Places of Encounter
Encountering God in unconventional places.
The Story
In December of 2022, I felt the Lord nudging me to create a photo series. I instantly had an idea and heard that it should be called, “Places of Encounter.” I knew that it would be a series portraying unconventional places where people have encountered the Lord.
This is a story of unexpected places where God has met and encountered us.
Many times we may feel like we have “missed it” if we don’t experience a moment when, or where everyone else does. However, we get into our car to drive home and the Lord hits us there, or in the parking lot of our workplace we have a revelation that shifts our entire day. Maybe we have massive, life-changing moments in our bedrooms when we’re sleepy and simply sitting with the Lord. There are so many places outside of a single space where we encounter Him and are changed. This series’ purpose is to show the significance of those unexpected and unseen moments.
When photographing these encounters, I made it our goal not to manufacture any sort of “moment.” Every photo you see here was taken in a raw and real moment. With each individual I asked them to choose a place, go and talk to the Lord as if I wasn’t there, and that I would let them go for as long as they liked.
Most everyone these days are looking for a spiritual experience, we are all hungry for something real.
As you look through these images and read through the carefully written descriptions by each individual, allow the Lord to speak through them and encounter you right where you are.
-Brooke Borgardt:)
The Places
The Tenderest of Places
The Park
One of the tenderest places I have ever encountered the Lord has been through painting. The Father has often met me in this practice with His tender mercies and loving kindness. One particular time I encountered Him here was during a time when I was taking a lot of time to focus on this skill. A lady in my church asked if I would paint a picture of Jesus as the Shepherd—and she gave me full creative liberty. A daunting task to say the least, but the way I met His presence has made it such a sweet memory.
At that time, I found myself knee-deep in personal projects, commissions, and practice pieces. God had been taking me on a journey of learning process. My natural tendency is to lean into perfectionism…which often causes me to want to skip the journey. I wanted to know the shortest cut to make a perfect piece and this was often reflected in my spiritual life. As I began to sketch the painting out, prepare the canvas, plan each layer, mix colors, add paint upon paint upon paint—I began to fall in love with two things in an even deeper way. First, the art of creating…hovering over a piece and patiently breathing it to life. Second, listening to His voice. I could tangibly feel His overflowing love and life through each step. It was like learning a new depth of the love of God.
Now, every time I look at a picture of that piece, I am reminded of that precious time. In my silly haste and misguided pursuit of perfection, the Father taught me His tenderness and the way He works in me through simple paint palettes and brush strokes.
- Maegan Pinyan
Pavement of Heaven
The Car, A Parking Lot
I remember one evening in Hamilton AL, with God’s canvas as the sky! The skies were painted with pink, orange, and red. I was driving to spend time with God away from all my friends, the noise, and all of my responsibilities. The sky was then turning to purple and blue; the night season was arising and all the street light corners were coming on! This was a heavier day as a ministry student as I was going to a lot of classes and dealing with spiritual heaviness. I was trying to find a different spot than I normally would go to in the city of endless empty parking lots and I couldn’t wait to spend time with God. I saw this church in the middle of the city and even though it seemed like it was in the middle, it felt so secluded and private! I couldn’t wait any longer and I parked in the church parking lot and asked the Lord what He wanted to do. The Lord replied back: “Dance with Me in the street.” I was a little scared at first seeing all of the cars that might watch me make a fool of myself dancing wildly before the Lord, but then I was reminded that I didn’t care and my love for God was too great to hold in! I had to let it out! I knew this certain song we were going to dance to and once I put it on, I just went for it flailing my arms and legs out like a maniac. It felt like fire and electricity in my veins going straight to my heart. Everything that was trying to keep me in a cage fell off like loose chains! I closed my eyes while sweat ran down my face and envisioned Jesus dancing with me on this regular tar pavement, but when we danced, the ground shook, and Heaven came to earth! It was the most random and quietest place at the time, but I guess God wanted to turn the volume up a little bit in the parking lot!
- Jeremiah Navarro
As the photographer and storyteller I was intentional not to get too close in the moment. I wanted to have an outside looking in perspective because these encounters are deep and sometimes unexplainable. I hoped that through this approach it would encourage anyone looking through this series to go and ask the Lord to give them their own encounter with Him.
The Road to Delight
Downtown Hamilton, AL
I remember the journey of finding my way with the Lord.
There were many early mornings that I woke up to seek out God but at times I didn’t feel Him or see Him. It was hard and sometimes I wanted to quit on this journey. I remember one specific day, after many days of waking up early at 5 am to walk to a Bible study, Jesus met me while I was walking in a back alleyway of the dorm I was staying in. That day something clicked in me and it wasn’t a burdensome thing to wake up and seek Him but rather, I started to fall in love with the man named Jesus. This thing that was once a discipline became a “delight” to me. Jesus didn’t meet me with a huge spiritual encounter, but He met me while walking the road of delight to Him.
-Gabriel Randolph
Surely the Lord Is in This Place
The Window
One night when I was a junior in high school as I went into my room to go to sleep, I found that my window shade had been left open for some reason as it normally never was. I saw the moon, one of my favorite things, and felt unexpectedly compelled to sit down before it and when I did I began to weep. Though I had known and had a relationship with Jesus for as long as I could remember, I had not felt the presence of God like that in a long time. I heard the voice of the Lord crystal clear. He said that He had plans for me and that everything He had spoken over me as a child was still going to happen. I knew that I only needed to surrender. He made my path clear and His love known.
His words pierced through the anxiety and hopelessness that weighed heavily on me each moment of the day. It was there that I believe the journey I have been on started - in my bedroom, alone.
Though I have moved several times since then, whether it’s at a hotel in England or a bedroom in West Virginia, I have found that before a window has been my own personal altar that I can always come to and remember how He met me.
- Brooke Borgardt
Now that you have gotten a glimpse of what these encounters with God can look like, I want to tell you that you can encounter the Lord far beyond the moments you think He will come. When you open your life to being led by the Holy Spirit, He can come in an instant. When you’re praying for your sibling, parent, friend, or even yourself to have a life-changing encounter, it may not come in a church building. It may come in a car. These moments are Holy to Him. He counts them as precious. We should too.
Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I wasn’t even aware of it!”
Genesis 28:16 (NLT)
If the Lord spoke to you through this project I’d love to hear how!
Let’s connect:)