Stephen Arapahoe finds emotional release in his art.

As a youth, he funneled his problems at home and his worries associated with life on the streets through his artistic talent, although some view his chosen art form, graffiti, as criminal.

"When they hear 'graffiti', they're like, 'Oh!' They associate it with violence," Arapahoe said.

God gave him a talent, however, and now he uses it to glorify Christ.

"I call it Godfitti," he said.

Arapahoe shared his artistic ability in a hands-on environment all week with students at Nazarene Youth Conference 2011 in the City Connexx booth at the Kentucky International Convention Center in Louisville, Kentucky.

City Connexx is as nonprofit ministry based in Denver, Colorado, that works with urban youth. The organization grew out of an association with the Crossroads of the Rockies, a Nazarene compassionate ministry center.

The center helped Arapahoe find Christ, but his journey to the cross took time.

"I was in the projects and seen a van going by and watched my friends getting inside," he said. "I wanted to go with them, so I hopped in the van.

"Little did I know that I was going to church."

Arapahoe was unaccustomed to a church environment. His mom and dad's relationship was unstable and his family lived with relatives, friends, or whoever would provide them shelter.

His mother obtained permanent housing in the Westwood housing district in Denver, Colorado, when Arapahoe was about 5 years old. But having a home didn't mean stability for the family.

"My mom and dad would get me out on the streets so they could party with people," he said.

He found solace in his friends on the street.

"They were my family," he said.

When he started visiting the child development center at Crossroads, he began to invite his "bad" friends to come along, he said.

"I inherited 10 totally out of control kids and Stephen was one of them," said Ellen Barton, who was the director at the time.

Barton loved the boys as Christ loved them, but she didn't take any of their nonsense.

"I think they missed 40 percent of the planned outings we had because of their behavior," she said.

Barton let the boys know that she loved them, but she had rules and she expected them to behave in a respectable manner.

"Ellen has a great heart," Arapahoe said. "But she didn't put up with anything we did."

Crossroads provided the structure and love Arapahoe missed in his life, but he preferred the streets at the time.

"I wasn't ready to go down the right road," he said.

But he never let go of his love for art.

"All the anger and all the pain I was dealing with at home, I was taking out through my art form," he said.

At 13, he began painting on railroad trains, subway stations, inside McDonald's restrooms under his break-dancing name, Swift Rock. His street art garnered him a reputation and he ran with a crew of about 14 youth.

"We weren't a gang, although some of my boys, the guys I hung out with on the street belonged to gangs," he said.

The difference between graffiti art and gang graffiti is night and day, he said.

"Gang graffiti is about violence, tagging stuff, territory, killing, marking out other gangs' graffiti," he said. "Ours was about the art; seeing who was the best."

But he never forgot about Crossroads or its associate church, Grace Church of the Nazarene.

One day Arapahoe was with former Grace pastor Dean Cowles, who planned to do an urban street clean up project.

"He knew I was an artist, but he was wanting to paint over this wall that he described as graffiti," Arapahoe said. "As we got there, I told him we couldn't paint over it because that was mine."

God continued to work in Arapahoe's life and soon he and his mother, Bonnie, accepted Christ along with his siblings.

At 28, Arapahoe now uses his talent to glorify Christ - he paints murals and creates flyers and shirts for churches and community organizations.  
 
"I no longer paint trains or walls, unless they ask me to," he said.  "I take my art really, really seriously. I do it for Christ."

The streets still loom in the background, but they no longer have control of his life.

"I'm so proud of him I almost burst into tears," Barton said.

She knows, however, that he faces many obstacles in his walk with the Lord.

"About 25 percent of the kids we worked with made it and another 25 percent ended up in prison, doing violence, murder, and seven are dead¿ The other 50 percent are somewhere in the middle, still struggling," Barton said.

Arapahoe is now married and has three children and a stepson. He and his wife will celebrate their three-year anniversary Sunday.

Arapahoe lives by two sayings. One by painter Lee Quinones: "If art is a crime, let God forgive all," and the other by Ralph Waldo Emerson: "Life is a journey, not a destination."

"I've matured," he said. "I want to help kids know that hip-hop is more than gangs, girls, and clothes. God's calling me to hook me up in an urban environment. I want to use my art in a positive way."