Linwood House Ministries

5th Annual Linwood Art Experience - August 21

NOTE: View works from our Art Experience 2011 artists here.

Linwood House is a hive of activity as we prepare for our 5th Annual Linwood House Art Experience, being held on Sunday, August 21, 2011 amid the beautiful gardens surrounding the House.

The Art Experience is an exceptionally important fundraiser for LHM and last year raised more than $10,000 - and that on a very wet Sunday!

We have again been overwhelmed by the generosity of the Sunshine Coast's art community who will display their work and contribute 30% of their sales to LHM. This year those participating are painters Doris Biddle, Ed Cleave, Liz Debeer, Kim and Carol LaFave, Yzabelle Delisle Milton, Donna Swain, Diana Starbuck, Doug Rae, Ann Willsie, and Dru Vaughn; potters Darcy Margesson, Jack Ploesser, and Jose Ventura; jeweller Nancy Gatland; stained glass artist Susan Furze; wood-turner Robert Milton; photographer Marina Crawford; and stone carvers Jesse Whitford and Ian Hooley. This year we are also thrilled that Ron Steven will work with some of our friends from the Downtown Eastside at The Journey, in the days prior to the Art Experience.

The number of visitors last year was considerable - around 400-500 people. The enormous tent on the back lawn which sheltered the 15 artists from the continual downpour was abuzz with activity. Volunteers worked hard in all areas to make the day a success and the kitchen was a continual food and beverage production line!

This year we are once again preparing to host the many visitors who will be welcomed by a large team of volunteers, as well as those wonderful, giving people who we have to thank for the extistence of this pool of serenity, spirituality and love that is Linwood House. We are expecting a brilliant and sunny day for this event! 

~ Anne Watters

NOTE: View works from our Art Experience 2011 artists here.

What Goes Around Comes Around

Life is chaotic and full of challenges, or at least that is what it seems like to me today and most days. Life is also rich and full of joy and love, but still chaotic. At any moment I find myself caring for my mother who is dependent on me for the basics of life, or at another moment I'm snake hunting with my grandson, or greeting guests at the door at Linwood House, or cleaning a bathroom, or planning a trip to Eastern Europe, or inviting people to participate in the Art Show, or the next Journey... or I'm trying to write and the phone is ringing! It seems like I am running around in circles, and I probably am because that is life, or at least that is my life at the moment.

I pause in that circle and think about how blessed I am; not because life is easy and everything is going smoothly but because I am part of a Circle of Grace, a circle of people who care, love, and generously give to one another and others amidst the challenges. The phrase that runs through my mind is “what goes around comes around”. I picture people running around the circle with me and with Linwood House Ministries, giving, receiving, loving and being loved, sharing the ups and downs of life, and supporting one another amidst the chaos.

For the last nine years we have been hosting the Journey, a 3 day retreat for women from the Downtown Eastside. We have invited many women to come and enjoy this experience, both women we have befriended and women who come to us through other ministries. Together we have built relationships that help the women of the DTES as they struggle with life’s demands. Sometimes it has been challenging and a struggle to finance, but somehow we have persevered and done it and managed financially. A couple of weeks ago we were discouraged looking at our limited bank balance, questioning how we were going to continue the work we are passionate about, when a group of pastors came to Linwood for a retreat and asked how they could pray for us. I shared our financial need with them and they prayed. The next morning I got a call from a partner ministry in the DTES. They said they had been praying as a leadership team that morning and God had put it on their hearts to give us a generous donation. They said, “You have blessed the women of the DTES and our leaders for the last several years and we want to bless you with this gift.” The phrase comes to mind again, “what goes around comes around”. I am grateful for ministries who are partners and part of the Circle of Grace. I am grateful for you who are part of this circle and pray, give and care.

In less than a week a team of 8 women will leave for Eastern Europe. Our Global Circle of Grace will grow once again as we meet women who are marginalized and vulnerable to exploitation and trafficking. We will learn from one another, share stories and creatively share the heart of God with women, and stand together against the trafficking of women in our world. Please see Emma's post about the trip see how you can help support the ever growing Circles of Grace.

Remember, “What goes around comes around.”

On The Road Again

Long-time friend Emma Strobell is off to Eastern Europe in less than two weeks. With her permission here is an edited version of an email she sent out to her friends recently. We think Emma does a great job of sharing what this trip ia all about, so with her permission we're letting all of you see it too.

 

Hello Friends and Family,

I am gearing up for a journey to Eastern Europe on July 24 for about two weeks.  I am going with a team of fabulous women through Linwood House Ministries. Most of you will recognize this organization from my previous trips to Bangkok, Thailand.  Linwood House continues to “journey with women into the hope of their story”, coming alongside marginalized and vulnerable women seeking to love, support, encourage and walk with, recognizing the value in accepting and loving one another as we are and moving into self and community discovery from there.

We will be flying into Berlin, then heading to Czech Republic, Slovakia, Serbia, and Austria connecting with various organizations and communities working alongside marginalized women, including prostituted and pregnant women.  A vast majority of women trafficked for sexual exploitation are from communities in various parts of Eastern Europe.  There is much for us to learn and seek to understand as we connect with communities, organizations, and individual women. Our main objective is to bring ourselves – including our individual journeys – love, encouragement, support, feedback, along with open minds to learn from the various organizations and ministries we will be in contact with. Our hope is to support the existing work of our friends Anna and Sheldon who have been serving in Eastern Europe for years, as well as to practically participate in various ministries and organizations.  We have been asked to conduct seminars on social justice as well as to discuss and encourage the involvement of women within the church in these areas.

In light of all of the above, I want to invite you to be a part of what we are hoping to bring with us to Eastern Europe. As our team shares stories, information, and our own experiences, my hope is that you each have your own experience of Eastern Europe.  I want to invite each of you into a new space of understanding human trafficking, violence against women, and the status of our sisters around the globe.  What we do here in North America is so connected to what happens in places like Bangkok and Eastern Europe. 

Tangibly, I would like to invite you to be a part of some of the creative ‘projects’ we will be bringing with us through donating funds or supplies.  Recognizing both the difficulty and the importance of sharing our personal journey/life story as part of the journey towards healing and wholeness, we will be introducing the idea of creating self-portraits and ‘story bracelets’ (I have two weeks to come up with better names for these projects!). From our experience in Bangkok as well as with our friends in the Downtown Eastside, and even within our own team, something incredibly beautiful happens when we are invited into sacred space to creatively express our hurts, joys, traumatic experiences, hopes, and dreams.  These ‘self-portraits’ are created on small canvases and we use paints, magazine clippings, quotes, words, etc. to create an expression of who we are, where we are at on our journey, what our dreams/fears are, etc.: essentially, a collage of sorts.  Obviously, no one is forced or obligated to share their portraits, but the invitation is there and our team will be stepping into this vulnerable space as well.  Please keep us in mind as we do this… vulnerability isn’t quite like riding a bike for me just yet. 

In addition to supplies for ‘self- portraits’ we are also collecting beads and supplies for making ‘story bracelets’. Again, the concept is similar: a tangible way to individually and creatively express our story. 

So, if you would like to be involved in helping make these creative projects happen, be it supplies or money towards supplies, you can contact me or donate directly to Linwood House Ministries. We will also be looking to gift the organizations that we will be connecting with financially or otherwise.

The supplies we need include:

• Acrylic paints
• Small 10in x 10in (or smaller) canvasses
• Magazines/pages from magazines
• Scrap booking supplies
• Paint brushes
• Beads
• Stretchy bracelet string
• Etc.

Again, if I can ask anything of you, it is love and support.  These trips are full of beauty and discovery and are also excruciatingly painful, raw, and eye-opening.  Stand with us as we bear witness to the horrific effects of sexual exploitation, violence against women, and the marginalization of women in Eastern Europe and in much of our world.  We go to stand in solidarity with our sisters from across the globe. Join us.

Emma