Catching the Wave
Painted in Maui, Hawaii, 2012
In traveling to the nations with a prophetic message, I often have the honor of painting in the language of the lands Caryn Beth and I visit. At the time of this writing, in addition to using English script, I have included in my paintings script in Portuguese, Arabic, Turkish, and Korean; it is an honor to include in this painting words from the Hawaiian language here and to give this visual prophetic word to a special apostolic ministry base and family in Maui.
Like several of my paintings, this one came to me during a prayer meeting. Prior to our departure from Maui for South Korea, Caryn Beth and I met with a group of Hawaiian worship dancers. At the end of our time of interaction with them, they laid hands on us and prayed over our ministry ahead.
In that prayer time, these two Hawaiian phrases were spoken over the journey we were about to take to South Korea:
"E ala E", and "Imua!"
Once they were explained by our Hawaiian family, these words became important to me and to the mission we were on. They played a part in our presentation and a part in the call that went out in South Korea. I truly believe that there is a spiritual connection between Hawaii and South Korea that is beyond my understanding.
E ala E (pronounced ‘AY-allah-AY’, means, “Wake up! Rise up! Arise!”
Imua (pronounced ‘ee-MOO-uh), is an ancient Hawaiian word that means, “to go forward, to move forward with spirit, to take on, to charge, to advance with spirit.”
Symbolic elements within the artwork:
Water in scripture is often a picture of the life and Spirit of God—living water flows out from Him, deeper and deeper and wider and wider, the farther it goes from His throne. Yeshua said, “Whoever believes in me, living water will well up inside of them . . .” In this painting, the living water has turned into a rushing ocean; the believers have come into alignment with it’s motion and are riding it to a destination that the Holy Spirit leads them to.
They ride a white surf board, white representing purity. Purity must be the base our action is built on. Our stability in ministry is directly tied to holiness in our footing.
The young man is kneeling, a posture of surrender to God’s authority and leadership. In spite of the humility of his mindset, he also is confident; his closed eyes indicate that his forward motion is wrapped in solid assurance— he is totally dependent on and obedient to Almighty God. He is dressed in blood red—reflecting Jesus’ work of redemption in his life—and in orange, a color that for us represents praise. A true and deep understanding of the beauty of redemption births one into praise.
The young man has raised a conch shell to his mouth; he recognizes that he has a role to play in bringing others into the state of spiritual awakening and life that he enjoys, so he calls others with the sound of the Hawaiian Shofar.
Behind his bold, protective stance, a little girl rides, dressed in light yellow. I chose this color to represent glory and here connection to her Father, the Father of light. She is poised like a hula dancer; in spite of the vulnerability of her graceful posture, she closes her eyes and throws back her head and reaches in the direction of the Holy Spirit’s song, as He flies in front of the surfers in the form of a dove. Even as she rides the waves, the girl is stable, because she knows she is following where the Spirit of God is leading her.
May the Holy Spirit continue to unwrap this artistic, prophetic statement. May it call people, especially all there within the embrace of the Pacific Rim, to a full state of being awake and alive in every way to the direction and purpose that the Holy Spirit invites us each to gracefully, confidently move forward with, in humility, dependence and radical, vulnerable obedience to His voice; may it encourage you to assume with great confidence the position He entrusts you to operate in, and the role you are to play in the advance of the Kingdom of heaven.
Like several of my paintings, this one came to me during a prayer meeting. Prior to our departure from Maui for South Korea, Caryn Beth and I met with a group of Hawaiian worship dancers. At the end of our time of interaction with them, they laid hands on us and prayed over our ministry ahead.
In that prayer time, these two Hawaiian phrases were spoken over the journey we were about to take to South Korea:
"E ala E", and "Imua!"
Once they were explained by our Hawaiian family, these words became important to me and to the mission we were on. They played a part in our presentation and a part in the call that went out in South Korea. I truly believe that there is a spiritual connection between Hawaii and South Korea that is beyond my understanding.
E ala E (pronounced ‘AY-allah-AY’, means, “Wake up! Rise up! Arise!”
Imua (pronounced ‘ee-MOO-uh), is an ancient Hawaiian word that means, “to go forward, to move forward with spirit, to take on, to charge, to advance with spirit.”
Symbolic elements within the artwork:
Water in scripture is often a picture of the life and Spirit of God—living water flows out from Him, deeper and deeper and wider and wider, the farther it goes from His throne. Yeshua said, “Whoever believes in me, living water will well up inside of them . . .” In this painting, the living water has turned into a rushing ocean; the believers have come into alignment with it’s motion and are riding it to a destination that the Holy Spirit leads them to.
They ride a white surf board, white representing purity. Purity must be the base our action is built on. Our stability in ministry is directly tied to holiness in our footing.
The young man is kneeling, a posture of surrender to God’s authority and leadership. In spite of the humility of his mindset, he also is confident; his closed eyes indicate that his forward motion is wrapped in solid assurance— he is totally dependent on and obedient to Almighty God. He is dressed in blood red—reflecting Jesus’ work of redemption in his life—and in orange, a color that for us represents praise. A true and deep understanding of the beauty of redemption births one into praise.
The young man has raised a conch shell to his mouth; he recognizes that he has a role to play in bringing others into the state of spiritual awakening and life that he enjoys, so he calls others with the sound of the Hawaiian Shofar.
Behind his bold, protective stance, a little girl rides, dressed in light yellow. I chose this color to represent glory and here connection to her Father, the Father of light. She is poised like a hula dancer; in spite of the vulnerability of her graceful posture, she closes her eyes and throws back her head and reaches in the direction of the Holy Spirit’s song, as He flies in front of the surfers in the form of a dove. Even as she rides the waves, the girl is stable, because she knows she is following where the Spirit of God is leading her.
May the Holy Spirit continue to unwrap this artistic, prophetic statement. May it call people, especially all there within the embrace of the Pacific Rim, to a full state of being awake and alive in every way to the direction and purpose that the Holy Spirit invites us each to gracefully, confidently move forward with, in humility, dependence and radical, vulnerable obedience to His voice; may it encourage you to assume with great confidence the position He entrusts you to operate in, and the role you are to play in the advance of the Kingdom of heaven.