T-Shirt Designs for FW Campus Ministry Retreat

A week and a half ago, I was talking to Janet, the campus minister at UNT, about the upcoming retreat. The only clothing that I ever buy is from retreats and events that I attend. My pants and dress shirts are made by my family in Viet Nam and brought here when we have family/friends that come over. Hence, I asked Janet about how the t-shirts this year looks. She told me we're not having one since no one wanted to design it. I lost it "what?? You're kidding me right? I'll get you a design by Friday." So it happened. I always wanted to design my own t-shirts, mainly because most ministry shirts fall short of my professional taste. So here are a few samples:

I love this back design, it was my favorite of all the ones I created. The idea I was trying to convey was that Jesus, who is our bread of life, lives through us and His light shines forth to the world through the daily activities of our life. As you can see, the figures includes a person down in prayer, a family taking a stroll, a student studying, and a group of friends together. Through each of these activities, if we allow Christ to live through us, we become a living testimony to His love, reflective of quote on the bottom: "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light, for light produces every kind of goodness, and righteousness and truth." Eph 5:8-9

This is the design that Janet chose. The concept behind this is each person is represented by a candle, shinning his or her light in the world. Together God uses us to lead others to Him.

Janet asked me to design another T-shirt for a different retreat she was involved with. I think it has something to do with St. Bernadette and the Rosary. Her original thought was to paint the scene of St. Bernadette in the cave talking to Mary, using the rosary as the outline of the cave. I thought it was a good image, but a little too normal. I like the symbolism in the design on the right. If you go to a retreat about St. Bernadette and receive this t-shirt, you would immediately see a resemblance to the cave scene. But also, there's a hidden message that through the rosary, Mary is constantly watching over us and protecting us.