“This wall should be blue, but that feels like a nursery. Maybe try painting it green. But that’s associated with Muslims here. What about yellow?”
We couldn’t decide on the wall color for the community center or even what would go on them. Should we put shelves, plants or a chalkboard wall for children to doodle on?

We asked our friends, and everyone had an opinion, giving us insight into how the local community would perceive it. They said that if this community center weren’t associated with religion, people would flock to it.

So what do we do? We didn’t feel the need to force Jesus into anyone’s life. Our actions speak louder. We are the church. We represent Christ through our everyday actions and how we treat those in our community.

Still, Gabe and I felt a tug to have a visual reminder of who is at the center, beginning and end of this community center. So we looked through some pictures online and instantly gravitated towards a mural of the cross. To meet it seemed challenging, but Gabe, my jack-of-all-trades, saw the task as just another walk in the park. He suggested we project it onto the wall with our projector, tape it off where needed and then paint.

So our friends showed up to help tape it off. It definitely took longer than we expected since we were also trying to paint the bathroom and fill in some holes in the walls at the same time. Because of the heat, we began when the sun was almost setting. By the time everyone finished taping off the mural, we had to head home. When we showed up the next day, we found that the heat had loosened much of the tape from off the wall. So Gabe and I repositioned the tape and secured it with some even stronger.

We finally began painting, and the mural turned out even better than expected. It is a beautiful representation of what’s to come and the friendships God has already led us into.

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