Painting a Brighter Future
by Robert Mitchell
A new art program in Pottsville, Pa., is teaching Christian values and bringing children to a Salvation Army church.
Nevaeh Haney is only 14 years old, but she displays a spiritual maturity well beyond her years, especially when she has a paintbrush in her hand.
“I sometimes don’t have any ideas of what to paint,” she said. “I just pick what colors I’m going to use, and I pick up a brush and dip it in the paint and just let God flow the direction of the brush. I feel like my spirit is free and I can paint what I want and let the creativeness come to me.”
The soft-spoken Nevaeh (Heaven spelled backward) sits quietly in front of an easel and canvas as she paints in the basement of The Salvation Army in Pottsville, Pa., where she and other children from age 6 to high schoolers come every Thursday to learn about art and the love of Jesus Christ.
Nevaeh Haney, intent on her latest creation. “Sometimes I don’t know how to worship, and then when I knew I could do it through art, it was easier.”
Nevaeh Haney, intent on her latest creation. “Sometimes I don’t know how to worship, and then when I knew I could do it through art, it was easier.”
Nevaeh has even painted during the Sunday morning service as a form of worship. The ninth grader recently painted a cross on top of rocks with a sunset in the background while others sang and listened to the sermon.
“Sometimes I don’t know how to worship, and then when I knew I could do it through art, it was easier,” said Nevaeh, whose family came to The Salvation Army through the soup kitchen.
A chance meeting
Leaders Shelby Van Cleef, an artist and the church’s youth program coordinator, and her husband, David Simon, blend Christian faith into the art program as smoothly as one mixes paint. Many of the kids come from traumatic backgrounds, and Van Cleef often refers to the program, which started last October, as art therapy.
Captains BettyEllen and Derek Barrett met Van Cleef last year. They saw her painting at a street fair in nearby Tamaqua, Pa. A painter herself, Captain BettyEllen said she and Van Cleef hit it off. Van Cleef soon agreed to head up the church’s youth programs.
Simon believes the street fair meeting was divinely inspired. “It was like God leading us here to find a place to serve,” he said. “We’ve never been happier.”
On a recent night, about 20 attentive students sat quietly and painted the Eiffel Tower amid a Paris street scene. Van Cleef led them through a step-by-step process from mixing paint to applying it on a canvas with controlled, even brushstrokes.
“Our God is a creator, so I feel our therapy really works because we’re acting in God’s image when we’re creating,” Van Cleef said. “The kids have a lot of feelings. It’s hard growing up. They can express themselves through art and find an outlet here. It’s pretty much endless how you can connect the arts to Christianity.
“The symbolism in the Bible is very, very rich. I would say it inspires all of literature and art and everything we do. There are so many images just from reading through the Bible that you can extract and see how they are interrelated. The more kids read the Word of God, the more these ideas come to them. It’s not something you can force. Sometimes I’ll lead by example and show them something I’m working on.”
Colors and connection
One of the students who appreciates connecting the artistic and spiritual is Asynnia Baker, 13, a seventh grader who comes to paint and get help with her homework.
“I like how we can express ourselves through painting and drawing,” she said. “People who don’t know about God can learn about Him here while we’re painting.”
Van Cleef and her husband are there all week to impart Christian values right after school. Tuesday is for dance; Wednesday is free time and a teen Bible study; Thursday’s routine is painting, dinner, and music. The after-school program draws 30 to 40 kids each night.
Children who don’t want to paint can have a snack and play basketball, gaga, or video games. There’s an area where kids can look up biblical advice for various issues they might face. Or, they know they can ask Simon, a Messianic Jew who mingles freely and answers questions.
“I love talking to the kids and guiding them when it comes to their daily schoolwork and what’s going on,” Simon said. “They go through a lot at school. There’s bullying and fighting. A lot of these kids have never even opened a Bible, so it’s nice to be able to share with them the way Jesus would handle things. We don’t have to fight back. We can turn the other cheek and be nice to people and shock people with our kindness and show them the love of Jesus.”
A port in the storm
Simon, who was raised in a strict Jewish home and became a Christian after studying Isaiah 53 and 40, said 15 kids have come to the mercy seat to become Christians since the program started.
“I’ve never experienced more joy than having kids come to Christ. God’s really working here,” said Simon, who also teaches Bible studies at the church. He said many of the kids come from disadvantaged backgrounds. Their backpacks may be ripped, or their clothes don’t fit well. The church is right next to a large housing complex.
“Most of the kids come from low-income housing. Most of them walk here,” said Captain Derek. “The school system offers an after-school program, but many of the kids choose to come here. We offer them a safe place to play, paint, and listen to the gospel.”
Captain BettyEllen Barrett helps the kids paint and sometimes joins in.
Captain BettyEllen, who paints alongside the students, said every child gets a free Bible and someone follows up to make sure they learn the gospel. The program has grown under Van Cleef and Simon as more and more kids invite their friends. Some are even coming to church on Sunday morning.
“From the first day, the kids were just naturally drawn to her,” Captain BettyEllen said of Van Cleef. “She has a genuine concern for kids. She and David are very evangelistic. The kids are hearing the truth every time they come in. It’s not unusual to hear once a week that one of the kids has accepted the Lord.”
Guiding young hearts
The area is plagued by mental health issues, Captain BettyEllen said, as well as drug and alcohol addiction and homelessness. A shooting recently occurred nearby. As much as possible, she tries to emphasize to people that The Salvation Army is a church.
“We want to be here for our neighbors,” she said. “I don’t often think of them as poor. They’re just our neighbors. They happen to be young, and we get to minister to them.”
Many of the kids are not disciplined at home and often act out at The Salvation Army, Captain BettyEllen said. “The parents work a lot. We step in and build relationships for kids with a rough home life. We sit and listen to them. I may not always have the answers, but I can at least listen. It’s about listening to them and letting them know someone loves them.”
Paintings from the young artists on display at the Pottsville Corps.
Paintings from the young artists on display at the Pottsville Corps.
One of the students, Aubrey Weaver, 14, told Van Cleef and Simon that she wanted to know more about God, and they answered all her questions and helped her understand the Bible more.
“I’m grateful that Shelby and David were able to help me find that in my heart,” said Aubrey, an eighth grader who comes from a single-parent home. “Painting allows us to emphasize your feelings and everything and that God loves you and won’t give up on you.”
Aubrey’s mother works two jobs. Aubrey has enough to eat, but she knows many of her friends have nothing at home. She calls The Salvation Army a safe haven.
The church fills a similar role for Jade Perales, 6, a shy first grader who said she learned about Jesus dying on the Cross for her sins during the painting class.
“I come to paint every week and it’s so fun,” Jade said. “I love all the colors we have. I love all the people in here, and they keep us safe.”
Visible Faith
Upon entering The Salvation Army in Pottsville, Pa., one of the first things you see is a 6½-by-11-foot acrylic painting of the Nativity. It’s as impressive as the story behind it.
Captain BettyEllen Barrett said one of the church’s soup kitchen volunteers, Patty Lord-Heffner, heard about the painting while volunteering at the Pottsville Historical Society. She wondered if The Salvation Army would want to display the 1940s-era artwork, a salvaged mural, and that’s how it ended up there.
It turned out that a different painting by the same local artist, Anthony J. Koury, had hung at The Salvation Army’s former location in downtown Pottsville. That painting, known as Our Lord, was of the head and shoulders of Jesus Christ.
Hanging the Nativity painting in the main hallway near the church office and in view of those coming to the soup kitchen was intentional, even though the piece has cracks and damage. Captain BettyEllen said, “It’s just a way to let the community know we’re a church and we love Jesus.”
Not long after the painting went up, Rebecca Wood, the director of marketing and programs for the Schuylkill United Way, was in the building for a meeting. The painting looked familiar to her. Koury (Arabic for “priest,” especially a Christian priest) was her great-uncle, whose parents had immigrated from Syria. She recognized the style of the artist, who once operated an art studio in Pottsville.
Wood is overjoyed that the painting lives on at The Salvation Army.
“I think it is absolutely perfect,” Wood said. “I think he’d be so proud to have it there. I think his parents would be proud to have it there. They were very faithful Christians, and I think they’d be thrilled.”
About the Author: Robert Mitchell
