With the first days of Fall upon us and the chill beginning to descend we thought it would be good to give you all a summary of our summer.
You, of course know about the two major things that occurred: the finalization of the purchase of our home and Kirk’s eye issues.
We are so grateful to God for helping us to persevere throughout this year to be able to purchase the home we believe will be a place for the Author of Life to work in and through us and in others who cross the threshold. There will be more info on our home and how we are able to minister out of it in future newsletters, so stay tuned (you might want to update our address for your records: 143 N. Confederate Ave. Rock Hill, SC 29730).
As for Kirk’s eye, about a month and a half after the surgery we went to an “ocularist” to set him up with a prosthetic. After a few visits, he is currently wearing a fake eye that matches accurately his good eye. There is some need for adjustment to it and Kirk will need time to get comfortable with it, but we are grateful to God for how well it has gone.
The biggest event this summer was our first attempt at an “Artist in Residence” program that we did for two weeks in June. Kirk’s friend whom he met in NYC—Ryann Cooley—came to Rock Hill, SC for 2 weeks from Houghton College in upstate New York. In that time we finished plans on an art installation, set it up, and had it on display to the public for several evenings (pictured above: a group experiencing the installation); the piece and all the surrounding events we called “Feel Yourself Seeing”. Ryann also did a lecture about the history of installation art and current ideas behind the concepts of this form of art.
In the week we had the art piece open and the lecture we had dozens of people come through and about 15 to 20 attend Ryann’s talk. We used it as a platform to form new relationships with people in the Rock Hill and greater Charlotte area as well as deepen our existing friendships. There was some greate interaction during the Q & A time. As we say with our part in ministry, ‘Art creates space for God to work’, and that is what we did during the residency—trusting God to work as we entered the “art arena” and shared our thoughts on installation art as followers of Christ.
The residency was successful enough that we plan to do it again next summer and perhaps expand the participants as well as our reach so that more may enter these spaces with us. And we know God will continue to work. Thanks for your prayers and support for us during this time. We ask that you continue to pray that God would work in the midst of the spaces we create.
Check below for more photos of the event.
Please pray:
- We haven’t quite settled into our house yet…Pray that will happen soon and are able to maintain this 100 year old gem of a homestead. Check Kirk’s facebook album: Renovating “The Perch” for photos of the renovation process!
- Please pray for continued provision both in the finalizing of Kirk’s prosthetic and tackling the financial needs that have arisen (more on this in a later letter).
update(s):
praises—Here is a photo of Kirk now. This past year, because of the glaucoma, his eye had been extremely irritated all the time. As hard as it has been for him to come to terms with, having the surgery has really been a good thing. (can you tell which one is the prosthetic?*)
Blessings-
*the prosthetic is his left eye.