by Laurie-Ann Copple

July and August were creative months for us – especially for me.  Near the end of July, there was a special worship night focused on healing.  I received a prophetic word (shown in the Words Blog section) about a coming creativity awakening in Worcester.  This wasn’t just any creativity – but creativity that points to God.  There is a coming arts festival that is part of this, as is my art, and the arts of many Christian creatives in this area.

I was invited to apply for an art stall at the Doxa Christian Arts Festival (that will be held at Worcester Christian Church on October 13th).  I emailed a jpg of two worship drawings – one that I drew in Ottawa, and the other in Worcester.  I still needed one more to make the limit of three.  Since these are small pieces (only 9 x 12 inch image size), my space would not have to be large like most artists.  

So I went about the process of being inspired for the third drawing, and while working on the third drawing, was inspired for another.  I spent time in soaking prayer, and asked Holy Spirit what topic or image I should pursue for the next drawing.  I was given an impression of me as a little girl, romping in a spring meadow with Namaqua daisies. These look like daisies but instead of being white petals with a yellow centre, they are orange petals with a black centre. When I went through images I had on file, I had one of an early drawing of Jesus, who was lovingly touching the face of a little girl.  And I was also inspired by a photograph by landscape photographer Kyle Groetsch of Cape Town.  He travelled to Namibia and photographed a scene of the red, white and yellow desert dunes with sparse black trees.  I had my art students at Master Peace Academy draw this scene, and I also included it in the background.  So Jesus in the context of my drawing, was bringing new life to the desert by transforming it into a hill with spring flowers – including Namaqua daisies.  He was also transforming the life and heart of this little girl.    

As I got to the point of finishing the black and white lines of the drawing, I had Tony scan it, so it would join the images of my upcoming prophetic colouring book.  When I returned to the drawing to begin the colouring process, I was nudged instead to start another drawing.  This one wouldn’t be for the Doxa Festival – but it would still be highly effective and relatable.  For the second drawing,  I had a Google image of a person on a tree stump with four kids.  I drew that scene, and the adult became Jesus.  Instead of drawing the children who were in the picture, I went through photos we have of some of our kids club children – in Avian Park (My Father's House) and Vinkrivier.  I ended up drawing six ‘coloured’ children – Francesca from Avian Park, and Desnae, Keenan, David, Minmarie and Lydia from Vinkrivier.  I felt like I was on to something like I was on the cutting edge.   I finished that black and white drawing and once it was scanned, I shared it with the kids of these two clubs – later to be coloured in by many of them.   
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​There were different reactions from the kids I chose for the drawings.  Francesca and Lydia were embarrassed and covered their faces.  They weren’t used to being noticed like this.  They didn’t know what to say.  Keenan was surprised but was okay with it.  

​Desnae is only four, so she didn’t mind at all. And Minmarie, had the reaction that I had hoped for.  She was surprised but not embarrassed.  I told her that as I was drawing, I sensed that she was on Jesus’ heart at that time.  Right now he has something special for her and it’s her time to receive.  But she was to know that God always notices her.  She is not hidden. God sees her and so does Laurie-Ann.  That was a special moment.  I wish I had a picture of that time, but it's stamped on my heart forever.  Tony did however capture that day when we drew and shared in the Vinkrivier kids club, along with dear family friends of our leader Kaysha.

​I then shared these drawings with my art students at Master Peace Academy, and they loved them.  I was given the idea of having them model with me (with Tony modelling as Jesus).  They were excited and agreed.  So in their case, they were willing participants in a coming drawing.  Yet, I sense that there is more to come.  

The people with Jesus don’t have to be children, but they must become LIKE children.  We need to humble ourselves and just come to him.  I used to think that this was all about gaining childlike wonder – but being with the farm and township kids, I can see that some of these have lost their sense of wonder.  They are desensitized by internet, Facebook, and other social media. They want personal interaction and touch rather than amazing visual and auditory effects. Their wonder has to be instilled in them as they receive and absorb more and more love.  We are glad to be in a position to love these kids, and show them hope.  Whether it is our school kids or our kids club kids, we are like family to them now.  This means extra struggles with boundaries but it is worth it.

If you are a praying person, please pray for us and the children.  We need keys to each child’s heart, so they can receive love from us and from God.  They also need to learn important life lessons that they aren’t necessarily getting from home.  And we of course are on quite the learning curve ourselves.  We also are humbling ourselves, learning to play (so to speak), and growing in our interaction with them.  Recently, the Avian Park children even prayed for my healing, which was a very special time!  We trust that prayer is being answered.    Here's a glimpse of the Avian Park kids in My Father's House Worcester club.

Remember me mentioning the three drawings that I entered into the Doxa Festival?  They were all accepted!  We even made a few reproductions of “Jesus makes all things New.”  The original will be for sale, as well as the other two drawings.
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​If you have questions about our ministry, our email is [email protected]  or you can also send us a note on our contact page.  Perhaps you’d like to be in a drawing with Jesus too?  Here are the drawings that will be in Doxa.  They are framed with a white wood frame, white mat and coloured liner mat. Each original drawing is priced at R3,400 due to the commission involved to the festival. 
Blessings, Laurie-Ann 

Here is the link to the Doxa Festival:

by Laurie-Ann Copple