My first trip to Scotland was a short trip in 2000. I was part of a ministry team that was officially sent out from Vineyard Boise Church in Boise, Idaho to help temporarily serve with a church plant (Glasgow Central Vineyard Church) in the urban city of industrial metropolis Glasgow, Scotland. During that trip, along with helping on demolition/renovation of an inner city building that would become a coffee house/church meeting place (called The KOG), I designed and painted a large mural within the building.
My second trip to Scotland was a long term expedition from 2001-2002. I chose to go back over on my own and was officially sent out from my home church Vineyard Boise to Glasgow to serve through creative ministry full time with Glasgow Central Vineyard and attend a Vineyard Leadership/Ministry school (Harvest Ministry College) which was modeled after the DTS program of Youth With A Mission.
An important note: my departure date from the US was the very day that the planes began flying again exactly a week after the infamous terrorist attacks of 9-11. The year I lived in Scotland was during this very tumultuous time in history that my home country was experiencing trauma and the world was forever changed in how we would all see each other. During that year I immersed myself in the Scottish culture, lived in community with other students of Christianity in low income inner city areas (which also included predominately Muslim neighbors), and I was trained "feet on the ground, hands on" how to serve with a local church overseas and minister through creativity in relationship to the poor. I mention these factors only in regards to painting the picture of how the world looked (and even more clearly how my world looked) at the time of my long term art ministry expedition in Scotland.
Scotland endeared itself to me in so many ways.
I have since returned to Scotland numerous times.
I took a month long trip with my parents in 2005 touring around the UK and Ireland.
My latest trip to Scotland was in 2012 for a month long short trip. I came alongside friends who owned a coffee house in Arbroath, Scotland. Through the coffee house I was able to facilitate collaborative painting with customers and paint live during live music nights. While in Arbroath I also painted a few murals, painted live at a couple of church services and connected with professional and amateur artists through conversation and collaborative art. I also traveled over to Glasgow and down to Ayreshire and up into the highlands to Kyle of Lochalsh and the Isle of Skye to connect with other artists and art ministers through conversation and art making.
I will always be going back to Scotland. The people, the history, the culture and the land holds a dear place in my heart and in many ways feels like home to me.
To read in more detail about these trips go to: