On November 5, 2006, Laurel Borisenko returned to PGIMF after many years of living elsewhere (she attended regularly from 1991-93). She spoke on the theme of "Art in the Service of God", drawing on her years of working with immigrants, Ten Thousand Villages, MCC, and refugees in various countries. She focused primarily on her three years of working in West Africa with artists. West Africa has four of the world's five poorest countries, yet in spite of rampant poverty, art and artists flourish. Using natural dyes, walls are coloured with geometric shapes, sculptures abound, and even a face becomes a canvas. Genesis 1 declares that we are created in the image of God and that this is a truly creative God. It is therefore only natural that we should have the urge to be creators and learn to be creators. But many Westerners hesitate to think of themselves as artists, preferring to leave that to the professionals. Other societies do not have such hang-ups. Laurel told of her initial tentative steps towards learning to draw and paint, a journey which reached new heights when she was able to work with some of West Africa's leading artists, professionals whose works sold well in Paris. As a rank amateur, she was warmly welcomed by West African artists and encouraged to express her creativity in new ways. Laurel encouraged each of us to think of ourselves as being in God's image, and not stifling our latent urges to create. [JEK]

Passage: Gen 1:1-2, 27; Rev 22:1-3
Communion: No
Ecumenical or Event:
Potluck Lunch: No
Congregational Meeting: No

Speaker: Laurel Borisenko
Worship Leader: Henry Hildebrand
Song Leader: Rosie Perera
Pianist: Kathryn Schmidt
Usher: Erna Friesen
Zoom Coordinator:
Children's Feature Leader: Karl Brown

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