FEVA (The Fellowship for Evangelism in the Visual Arts) is halfway to reaching its goal of wiping out their deficit of $32,000.
A Christmas appeal launched last December has raised $16,137 which will go towards supporting
FEVA's ministry to students and graduates.
FEVA's Director, Malcolm Williams says it is "both wonderful and scary' that this amount has been raised.
"It's wonderful that so many people have responded with that much money," he says.
"But the bottom line is that staff members are still owed money for expenses. It means we still owe staff money, but it means we will be able to keep paying wages for the next few months with the proceeds of the Christmas appeal" Mr Williams says.
The ministry of FEVA began in 1992 with the aim of bringing the gospel to the world of the Visual Arts.
There are now four main aspects of FEVA's ministry. There is on campus student ministry to over 150 students in design campuses across Sydney with Bible studies at the College of Fine Arts, the Design Campus at UTS, the Sydney College of the Arts, National Art School and the Faculty of the Built Environment at UNSW.
There is also ministry to design and architect graduates through a ministry called "Christians By Design - Architecture'; Petersham Evening Church meeting at All Saint's, Petersham and Create " a ministry for Christians to brainstorm and plan projects that promote the gospel in creative ways.
Mr Williams says 2005 was the toughest year FEVA has had financially.
"Our budget has increased every year and God keeps providing for us. But 2005 was the first year where staff were not paid in full on time.
"At an important council meeting in November I asked the long term staff " Cameron Blair and Judith Atkins " if they wanted to continue with FEVA or if the prospect of this situation continuing was such that they felt they should look elsewhere for work. Both have chosen to keep going with us," he says.
Staff still haven't claimed many expenses like phone and internet bills and conference costs.
FEVA are taking on one new full time MTS worker this year, James Howse, however Mr Williams says he is mostly self-funded.
"This year is a consolidation year," he says.
Mr Williams says part of FEVA's financial challenge is increasing the percentage of regular "pledged giving' to reduce the reliance on "one off' giving.
Mr Williams says ministry to the visual arts needs support because artists are a group that shape community attitudes and values.
"My hope and prayer is that if we reach people at university and challenge their life goals, they'll go on to be art teachers, artists, designers, or work on projects and films all with a Christian focus" he says.
"The values and attitudes they hold will shape the way others think. It's often artists who make accessible the ideas and philosophies of the day."
Mr Williams says as each year goes by students have less knowledge of Christianity.
"Increasingly, as I have been on art college campuses for over a decade, more and more students are turning up who know very little about the Bible and are barely aware of who Jesus is, which is staggering," he says.
"At one level it is an important strategic ministry because of the influence artists have. At another level they are people like any other group and worth reaching just because they are people," Mr Williams says.
People can find out how to support FEVA at www.feva.org.
