Welcome to Saints for the Missions. Majority of the proceeds go to benefit the Peña family and their mission work in Peru.
Welcome to Saints for the Missions. Majority of the proceeds go to benefit the Peña family and their mission work in Peru.
My love for painting started as a teenager when I painted my first landscape in acrylics in my middle school art class. Yet while I enjoyed painting and felt that I possessed a certain talent for it, as I reached early adulthood, I put my paints away and forgot about them as the demands of parenthood and profession became my first priorities.
But after a trip to Rome in 2018 my fascination with painting was resurrected when I saw the works of many of the great masters like Caravaggio, Michelangelo, and Raphael. I was captivated by their precision and moved by artwork that seemed to glorify God’s majesty and told stories of spirituality in ways that I had never been able to appreciate just from looking at magazines and watching film documentaries.
In my role as a middle school religion teacher responsible for preparing students for the sacrament of Confirmation, I began to wonder how I could make students more aware of the lives of saints. I wanted to help my students become more interested in choosing their own confirmation saints, and in the process, perhaps inspire them to strive to become saints themselves. Once again, simply looking at magazines and film documentaries didn’t seem to have the impact upon them that I was hoping for, and online searches also fell short of bringing the saints to life in the way that I hoped.
All of that changed when I decided to pick up my paintbrushes one more time and paint one of my favorite saints. I simply wanted to take a crack at portrait painting, something I had never really done before, and to see if I had any talent for it. I attempted my first painting of a saint in acrylic, and while I was fairly pleased with the outcome, I found that the blending of flesh tones and human qualities I was hoping for were difficult to produce in acrylic. Then I got the courage to try oil paints, and the results were instantaneous. Not only did oils produce some of the smoothest blending qualities I was searching for, they also allowed me to experiment with other techniques, including over-painting some of my original acrylic compositions to lend them more human-like appearances.
My classroom has since become a gallery of saints paintings, to inspire, intrigue, and motivate my students to learn more about their faith. Through this charism of oil painting, I have rediscovered a means by which I can explore the depths of my own Catholic faith, in a relaxing and purposeful pursuit of my God given gift.
Above all, I have discovered that my gift can be used to help others beyond the educational setting. Not only can I provide inspiration and devotion to those who appreciate and desire my artwork, the proceeds of sales of my prints can be used to advance the missions of those who serve our Lord in the field of mission work throughout the world. The major portion of all sales of my prints goes to fund my daughter and her family and their mission work with Family Missions Company, a Catholic missionary organization serving God’s people around the globe.
I hope you enjoy my artwork and will consider purchasing some of our original spiritual prints to benefit Catholic missions.
In Christ,
Winston Kenton
Emmanuel and Kree met in New York City while serving as missionaries for two different ministries in the Big Apple. After marrying in 2012, they continued with their call to serve as missionaries by working with the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal. The Lord instilled in their hearts a great love for missions that would never go away. After their family began to grow, they discerned to move to Kree’s hometown of Wichita, KS with plans to raise their first two sons Juan Diego and Kolbe. Once in Kansas, their family continued to grow with the births of Augustino, Avila, and Teresita. While living in the great diocese of Wichita, the Peñas were well aware that the Lord had provided well for them, yet they always knew that there was more that the Lord was calling them to. Still, there were many practicalities that required their attention before they would be ready to take the next step in service to the Lord. Resolving such issues as paying off long-standing student loan debts, it suddenly became much clearer to hear the Lord speak to them. The desire to serve the Lord as a missionary family had been awakened in them and could not be ignored.
Their pursuit for missions led them to Family Missions Company. They attended a Come and See and knew instantly that this organization was part of God’s call for them to serve His people. The words of the Gospel literally came to dwell in their hearts: “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.” (Jn 15:11). In their hearts they could hear God calling them to “Come Follow Me” (Matthew 19:21).
They have been serving the people of Picota, Peru for the last two years. They have begun some beautiful ministries and helped meet the needs of the local people. God continues to amaze them at all of the beautiful work He does through them. Kree’s dad, Winston Kenton, has generously offered to help with the needs of the mission by offering the majority of the proceeds of sales to benefit the mission in Peru. If you are interested in learning more about the Peña family or directly supporting their mission you can checkout their direct link here… https://www.familymissionscompany.com/project/ekpena/