On Sunday, April 23 artist Beate Epp joined Bethesda Covenant Church to tell her story of faith, art, and following God's call. Internationally known artist Beate Epp was born 1964 in Gladbeck, Germany.
Since 1999 she has lived in Canada with her husband on the family farm near Saskatoon/Saskatchewan. Together they enjoy their country life and share it with horses, cattle, cats and dogs. Being outside and with her animals gives her peace of mind and brings her nearer to God’s beauty. She suprises with her unique and different style, as well as expressive and vibrant color choices which often enthuse critics. Ms. Epp is also a fellow Covenanter from Blackstrap Covenant Church.
Currently, Ms. Epp has a show at the Monkdogz Gallery in Chelsea, featuring the paintings found in her recently published children's novel and fairy-tale
During her time at Bethesda, Ms. Epp shared the following words of hope and inspiration as an artist and Christian:
"My sister in law once said I am an adventurous person by leaving Germany and going on a journey I didn’t know where it would end. Well, some people may think so, but adventure sounds to me always like seeking another thrill and ---hidden danger. That is not what I was looking for and sometimes, isn’t it like this---what you might find in the future is often way less threatening than what lays behind. I left a life that wasn’t good for my soul; I left a husband who dragged me down with his alcoholic behavior. I left---small like an ant---but I left. I was reaching out to God, a cry for help. He was the One who helped me through dark times and lifted my soul (well---and my Great Dane ‘Sam’ did so too and I should not forget about him ?). But God gave me the strength to leave everything, everything I know, everything I loved, friends, family, my horse, my dog (both by the way got wonderful new homes), my life as I knew it behind. God took me by the hand and showed me new things, a different life, different places, he showed me what He had in mind for---piece by piece. I met relatives I’ve never seen before, I met new people, new friends. He opened many new doors and some He closed again, especially if I didn’t want to hear His words, if I didn’t want to see His signs, didn’t want to listen to His advice.
Jesus is your best friend who walks with you but as it is even with best friends, we don’t always like to listen to them as they might tell us what we don’t like to hear . . .
So I learned and made mistakes and learned and went further down the road. I came far but I didn’t reach the end yet and I don’t think we ever will reach the end of the road unless we are finally home with our Father---and then a new journey begins, our ‘real’ life what we are all preparing for in this world. We are preparing, but do we really do?! If you read what Jesus wanted us to do and then look at our daily lives---we are just about as much removed from walking in His footsteps as it can be. Do we really walk in Jesus’ footsteps? Do we really follow Him or do we just do what is convenient for us? Giving up and share what is ours to reach equality in this world, to make every life worthy, to bring peace . . . an empty stomach is more likely to rebel against injustice than a full one. Feed the world and bring equality and peace and justice.
Sounds all very simple but as we all know it really isn’t. You have to reach people, many people to be able to make a movement and use tools. Books can be tools, they can reach people, can transform them, the Bible did and does as well as ‘Mein Kampf’ did. Books are powerful, exciting, funny, entertaining and visionary. ‘The Magical Horses’ is my vision and you can call me naïve to believe that a fairy tale can have the power of change. We live in a dangerous world, full of violence and power struggles, but---Jesus, 2000 years ago---also lived in a hostile world, in a brutal and cruel world. Crucifications happened on a daily basis, people got killed to amuse the crowds, but still, Jesus talked about peace and forgiving, about reaching out to one another, to love---your neighbour, to love your enemy. Love is powerful, love can give you the power to succeed your enemy without weapons.
So I dare to be naïve and believe in my story, and will try my best to spread its message---as it is not mine---I am only the messenger. God gave me the ability to write, He gave me the thoughts, the words and at times I felt the Holy Spirit so powerful surrounding me that I bowed my head and cried of joy and humbleness. In those moments I feel so close to God and know that I am on the right way to do what He pleases. Full of joy and anticipation I await what He has planned next. God is pulling me closer; step by step He gets more of me. He lays out a track of wonderful bread. After I taste one piece I want more, need more and look out for the next one. It is good to trust in Him, to live in Him, to live His rules, not the people’s ones, the society ones. And then, sometimes---you pick up another piece of bread that lays on your way, it looks as good as the others but when you taste it, it is bitter and gives you stomach cramps. God’s lessons are not always sweet, not always comfortable. He wants us to learn, He leads us to uncomfortable situations to learn. He wants to give us peace and wisdom to deal with the sweet pieces as well as with the bitter ones.
We all have to ask ourselves what we can do to walk in Jesus’ footsteps, what we can do to make this world a better place to live, what we can do to prepare the way for when He comes again. Even so ‘The Magical Horses’ have a strong Christian emphasis, I deliberately wrote it in a way that the words can reach everyone, Christian or non-Christian. Because God doesn’t have a passport, He doesn’t have a colour, He doesn’t have a gender, He is behind everything and He is there for every living thing on earth, for every human being. He is there for the ones far down the road, those ones in the middle and those ones just starting out their journey---and He is also there for the ones beside the road, struggling with life and themselves, those ones in the dark, those ones hurting and those ones who hurt.
We have to be able to reach out, reach out beyond differences, beyond borders, beyond cultures, beyond religion to be able to make a difference in this world. We have to begin within ourselves, in our daily lives, sharing what we have to make lives richer and deeper and to come closer to God’s word. We have to live the word day by day to understand and to be understood."
If you would like more information about Ms. Epp's work or art show, please call the church office at 212.684.2062. You can also visit her website at www.beate-epp.com to order paintings or copies of her book.
