The stars were shining last Friday night!

From artwork twinkling all over the walls by the Sanctuary of Hope (SoH) children, to friends pouring in from near and far, to little ones dancing uninhibited in the joyful music of Zimbabwean band Chihera, the night flooded with magic.

(click photos to view larger)

Many thanks to everyone who contributed to the constellation:

• Flourish Arts ministry, who provided practical support like hanging the show, providing food, and praying the night into existence; and who week-by-week ground and inspire me with artistic companionship and vision;
• Hope’s Promise, who daily watches over the ministry of Sanctuary of Hope (SoH); and the SoH family who live it out in the trenches;
• my Kenya Country Support Team, who link arms again and again to support the SoH family;
• my dear friend and co-founder of Pamba Toto, Debbie Lee, the unseen wind beneath the wings of the entire project;
• the Zimbabwean band, Chihera, who donated their immense talents to bless us all;
• my behind-the-scenes friend, Penny Taylor, my artist-comrade-in-arms who dreamed up the original heart painting project that lead into the star project, and who stayed up through the middle of nights prepping the canvases;
• and, of course, my close friends and family, including my Dad who colored with me for countless hours on the kitchen floor; my mom who relentlessly promised me, especially when I most wanted to give up, that somehow God would use my artwork; and my husband who won’t let me stop painting, even when it makes no practical sense at all.

Most of all, thanks to God, who answered every prayer, small or big, for the evening – from providing a sidewalk sign to an opportunity for the show to hang in another location after this one, from January – Ash Wednesday, 2016 at Castle Oaks Evangelical Church in Castle Rock.