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Dustin Kelm - Champion Unicyclist: More than Just a Show
OM's creative arts ministry in Asia recently finished a tour in Turkey with a two-time world champion unicyclist and an illusionist. Performing in Antioch and several other cities, Dustin shared his testimony and the Gospel from his six-foot unicycle. Craig, the illusionist, shared from his bag of tricks and gave his direct Gospel message as the team handed out cards with a Gospel message to the gathered crowd.
In the city of Izmit, they partnered with a local church whose enthusiastic leader said, "From the afternoon outreach, 25 people came to see the Jesus film in the evening. Of these, 19 stayed to discuss more.” Dustin also appeared on national television where he performed and shared that God is the only one who can fill the emptiness in our lives.
The OM Arts Bill Drake Band arrived in Tatabanya, a town outside of Budapest, Hungary, and gathered in a skate park. They set up the sound system amidst the half-pipes, graffiti, and broken lives that congregated there for various types of cheap thrills.
When Bill spoke to the crowd, a young man named Dobsi stood on the edge of the pavement, hanging on every word. The broken home, the child abuse, the deaths of a mother and a best friend - the parallels to his own life amazed him. But what really struck him was the peace and joy that radiated from Bill’s life as he told of such horrors. Dobsi was drawn to the message of life resurrected from the depths of destruction like a man dying of thirst is drawn to water.
Dobsi told Bill that he used to be "king of the hill" in the skate park--it was his heaven. But younger kids had pushed him out, and his reasons for living were getting less compelling. He had contemplated suicide, just like Bill had so many years ago. Dobsi wanted to know if Christ could rescue him too.
Bill asked Dobsi if he was ready to surrender his life to Jesus. With a tear on his face and a lump in his throat, he said “yes.” With a trembling voice, he prayed with Bill and received Christ in a dingy skate park in Tatabanya, Hungary, where a broken life was transformed by the Gospel.
Artists can step out of their studios and follow God's call to get dirty, and to reach out to a hurting world. The artist's role is to show compassion through their work, to bring a touch of humanity to the needy, to find what is hidden, beautiful, and redeemable in a community and to celebrate it publicly. Sometimes, the artist is called to be like the Old Testament prophets, lamenting through their work what is unjust and should be changed.
A recent outreach in a predominantly Muslim country in Africa brought such an opportunity. First impression of the city was one of being forgotten. It is remote, poor, and not very pretty. Residents say it's known for prostitution and alcoholism. The people the artists came to reach are considered even more "disgraced" by society. They are the handicapped. Families hide their disabled children, shamed because society tells them it is the fault or sins of the parents.
The OM Arts team prayer was that instead of shame, the Good News would come to the afflicted. So, the group based their arts projects on the beauty for ashes principal. They used recycled materials, found objects, bits and scraps of things gathered in everyday places. In the end, the children and moms created drawings, hand-made books, recycled paper colored by local spices, and block prints. The handicapped center was transformed into a gallery for the show. Vivid portraits of mothers and their children were hung and entitled, "precious in His sight." Leading village doctors, politicians, and police officials attended and saw the pride in the children's eyes. There was not a dry eye in the room when the team leader shared that God sees these children and cherishes them. Life may indeed be filled with suffering and hardship, but God brings beauty from the ashes of our lives. It was truly a celebration and laid the ground for future ministry.
Linda is a part of the creative ministries team of OM Arts International called DanceLink. She travels to many different countries teaching men and women to share the Gospel and worship God through dance.
During a trip to India, Linda met a woman named Esther who had a life of forced prostitution and Hinduism. Linda felt a special burden for Esther. Out of all the dancers, Esther was the most disruptive and unhelpful. Linda felt the need to confront her, but before she could, Esther asked to give her testimony.
“When Linda asked us to dance and listen for the voice of Jesus, I felt sleepy and giggly. Suddenly a voice said to me, ‘You belong to Me now. Stay awake, listen, and learn.’”
Linda took the opportunity to explain that the enemy wants to prevent us from hearing the voice of Jesus in our lives. “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10). The enemy wants to rob us of our spiritual hearing, but God has given us the strength to be still and listen to His voice over all the distractions in our life. Esther took Linda’s words to heart and is continuing to grow in the Lord and in her new faith.
The film unflinchingly addresses the difficult topic of human trafficking, putting a face on the suffering of hundreds of thousands of victims. The film provides the hope that we can all be a part of to bring change to this social and spiritual problem in our world today.
"Olivia's Song" is a demonstration of how Christian artists can take action to bring about awareness and change. Jon Simpson, an artist involved in world missions, uses his skills and talents to ultimately help fulfill the great commission and bring people to Christ. A lot of Jon's focus is on international world missions but this project has brought his ministry much closer to home. Atlanta is a mission field, and Jon knows it. His desire is to use the arts to address social injustice with the hope that more awareness will generate more action - prayer, supporting ministries that directly rescue victims of human trafficking, and personal action towards wiping out this grim reality of American society.
Contact Jon at Jon@bugnogmusic.com to find out how you can host a group to view the free film together.
During a recent OM Arts outreach in Slovakia with the Bill Drake Band alongside an OM DanceLink performance, Mary had the opportunity to lead a woman to Christ. Months before Mary's mission trip, she prayed that the Lord would use her to reveal the heart of God to someone. Mary was part of the outreach team that accompanied the OM Arts missions trip.
Towards the end of the concert, Mary overheard a man loudly saying "Katolícka!" while pointing his finger at the woman. She appeared to be in her forties, wore dark clothing, and sat lifelessly on a plaza bench. More notable however, was the empty, blank look on her face. Apparently the man was chiding the woman for being a Catholic and praying to Mary, Jesus' mother.
The man asked Mary to speak to her. Her name was Aranka. Mary, having come from a Catholic background, knew how sensitive one could be when one’s beliefs, true or false, are challenged. Gently, Mary explained to Aranka the way of salvation through Jesus Christ. Aranka listened carefully, asked Mary questions, and stated bluntly that she had no joy in her life. Mary told her that if she had Jesus living in her heart she would know true joy. To Mary's surprise and delight, she promptly asked how she could get Jesus into her heart! Mary reviewed the Gospel essentials and asked if she understood and believed, and Aranka indicated she did. Then Mary prayed that God would reveal Himself to her. Mary excitedly told her that she had now passed over from death to life and she was now a part of the family of God. The two women briefly talked about praying, reading the Bible, meeting with other believers, and Mary gave her information about the local church.
Aranka thanked Mary and for the first time during their encounter, Aranka's face softened and then she smiled.
Heart Sounds International: Helping Indigeous People Create Worship Music
As a ministry OM Arts, Heart Sounds International (HSI) exists to help ignite culturally relevant and Biblically appropriate worship, especially in places where Christ-followers are persecuted, restricted or unknown.
HSI seeks to help people around the world create worship music with their own cultural and linguistic distinctions. Volunteer professional recording engineers, travelling with their equipment, have helped produce worship music in over 33 countries including Yemen, Kosovo, Mongolia, Algeria and Tajikistan. Sometimes they will install a studio (often secret) in the country and train nationals in audio production. Many songs have aired on Christian radio reaching millions. Many recordings are done in secret, and each time the volunteers enter a country closed to the Gospel, they pray earnestly for smooth passage. All work is done in partnership with local house groups or established churches.
Research has shown that churches that are emerging in closed countries grow more rapidly when they have contextualized worship music.
Artists' Gallery, an Inspiring Place of Restoration and Hope
"Wow!" exclaimed Fetiha as she stepped into the door with two other North African friends. She walked around, a hot glass of mint tea in her hand, and took in the transformation of the warehouse-turned-art-studio. Artwork from a mixture of local artists and immigrants graced the walls of the lively-colored space. Some sat on modern couches and talked about the work while others milled about and chatted with artists. Several children, paint brushes in hand, added their personal touches to the mural, a work in progress. The images in the mural illustrated life, love, community, and freedom. Bright colors and a splash of graffiti lettering reminded guests that art is for everyone.
After much prayer, dreaming, hard work, and messy hands, the opening night of the art studio and gallery in Southern Spain was quite an event. The place heated up as a mixture of people from various cultures and backgrounds took in the art and toured the new space. One believing artist whose work was exhibited noted that interest in her work spawned several conversations about birth and rebirth, loss and second chances. She found a natural way to connect with viewers and plant seeds of hope.
Pray that workers at the art studio will be a positive spiritual influence in the city. As they live out a community of Kingdom values, pray that others would be drawn in by their love and joy. Also pray for financial sustenance from the workshops and events they will offer at the studio.
