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OUR MURAL
The Birth of a Wall Mural by Paige Bridges, wife of the Pastor.
Being an artist, I felt challenged to incorporate my artwork into the church in some meaningful way. We had built a beautiful, large fellowship hall and there was a fabulous wall that was just begging for a mural! I decided to do a scene from my imaginings of what it would be like to enjoy the Feast of Tabernacles during the Millennium. So, here are a few photos that were taken along the way ... And, yes, I did use REAL people for the models! Not all are members of our congregation, but all have passed through our doors on one occasion or another. The
first image (left) shows the lion that I painted first, and the lay-in for the
other figures that I had planned.
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The progression of the painting. This is our daughter Carrie Mikos, proudly pointing to HER portrait (the girl standing with the bowl). The theme is starting to become more pronounced.
The black gentlemen that is featured here, was killed in an automobile accident not long after I finished his portrait. He is on the right, dressed in white. We knew him as Deacon Jordan, a precious, Godly man. He came to us on loan, from Mt. Olive Church in Plano, TX
The
picture below features the pastor and his wife from Plano's Mt. Olive Church: Sam
and Gloria Fenceroy. (Pastor Sam came to our 20th Anniversary
on September 29, 2007.) |
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The little lady on the lower right is Margaret Doering,
one of our most faithful members. She was born into Nazi Germany and
carried many emotional scars from what she was forced to witness as
a young child. She is now with the
Lord but we remember her fondly like a Mother in Israel. In this painting she is shown
feeding the Church Cat, which she did faithfully until he disappeared - as most
old tom cats do.
I added curtains to the sukkah when I was told by a native Israeli that to build a sukkah without the curtained walls makes it a chupah, or marriage tent.
(Right) This is Sandra Wyche ... another one of the Saints who have gone on to be with Jesus. She had a true servant's heart and dreamed of opening a soup kitchen to feed the poor and hungry. She was only about 35 years old when she died suddenly of congestive heart failure. But she left an indelible mark on our hearts. I painted her with this enormous strawberry shortcake because it was one of her favorites and one of our members had a prophetic dream about it, following her death. In the dream, a huge strawberry shortcake was being constructed with machetes to cut the berries and a ladder to install them! Sandra was seen standing nearby, watching. After the dessert was completed, she just vaporized into thin air. We believe it was the Lord's way of showing us that Sandra wouldn't be the one baking and serving any longer! From now on, she will be the one being served! Praise the Lord!
Our Associate Pastor Mike Donahue is seated in the center, flanked by Jeff Wallace (left) and James Foster (right.) This was a fun scene to create and paint ...
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A View of the Whole Mural ... partially finished
This gives a better idea of the scale of the painting. It covers about 12 feet. I added the scripture from Zechariah which reads: "All the nations ... shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles." Zechariah 14:16
HANNUKAH 2002 We celebrated the Festival of Lights in the Fellowship Hall and let each of our families decorate their table with the prescribed 9-candle hanukkiah. Then we lit the candles and turned off the lights! An awesome sight ...
(Left) Two of the newest faces to join all the happy people in the mural: Overseer and Pastor Bob Bernard and his wife of over 60 years, Tawana. They came to serve about 18 years ago. Pastor Bob is a dedicated man of God whose heart is ministering to pastors. He founded our Pastor's Fellowship which meets monthly in different area churches. Pastor David calls him his "Spiritual Father."
These 2 portraits were unveiled in July, 2007 at the Pastor's Fellowship luncheon which we hosted. Pastor Bob was very touched and cried when he saw it ... (Note: He passed away soon afterward.)
NOT FINISHED YET! It just didn't seem right that we would have Charlet Cooper atop a white horse and not include her husband Pastor Ken. So here's Paige, adding one more person to the mural. Pastor Ken leads Praise & Worship at his home church, Shepherd House Family Church. It's only natural that he would be shown here, playing and singing! Added on September 15, 2010 Note: There will be more faces to be added as time goes by. This mural was inspired by the Lord from the beginning, and little by little more people will appear, as I feel the call to add them. Paige Bridges
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