Missional Artistry
Communicating the message of a missionary using the methods of an artist.
Mission
To reach those seeking sanctuary amidst the storms of life.
message
Come find refuge in Jesus.
Method
Unlike mainstream artistry, our approach is to use artistic expression as a means of evangelism and discipleship. Psalm 40:3 is our disposition: “He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord.”
We believe that we will see many put their trust in the Lord through sharing the stories, Scriptures, and songs that God has placed on our hearts. In our live events, projects, and every personal interaction between, we use the following 3 methods to share our message.
Stories
Through sharing stories, we engage with people how Jesus did. We address our temporary circumstances and suffering, and we lift our eyes to the meaning in the midst of it.
Scriptures
Through sharing Scripture, we receive new sight. We allow the Living Word of God to shape our experience and renew our perspective. We get to see God for who He is, and in turn, we begin to realize who we are.
Songs
Through sharing songs, we offer an invitation for all to find refuge in Jesus. As we express the depths of the human experience, we hope to give people language to pray and to process their pain as they lay their burdens to rest.
A BRIEF BACKSTORY (4min read)
One of my core memories is crying in public at a concert — surrounded by strangers.
I was ugly crying. Unraveling. Wearing my heart on my face and letting pain pour out of my eyes. I felt safe enough to fall apart. Even in the middle of a crowd, I felt seen and known personally. I felt the presence of God. I knew, and didn’t have any ounce of unbelief in that moment, that the Lord’s face was shining down on me in forgiveness and love.
Psalm 34:5 became real, “Those who look to Him are radiant and their faces shall never be ashamed.”
That evening, I was given language to process the pain I didn’t have words for. I heard song after song that expressed the longings of my soul to fill a void that I had been leaving unacknowledged; a pothole in my mental pathway that I couldn’t seem to fill.
Beauty is often the key that opens the door to a hardened heart, it opens our minds to contemplating the unapproachable, and it opens our souls to seeing the spiritual reality of our specific circumstances.
Beautiful music is what moves us. It helps us take a step forward, it takes us back in time, it takes us to another world, it lets us live another life, it changes the rooms we stand in, it uniquely shifts our disposition. Music is the most powerful means of emotional transportation and communication.
Beautiful music paired with poetry, is what gives us language to actually process our deepest emotions, it shapes our understanding of the complexities of life, and it doesn’t allow us to remain unmoved.
“Music is a torch with which to see where beauty lies.”
Atahualpa Yupanqui
“Poetry is a life-cherishing force. For poems are not words, after all, but fires for the cold, ropes let down to the lost, something as necessary as bread in the pockets of the hungry.”
Mary Oliver
As the broken seek for comfort in the arms of that which moves them, the Lord has given us an opportunity to meet them there.
In the fall of 2021, I fell into a well of despair through a battle with loneliness. I was brought to the end of myself, and yet, to the beginning of something beautiful. God revealed His presence in my suffering and began to burden me for others in similar situations. As I processed through hurt, pain, and loss from that season, stories, Scriptural reflections, and songs began to flow out of me.
With the vision to reach those seeking sanctuary amidst the storms of life, we went on our first tour across BC and received clear affirmation that missional artistry is the direction that the Lord is leading us in for this next season of ministry!
Psalm 40:3 says, “He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord.”
This is the verse that has been circulating in my mind as we take this leap of faith... we are praying that MANY will put their trust in the Lord through this new song of healing that the Lord has given me!
According to IFPI research, humans listen to an average of 20.7 hours of music every week. And according to Harvard Medicine, music “captures our attention in a way that cannot be negotiated” and has been tied to much of what we experience and believe. Which means, there is NOTHING that we consume that is more influencial on what we believe than music.
“They have the guns, we have the poets. Therefore, we will win."
howard zinn
Zinn was talking about a revolution taking place in his country, but I believe that his sentiments are even more relevent to the spiritual reality in which we live in.
Now, we are stepping into missional artistry with ACT International, a missions organization that exists to mobilize and equip creative and artistic missionaries for Kingdom work around the world!
— Cole Isaac
Partner with us
If this resonates with you, we are looking for people to help fund this ministry. We would be honoured to invite you into what God is doing and will continue to do through missional artistry!