Jim and Laura Pettit
Jim and Laura Pettit were both raised in homes where the gospel was lived out daily. They each came to personal faith as children, Jim at age seven and Laura at twelve. They met at Covenant College where Jim was pursuing music and Laura, art. For the last twenty years Jim has been a watchmaker and clockmaker while continuing to play music. Laura continues her work in oil painting and mixed media and has taken up the cello. With three children married and two grand children and their youngest in college they continue to work toward the call to Ireland where they will work in developing arts ministry.
The arts ministry in Ireland has three parts. Christian artists need encouragement and equipping to pursue creativity with confidence and all of God’s rich blessing. The arts themselves are one of the best places for the gospel to be proclaimed. Building relationships with artists wherever they are can help them come to know why they create, and hopefully help them know the first and best artist of all, our Lord God. Churches need to learn to embrace the arts and the rich diversity within the kingdom that artists bring to the church. With each of these three, Christian artists, non-Christian artists and the church, the Pettit’s will be building friendships and working relationally to incarnate the gospel in Ireland.
The 21st century is already being labeled the “Creative Age”. As we look beyond the “technology age” we anticipate a time where the arts are paramount in culture. The people of Ireland with their rich history in the arts will be a major factor in defining culture for the world. How wonderful it will be for a fresh awakening of the gospel to inform the arts movement in Ireland. Please pray for God to work in Ireland for artists and churches to be transforming culture for the sake of the Kingdom of God.
DESIGNATION NUMBER: 53064
