Bette Lau is a typical student, but it only took one missions conference to move her to use her skills and passions for art to eradicate AIDS.

Lau, a first year student at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary pursuing a masters in divinity created an art exhibit in Kalamazoo that ran for a month last April at the Henderson Castle.

In January of 2007, Lau attended Urbana, a missions conference drawing 20 thousand students from all over the world.  One of the main issues at the conference was the AIDS epidemic in Africa.

“God put it on my heart and gave me a burden for that,” Lau said.

Despite her desire to help, she was unsure how she could help.  As an artist, she didn’t feel as though she had anything to offer.

“I thought, ‘God, this is a big issue, and I don’t know what I can do.  I’m just an artist,’” Lau said.

But God had a plan.

“The Lord gave me this vision to create an art exhibit that would raise awareness,” Lau said.

However, after Urbana, Lau says that she “put that vision aside for a while.”  Even though she thought it was a great idea, she didn’t believe that it would work.  For a year, she did not act upon her vision.  Then God gave her a little push.

“I was at Western Michigan University where I did my undergraduate as an art major,” Lau said.  “And halfway through the year I felt like God was saying, ‘You know, Bette, I gave you this vision a year ago, and now I want you to act on it.”

But still, Lau had doubts.

“I had a pretty full plate, and my response was kind of luck, ‘Uh, God, really?’” Lau said.

After much time in prayer, Lau felt God leading her to talk to different art classes and see if any would be interested in creating pieces for an art show.

“I remember praying before going into one of the classes,” Lau said.  “I was saying, ‘God, if no one signs up to create a piece, can I just drop it?’”

God gave her an answer.

“To my surprise, the first class I went to, everyone signed up,” Lau said.

In total, 40 students signed up to create artwork for the show.

Students weren’t the only people who got involved.  Dave Biskie, arts and training coordinator for Inter Varsity Christian fellowship at Western Michigan University quickly joined ranks with Lau.

“When Bette told me the vision God had given her for the exhibit, it was clear she thought she had heard from God,” Biskie said.

Biskie had a duel role in helping Lau.

“Mostly it was encouraging her and supporting her,” Biskie said.  “The other half was helping her see how it could be more than just her event, and making that happen.  The question I was trying to help her think through on this was ‘what can this event lead into?  What is the next step?’”

For Lau, the whole process was about trusting God to provide.

“There was no way I could do it with everything going on in my life,” Lau said.

When Lau began to feel overwhelmed with all the work creating an exhibit required, she began to pray that he would provide people to help.

“I had students get in touch with me saying they thought it was cool and wanted to help,” Lau said.  “It was amazing because these students weren’t Christians, but they were helping.”

Another need that Lau brought to God was a venue to hold the exhibit in.  Right about this time, Lau’s parents were staying at Henderson Castle, a bed and breakfast in Kalamazoo.  After conversing with the owner, they learned that she frequently held exhibits in the bed and breakfast and was looking for one about a social issue.  And when Lau contacted her regarding the exhibit, she eagerly agreed to providing the venue.

Eventually, all the details were put in place and the exhibit was ready to open. 

“Four hundred people ended up coming,” Lau said.  “The place was packed.”

Biskie said he was surprised by the outcome.

“I think part of it was that it was so obvious that God was part of this every step of the way,” Biskie said.

Not only did the exhibit raise awareness, over $2,000 was raised in a silent auction and sent to World Vision.

“What’s amazing is that now that the show is over, God is still working,” Lau said.

The artists who submitted pieces saw how their gifts could help others.  And they learned to work together, rather than focus on making a name for themselves. 

“Most of these artists weren’t Christians.  But in a way they were kind of acting like Jesus,” Biskie said.  “For a lot of artists, I think it was maybe the first time they were sacrificial with their art.”

Also, a friend of Lau was inspired to create a similar art show, which will be at Hope College for two weeks, starting Oct 24.

And not only was the exhibit a way to help AIDS victims, it was a ministry tool for the city of Kalamazoo and those who attended the art show.

“The non-Christian world in Kalamazoo really vibed with what Bette was doing, and was really intrigued by this call to help people across the world.  It made Christianity very attractive,” Biskie said.  “People know what Jesus is supposed to look like, and they don’t always see that in Christians.  Through this event they see ‘this is what Jesus is supposed to look like.’”

But the biggest lesson that Lau learned was “faithful obedience.”

“I think that more and more it has given me a vision for what God can do when he calls us,” Lau said.  “He just requires us to be faithful.”