Stephanie Soto of Philadelphia won Esperanza Health Center’s artist competition for creating this painting to celebrate 30 years of God’s faithfulness. "Por siempre, Dios es fiel"—Spanish for "forever, God is faithful"—is the message expressed throughout the mural. The inspiration for the cards found in the mural comes from a literal "Wall of Faithfulness" established during the year 2000. This was a challenging time for the health center, and employees posted cards with scripture and testimonies of God’s faithfulness inspired by Matthew 6:25-30. Esperanza’s diverse community of ethnicities and ages is represented by each hand holding a card. The center of the mural, which contains the symbols of the Trinity, represents God, who is also at the center of Esperanza’s mission. The middle hand, holding up the "Dios" card, is Jesus’ hand with the visible scar from when a nail was hammered through his wrist. The "Dios" card points to God the Father, with the dove sitting on it representing the Holy Spirit. The hand of Dr. Carolyn Klaus, Esperanza’s founder, is holding up the card "fiel" to symbolize her faithfulness in carrying out the vision of Esperanza’s early years. Forever, God is faithful!
"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?" Matthew 6:25-30
