“Working alongside Chad and Dara in Mozambique was an incredible gift that my daughter, Harper, and I are still unwrapping,” says Michigan-based artist Joel Schoon-Tanis. Joel and Harper spent two weeks with Chad and Dara Vanden Bosch (Integral Mission Innovation Director and Compassionate Care Coordinator, respectively) and their teams creating a collaborative art mural.
Giving glory to God, the mural begins by acknowledging a broken history. It then paints a hopeful vision for all God is doing to give life to the region, with restorative, Integral Mission efforts like Bible-based agricultural training at New Harvest Farm and in providing Compassionate Care, and ultimately, through people experiencing a restored relationship with their Creator.
Would you pray with us that the people who pass the mural every day will be drawn to God and hope through Jesus Christ?
Joel shared this, reflecting on his experience in Mozambique:
“The simple explanation was that we traveled to Mozambique to create collaborative art. This project, however, let us see the wonderful work that both Chad and Dara are doing in their community. What we witnessed was the holistic way with which they approach ministry.
Here is what I mean by holistic: they are not only sharing about Jesus with the people in their community, but they are tending to the physical and emotional needs of the people as well. I would argue that this is in keeping with Jesus’ example.
What we tried to do in the mural project was capture this in both image and in process. The image is one of the Peaceful Kingdom (Isaiah 11). The Peaceful Kingdom is what God desires for the world and what we are meant to be working toward. In our paintings, the Peaceful Kingdom enters into a landscape of ruined soil (pictured, top left), and alongside a community working together (pictured, top right), it transforms the soil into a rich agroforest (bottom left) that provides for the community (botttom right).
The process of creating this let us step into the different communities that Chad and Dara are investing in. We painted with Dara’s staff, Chad’s farmers, and the art group that Dara has formed. Community art projects give everyone pride in the finished work and it draws the community together. There is something about the way people lose track of time and let go of their worries as they paint that is beautiful to see. In a place where life is a day-to-day struggle, it serves to refresh people.
Having public art at the end of this also serves as a teaching tool for Chad and as an “advertisement” for the community building work that Dara is doing with her art group. My hope is that it acts as a positive reminder of their work for Jesus in that place.”
Thank you for your support of Chad and Dara and their teams in Mozambique – you are helping plant seeds of the Gospel for a harvest!
As hundreds of people daily pass by this mural in central Mozambique, pray that it—along with the team’s work in Mozambique—will keep pointing people to God and how He alone can bring hope, salvation, and full restoration to every person, family, and community.
Would you pray with us?
