Fellowship of Christians in Portraiture

Jennifer B. Goss
A back injury prodded Jennifer Goss to start painting in high school. Her mother, an illustrator, suggested that she give it a try to pass the time as she recovered from surgery. Jennifer earned a degree in art education from the Maryland Institute College of Art and studied with artists in America and South Africa. When she received Christ into her life, He changed her perspective on everything - including her art.

Today, Jennifer Goss and her husband live in Potgietersrus, South Africa where they are missionaries with Pro Missions South Africa.

prosafrica@mweb.co.za www.covenantgallery.org

Personal Testimonies by Fellowship Members

Art for Heart's Sake
All God's Gifts are for His Glory
by Jennifer B. Goss

ook at any piece of art and you'll catch a glimpse of what's going on in the artist's heart. You may see anger or euphoria, grief or exquisite beauty. But when the spirit of Christ is alive in the artist, it also lives in his art. That, at least, is exactly what happened with mine.

Lions at the Water Pool
by Jennifer B. Goss

I was interested in fine arts from a very early age. Our home was a beehive of art activities; my mother was a medical illustrator and my father was a design engineer. My grandmother was also an artist and encouraged us to create new art forms from old throw-away items. I remember making beautiful greeting cards from paper doilies and potato prints, embellishing the borders with sequins and glitter. I started formal lessons at the age of 12. But it was a spinal operation one summer that settled the matter for me.

Six months in a body cast. The doctors said it was necessary after the operation, but it seemed like a jail sentence. Hoping to keep me busy in spite of it, my mother enrolled me in a watercolour class. I haven't put the brush down since.

After they removed my cast, the doctors would say that I was in better shape. But mentally and spiritually I embarked on a rapid downward spiral. My parents' marriage hit the rocks, leaving me bitter and hurt. I let this bitterness eat away at my whole life. By the time I graduated high school, I was smoking marijuana daily and drinking tranquilizers. I'd become anorexic bulimic. I kept painting - demons and hallucinations I saw while tripping on LSD. My work depicted my internal struggles and pain. - dark and heavy, little colour, mostly reds, purples and black. Believing a lie, I truly felt that unless I was under the influence of some drug, I would not be able to create. Often before school I would make sure I smoked enough dope to be able to cope with the day ahead.

I earned a degree in art education, but college life seemed only to exacerbate my problems. I spent time in counseling, knowing I needed help. But everybody around me seemed to be in the same state of disrepair, and we perpetuated this lifestyle amongst ourselves. The so-called friends I had were like parasites. We needed each other for the different drug contacts. Some would have a little cash and were even dealers, so they would always have friends. I fled to California to "find myself" and got deeply involved in the New Age. I spent my days reading peoples' tarot cards and trying to paint images of past lives I would "relive" in my dreams.

Water Guys, Morocco
by Jennifer B. Goss

Meanwhile, my mother came to know Jesus Christ as her Savior. Now she tried her very best to convert me. But I wanted nothing to do with it. She convinced me to visit her and a friend from New York, a deliverance minister, at her home. But just to be safe, I brought some insurance with me - my best friend, a practicing white witch. I figured if anybody could scare this guy and protect me from whatever he was selling, she could.

Silly me. I didn't realize that God's plans are greater than mine are. That night my friend and I both gave our hearts to the Lord. For the first time I saw a second chance - a new life. There was someone out there who loved me unconditionally and I wanted that love. My friend Bridget began to weep and cry out for Jesus, a real confirmation to me that indeed this was real.

Three days later I met my husband at a Bible study. Shortly thereafter I joined him in inner city ministry. Several months later we went on a short-term mission trip to Mexico. We were married at the end of the year.

And when we married, we determined to live on the edge and to always go wherever God called us.

But as quickly as these events occurred, I still required years of healing. Behavior patterns had to change. Old conflicts screamed for resolution. I struggled through these "growing up" years. When I received the Lord as my Savior, He supernaturally removed any desire for drugs. But the bulimia remained an issue. It wasn't until I forgave my father [for what? leaving mom?] and began renewing my mind in the word of God that I began to see victory in this area of my life.

I never stopped painting and drawing, however; I took several courses, teaching art and photography at the high school level and exhibiting my work locally. But I knew that was not my calling. The Lord had spoken to me clearly, about going into missions as a fulltime service, working with others who had experienced similar pasts and with those who have never heard the name of the Savior. Reconciling my calling and my passion for the arts proved a constant challenge. To be good at his work, an artist must be so passionate about it that other areas in life often take a back seat. But both my husband and I knew we were called to full-time mission work. We came to South Africa to work with Pro Missions South Africa and Samaria Missions in Potgietersrus. When we arrived here in 1991, I wondered how my art would fit with the call of missions on my life.

I prayed and prayed, wrestling with God over my art.And He gave me two promises from His word: "Your gift and your calling I shall never revoke" (Romans 11:29), and "Do not neglect the gift that was given to you" (Timothy 4:14). With these promises, I worked diligently at my art. He rewarded me with several successful exhibitions in South Africa and abroad. I asked the Lord to take over the business side of things and promised in return to give Him all the profits. The result is our Vision 2000 fund, dedicated to South Africans working with the least reached peoples of Southern Africa and within the 10/40 window.

In this past year, we've supported missionaries in the Philippines, Uzbekistan, Morocco and with the Yao people in Northern Mozambique. I'm also recording our short-term journeys with pictorial journals. We were very much a part of the Mozambican flood relief and I helped put some images together to use for the Mission Relief Coalition's outreach efforts. When we are home, I have an outreach in the community of Potgietersrus, providing art classes for adults and children, classes no longer available in the local schools.

As a Christian and an artist, I can see the Lord's hand in everything that is creative. I want each person who views my work to see a small representation of creation through the eyes of one rejoicing in the Creator. I still work mostly in watercolours because of their luminosity and brilliance. Watercolour is spontaneous and is about taking risks, making mistakes and learning from those mistakes. What a parallel to our walk with the Lord. My work is not theologically based, but experiential. It lives and breathes because the Holy Spirit inspired it. I pray my Lord is glorified in the midst of each piece.

I encourage anyone who believes the Lord has gifted him in the area of fine arts to pursue the purpose He has gifted you for, and then walk in it. Do not neglect the gifts that God has given you for His glory!

Jennifer B. Goss
Potgietersrus, South Africa
January, 2001