"Creating" from the Director's Chair

By Jill in Spain -
Living in Spain gives ample opportunity to drink in the art culture that swirls around us, especially in Barcelona. There is actually a significant number of Agape staff in Spain that are gifted in and dedicated to the arts.




Officially I am not one of these.

Maybe it's a hobby, maybe it's just something I piddle with. Even though I'm working in the role of diretor for the updcoming Staff Family Conference in May, I've discovered (or re-discovered) that what I really like is being able to create! There are some elements of the creative arts that I really like working on and I especially like reviewing again and again with pride my finished product!

I've been working on a number of audio/visual resources to spice up the main meetings. Photos, blogspots, videos, music clips; graphic design, powerpoints are all technological tools that I'm learning to handle, edit, etc. (I'll upload something here once the conference is over. Don't want to spoil the surprise.)

Now, don't get me wrong. This will be a simple gathering. Nothing super fancy but something orignial, none-the-less. I'm self-taught, stumbling across tricks and functions in the computer program or on the internet that I didn't know about before. I discover just to enough to get what I need and if I don't, I keep coming back to it when I have more time.

It's not that my passion is for art itself. I think for me, the art is a tool for me to support and develop my passions.

My hope for this staff conference, for example, is that the created items will create an atmosphere of encouragement and of hope. I hope that they help our staff come before the Lord to let Him examine their hearts. I hope that they stir our staff to great steps of faith in their relationships with one another and in their ministries of evangelism and discipleship.

I don't think I could spend all my time on stuff like this because I need to be around people too. But there's a part of my heart that loves to create! It resonates with the Lord's heart in Genesis as he created the heavens and the earth, the sun and the moon, the waters and the animals and Adam and Eve. How proud He must have been. How pleased and thrilled. This is His creation. We are His and He made us.

Wow.

(The video clip below is nothing fancy but it's mostly practice for me to learn HOW to upload a video to my blogspot. This video was actually filmed Aug. 15, 2007 by Ruben at the top of Montserrat, a famous mountain range not far from our house. Actually from the point where we were standing, we could see the curve where we had our accident almost a year ago (May 14, 2007). God rescued us and is restoring our health. We give Him great thanks and praise for all this extra time we've had since then.)


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