Service in Denver

Roger Brinkmann
September 19, 2005

On September 17, the stationary team at Denver, Colorado headed by Roger Brinkmann attended a Service for Peace project with the Denver church community. We took part in painting a mural on the walls of a local elementary school in Denver. Cowell Elementary School is located in a primarily Hispanic community and many of the children who attend the school come from underprivileged families.

The purpose of painting a mural is to prevent graffiti and tagging on school walls. Research has shown that walls with murals are less likely targets for graffiti, and this is a tactic that is being used nationwide. The Denver Second Generation has worked together with Learning Landscapes for Denver Public Schools, a program aiming to better local public schools through various projects. This time we had the opportunity to join them along with several fifth grade Cowell Elementary School students.

Before leaving for the school, Mrs. Martinez, who was organizing the project, spoke of the goal and purpose of our participation. She emphasized the importance of conveying the Culture of Heart; not to just focus on the task itself, but on building relationships and investing our hearts into the community. We can, therefore, witness through our actions, not our words.

When we arrived at the school, each STF member was paired up with a student from Cowell Elementary School. Together we mixed paint, then sketched and painted the mural, which was a compilation of self-portraits drawn by the student body. We tried our best to duplicate the students’ very creative artwork, following the instructions of the school’s art teacher, Theresa McGuire.

Many of the children who participated came from difficult family situations, and all of them lived in a disadvantaged neighborhood, with fewer opportunities available. We could feel that they were all in need of an older brother or sister to look up to. Hitomi Sakabe, a second year STF member, was paired up with Estefania, a ten-year-old girl with a physical deformity. At first Hitomi felt pity for this girl and wondered what kind of life she would have to lead. She thought of God’s heart toward her as a parent. Hitomi felt that she had no solution to prevent Estefania from experiencing life’s difficulties, but believed that she could give some of God’s love to her, through listening to her, giving her attention, and making her feel valued. Hitomi could see Estefania respond to her love and felt that any insecurity Estefania might have felt about her appearance completely disappear.

Some of the students had recently moved to America from Mexico, and were only able to speak a little English. However, we were able to go beyond any language barriers, and become close to these students. By the end of the day we were all able to say all the colors of rainbow in Spanish, and we were tickled pink. We were also able to spend time with the kids by playing sports and games.

By the time we had finished the mural, we not only felt a sense of accomplishment through completing the mural but also through our heartistic connection with the students. After a little bit of investment and love, we could see the children beginning to open up to us. Even though we spent such a small amount of time with them, we felt that we could make an impact on them. Later Mrs. Martinez reflected about the students, "Love them one day and it makes a difference in their lives."

The next day we attended Sunday school at the Denver Family Church. Our team members split up to join the different Sunday school classes. We felt that this was a good opportunity to bond with the Second Generation. We felt very welcomed by the community, and even though we were meeting many of them for the first time, we could feel a sense of family.

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