Roll Call
Oil on canvas 3' x 7'
The paintings in this book are of illustrations from the lives of many who have participated in a church that is hidden from view, due to persecution. Commonly this hidden church is known as the “underground church.” However, of the testimonies I have researched, none so completely meets the description of "underground church" as the subjects of this painting. This story is one of a group of Korean believers who literally lived underground for years in a labyrinth of hand dug tunnels, prior to their discovery in the 1950's.
This is a touching story, and was very emotionally charged for me to illustrate. There was a moment during the painting of it that tears blurred my vision and temporarily stopped the work. Of the stories I have illustrated, theirs was for me also the most visually challenging and disturbing. I considered avoiding the story altogether. But I felt after some reflection that if I am to do some measure of justice to the very real price that is being paid every day around the world for the faith many take for granted, then I must try to present this story to you as well.
As the testimony is relatively brief, and all the more poignant in it's stark brevity, please allow me to quote it in it's entirety here from pages 124 and 125 of Jesus Freaks: Martyrs.
This is a touching story, and was very emotionally charged for me to illustrate. There was a moment during the painting of it that tears blurred my vision and temporarily stopped the work. Of the stories I have illustrated, theirs was for me also the most visually challenging and disturbing. I considered avoiding the story altogether. But I felt after some reflection that if I am to do some measure of justice to the very real price that is being paid every day around the world for the faith many take for granted, then I must try to present this story to you as well.
As the testimony is relatively brief, and all the more poignant in it's stark brevity, please allow me to quote it in it's entirety here from pages 124 and 125 of Jesus Freaks: Martyrs.
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"For years, Pastor Kim and his flock of Korean saints had lived in hand dug tunnels beneath the earth. Then, as the communists were building a road, they discovered the Christians living underground. The officials brought them out before a crowd of 30,000 in the village of Gok San for a public trial and execution.
"They were told, 'Deny Christ, or you will die!' But they refused. "At this point the head communist officer ordered four children from the group seized and had them prepared for hanging. With ropes tied around their small necks, the officer again commanded the parents to deny Christ. "Not one of the believers would deny their faith. They told their children, 'We will see you soon in heaven.' The children died quietly. "The officer then called for a steamroller to be brought in. He forced the Christians to lie on the ground in it's path. As the engine revved, they were given one last chance to recant their faith in Jesus. Again they refused. "As the steamroller began to inch forward, the Christians began to sing a song they had often sung together. As their bodies and bones were crushed under the pressure of the massive rollers, their lips uttered the words: " 'More love to Thee, oh Christ, more love to Thee; Thee alone I seek, more love to Thee. Let sorrow do its work, more love to Thee. Then shall my latest breath whisper Thy praise; this be the parting cry my heart shall raise: more love to Thee, oh Christ, more love to Thee.' "The execution was reported in the North Korean press as an act of suppressing superstition." |
A few notes on the painting itself:
To distinguish the martyrs from others in the scene, I have clothed them all in white; the effect leaves them robed as if they are a choir, singing one last song on earth together before stepping into heaven's eternal joy and the white raiment scripture says is set aside for those who overcome and wash their robes clean in the blood of the lamb.
There is a lot of detail to look for in this complex setting, including three bicycles, a dog on a leash, a nest in the tree with two eggs in it, and the four children who are hanging in the lower branches in the foreground. I placed the eggs in the nest in the branches high above the horrendous scene to indicate that no matter how terrible things may appear in the natural, the LIFE of Almighty God and the cycle of life He has put in place are always present and unstoppable. It is not enough that God was alpha; He shall also be the triumphant Omega.
You will notice that the horizon line is at an unnatural right angle to the rest of the picture. This is to indicate that these few believers had an entirely different (supernatural) perspective and literally turned the world on its edge with their faith.
You may also view the painting turned sideways, leaving the white-robed martyrs as if on a ladder to heaven.
To distinguish the martyrs from others in the scene, I have clothed them all in white; the effect leaves them robed as if they are a choir, singing one last song on earth together before stepping into heaven's eternal joy and the white raiment scripture says is set aside for those who overcome and wash their robes clean in the blood of the lamb.
There is a lot of detail to look for in this complex setting, including three bicycles, a dog on a leash, a nest in the tree with two eggs in it, and the four children who are hanging in the lower branches in the foreground. I placed the eggs in the nest in the branches high above the horrendous scene to indicate that no matter how terrible things may appear in the natural, the LIFE of Almighty God and the cycle of life He has put in place are always present and unstoppable. It is not enough that God was alpha; He shall also be the triumphant Omega.
You will notice that the horizon line is at an unnatural right angle to the rest of the picture. This is to indicate that these few believers had an entirely different (supernatural) perspective and literally turned the world on its edge with their faith.
You may also view the painting turned sideways, leaving the white-robed martyrs as if on a ladder to heaven.
Peculiar Graces: Roll Call. Oh the trust! Laying down to be run over — there is just some kind of peculiar grace to be made into ‘a fellowship of Believers that in surrendered unity, became a gateway to God’.