I wish I could paint. There are many things here that are so beautiful,
so colorful, and many times so sad, but how can I capture these
moments? I wish I could paint pictures of children pushing pot lids
down the dirt runway, or playing soccer in the sand. Of drums being
played through the night, or kids wrestling in the streets. How can I
paint the cries of women in the village who are heard but never helped,
or children being beaten for not having water boiled in time? I wish I
could help them, but what can I do? I wish I could paint every wrinkle
of an old woman's face, a face which has seen much life, death, joy,
sadness, abuse, love, work and neglect. I look into the eyes of a woman
who has lost her sight, and think of how beautiful it would be for her
to see, or what it will be like when Christ comes and she will also have
her hearing back; what a joyful day that will be...if only I could paint
it. I wish I could paint the dancing flames of a bush fire at night,
how it playfully casts the shadows of children on the trees, or how it
sends little orange sparks into the sky and gives life to the night.
How can I paint a picture of a woman who is nine months pregnant going
out to the fields to work all day, or the man who has done everything he
can to provide for his 14 children, yet they are hungry. How do I paint
starvation and sickness, laughter and tears? A boy who has been crippled
his whole life, but yet is filled with joy and smiles every day. How
can I paint a picture of a man who has lame hands and can't walk well,
but still comes to work to earn money to eat and live? It takes him
hours, but he presses on in the hot African sun. How do I paint
pictures of a corrupt government, or an illiterate culture? How do I
paint pictures of the mangoes growing on the trees, or the dried smelly
fish in the market? I wish I could paint the sounds of laughing and
chanting by the fire, or laying on mats under the stars. How can I
paint a shooting star, or dirt clouds so heavy that you think it will
rain. I wish I could paint the leaves falling off trees in January, or
the sweat that never leaves your body because it's so hot all the time.
There are so many things that I wish I could share in pictures, things
that will help you grow, shake your faith, make you weak. Things that
will make God more real, more alive, and more awesome! I wish I could
paint.
