Friday, February 02, 2007

my "children"






every Friday from noon until 1pm, the War College soldiers sacrifice their lunch, and do an Open Air meeting instead. generally this consists of singing and preaching-- these days, however, we've decided to get a bit more creative, and explore new ways to preach.

for example, today the Warriors armed themselves with sidewalk chalk, and invaded alleys, Pigeon Park, and the sidewalk outside of the No. 5 showroom pub (a well-known hive of degradation).

they asked the Lord to tell them what He wanted them to write. and then they wrote it. and drew it. all over. prophetic graffiti.

i found it overwhelmingly powerful. walking down rock alley (aptly nicknamed) and seeing "FREEDOM!' etched on the wall with a picture of broken chains. or walking toward Pigeon Park and seeing "HOPE" in bold letters above previously painted profanities.

i took dozens of pics, but here are a few of my favorites to capture the mood for you:















it led to conversation...naturally...only one of which was hostile.
Matt Armstrong was writing 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a on the sidewalk directly in front of the No.5 doors...it was only a matter of time before a very displeased manager-type-man came out, told him to leave, and quickly returned with a bucket of water to wash away the words.
Matt moved down a few meters and started again.

Christian vandalism-- totally washable. gotta love it.

12 comments:

jsi said...

What a powerful afternoon you all had. You might be able to pour water on the sidewalk, but God's love is never, ever erased.
"Restore the ruined cities"
"God has a plan for you"
"Hope"

The conversations you encountered - the activity and working of God.

Your day is inspiring for me

Andrew said...

nice... praise God...

Anonymous said...

Great idea to do this as outdoor evangelism. Nice.

I imagine Jeremy, being the artist that he is, was a real gift to the effort.

Nice pics too. Keepers.

Words have power -- even when they are written in chalk.

fullness

jm

jsi said...

Your article in Journal of Aggressive Christianity Feb/March 2007 was very well done. Your visual imagry of the dungeon cell with unlocked shackles, metal door which was wide open - very descriptive, visceral.

Salvation - God's action which saves us from the power of sin.
Holiness - God's character which God saves us for.

Your writing is blossoming more and more. Keep your ideas working with God's inspiration, flowing from His motivation. Your gift is brightly shining.

lux said...

Awesome,
I love the evangelism graffiti. The pics were awesome as well.
I still enjoy reading your blog, keep it up,
God bless ya abundantly

lisa

Unknown said...

usually i despise graffitti of any sort (christian or otherwise) I even commented to a friend athat Graffitti is grafftti. However seeing those pics and reading your blog moved me. I guess there is a place for graffitti with a positive message

Anonymous said...

Yay!

E-vandalism!

Grace,

Aaron

Anonymous said...

This is really exciting Olivia. Keep it up.

Anonymous said...

That's blowing me away! You guys rock!

Eric said...

I'm totally going to steal this for Band of Survivors. Thanks!

Rochelle said...

Olivia - BEAUTIFUL! Thank you. grace, Rochelle

Anonymous said...

hey, tis kathleen here again.
I blogged about your goings on, and it has created quite an interesting discussion.
I'd really value your imput on that conversation, if you've got 5 mins to check it out.
http://salvokat.lifewithchrist.org/permalink/30187
thanks liv,
bless you.