Issue 11 • Power of Play
Andy Singleterry
Andy leads the Servant Partners site in San Jose, California and is Editor of SP Press. He is the author of The Gifts for the City.
“Have you ever thought about that? Work has two opposites. Rest is the internally-oriented opposite of work, what one does for one’s restoration rather than making something of the world outside oneself. Play is the externally-oriented opposite, doing something in the world but not aiming at some outcome beyond the play itself. If work and production is all that matters, both rest and play can seem like wastes of time.”
“ASG Art”
Jenira Bremner, Matt Hayashida, and Cayla Sanderlin were the creative hospitality team at the Servant Partners All-Staff Gathering in 2024.
“In June, the Servant Partners world converged in Oaxtepec, Mexico for our All-Staff Gathering. This was a time of rest and inspiration. One source of both those goods was the art we enjoyed around our meeting space. We at The Mural wanted to share these pieces with you.”
"Hush Up"
Veronica Duran
Vero is a homeless advocate and a member of First Love Community Church of East LA. She is a girl who was lost and now is found.
"Hush up, little girl, don't cry!!! There was a 5 year old girl playing in her room with her dolls. She goes to sleep and wakes up a woman. Her step-dad tells her, 'Hush up, little girl, don't cry!!!!'....The Lord says to me, 'Come to me, little girl, cry, cry, cry!!! Come to me with your sorrows. I keep track of all your tears.'"
“The Poor Serve You Lunch on Sundays”
Tony Gatewood
Tony Gatewood has just joined Servant Partners staff. He lives in Iowa City, Iowa.
“Do you know that restaurant you would love to go to afterward with your friends or your church small group? You probably love going to get some Chinese food or some Mexican food. You may enjoy Thai or plain American food. Wherever you go to eat, someone is serving you that food. Someone is washing those dishes, and someone got there while you were worshiping God, drinking coffee in the foyer, and bringing your children to Youth ministry. You see, people experiencing poverty serve you lunch on Sundays.”
Issue 10 • Language & Culture
The Deep Structure of Culture
Andy Singleterry, Editor
“Our theme for this issue of The Mural is Language and Cultural Differences. How does the language we speak affect the thoughts we think? What is universal and what is particular to places and peoples? I’ve been thinking about this theme recently because two of the most provocative points I’ve read in the past year speak to language and culture, universals and particulars.”
Accent
Michael Stalcup
“An accent is a sign of bravery,
of journey, celebrated or unsung—
a mark of freedom from the slavery
of thinking in a single siloed tongue.”
The Walk to School
Daniel Groot
“Almost every day I make a circuit of Baan Mankhong Suanphlu, talking to community members, and generally being an awkward American who seems to have too much time on his hands. They all understand that I am working on learning Thai, but still smile at me with gentle amusement.”
The God of Justicia
Annika John
“justice—the movement of God to restore all things
encountered
in la lengua del cielo”
The Reluctant Returner
Tony Gatewood
“When I look at the life of Moses, I find so many similarities between our lives. I want to speak to our returners, relocators, and remainers to encourage you and invigorate you with my testimony as I step into Servant Partners as a faithful, but reluctant returner.”
Issue 09 • Leadership
Everyone Leads . . . And?
Andy Singleterry, Editor
“Our theme for this Mural issue is leadership. How do we stay humble while exercising power? How do we drive toward goals without running over team members? This is an important theme for us Servant Partners staff. We come to serve our neighborhoods, but we’re often elevated to roles of leadership within them. Is this a temptation to be resisted? A tool to be leveraged?”
Reflecting On Leadership
Annabel Leyva and Andres Quintero
“The old-school thought is that somehow somebody’s born with [leadership]. But research and case studies show that it’s a practice, that people who feel like they’re not natural leaders can turn out to be great leaders. One of the reasons we bring in guest speakers to the classes is to show that they’re human beings. They mess up. They have fun. And they do a lot of work.”
mACHO
Jezrael Gandara
“mACHO” interrogates audio-visually the male experience of emotions and the masculine suppression of their expression.
I Found God
Annika John
“I found God in the names: Heaven, Angel, Isaiah meaning “God saves”, Okesene meaning oxygen in Samoan—like the breath of God in our lungs.”
Issue 08 • Births & Deaths
Births & Deaths
Andy Singleterry, Editor
Los Angeles, the City of Angels, ended up hosting both my dad’s birth and death. For him, that was where the action was. Thailand, the Land of Smiles, was where we heard of his death and where God birthed a move in the Gandaras’ life. Now, they’re visiting Thailand again, and Katherine’s pregnant with their second child.
Katherine Gandara
Mothering in Ministry
Katherine Gandara, Annika John, Cayla Sanderlin
“Motherhood is an uncertain journey that requires a lot of learning and unlearning and relearning. Even in the uncertainty, I have found that there is nothing in the world like my child experiencing joy, and the people in my life loving her. Being a mother has also allowed me to experience God as a caregiver in a new way—God being committed to me for all of life, no questions asked.”
Who Grief Was
Ana Torres
Who grief was isn’t who she is today, like an old paint can that hasn’t been used in years you start to forget who grief was as the paint dries. But when the paint is fresh again the smells, the colors are all too familiar to not remember.
Cayla Sanderlin
Annika John
Heavenly Bibliotecas
Will Davis
I like to think there are bibliotecas in Heaven
full of wonder & treasures untold.
Battles of the angels,
stories of Jesus’ love,
narratives of the Father’s grandeur,
adventures of The Spirit’s journey with mortals.
Photos by Lisa Engdahl
This mural adorns the walls at the Amazing Grace School (Adom Foundation, Ghana) in Kodiekrom, Ghana. Visitors from the First Presbyterian Church of Pomona (Servant Partners ministry partner site) painted it this summer, along with several other murals, with the helping hands of the students.
drop by drop
Lisa Engdahl
More Than
Corinne Garcia
Three brothers
born
beautiful boys
brown eyes
witnessing and holding
pain
Photo by Pastor Adam Donner
These 343 flags commemorate the residents of Pomona, California lost to COVID in the first year of that disease. At the First Presbyterian Church, the memorial shares space with the playground.
Issue 07 • Change In The Neighborhood
The Sight of Gentrification
Andy Singleterry, Editor, The Mural
I would be hard-pressed to imagine a better illustration of gentrification than white-washing a mural of local cultural heroes to make things comfortable for rich relocators. But the examples of Chavez and Villa surely encourage the locals to resist. Neighbors have rallied and agitated, and leaders have talked to the new owner. So far, the mural is untouched. We’ll see how long it remains.
Here Comes The Neighbourhood
Phoenix Winter
We stand proud
With black armbands
Mourning the end
Of our community
The City We Incarnated
Andy Singleterry
The concept of the multiverse is having its fifteen minutes of fame. From the blockbusters of the Marvel cinematic universe to the foreign indie gem Everything Everywhere All at Once, the once-obscure science fiction concept of branching, interlocking universes captures everything, everywhere, all at once. How might the multiverse apply to gentrification?
The Bible & Affordable Housing
Daniel Sunkari
“This work flows directly from what it means to be a good neighbor,” Thomas said. “There is a biblical imperative to care for our neighbors’ practical needs. At times, it means providing directly to meet the need. Other items, we have to ask: what’s upstream of the pain point? What is the big-picture reason why my neighbors are suffering? In this case, ‘Why is rent so high?’”
Issue 06 • School & Education
Curriculum Vitae
Andy Singleterry, Editor, The Mural
Having avoided my assigned reading as much as I could, I regained my appetite when I saw what I was reading for. My real education began when my formal education ended. My living room bookshelves embody my devotion to God’s calling and his rescue of me from aimless academia. I love God with my all my mind because he first loved my mind.
where i’ve found God recently
Tyra Judge
I find God in nature, my relationships with people, traveling and art. I also find God in the more uncomfortable or harder moments of life.
Graduation Poem (for 倩倩)
Marisa Lin
written by a sunflower
who knows nothing
of integrity, only how to face
a storm when it comes.
Bangkok, TH
How SP Studies
When we experience the joy and delight of learning, we also experience a connection to the joy and delight of our Creator and our community.
Pomona, CA
Manila, PI
Member Care
Learning & Collaboration
Influence, From Children to Systems
Vero Torres McLane
“I’ve been learning a lot about the other side of education. I knew about on-the-ground advocacy, but now I have a birds-eye view for larger advocacy. I’m asking: what does it mean to bring change in education, and who are the people bringing change?”
Issue 05 • Crossing Borders
Crossing Borders
Andy Singleterry, Editor, The Mural
“Crossing borders” in Spanish is cruzando fronteras; frontera, obviously, can also mean “frontier.” Borders define places exclusively, and crossing them always means stepping across a stark line, leaving one place and entering another. The frontier, on the other hand, is a gradient wilderness. The farther you travel from an occupied place, the deeper you go into the frontier. Crossing frontiers, cruzando fronteras, means going out from the center into the periphery and continuing until you reach a new center.
My Respectable Papa
Natanael Leyva
My dad came for opportunity
Misses Mexico
Stays for me
Emily Leyva
My goal with this piece first and foremost is to show gratitude towards my grandfather for his work to ensure not only that my mom would lead a fulfilling life but that his future generations would too.
The Promised Land
Will Davis
Could it be
that the immigrant narrative
is a physical reminder
of the saved sojourner's story—
people of an upside down kingdom?
A La Orilla del Mar / Cada Cruce ¿Qué esperar?
Sindy Gonzalez
Entre voces que cantan en medio del sonido del mar. Cada cual de diferente lugar. Uniendo sus voces en la verdadera felicidad. El agradecimiento en un acto de amor, Ya demostrado en una cancion. De manera natural y una esperanza por vivir.
Home For Now
Katelyn Siggelkow
When I wake up in a city
That yesterday was strange
Today I can imagine
That I might have place
Amidst the bustling crowds,
Strange sites and foreign sounds
Movement, Migration and Black History
Shabrae Jackson
"For my ancestors, bodily movement was a way to exhibit our freedom, to speak out against the oppressive boundaries set by race, class, and gender. From the early days of the Black American Church, dance and movement has been a part of the experience.”
Issue 04 • Humans of ______
Humans of ______
Andy Singleterry, Editor, The Mural
We are all “humans of” somewhere, but what does it mean to call ourselves human? My favorite answer is that we are angels who… excrete. We are not literally angels, but we are like angels—spiritual beings with tremendous capacities for insight, communication, beauty, beneath only the divine in our elegant complexity. But, though the paragon, we are still animals.
Color de Esperanza
Sindy Gonzalez
Entre gotas de color y sueños de esperanza, Cada sonrisa y mano extendida, Entre cada amanecer y atardecer, Así es cada uno de ellos, entre sus similitudes y multiculturalidad.
The Slow Burn
Cayla Sanderlin
Beeswax is ideal for making candles. It is hardy, smells sweet, and is known to burn the slowest and longest of any other wax candle. Sometimes discipleship is like making candles from beeswax: it takes time, patience, and a strong fire to bring people to a place of peaceful surrender. That was the case for Alejandra.
What You Don’t See
Annika John
If you drive through my neighborhood, it might look like any other. But you don’t see… The exhausted mother sleeping on the floor of an unfurnished single rented room working two full-time jobs, desperate to provide for her children in a way she was unable to back home in Mexico. You don’t see the families packed in single rooms, basements, garages and back “houses,” using every square inch of space to make a home.
Issue 03 • Intersections & Contradictions
Intersections & Contradictions
Andy Singleterry, Editor, The Mural
Most people associate Cesar Chavez with the United Farm Workers union and the boycotts he organized for the rights and dignity of his people. If we know a little more of the history, we might also associate him with repentant fasting and his exemplary incorporation of Christian spirituality with labor leadership. Geographically, that work centered in Delano, an agricultural town in California’s central valley.
Untitled
Natalia Engdahl, Pomona
Drawing during a healing prayer seminar, Natalia reflects on the truth that healing is found in connection with God, others and ourselves—relational connections of love. Natalia is 16, and her parents are staff with Servant Partners.
Making a Place
Bree Devones Hsieh, Pomona
A feast is laid on the table today, greeting, filling us after long travels,
no—years on a way. Where we’ve come from, where we’ve been.
Places set around what’s been begun.
Between Los Angeles and Heaven
A. Awosanya, Los Angeles
My son, he’s three, and He wants to go home. To see his teachers, he says. He is speaking, now slowly—I want to go to A-fri-ka—as if we aren’t getting it. To Uganda, he says, eyes insistent, pointing to the sky we will fly across to get back there.
Walk Down Sinclair
Marisa Lin, San José
There is an RV parked on Sinclair Drive, where the road curves in front of a vacant youth center and a middle school, where the sky seems to swoop its blue, swirling wing over the distant foothills.
At a Distance
Ruth Wu, Saskatoon
At a distance Everything makes sense The sky is up The earth is down The ocean looks like solid ground From afar Nothing stirs the heart The world is big The creatures small What difference could a person make at all?
Issue 02 • Home & Hospitality
My Home Is Myself
Andy Singleterry, Editor, The Mural
My home’s physical presence on my block expresses my commitment and connection to the people of this place, my rootedness here. The pandemic hasn’t changed that. But, my hospitality has usually expressed my love for my neighbors even more viscerally. I invite them into my home, into my self, because I want my identity to include them.
A Psalm of Lament With My Asian American Sisters and Brothers
David Kitani, Lincoln Heights
O God, my God, why… are Asian Americans treated as perpetual foreigners no matter how long we’ve been here, blamed and shunned like a distasteful disease, and our hurts unheard?
In the Living Room
Andrew Wong, Pomona
In the living room the balcony door yawns open
And evening coolness sweeps in
The kid downstairs is smoking again like an acolyte swinging a censer
Thick incense fills the room encircling me
Suddenly I am aware of holiness in this place
images of h o m e
Marisa Lin, San José
hunched over the cinder block, we coax out the baby possum, orphaned and delicate. in a towel we wrap her, set her next to a mother in the form of a hot water bottle. when early the next morning we find her gone, we…
Numepith Sipiy (Sucker River)
Keshia Cook, Saskatoon
If you come in the summer, I'll show you the river where I was baptized. I'll lead you down paths I've walked so many years. We can dance with the fireflies. In the fall, we can watch the sun set, surrounded by shimmering waters, and trees whose leaves have changed color.
Issue 01 • Beauty In The Neighborhood
Beauty Will Save The World
Andy Singleterry, Editor, The Mural
We launch this publication, The Mural, to shine a light on the beauty we see around us. A mural like La América Tropical shows how this can be true—how beauty can be world-saving, or at least world-blessing.
Revelation 5:5-6 by Derek Engdahl
Sabrina Sordello, San José
Clouded by cars, wrought by wires the road home reminds me of the race that I run.
Sydney Gracia, Undisclosed Location
Sentir, apreciar y caminar sobre cada duna, te anima ver cuan grande es la Fidelidad del Padre cada dia, te llena de Esperanza en medio del Desierto.
Feeling, appreciating and walking on each dune encourages me to see how great the faithfulness of the Father is every day. It fills me with Hope in the middle of the Desert.
at the middle school track by Marisa Lin, San José
Jezrael Gandara, San José
This is home, a part where we have made it ours. A place full of our wood projects but also full of the neighbors' toys that don't seem to run out no matter how many they throw over.
Beauty by Yuki Umeda, San José
Corrine Garcia, New York
I found this scene eerily beautiful because it was in front of a funeral home, likely left behind from a funeral service that was held. That Sunday (3/8/20) was just a few days before NYC went into quarantine due to the pandemic. That was the last Sunday I went to church in-person, the last Sunday I didn't wear a mask, the last Sunday that would feel "normal" from this year.
Sydney Gracia, Undisclosed Location
Como se levanta cada mañana y se oculta en cada atardecer el sol, así se aprecia cada dia este hermoso cielo, lleno de colores intensos y poder sentir la creatividad, Belleza y amor de Dios.
As the sun rises each morning and sets each afternoon, every day I appreciate this beautiful sky, full of intense colors, and can feel the creativity, beauty, and love of God.
Daniel Anderson, Philadelphia
There is something God-honoring when we make something. The act in itself gives us an opportunity to commune with our creator in a unique way. The process of turning raw material into something useful or beautiful mirrors not only the creation story in Genesis, but Jesus at the wedding in Cana and the New Jerusalem in Revelation. When we build, we are given the opportunity to join hands with the true Maker who has made, is making, and will make all things new.
Andrew Wong, Los Angeles
A brilliant sunset rests over the Exposition Park neighborhood of South Los Angeles.
