Mud Pies
Cynthia Zimmerman
Language Arts, First Place
Artist Statement: Poetry has been a conduit of healing for me—it is my altar of surrender in prayer, my safe place to sort out faith’s questions, a vehicle to express a prophetic voice, and an avenue to encourage other believers. The Lord speaks to me often in the giving of poetic words to me and makes His Holy Word come alive. If my works can encourage and build up the Body in faith, perseverance, and healing from abuse, it will be fruit of my meager offerings He chooses to break, bless, and nourish others.
God’s Silver Silence
Gayle Carlson
Language Arts, Second Place
Artist Statement: I have written Christian poetry all of my life beginning at age 12, the year I came to know Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior. This poem is a representation of hundreds I have written over the years—each one reveres God and His Son in some unique way, as He has given me inspiration to write.
I Came. I Went. I Grow.
Jelani Aswad Nkosi Pinnock
Language Arts, Third Place
Artist Statement: “I Came. I Went. I Grow.” creatively tells my journey of moving from experiencing prejudice in my own culture to being prejudiced to surrendering that to Jesus for ministry to the nations.
Redemption in the Night
Lorie Huneycutt
Language Arts, Honorable Mention
Artist Statement: My life has not turned out at all how I expected. The circumstances in my life have often left me feeling like I am in darkness, yearning for light. This work is a glimpse of how I have come to appreciate the dark places and recognize that those are often the very places God uses to draw me closer to Him and to help me understand more of who He is.
Masterpiece
Crystal Garnett
Language Arts, Honorable Mention
Artist Statement: I wrote this piece in artistic reflection of the amazing ways in which God puts the pieces of our lives, our culture, our humanity back together but makes them into something more beautiful than they were before. In His perfect, redemptive plan, the things that feel the most broken, the most lost, and the most disfigured end up being the things that display His glory the brightest. I love how His strength is made perfect in our weakness. Whether it is physical, emotional, spiritual, or mental weakness—His grace is sufficient. He is the Master that makes all things new!