Uganda: Life and Light

The second mural we painted was not an educational piece - it was 'something beautiful for the sake of being beautiful' as Carla put it.  When we had been discussing and praying about what murals to paint, Carla had felt it was important for one of them to 'just be beautiful' with no other purpose.  This concept might be hard to grasp, especially for some of the people for whom the mural was painted - why waste valuable wall space with just an image rather than using it to promote education, especially when resources are scarce?  However, in being seemingly 'non-educational', we found it caused a more powerful reaction than all the other images we painted and promoted the most important message you could ever hear.

In the run up to the trip I prayed a lot..."how will we be able to paint something beautiful with the resources available?"  I was concerned because although the paint we would have access to is oil based, it's consistency is so different to the kind we use in the UK.  The colours are limited and also quite unusual shades and this results in a very odd palette to work with!  I prayed a lot..."how can we paint something beautiful?"  I was worried that with such a limited palette anything we painted would look flat or murky.  I knew there must be a way to work the best out of the situation but whatever we painted would be so different to the kind of thing I would have painted on a board in the UK....I definitely needed inspiration from God!

And that's just what happened.  One night I couldn't sleep and suddenly the idea came to me - stained glass.  I knew straight away that this was the answer we were looking for.  Stained glass windows can be breathtakingly stunning but they are made from lots of flat blocks of colour and often a limited palette!  I could see an image in my head of this huge stained glass style dove with blue shards coming from it as if it was bursting with light and life.  I'm amazed to say it looked almost exactly like the mural we ended up with!

We drew the mural out and began adding colour.  We found that if we painted two shades next to each other at the same time we could blend them reasonably well as long as we were very quick, so we used this technique around the edges of each 'panel' to create a little depth.  Whilst we worked on the painting many different people came in to see what was happening.  I think the best reaction was when some ladies from the village came in and as soon as they saw it they started dancing and praising God!  This was very moving.  I knew they were thankful for the educational murals that had been painted in other classrooms, but they recognised that this image was much more important, powerful and worthy of celebration!

The dove mural isn't an educational piece, it isn't a diagram and it doesn't have labels.  But it proclaims a message to anyone who is listening and it is more important and exciting than anything you will come across in a textbook.  The image speaks life and light; the image speaks about God.

"When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
(John 8:12)

"Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me."
(John 14:6)

In the old testament we can read about Noah and the ark.  When the flood ends, God places a rainbow in the sky as a sign of his promise that he will never flood the earth again.  The rainbow in the mural reminds me of God's promises and how when he makes a promise, he never changes his mind.  Although the world constantly changes around us, God stays the same, making his word the one stable thing we can stand on.

At the right hand side of the mural you can see three crosses, they remind me about what Jesus went through for us.  He sacrificed his life to save us, he was innocent yet he took our punishment upon himself so that we could go free.  The crosses in the mural are empty because Jesus didn't just die, he rose again!  And now he is seated on high.

The dove in the centre of the picture symbolises this life, hope and freedom that is available to us now because of what Jesus has done for us.  After Jesus went up to Heaven, the Holy Spirit was sent to help and live in his people.  A dove is often used to symbolise the Holy Spirit.

These are the basic thoughts behind each of the three main elements of the image individually, but the elements link together and as a whole there is a lot more to be heard - much more than I will write to you now!  The best way to understand the mural is to ask God to talk to you personally about it.  I didn't explain the meaning of it to any of the village women who came in and danced and praised God when they saw it, but their reaction proved they heard God in it, and so I believe you will hear God in it too if you listen.