Archbishop's web site Denver Catholic Register Parishes Catholic Pastoral Center
April 24, 2002
Catholic school project helps children find God
Children's photographs brighten nursing homes, lives of seniors
By Alwen Bledsoe
God is showing up everywhere for fourth-graders at St. John the Baptist in Longmont, and his new, more personable face is making even theology fun. The students spent their Christmas break scouring homes, skies and the Colorado landscape looking for God, and they caught him on film. Students recognized God in a sunset, a storm, a friend, a flag, and, more often than not, a pet dog.
"God's Photo Album," the bestseller by Shelly Mecum, inspired the copycat Colorado project. Mecum, also a teacher, saved her beloved Our Lady of Perpetual Help School in Oahu, Hawaii, from bankruptcy by sending students and families across the island in pursuit of God's picture and then writing about it. She donated proceeds from the book to the school, which is once again on stable financial footing.
Inspired by Mecum, fourth-grade teacher Jenny Pfefferkorn brought the project to her Longmont classroom.
"It was really an invaluable lesson in making God real to the kids," she said.
Now Pfefferkorn's students are sharing their insights and discovering God in the grateful faces of others.
The photos were featured in the Daily Camera in February after the children displayed their photos and accompanying essays at the school. In early March they brightened the walls of Samaritan Nursing Home in Boulder, and the Peaks Care Center in Longmont enjoyed the photos at the end of March. Currently the photos are back on the walls of the Longmont Catholic School.
The students have been writing regularly to residents at the Peaks Care Center and went on a field trip in March to visit their elderly pen-pals while their photos were still on display.
"We've had the best responses from this stuff," said Debbie Dyer, activities director at Peaks Care Center. "The residents, volunteers, everybody comments on it. They don't want us to take them down."
For Pfefferkorn, ministering to the residents with the photos, letters and visits was a natural outgrowth of the project.
"This is living what we're learning, living God's word," she said.
And like the discovery of God in everyday life, the benefits of caring for others can't be learned from a book, she added.
Fourth-grader Aman-da Filip spent her visit to the Peaks Care Center with 62-year-old Lucy Hastings.
"We were really looking forward to visiting them because we just wanted to, because it would feel good to brighten someone's day."
Hasting's day apparently was brightened by her young and amicable guest. As evidence she enthusiastically brandished a colorfully decorated card Filip had made for her.
"It means a lot," she said of the visit. "I really appreciate it."
Pfeeferkorn, like many others, was taken off guard by the profound insights of her young students.
"They were really beautiful," she raved. "Long or short, I was truly amazed at the depth of their essays, not only how seriously they took the project, but what they got out of it."
The observations accompanying the large, glossy photos range from poetic to prosaic to mystical.
In one photo a dirt road ends in far-away crystalline mountains.
"I see God in this picture because God's path never ends," wrote one student.
Another photographed a brewing storm.
"I saw God in a storm on the mountain top. This reminds me that God is all-powerful," the student mused.
And there is no discernible trace of the groaning and reluctance that so often accompanies homework. Instead guileless observations reflect a thirst for adventure and a joy in new discoveries.
"I think this project is a great way for people to find out where God is," writes Seamus Quinn. "If all of us are lights, I think everyone here is shining brighter than before!"
For the Valdez family, the project even turned into a source of surprising comfort. Hannah Valdez, mother of fourth-grader Ryan, said her husband had to have emergency surgery New Year's Eve. During the difficult hours at the hospital Ryan's comments revealed how deeply the project had penetrated him, she said.
"I see God in the nurses and doctors," he told his mom.
Other children discovered truths that have eluded mystics and sages. In staccato sentences, Erica Mathwich described the mystery of God's immanence.
Writing about the view from her home in Lyons, Colo., Mathwich, said: "I chose this picture because God is definitely in it.
"But of course God is everywhere. He is in the milky, blue sky, the fluffy cotton clouds, the people, even in the littlest things you can imagine."
Later she continued: "In the average day people don't realize that God is with them 24 hours a day seven days a week. To tell you the truth I was one of those people. Until this project that is."
And her conclusion teems with faith.
"If you look up I guarantee that you will see God. Whether you look at a picture or a person, He's there."
That's the lesson that Pfefferkorn hopes will accompany her students' souls throughout the rest of their lives.
"Now they know that God is everywhere and I hope they would never forget that," Pfefferkorn said.
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