An Earthship is a house… sort of. I think it’s actually what every house dreams of being when it grows up. Earthship.com calls their earthship design, ” a radically sustainable home made of recycled materials.” I think the key phrase is “radically sustainable”. That means that these homes, apart from their artistically refreshing and appealing designs, are 100% off-the-grid (not hooked up to city utilities), because shockingly, they:

• heat and cool themselves naturally
• collect their own power from the sun and the wind
• harvest their own water from rain and snow melt
• are built entirely of natural and recycled materials
• contain and treat their own sewage on site
• produce a significant amount of food
• are constructed using the byproducts of modern society like cans, bottles and tires

I have to make it clear that these are real houses, built out of what we have in abundance around us, trash. And they are some of the most beautiful homes I have ever walked through. Imagine waking up on a Saturday morning, a frigid 10 degrees outside and snowing. You crawl out of bed in a toasty 70 degree environment, and you’ve never turned on the heat… because you don’t have a heating system; you have tapped into the power of the sun to sustain you. But what stands out the most to me, the thing that really gets me going, is their mission:

To evolve the way humans live on this planet by evolving existing methods of living, home by home.

To make small, believable steps toward slowing down and ultimately reversing the negative impact of human development as it relates to the Earth’s ability to continue to support life.

To present these steps in a way that affords easy understanding and inspires people to act.

To empower people to make positive changes in their own lives to reduce their personal effect on global warming.

These people are truly radical, really making an impact. They are thinking differently about things, making the world better for us and for every generation to come. So for me it begs the question: Why aren’t we as “Christians” leading in the fight to better our world, to take care of what was entrusted to us, to show others a better way? Well, it’s not too late.

We have been intrigued with this organization ever since we watched the Garbage Warrior. Our little boxes were blown to pieces. After watching this documentary, I laid awake for hours dreaming of all the possibilities that lie ahead for Amigos as an organization, imagining what possibilities await us if we just dare to go beyond our redundant thinking, and to think again. We hope to partner with The Earthship Biotecture organization to empower and better the way Mexico imagines their future.

My 50mm lens could not capture the scope of these remarkable homes but visit our Gallery Site to see more of the photos from our recent visit.

Watch this inspiring video of Earthship’s recent work in Haiti.

Our thanks to Kirsten Jacobsen for sharing life with, offering us an outstanding tour and blessing us with invaluable information!

The corn is growing tall and Jaime says that there has been much more rain this season. The corn will be ready for harvest in a few weeks as will the abundance of beans in the fields. All of the pastures are bright green and thick with life; it will be a great harvest this year.

The peels of thunder and lightning that rumble and echo through the valley are melodious parts of nature’s symphony. Everyone looks up and smiles when the lightning bursts through the gray mass overhead. The people living here in the Sierra are entirely dependent on the rain. There are no sophisticated irrigation systems to aid them through dry seasons. Jaime and Lupe catch the water from their old tin roof in fifty-five gallon drums and buckets and use it for bathing, drinking and cooking throughout the year.

This past month we (Amigos) were able to help buy a mare for Jaime and his farm. The plan is to use the mare and her future foals to help maintain the fields next season, easing the blistering burden of hand-farming. Juan helped Jaime begin the process of breaking a wild and untrained mare that had been roaming freely in the valley. Jaime named her Lucero, which means ‘bright morning star’. After a few days of training, Jaime was riding Lucero bareback.

It is a great honor to share life with our Tarahumaran brothers and sisters, to be welcomed into their community, to dream alongside them on their beautiful land. Together we are developing more sustainable and efficient farming methods, establishing effective ways to conserve water for their dry season, and creating micro businesses and education options for their children.

These are the moments that kindle hope, reminding me that Mexico has much more substance and life than the venomous persona the media portrays.

I am thankful to be an artist; I am blessed because the act of creating causes me to be thankful. If, in the midst of poverty, even in the midst of plenty, you can take time to enjoy the process of creating something colorful or pretty – something that mimics the beauty of God’s creation – I believe you will come a bit closer to knowing Christ. If you share that creative spirit surely you will be blessed.

-Lisa Ambler- founder of Art for the Nations

Creativity. Such a powerful word. Such a powerful tool. This has been our heart, our goal, our focus the past months: to bring hope and restoration, dignity and autonomy through creativity to Colonia Palo Chino, to Juárez, to Mexico.

That is why when we heard of Art for the Nations, our ears perked up. This is a nonprofit ministry out of Denver whose entire point of existence is to promote creativity all over the world, in places that a necessary focus on raw survival has stolen value from any creative pursuit. The founder and artist, Lisa Ambler, was inspired to start this program 15 years ago as she sat on a dirt road in Juárez, Mexico, creating art with the local children. Now many of those children have kids of their own. Maybe some of them are here today in our colonia, doing these same projects.

An excerpt from their mission:

We believe that the beauty and hope of our eternal salvation is evident in the world around us and pray that we can teach others to see that promise.

Thanks to the vision and generosity of Art for the Nations, we were able to bring 5 lovingly hand-painted bags filled to the brim with art supplies to our colonia to help these children learn to think creatively. It was wonderful to see their smiles, their excitement, their hope as they created beauty with their own hands. This is our desire, that through efforts like these the children and youth of Juárez will cling to hope, continue to dream and think in new ways about life and their surroundings, and stand up to creatively bring lasting change and essential peace to their home.

Be sure to check out their website, and if you are in town, go check out their beautifully creative boutique! All proceeds go toward helping them send bags all over the world.

The morning after we arrived we found ourselves in the midst of a Vacation Bible School for the local kids that was completely hosted by the youth of Juarez. These same youth have, for the past six months, been using our half-finished community center for weekly worship, celebration, and prayer for their city. These youth are crying out for more, more for themselves and restoration for their city, and they are going after it even when surrounded by dirt, tar paper and chicken wire. They have discovered the truth of the hope of our Good God for this city, and they will not relent. They have not been paralyzed by the fear that so easily entraps the masses, they have not given up after seeing the desperation and despair, hearing daily of the massacre in their hurting city, or seeing the horrifying pictures splattered all over the papers in the streets. They have not given in because they are looking up, they believe there is more for their city, and they believe in something greater that no despair can take down. And so they continue to fight on against this raging war with another kind of ammunition: hope… and water!

Helping Hands is a small group from Peace with Christ Lutheran church in Aurora, Colorado, which recently hosted a gigantic yard sale on their church parking lot. Eighteen families came together compiling heaps of items for the largest yard sale that we have ever seen. All of the proceeds went to support our friends Juan & Carmen who have built an incredible ministry feeding some 400 children at our local elementary school. The deals were smoking and we were thrilled to share in this opportunity to serve families in Palo Chino with our friends and advocates from Helping Hands!

This is their mission (which seriously rocks!)

Our ministry focus will be serving our community as a family: “Families in service together and serving families everywhere.” Our primary goal includes ensuring that the next generation (our kids) understand the importance of serving and are actively involved in as many service activities as possible.

Thanks Helping Hands! (Check out more Helping Hands Service Project photos HERE!)

Alex’s work is currently on display at CEMA, one of Juarez’s downtown art schools and galleries. His work and that of the other photo-walkers is visually capturing, developing the kind of originality and artistry that Juarez so desperately needs.

Below are a few of my favorite images from the 2010 Photowalk in downtown Ciudad Juarez. For those of you that would like to brush up on your Spanish, check out the great video below.

Please visit the Juarez Photowalkers Flickr site to see many more incredible photos of our beloved city and people.

If you haven’t had a chance to read the article or visit the Denver Seminary gallery to see the art, stop Here and Here!

Thanks Yesenia!

p.s.

Did you see the incredible and engaging video of the art trip yet? If not, you can enjoy it Here.

In the following video posted on the PBS website, Saenz talks about the struggle of living on the border. He says that the Border is, “difficult terrain to negotiate because there are no sense of certainties; the fixed ideas of ones identity, ones national boundaries, the way one uses words can come from all sides and come at you like bullets. It’s not a comfortable place to live and if you want to be a writer you don’t want to live in a comfortable place.” Saenz’s creativity flourishes because he embraces the harsh Borderland, choosing to engage the challenges, oppression and difficulty that he see everyday .

*Photo by Dallas Palmer of downtown Juarez and downtown El Paso.

Our hope is that people will continue to be inspired by the exhibit- that walking through this hallway will awaken both a creative spirit and a hunger for awareness. We’re hopeful that the artwork displayed will create in individuals the desire to connect with our brothers and sisters in Juarez, and that they’ll be driven to learn more. We’re also praying that the artwork would sell, and for new donors to come out of this project (& new blog followers too!).

The artwork will remain on display until August 30th, and the gallery will be open for viewing from 8 a.m.- 7 p.m. Monday- Thursday, and 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. on Fridays. All of the pieces will continue to be for sale through the closing date (See the previous blog post for more details on how to purchase Amigos Bucks).

July 1 through Aug. 30th, Mon. – Thurs. 8am to 7pm, Fridays 8am to 5pm

Where:

The Denver Seminary Bridge Gallery (click for directions)

Purchasing the Artwork:

To purchase artwork displayed at the exhibit click here or on the “Donate Now” button below.  All displayed artwork will be available for purchase and all proceeds go to Amigos Ministries. Bring your Amigos Dollars to the reception or to the seminary during normal business hours. Individual pieces of artwork will be priced at $10, $15, and $25.

The Video:

Sampling of Artwork for Sale:

Painted Blinds Project: These blinds were reclaimed from the side of the road, were hung on a wall and painted by the kids of Palo Chino. They have been cut, matted, and have a twine hanger.

Treasures: Students collected trash and threw it in a blender then pressed the material into molds. Marbles, bottlecaps, seeds, hang inside.

Tarpaper Paintings: A roll of unusued Tarpaper was rolled out on the floor. A great way to get kids to play with color. These are matted in several sizes.

Collages: When there isn't much to do after dinner, this is what you do - Make Collages. Above, another example from the blinds project.

Treasures #2 - Another Example from the treasures project.

Press Release:
Littleton, CO, June 18, 2010 – In May 2010, two artists, an instructor and seven students from the Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design (RMCAD) braved a trip to Juarez, Mexico, where recent violence has driven out many other missionaries and visitors. They joined Amigos Ministries and hundreds of children from a local school to spend a week cleaning up the ruined streets and making art.

“The students from RMCAD deepened our hope and vision for this neighborhood,” said Matt Lindsey of Amigos Ministries. “Their courage to stand with us in Juarez, undaunted by the fear that so many others have surrendered to, has made a bold an electrifying statement.”

Amigos Ministries (http://amigosministries.org) helps “build relationships across the border.” One of the services they offer in Palo Chino, Juarez, includes operating a kitchen to feed several hundred meals a day to the elementary school students who participated in the art project with the group from RMCAD.

“Creativity is paramount in these dark times,” said Misty Lindsey, also of Amigos Ministries. “Those who have been handed an identity of poverty, desperation and hopelessness are trading it in for one of opportunity, life and promise.”

The work of these promising students did not end in Juarez, however. The students and artists collected some of the trash and debris left by gangs to create art for a unique exhibition at Denver Seminary’s Bridge Gallery. Beautifying the Barrio in Jaurez runs July 1 through August 31, in conjunction with Denver’s Inaugural Biennial. The exhibition includes photographs, art created by the children in Juarez and art created by the students and artists from RMCAD. An opening is scheduled for Thursday, July 1st from 4-8pm at the Bridge Gallery, located in the Simpson Leadership Building on Denver Seminary’s Campus, 6399 S Santa Fe Dr in Littleton.

Visitors who desire more information or who would like the opportunity to acquire any of the artwork to support Amigos Ministries are encouraged to visit www.mmlindsey.com to view the art and a video and to purchase “Amigos Dollars” which can be used to support the ministry and purchase art from the exhibition.

Artists exhibiting work in the Beautifying the Barrio in Jaurez exhibit include Sandy Ceas, curator for Bridge Gallery and teacher at RMCAD; Nikki Pike, instructor at RMCAD; Isaac Karner, artist; seven students from RMCAD; and several elementary aged children from Juarez. Additional information about the exhibit can also be found on Denver Seminary’s website at www.denverseminary.edu/bridge-gallery/.

About Denver Seminary – Denver Seminary prepares men and women to engage the needs of the world through the redemptive power of the gospel and the life changing truth of Scripture. Founded in 1950, Denver Seminary is an interdenominational, evangelical graduate seminary serving men and women from around the world. In its 60 year history, the seminary has gained the reputation as one of the top 20 schools in size among accredited, graduate-level seminaries in the U.S. and Canada and is accredited by the Association of Theological Schools and the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. Currently, nearly 1000 students are enrolled in the seminary’s Master of Divinity, Master of Arts, and Doctor of Ministry degree programs. For more information about Denver Seminary, please visit www.denverseminary.edu.