers as well in the future, if you are open to that. If so, please
send your ideas to: GCWAC@DiscipleTheNations.org.
Thank you!
UNEXPECTED DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW
APPROACH
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
About 8 years ago, long-term health problems that I have struggled with since
childhood began to increasingly keep me homebound, to the extent that for
many years I have rarely gotten out of the house more than a couple times
a month…and then only for short times - usually to run a few errands
locally.
Because it is extremely difficult for me to walk even short
distances, or to stand in line-ups, I have had to find local businesses to
go to where I can park in handicapped parking as close to the entrance as
possible, and go to shops which have only a few steps that I need to take
to do what I need to do there. I also had to find places where I would not
have to stand in line-ups, so the logical places to go was to small businesses.
For many years my heart has been passionate about evangelism and discipleship,
and the more homebound I became, the more my heart ached to be able to find
ways to reach out to the lost in the marketplace on the rare occasions that
I did get out. I had/have found ways to have increasing fellowship with believers
in my home and indeed my home has become my 'ministry center' as a result,
but that didn't help me too much in reaching out to the lost in my very multicultural
city.
As I began praying about this, I felt that God began to
give me a strategy.
The main reason I moved to this city is because the two major people groups
on my heart have large populations here (Sikhs & Muslims - though postmoderns
are also much on my heart). And so as I began to pray for God to lead me to
small businesses to run my errands at, I was increasingly delighted to find
that most of them were run by people from these two groups!
I felt that in order to become effective in reaching out to these people, God wanted me to intentionally begin to build relationships/friendships with them. If they weren't busy with other customers, I'd ask for a chair to sit on so I could visit for a bit if I started getting too tired and sore standing.
As you are probably aware, most people of other cultures are THRILLED to have people want to visit with them and build relationship with them! Not only this, but most of the people running these shops are the small business owners themselves, and they rarely have time for other relationships after they've been working and get home to their families. I found that all of the small businesses that God seemed to be leading me to were not only open to developing relationships, but seem to be delighted at this type of opportunity to develop relationship while on the job!
These times of running errands have become some of the highlights of my life as I've been able to see God use times that can tend to be mundane and has turned them into meaningful relationships and times to bless and minister to others, and also be encouraged by them in return in an assortment of ways, besides receiving excellent business services from these friends!
Over the years, I have had many opportunities to share with most of them about the Lord and being in relationship with Him, and about answers to prayer. I often get to share joys and sorrows with them. They often share their joys and sorrows with me. They often ask me questions about spiritual things or about the Bible or Christianity, etc. Many times I have had opportunities to pray for them! Many times they have asked for prayer!
I've had opportunities to give most of them JESUS videos,
and have had opportunity to pass on to numerous ones Christian indigenous
worship CDs appropriate to their culture and language, which they are very
happy to receive.
Recently, the woman who owns the post office where I have my PO Box, and whose
husband is a Sikh graduate of Oxford who majored in world religions, as I
understand it, said he wants to talk with me about this. He apparently has
a huge library full of books on many world religions, including Christianity.
The subject of spirituality is apparently his passion. I'm no Oxford grad
and may not be able to respond very well to what he puts to me, but I'm asking
God for His wisdom, that His love would be manifest to him and that the Holy
Spirit would draw him. He's definitely a seeker, as the whole family seems
to be. I've had some very interesting conversations, too, with their daughter,
who is also a small business owner. She and her husband own several small
businesses in the region. She is very turned off with religion but is very
openly seeking true spirituality.
Over the years I have gotten to know whole families because often the business is a family business. I have also been amazed at how many of them have come to love me and often pour out love on me as well, even though our relationships are basically kept to my time at their shops. This encourages me so much because I know it's because their hearts are open and that they are seeking the Truth. Over the years the open doors continue and their open hearts continue to become more open, thanks to the grace of God!
To the glory of God and to my delight, a couple of them have become believers and I'm trusting God to continue to work in their hearts and in the hearts of the others.
I also have felt that God has encouraged me that reaching small business owners, and multicultural small business owners, etc., is strategic in that He is increasingly wanting to reach people in the marketplace and business owners are major influencers in society, and have many opportunities to be a part of advancing the Kingdom of God. The possibilities of these small business owners impacting not only our community and their cultural/religious communities here, but also influencing their home countries, is mind-boggling to consider!
As one person, I may not be able to get out much, but as I continue to focus on the ones that God has connected me with, it is somewhat like Jesus focusing on discipling His small band of disciples. Not much to begin with, but as it multiplied out from there, it didn't take long for the Gospel to reach the known world at the time! That really encourages me! I may not see many quick advancements, but as I am faithful to these that God has in my life, I am trusting that God has some multiplication in mind for the future, by His grace and power!
I didn't move in these directions to be intentionally strategic. This strategy is something that God just seemed to develop as I followed Him step by step. It not only impacts heads of families, usually, but also impacts influencers in home and business communities. I don't know how things will continue, but I can tell you it is a wonderful and encouraging adventure to be on!!
One of my Taiwanese friends (now a former Buddhist - PTL!!!) who owns the hair salon that I go to, became a believer after I had come in about every 6 weeks for about 7 years already! For many years I didn't even get a chance to share anything with her but just kept praying for her, for opportunities to share God's love with her, and sought to show love to her as the Lord led during my hair appointments, etc.
One day I almost fell off my chair when, right out of the blue, out loud and in front of all of her clients, she asked how to become a believer! She then proceeded to ask me if I could begin coming to her home to meet with her regularly and have Bible studies with her, and she wanted her atheist husband (Hungarian background) to join us! She also said she'd eventually like to see a fellowship of believers begin in her home! ( I didn't bring this up - SHE did!!) Although we didn't continue the Bible studies for very long (about 6 months) because she and her husband began to fight about spiritual things (and so we felt that it was not good timing to continue at that point until they were able to work through some of these things), he continues to be very open to me and likes to talk about spiritual things even though he can be quite antagonistic if someone 'preaches' at him.
It's very interesting how every time I have a hair appointment, she spends most of the time discussing spiritual things with me and asking me questions - which gives me some very interesting opportunities!! The whole clientele can't help but hear every word of the conversations because it is a small shop and usually the whole place goes quiet and everyone is listening…often others begin to get involved in the conversation as well! She's the boss and if she doesn't mind all of her clients hearing, I certainly don't mind!!! : ) I'm praying that eventually a fellowship WILL begin in their home!
ART AS A WAY OF STRENGTHENING THESE RELATIONSHIPS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Early last year, as a result of further health deformities and increasing
physical limitations, my main art form (playing keyboards) became further
restricted so that I could barely play anything anymore. As I prayed for God
to lead me to some other form of artistic expression that I could do with
my current health situation, through an amazing process and through a miracle,
He enabled me to start a form of art which, for me, was totally new, and which
I have hardly seen similarities of anywhere else - including the internet.
I sculpt plasticine/modeling clay figurines.
Very quickly God had family and many friends really encourage
me in this and since, being involved in donor-supported ministry, finances
do not always allow for me to be able to give people gifts when I'd like to,
among many of the joys that I had in creating these figurines, and in addition
to experiencing added dimensions of worship in my relationship with God through
this new art form, I also began to give them away as gifts, and have been
increasingly amazed at how God can use even a very foolish thing like dollar-store
modeling clay to encourage and touch people's hearts!
I began by making figurines which mostly had to do with encouraging Scripture
passages or biblical themes, etc., but I felt that God wanted me to develop
various lines - one of which was a PROFESSIONS line. I felt that He wanted
me to begin to make these figurines for my various business owner friends
- of them doing their profession - as a way of further strengthening our relationship.
The Bible says that gifts open the way for the giver, and I have felt that
God wants to use these figurines to even help to soften their hearts more
towards Him.
So as the Lord has led, I have been making these for almost all of my local non-believing friends/small business owners, and I have been amazed at how this has indeed seemed to strengthen our relationships and give me further open doors than I even had before!
For example, even though my rheumatologist is Caucasian, some months ago I gave him a figurine of a doctor with a patient on the bed, etc. He has been my rheumatologist for about 30 years and so although I have sent him numerous thank you cards, etc. over the years, this was a new way to express my appreciation to him. He and his staff loved it and so I began praying about what kinds of figurines I could make for his staff as well! I have connected with one of them in a special way over the years, and shortly after I gave my doctor the figurine, she was telling me about all kinds of major traumas and transitions and grief that she and her family were going through at the time. I knew she wasn't a believer, but in our conversation it seemed to me that she was more open than she had been previously.
As I prayed about what to make for her, I felt I was to make a figurine of a woman sitting on a chair and crying with her head in her hands and a Kleenex held up to her face, and a depiction of the 'Wonderful Counsellor' standing beside her with His arm around her. I wasn't able to get into the office to give it to her, but sent it along for her with a friend of mine and included a card in which I also shared some comforting Scriptures and told her I was praying for her, etc. She immediately emailed me to tell me how much it meant to her and recently when I was there for my latest visit, again I have sensed further growth in our relationship and increasing openness to the Lord.
I am so amazed at what God seems to be developing through this!
Thankfully each figurine doesn't cost me very much, but even the pay-offs I have seen so far totally encourage me and I'm so grateful to the Lord for leading me in this direction as just one more way to use the artistic gifts He's given for His purposes, and it's such a joy and blessing for me, too!
UNEXPECTED SIDE BENEFITS
----------------------------------------------
In addition to these wonderful encouragements, above, it has been fun to see
the responses of those that I have made these figurines for. For example,
almost every one of these has ended up on the front desk, at the till or in
some other prominent place in the shop or office…and often it is about
the only thing in the office that is artistic or not part of running the business.
I continue to have comments that their clients/customers/patrons are fascinated
with the figurines and keep asking about them and they say children are always
touching them, so I have had to remake a few of them or show them how to fix
them when they get messed up…I usually recommend that they put them somewhere
where children can't reach them, but apparently it's not only the children
that can't seem to resist touching them!
I'm still in the stages of developing this into a business as well, to help
supplement my donor-supported income so I can continue being involved in the
ministries God has me involved in, and so I've not yet had a chance to work
out all the details of advertising, etc. But in the meantime, even though
I have not been giving these away as a way of advertising, it seems to be
a side benefit that is happening naturally, so we'll see how God works this
all out!
In the meantime, I've had staff of numerous business owners that I've given figurines to ask me if I could make them a specific figurine, and they would give me the idea they wanted me to try. It has been so much fun to see their responses, and I'm hoping that once I'm ready to actually advertise and move forward with this as a business, I can ask them whether they would consider perhaps having home parties where they could invite their friends where I could present some figurines and then take orders and custom make them for people - such as for Christmas gifts for others, etc. They could get a commission or I could make them some figurines in exchange.
That, again, may provide more opportunities to not only deepen my relationships with them, but also provide opportunities to begin to get to know some more of their family and friends. I believe it can be another way that God uses art as a part of friendship evangelism, discipleship and church planting, etc.
Some small business owners, because we are already long-time friends, MIGHT even consider allowing me to set up a table at their shops sometimes and sell some of the figurines there - again, they would receive some commission or figurines in exchange - whatever we would negotiate. Again, who knows what could develop as a result…. If I include some inspirational figurines at each place, those that are interested in purchasing those could be folks that God might want to connect me with further in the future…? I'm in the process of creating some cards to go with each figurine - which include a picture of it, the title, the verse or explanation of it if needed, a bit about me, a bit about how to care for the figurine, about having custom orders done, my contact info, etc. This can also be another potential link to further contact re evangelism and/or business or both.
A couple other opportunities to use your artistic gifts in similar relational settings which could also be a vital part of friendship evangelism and church planting, are situations such as the following:
+
A Way for Artists to Encourage and Reach Out to Multicultural (and Other)
Children & Families
+ Evangelistic
Satsangs (home concerts or art shows, etc.)
LET GOD EXPAND YOUR HORIZONS!
-------------------------------------------------------
This is just one small example of another way that God can and has been using
even a very simple art form. Maybe you can use this type of approach in your
situation with your art? Or maybe it will help you to see that so many possibilities
are available to you as you see the creative heart of God and follow Him step
by step!
If you have good health and less restrictions, I believe you could see even greater effectiveness in an approach similar to this. I believe many artistic art forms could work in these types of scenarios which are based on relationship and prayer.
May the Lord encourage you on the wild adventure He has
you on and stir in and through you His ideas to bless Him and others through
the gifts He has given you. May He also bless and encourage you in return!
Great Commission Worship & Arts Center