In 2010, the Mully Children's Family (MCF) choir performed in my home church, North Kildonan MB in Winnipeg. I was captivated by the talent on display and the simple, honest stories of lives changed because a man in Kenya gave up a multi-million dollar career to rescue orphans.
A seed was planted in my heart - I wanted to paint these faces to help tell this fascinating story. But I didn't know how. I had only recently taken up painting in my spare time, and wasn't particularly confident in my abilities.
I asked the official performance photographer, Ebonie Klassen if I could have copies of the photos from the night of the concert, and she gladly gave them to me. The faces were practically begging to be painted, but I didn't know what to do about it. So in my spare time, I chose a few faces to paint, and a series began to develop.
On another occasion in 2011, an MCF promotional video was presented in our church, where a child stood in front of a Kenyan countryside and pronounced that her home (MCF) was "the biggest family in the world". Watch the inspiring video about MCF, the Biggest Family in the World.
This video felt like God was whispering in my ear, and I saw a large quilt-like painting in my mind - a painting of the many faces of the children of MCF. My project for that summer became a 40" x 40" canvas painting of these faces. The progress was chronicled in several blogs on my website, and the painting was on display at a church BBQ celebrating the success of cycling philanthropist Arvid Loewen, who completed a record-breaking fundraising cycling trip across Canada that summer in support of MCF. Charles Mully himself was at that BBQ, and I was honoured to meet him, in addition to having photos taken of him beside the painting. Here's the finished painting (from my website).
How can art help support a mission like this? I still did not know how it could possibly happen, even after consulting with Arvid Loewen, a board member of Mully Children's Family. So I assigned myself the job of continuing to finish the large painting, which now hangs in the foyer at NKMB Church.
In late 2012, Paul H. Boge, the author of the two biographies about Charles Mully, Father to the Fatherless and Hope for the Hopeless called me on the phone and asked to visit. He suggested that I join him to produce a children's book version of the life of Charles Mully, called "The Biggest Family in the World". Cue light bulb turning on...
Paul asked me to pray about it and think about it for a while before deciding. In the meantime, my heart was singing out - this is it...
Present Day: Feb. 16th, 2014. I am one year and one month into the project. Twenty pages are complete, four more are in the finishing stages, and another four are in sketch form. I have two months to finish the paintings, in order to allow for edits, drying and photography time to get the art images to the publisher in June. At this point, counting the number of faces that I've painted is daunting, but I may do it at the end!
Below is a closeup of a small portion of the book of many faces...
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