Sandi Hester

Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous deeds among all peoples.  I Chronicles 16:24

This is one of those “old into new” projects I talked about in a previous post.  I took envelopes from letters that were sent to me from friends in Africa and glued and taped them together and painted this map of Africa on them.  I love how you can see notes that were written to us on the envelopes, postage stamps from Africa, and the beautiful pink color of one of the envelopes – I think it adds some character to the painting and preserves some precious things to me in a very neat way.  I added things on the map that are unique to Africa and to some of my friends that are there.  You’ll see some of the creatures and critters (love and hated) from Africa, some of the people, houses, trees, air planes used to bring in supplies and people, and even a hospital that our friends worked at.  If you click on the main picture you can see a larger version of it (after clicking on the large picture, if you’ll place your cursor at the bottom right hand corner a box will come up with arrows on it – click it and  you can see it even larger – all the pictures on this blog should do that) and you can also click on the thumbnail pictures to see some details of the map.

I will whistle for them and gather them in.  Surely I will redeem them…Though I scatter them among the peoples, yet in distant lands they will remember Me.  Zechariah 10:8-9 (taken from the NASB & NIV)

This is for my friend Amy who is in Africa.  She is wrapping up her time there and will be returning to the states soon.  My prayer is that the people there will hear the whistle of God and draw near to Him.  We are also praying that as the team leaves to return to the states, that those who know Him will remember Him.  Lord, gather them to Yourself – make Your Name great in Africa!  Amy sent me several pictures to paint from and this is one I was really drawn to.

Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.  Isaiah 40:31

Thank you for those who prayed for the Crowders.  I received an e-mail this morning saying they arrived safely.  It took quite a bit longer than they expected.  A 31 hour trip turned into 2 days.  They were tired but arrived safely.  I did this quick sketch painting Saturday while Grady fished.  It was interesting timing because this is actually a picture Beverly gave me of the plane they fly in on once they get in Africa.  You can tell by the painting that it’s quite small and the runway isn’t exactly paved.  So this painting is for the Crowders safe arrival.

If you’ve read my blog you’ve heard me mention our missionary friends the Crowders.  I have a prayer request for them.  They are returning to Africa tomorrow and I’m asking you to cover them in prayer.  They have a VERY long flight tomorrow – those of you with children will understand – Beverly is pregnant and they have a toddler – have you ever traveled for 24 plus hours with a toddler – you can see why I’m asking you to pray!  They also have 12 “bags” – I think they’re more like crates – they will be traveling with and that they need to arrive on time to Africa with them.  I’m sure you can also understand the importance of their bags arriving, especially with all they need for their toddler.  I appreciate you covering them with your prayers.  I know this may seem strange, but even if you read this after the 17th will you still lift them up in prayer – our God is not bound by time and even if you pray for them well after the flight I know my God will hear and “count” it toward tomorrow .  Pray that they have very uneventful flights, that they get some rest on these flights, that Thomas (their little boy) has an easy time traveling, and that their bags arrive on time.  Thank you friends for praying for them. 

The paintings below are painted from some pictures the Crowders gave me.  I’m not sure what this building is – in the painting it turned out looking more like a barn, but it is some concrete building -I’m sure Beverly will let me know what it is when she sees this post.  The other painting is self-explanatory.

Give thanks to the Lord, call on His name; make known among the nations what He has done.  Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous deeds among all peoples.  I Chronicles 16:8, 24

This is another painting I did from a picture from one of my missionary friends in Africa.  For some reason these are my favorite paintings to work on.  This one is from Chris and Beverly.  They are here in the US for a visit and I got to see them twice since they’ve been here – they return to Africa next month.  Beverly was at my house just this week!  I should post some pictures of the beautiful gifts they brought us from Africa (jewelry, a leather purse, and a bible).  I have a “mission” wall that I put up gifts from missionaries and things we’ve brought back from mission trips.  I may have to post a picture of my wall – it really is a work of art – I love it!  Thank you Chris & Beverly for the picture, but most of all thank you for your love for the nations and making Christ famous among them!

Prepare the way for the people.  Build up,  build up the highway!  Remove the stones.  Raise a banner for the nations.  Isaiah 62:10

My friend Amy is doing just that – preparing the way and raising a banner for the people in Africa.  She is a missionary in Africa.  I love painting pictures my missionary friends send me or have posted on their blogs.  Amy posted both of these on her blog.  The first one is a very loaded down van on some sort of “highway”.  I loved the colors and how it was stacked to the sky with stuff – last but not least – a wheelbarrow – you never know when you’ll need one of those in Africa !  I painted this picture last night while cleaning the kitchen and cooking.  I can do that since my painting “station” is my woodblock which is right in the middle of my kitchen – very convenient!

This second picture is of a lady at her sewing machine in a hut.

Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst.  The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat.  Revelation 7:16

Doesn’t she capture your heart?  She did mine.  I saw her in a World Vision magazine we got in the mail the other day.  I got the mail right before I started to cook dinner and the urge to paint her was to much to resist – when you’re inspired to paint something you can’t just let it pass because it might not come back.  This was another one of those paintings that flowed from the Spirit right out of my paint brush.  So I painted this little girl while cooking – that’s pretty good for me because I AM NOT a multitasker.  I can’t even talk on the phone and cook at the same time or something will set on fire.  I sat down today with my bible and asked the Lord to lead me to the perfect verse for her.  Poor Grady was napping while I flipped through my bible and when I found this verse I can’t remember what came out of my mouth, I just remember it was a little on the loud side because Grady was jolted awake from his nap .  The verse captures the painting and the Spirit behind this painting perfectly.