Story Graphics II

Here's another set of story graphics for RELEVANT web articles that I've created in the last month or two.

Story Graphics I

I haven't posted new artwork on here for awhile, so here is set of 15 article graphics for RELEVANT Magazine that I've created over the last 2 months. You can check out the actual stories they were created for at RELEVANTmagazine.com.

Malawi

Have you ever felt what it's like to hear the rhythmic footsteps of 50 small children sprinting from their huts to greet you with eager and unexplainable happiness as you step into their village? Or seen a child overwhelmed with joy just by simply letting them hold your hand, by giving them a hug, or by making a stumbling attempt to communicate in their language? Or ever experienced what it's like to worship and dance with elderly widows who have next to nothing, yet still retain unwavering hope and immeasurable satisfaction in a God who is faithful? These sort of happenings were day to day, nearly hour by hour experiences while I was on mission with Summit in Malawi. I honestly had never witnessed such simple and untainted joy. There was so much to learn from these people about love, happiness, and community without them even having to speak words that I could understand. Although I've been on several mission trips in the past, this was a first time for me to travel overseas, to a third-world country, and witness that these God-given attributes really do know no boundaries in language, culture, social class, or location.

Upon leaving for Africa, my mindset was that I was going to be the one to pour into others and help those in need, but it was God, the people in Malawi, and my team that really poured into me. It became so easy to see God working for us, in us, and through us, and to see His love physically brighten the spirits of these African people through simple gestures like reading a child a letter from her American sponsor, serving a hot meal to a 5-year old orphan, or spending a little extra time walking through Bible passages with young men in a late afternoon study. One of my other team members put it best when he said that it seemed we were "filled with boldness and faith like we've never known." I definitely experienced this firsthand when myself and two others from Summit were given the awesome opportunity to share our stories and give our first sermons in front of over 800 people at a soccer tournament.

I think often we aim our focus to meet needs that are physical, and often rightly so, but it was so apparent in this place and in this atmosphere, that God's aim is for the soul. That's where the hunger is. That's where the bread of life can satisfy. Paul commends Christians to preach the gospel daily to ourselves and others, so that through the Holy Spirit, our lives and theirs will be transformed. It was an unbelievable experience and was so beneficial to see this in action within my team and also among these Malawian people. We were all in this state of perpetual movement and spiritual growth that I wish I observed and personified as frequently here in the states. It was kingdom building at it's finest. My prayer upon return is that God would give us eyes to see the world as He sees it, to cultivate His love and grace amongst each other, to harvest hope, and seek to live lives of consistent worship all unto the glory of God and the praising of His name.

I'm Going to Africa! Here Are the Details. Please Read.

In early December, I was given an incredible opportunity to join a team going on a mission trip to Malawi, Africa for 11 days at the beginning of March. I have taken this opportunity and wanted to share a little bit with you all about my upcoming trip.

A few months ago, my church in Orlando asked that I design promotional materials to encourage its members to travel to Africa and assist in the mission and outreach work of international non-profit, Children of the Nations. For me, this was a cool opportunity, for one, because I got to design a lot of custom tribal artwork (which is fun and challenging to be authentic and creative with), and two, because I felt in some way connected to the actual act of inspiring people to worship God by traveling overseas to serve.

Summit does these trips multiple times per year, and I’ve actually been wanting to go on one of them for awhile. I’ve told my friends and family for at least the last 3 years that I had hoped to go, but for whatever reason, I just haven’t. Whether it was being surprised I had to spend an extra year in college for my degree, pursuing a job out of state, or actually getting a great job in Orlando this past summer, there’s always been a good reason, or maybe one that just seemed good to me, that I didn’t participate in years past. I know this sounds cliche, but this winter everything has seemed to align perfectly for me to go this year. I think if I’m honest too, I may have placed more value in traveling, or adventure for that matter, than a sincere concern for the people I would be going to serve in years past. That’s another likely reason God has deemed it wise for me to wait.

This fall, however, I had prayed a lot about this, and have been encouraged by a ton of people to go. So as of the new year, I’m stepping out and am now officially on a team headed to Africa on March 1st. This whole process has come as a whirlwind, but I’m thrilled at the chance to go and do this.

This is the mission for my particular trip... 

In this part of the year, the villagers need help caring for their children throughout the afternoons and assistance on various building projects. That will technically be the mission we take on, but in addition, our team will actually split up in the mornings to spend a significant part of the day in villagers’ homes helping them with their daily needs. This experience will be unlike any other trip I’ve been on, and is sure to be an incredible time to really engage them in conversation about Jesus, step into their culture, and develop a relationship with them. 

As always, there is a sacrifice for going on these trips: time, energy, and resources. In the Bible when God is orchestrating a event or mission for His servants to go on, His will was for them to respond in a child-like willingness to follow and let Him take care of the details. There is a huge degree of wisdom involved too, but I think God’s desire is for men and women (that are presented with a chance to glorify Him in a straight-forward call to action) to jump at the opportunity to do it. I’m not comparing myself to Isaiah or Jonah or Paul by any means, but this is still a big step of faith for me to travel and go do this.

There are 2 key ways I could use your help if you are willing...

1. PRAYER. 

This is huge. I’ve seen how powerful a praying community of believers is while serving on past trips and just in life, day by day. If you would like stories, just ask :) So again, this is huge. I personally could absolutely use prayer for wisdom, joy, faith, perseverance, energy, and health while I’m there. The villagers, our team’s unity and continual heart of worship is equally important, if not more so, as well. That would be greatly appreciated!

1. FINANCES. 

The trip cost is $2800. I believe the deadline to raise this amount is the last week of February. There’s no pressure to give or support me in this, but if you can and would like to, I would be most appreciative! You can send cash or check to 2874 Carew Ave. Winter Park, FL 32789. (If you’d like for this gift to be tax deductible, please send to the same address, but make your check out to Summit Church).

I will definitely keep all of you updated on the project before and after I go, and I’ll most likely create some kind of cool artwork from it, or as a result of what I experience there to share with all of you as well.

Thanks for taking the time to read this!

In humility,

Evan

A Shipwreck

Four years ago, a close friend and I were on a road trip. It was one of those ones where you leave all the windows rolled down, you play the same CD at least four times in a row, you think of cheesy, trite games to play, and you have all the time in the world to ponder and discuss all the issues of life. You know what I’m talking about? The classic and frequented college excursion.

So on this classic excursion, I recall us discussing the topic of where we imagined we would be in 1 year, 5 years, 10 years, 30 years… what we would be doing, dreams, family, all that good stuff. So naturally this question surfaced: “if you could be doing anything in 30 years (complications of life excluded from the equation), what would it be?” Interestingly enough, we both had the same answer. Or similar anyway.

As long as I can remember, I’ve always had a fascination with archaeology and ancient history. I’m pretty sure my parents were pretty concerned when I was in second grade, and they had a 8-year old who memorized every fact about the gods, myths, architecture, and all finer points of Egyptology. I guarantee that it was sparked by Indiana Jones, but to mix that with my expression through art and a kid’s hunger for adventure… I’ll leave it to you to imagine what that 8-year old would have been like.

Later on, in high school, I started to become really intrigued by the ocean. I was scuba certified, loved to surf, and was taken with wonder at the vastness, life, and beauty the ocean contains. If you unite all these interests together, what you get is some sort of ocean explorer/ treasure hunter, and oddly enough, that’s more or less what I would want to do in 30 years or so. Perhaps not as a profession, per say, but more of a frequented escapade or hobby. It’s the perfect mix of adventure, exploration, nature, and history. (And naturally I would incorporate photography, videography, and design into it somehow. Maybe I could make films for Discovery Channel or something.)

All that to say, my friend and I share this dream and casually discuss making a reality of it on my occasional rounds to visit he and his wife in North Florida several times each year. We often plan some sort of adventure whenever I visit, and this past weekend we decided on a full-day ocean kayaking trip off Amelia Island. And this weekend, my friends, just happened to be the moment when we happened upon our first shipwreck.

We had paddled a mile or so into the ocean from Amelia Island to investigate a massive sandbar that floods and resurfaces with the changing of tides, when I noticed what looked like a sliver of iron spiking from the waves roughly a quarter mile further out from where we were at present. For the sake of potential discovery, of course we had to continue on and check it out. And so we did. We paddled the extra distance, through an aggressive patch of  waves that nearly overturned me twice, to get a proper look at whatever discovery this might happen to be.

Sure enough, it was sunken ship! It was a scene just like you would see in a movie… Hazy water, but just clear enough to make out the hammerhead silhouettes circling the perimeter. A weathered rust-tinted main mast that had been shattered against the rocks. Cargo, battered and strewn across the silt of the ocean floor. Waves crashing. Thunderstorm approaching…

Ok, maybe a couple of those details are slightly exaggerated, but still, it was an exciting find!

It’s always quite humorous to talk or dream and then have those random moments when glimpses of the dream actually unfold before you. Perhaps it’s similar to the feeling of wishing to meet a particular celebrity and then by peculiar happenstance running into them at an airport or seeing them in a restaurant. Anyways, it made for one heck of a trip, a good story, and a memory I’ll probably hold on to forever. There’s a grand mystique and something intangibly awe-inspiring about this kind of experience. I hope to have the chance to live out a grander one in the future. Maybe in thirty years, probably less.

To Fast

To fast: (v.) Abstain from all or some kinds of food or drink, esp. as a religious observance.

My pastor at Summit Church spoke on the topic of fasting this past week from the angle of Isaiah 58. He didn’t speak to the actual practice of it, per say, but more towards it’s point or what God wishes of us through the practice. In the chapter, Israel complains because they faithfully practice many rituals to God, including fasting, and God doesn’t reward them for effort, time, or energy spent. In fact, He doesn’t reward them at all, or doesn’t seem to anyway.

What we have here is yet another case of misdirected worship… not hard to see that if you read the context. It becomes an easy observation looking back through time and pointing a finger to a nation’s self-seeking motives, or even seeing them in someone you know, but it can be hard to recognize this trait or pattern in yourself. I think it’s funny how God made us this way.

I fasted a couple times in the last few years when I was seeking answers for certain things, and I learned 2 things from those experiences. One: how much I love and depend on food and hate going without it… especially intentionally… it’s a crazy practice. And two: how it’s really not that crazy, because I became so much more grateful for what I have been given… especially cheeseburgers. I really didn’t get any answers (the reward I was looking for), but rather gratefulness and contentment for what I already had.

Anyways, in the chapter, Isaiah explains to the nation that their fasting is not even the kind of fasting God is asking of them for this reason. He shows that the difference lies in the heart behind the act and goes into details (v. 6-13) of redefining fasting as a lifestyle spent for God and others rather than an occasional practice of refraining from food. This is not to say that one shouldn’t fast in the traditional sense, but rather to think of it as a moment of worship in a life of worship. Make sense?

The overall encouragement from God is that His people should identify and withdraw from things they think they need, look to find delight in Him without them, and offer what they’ve been blessed with for the benefit of their neighbor. This is a broad lifestyle encouragement, not a specific ritual command. The reward of the text is then found in v. 14: “Then you will find your joy in the Lord, and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.”

So… a challenge for this week. Step 1: identify what you need, what you want, and what you think you need. Step 2: find a time in the week to sacrifice something from one of these categories to bless someone else with it.

a ritual.

Gen. 15:17-18

"When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying "To your offspring I give you this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates."

Not long ago I was having lunch with a friend and one topic of conversation, among others, was meaningful passages of scripture to us. This, a curious verse I thought, was one of his – so much so that he had aspirations to preach his very first sermon on this text, which he did this past Sunday morning.

Now you may ask, "Why this would be one's favorite verse from the Bible?" I did. It seems an odd selection. However, when you really dive into the context, the history, and what this meant for Abram (as well as ourselves), it then becomes much more of a fitting verse to choose.

In Gen 15, we find a humble servant of God expressing his doubts of God's faithfulness to deliver on certain promises He had made him. God offers to show Abram that He will pull through (not how or when, mind you), and asks the doubting servant to perform this sacrificial ritual which was a common oath-taking act in ancient mid-Eastern civilization.

Now a basic insight into the culture of ancient Hebrews: it was only the inferior of the two parties that would walk through this bloodied path. It was understood that it was gracious enough of the superior to simply have relationship or need of the inferior, and because of this, the former was not bound to the violent consequence of breaking such an oath. The inferior would then pass between the halved carcasses in symbolic fashion signifying that the result of breaking such an agreement for himself would be the same as that of the beasts on either side. (If they were peers or of equal socio-economic standing, then both would pass and be held responsible.)

With this insight, so much more weight can be placed on the mystical and divine journey of God down this path in verse 17. In humility, the glory of God descended to the level of Abram and bound Himself out of love and holiness to the covenant He promised. Secondly, we must also note that it was just as amazing that one who passed through it, did, as the one who should have, didn't. Interestingly, God doesn't expect any act or leave any responsibility to Abram, except to believe (which he did, "and it was credited to him as righteousness" // Romans 4:22). He takes all responsibility upon Himself.

I'll leave it to you to take what you want out of this little insight into history, but the action of God in this story is the crux of the matter (literally, and metaphorically) in all of history. Centuries later, the Son also offered Himself out of love and holiness to fulfill a duty and promise, this time taking the consequence of our breaking a standard. And once again, He leaves the same singular responsibility (or opportunity) to the nations (John 3:16).