And here we have a few of us gathered for more pasta (or was it pizza?!), at the hotel in Pomezia….brainstorming, dreaming, enjoying the good food and fellowship…
Meet Andrew and Ruth Garvey-Williams, brilliant artists working in Ireland. Andrew has been an Artslink team leader for the Art Zone at Teen Street, an annual event in Europe that draws thousands of teens each year to encounter God. During the SALT sessions, Andrew executed what became our signature piece, “Restoring the Ruins” which you can see on my July 20 post with the same title. (http://apatriciabutler.blogspot.com/2010/07/restoring-ruins.html)
Ruth, a gifted communicator, produced a spoken word piece from Ezra, and gave a dramatic performance to open our gathering. I want to move next door to them…
To their right is Ellen Anderson, who is our volunteer UK rep—a dear friend and a skillful artists! I have enjoyed Ellen’s company and work in Spain and Italy (where next, Ellen?!).
And to my right is Josh Butler—no relation that we know of! Josh has a vision bigger than himself—a vision for Kosovo: a night club church!
Well, can’t say as I’ve ever thought of that one before…
But as Josh riveted us with his enthusiasm and dedication, I jotted notes and asked questions; we will continue the conversation from now until this dream realizes, for Josh’s vision is God-sized: impossible, improbable, and therefore probably going to happen.
He invited us to come to Kosovo and minister to the women of that broken country, to fight the sex trafficking and prostitution there, and restore the broken places in their hearts. One more for the list of things to do…
Can you imagine how rich these meal times were?! And then we cooled down with a stroll into town for a gelato, our heads chock full of ideas, our eyes as star-filled as the cool Italian night, filled with wonder at what God is doing in his artists….
July in Rome seems long ago and far away now…Josh is in Kosovo, the Garvey-Williams are back in Ireland, and Ellen in England. Now we are sifting through vision statements, invitations, requests. Where to next? Coming up next post...
The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.—Marcel Proust
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