Jerusalem Log -Thursday 05.04.17 Jerusalem, Israel #5 - “Jerusalem Wall of Life” mural by Steve Martin

 

“Jerusalem Wall of Life” mural

Steve Martin

Jerusalem Log #5

May 4, 2017

Jerusalem, Israel

Greetings to you from the Promised Land!

It sure is great when the Holy Spirit guides you. Once you ask Him to of course.

After driving the short 25 minutes from Jerusalem to King Herod’s Palace and tomb (three videos I recorded are here), when I was finished, and tired from the many steps, I asked “Where next, Lord.” His reply was “Derek Prince’s gravesite.” And so I went back to Jerusalem, to Germantown.

I had been to the Alliance Church Cemetery twice before, but wanted to see it again. It is in the southern part of Jerusalem, in what was/is known as Germantown. I somewhat knew the way, but again was asking the Lord to direct my steps (as I drove.)

Traffic is packed full of buses, taxis, motorcycles, mopeds and cars no matter where you drive in the capital city of Israel, and with a rental car, parking is even more of a challenge. But I found a lone spot two blocks from the cemetery entrance.

Once inside, I started the circular walk to the right, with Derek’s grave not too far from the metal door entrance, part of the stone/block wall that surrounds the Alliance Church Cemetery. To my amazement the mural, which I had first heard about on the 700 Club on CBN a few years ago, was completed! It began in the right, southwest corner of the walled-in resting place, and filled the 12 foot tall wall the entire 70 yards (my estimate) of the right side. Then it turned the corner and ran another 30 yards or more on the eastern wall. What a glorious site!

From Genesis to Revelation, with Abraham, Moses, Joseph and to the reign of Jesus (Yeshua) in Revelation, the complete Bible story is told, painted by Patricia Solveson from Wisconsin, USA. It took her six and a half years.

And how do I know that? When the lady sitting on the wooden bench at the end of my walk around the area, after taking several photos of graves, asked me if I was a photographer, I replied, “I like to take pictures.” I asked her who she was. She softly said, “I am Patricia. I painted this mural.” Wow!

Patrica Solveson

Patricia then went on to say how the Jerusalem Wall of Life came about, beginning over seven years ago when she was asked to do the mural. The director of the cemetery had seen her painted artwork she brought to Jerusalem for several years, giving it away as gifts, and wanted her to paint the mural. Once started, six and half years later, when coming in the spring and fall with her husband Carl, Patricia beautifully put the story of salvation on the Jerusalem wall.

Many people visit the cemetery to see graves of the believing Gentiles buried there. As she shared stories with me, she described how a Jewish man would come often, asking her why this and that was depicted. In time, as she explained the plan of God to him, he too became a believer and now still comes regularly to visit. Other Jews who come in off the street, out of curiosity most times, wonder why the Star of David and Christian symbols are on some sites.

The last few years have seen several Messianic Jews laid to rest here. May the Holy Spirit continue to share the message of hope and salvation to all who come.

You can read more about Patricia and the mural at the website Jerusalem Wall of Life - It is Finished!

Ahava (love) and Shalom (peace) from Jerusalem!

Steve Martin

Founder/President

Love For His People

P.S. I had the honor and privilege of working with Derek Prince Ministries for a total of eight years – three in Fort Lauderdale and five in Charlotte, NC.

Patricia said she painted the computers in this section, "To show we have modern day idols."

Patricia Solveson near Derek Prince's gravesite.

From Genesis to Revelation: Artist Unveils Mural of the Bible in Jerusalem - CBN News Chris Mitchell

From Genesis to Revelation: Artist Unveils Mural of the Bible in Jerusalem

05-20-2016

CBN News Chris Mitchell

GERMAN COLONY, Israel -- In Jerusalem, artist Patricia Solveson recently completed a daunting task: Over the course of several years, she painted the entire Bible.

Called the Jerusalem Wall of Life, the biblical mural is longer than a football field and portrays scenes from Genesis to Revelation, including Moses parting the Red Sea.

It took six years for Solveson to finish what she calls her life's work.

"I'm probably more changed by painting this mural than anything else," Solveson told CBN News.

"I was very relieved, very relieved. But I felt His heart. I felt the Lord's heart of joy because He knows this is His place and His message can come forth," she shared.

"In a place where the Good News has been quenched, very seriously quenched, here are the walls shouting out His name," she said.

Creating the mural wasn't easy.  

"Such a vast job. It was just overwhelming -- many, many times," she said. "But then someone would come in. They'd be so touched and then I'd be revived again to keep going."

Solveson completed the mural under the auspices of the Alliance Church in the Holy Land, which held a dedication service for the work.    

"I think the mural is just a beautiful representation of our faith, of our hope, of the story," said Marshall Mullinax, field director of the Christian Alliance Center.

The mural wraps around the walls of the Alliance Church cemetery in Jerusalem's German Colony. Some may think it strange for this art to surround a cemetery.  

"Perhaps one of the least expected evangelistic platforms in the world, a cemetery," Mullinax noted. "But we're one of the few groups of people that actually don't find cemeteries disturbing because our hope, our lives, our story doesn't end with the grave."

"We're a people who can walk without fear because we know that death's been conquered. We know that this is a stop in the story but it's not the end of the story," he said.    

The cemetery, now an official Ministry of Tourism site, enjoys a rich heritage and history.  

Rev. Jack Sara is vice president of Bethlehem Bible College and pastor with the Alliance Church.

"It's great to have this place dedicated and especially putting this mural on the wall where they talk about the story of God through all the history and especially the story of salvation for all humanity," he said.

Justina Steiner was in awe of the painting.

"The mural itself is just gorgeous and the colors and vibrant... and just the story depictions are really, really thought provoking," Steiner observed. "Especially the end with the coming back of Jesus and the Lion and the Lamb… Yea, it's really awesome."

Solveson calls the artistic style 'impressionistic realism.' Her favorite scene? The Resurrection. 

"Because Miriam, she thought this was the gardener and she said, 'Where did you put His body? And He spoke her name and she had this love relationship with him. That's the kind of relationship I have with him," she told CBN News.

"But I also love the scene with the Lamb because it's not a traditional Calvary scene, -- it's a scene, it's a scene with the Passover Lamb, like when John the Baptist said, 'Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,'" she said.

Solveson found inspiration from her own transformed life.  

"Inspiration is a four letter word, L-O-V-E," she explained. "Really because of the Lord who did for me what I could not do for myself--He took me out of this pit. He put a song in my mouth, a paintbrush in my hand and he said, 'You're going to live.'"

"It's really a love story for all people, from all over the world," she concluded.

Watch interview: Jerusalem Wall of Life