“So . . . what do you do for a living?”  All over the airplane, men were having the same conversation.  “I’m a Pastor,” Tom replied, “Our church is flying out to Lake Village, Arkansas to do a Mission Trip.  How about you; what do you do?”

 Setting next to Pastor Tom was Steven Lavaggi, an international artist.  Right now, life is pretty good for Steven, but it wasn’t always so smooth.  Twenty years before, his wife left him to marry a writer for The Rolling Stone Magazine.  In the process, she gave up her 10-year-old son, not knowing that he would be stricken with Juvenile Diabetes ten days later .  As if coping with the personal crisis wasn’t enough, Lavaggi lost his graphic art business.

 With his life in disarray, he sat on his bedroom’s wooden floor, and began searching his Bible for answers.  He skipped over the black letters, only wanting to read the words of Jesus.  As he read, the Risen Christ emerged from the pages.  Lavaggi gave his life to Jesus.  With time, he felt God calling him to minister through fine art, so he moved to California, to influence the people who influence the world--Hollywood.

 While meditating on Psalms 91:11, “For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways,” a scripture he clung to, he began painting a 4' X 5' angel.  When a friend encouraged him to make the image three dimensional, he collaborated with a sculptor, and together they cast the angel.  Out of his own broken ness, came a message of hope.

 Lavaggi reached into his briefcase and showed Tom a prototype of the angel and told him about a remarkable experience he had on a Mission Trip of his own.  While speaking to a crowd of thirty-five hundred natives in Soweto, South Africa, Lavaggi held a 20" sculpture of a black angel above his head.  When he did, the crowd erupted with enthusiasm.  A man on the stage told him that just a few days before, a preacher had said, “One of the things we need is for international artists to express the love of God through art, perhaps even painting angels in black.”  When Lavaggi heard this, he grabbed a 20" white angel, held it above his head and said, “these angels were created to be like brothers and sisters, even as we are supposed to be.”  Later, as he reflected on the day, he decided to call the sculptures, “The Angels of Reconciliation.”

 They exchanged business cards.  “When you’re done with these,” Tom said, “I’d like to see the finished product.” 

 A chance meeting?  Or were the angels of Psalms 91 in charge? 

 After the Mission Trip, the First Baptist Church of Beverly Hills bought two 20" bronze angels to present to Mayor JoAnne Bush.  She is displaying them in the new city hall building.  One white, and one black, but they have something in common.  They’re both angels of reconciliation.

 For more information on the “Angels of Reconciliation TM” sculptures, visit Lavaggi’s web site at http://www.lavaggi.com or call him at (818) 755-8797.  The sculptures are available in acrylic and bronze in 10" and 20"sizes.