The Street Yeller

Today I had the pleasure of introducing our two wonderful, summer interns to Camden book table. We spent 2 hours outside of World's End Pub with our little table full of New Testaments and Gospels and flyers in various languages. It was a lot of fun and just felt really good to engage in conversation with people passing by, and get to share the Gospel and see some people take NTs. As we were nearing the end of our time, it started to rain, so we began packing up. While we were putting things away, we heard a guy across the street yelling. I turned around to see a man standing there with a stick that said "Jesus" on the top of it. He was pointing his finger at a group of teens and yelling at them, telling them that they are going to go to hell. I shuddered, and one of our interns ran across the street, after the group of guys to apologize. I crossed the street and went up to the guy and said, "Why are you yelling at everyone?" He said that they were all going to hell if they didn't believe in Jesus, and that Jesus told us to command people. I said, "I believe in Jesus, but I don't think that we should be yelling condemnation at them like that." He said, "Shut up! That's a command." Then he began yelling "Passports! Got your passports for heaven?" A few other teens came up to him, and he said some pretty sad stuff to them. Then a young kid came up to him and started mockingly yelling, "Jesus! It's Jesus! I thought you had a beard." His friends started laughing, and I stood there tearing up. It was such a sad thing to see. Why did he have to talk to people like that? Why couldn't he have approached them in a way that was bold, but full of compassion and love. Isn't that actually what Jesus commanded us to do? And what kinds of hard things have happened to him that have brought him to this place of thinking that that's how we're called to share the Gospel? Makes me sad.

We just had a guy come up to us while doing tea outreach tonight by the tube station. It was really freaky. He stood right infront of Oli, got really close and said that he was a demon and then began to say horrible things about Jesus. He told O to take his glasses off and he looked really closely into his eyes and started saying really creepy stuff. And then O asked if he wanted to be free, and began rebuking him, and the guy backed up and began hissing and distorting his body. When O asked him again if he would like to be free, he said, "No, yes, maybe, I don't know." And then he came back really close to O and there were tears in his eyes, but he kept saying really creepy stuff. He asked us where we were going, and I said, "We're going to go pray for you right now." And he said that he didn't want to be prayed for. I kept praying while he was talking so weirdly to O, and then eventually Oli said that he felt like we needed to leave, and the guy said, "Don't leave the conversation. I won't sleep until we finish this." It was so weird. My body is completely shot from that conversation. When we left the tube station and started walking home, my whole body just felt wiped. It was such a weird feeling. It was exhausting. I've seen crazy stuff before, but I have never stood that close to someone and looked into their eyes and seen so much darkness, or seen something controlling someone's body like that. ugh. Lord, have mercy. This place is crazy.

Things I've started enjoying since coming to London:

-Cheese, and all kinds of cheese! I like going to the open markets and buying a slice of something new, getting a red apple from another stall, and eating them together.

-Red wine. It use to make me sleepy, and I didn't like the taste, but I really enjoy having the occasional glass when eating with people now. Merlot and Shiraz are my favourites.

-Random bands I had never heard of before, like Florence and the Machine, Mumford and Sons, James, and Colin Hay.

-Converse shoes. Enough said.

-Wool cardigans.

-Fresh flowers in a vase in my room. It helps make the grey days less blah. :)

-Playing tennis! (see June 11 post for complete details)

-Walking in cow pastures... Always loved hiking, but didn't have many opportunities to walk through fields with cows and bulls (maybe that's a good thing).

-Pottery... I've really started to like things made from clay.

-Mochas!

-Gas stoves... They're great. They still kind of scare me, but they cook very fast and reliably (Yay for efficiency! My German great-grandmother would applaud me, I'm sure).

-Iphones. I don't have one, and I'm not sure that I want one, but it's very handy working with people who have them.

-Sticky Toffee pudding. Amazing.

I`ve been here for a year and just found the best Mocha in London... Yum. I know it`s a chain and not an independent place, but I`m okay with that.

wow!

A woman that I've been getting together with in the market (she's a trader there) is now professing faith in Jesus! When she was sitting next to me at the Easter service in April, she told me that she wanted to know Jesus. When I asked her what's stopping her, she said, "My reasoning. I'm trying to reason it out." Today I stood in her stall in the market and heard her say, "E, remember what I was saying about wanting to know Jesus in the winter? I'm not where I want to be yet, but I'm getting there. He is placing such a joy in my heart. I know now it's about having faith." Praise God!!!!!! Please pray that she'd start coming to our women's prayer group on Wednesdays. She is very young in her faith, and there is a lot of wishy-washy mystique stuff that people are giving her to read, that's saying that Jesus isn't really the Son of God. Please pray that she wouldn't be isolated but be a part of Christian community.

June 16

Yesterday I celebrated my 1 year anniversary of being here in London. Last June 16, I stepped off a BA plane at terminal 5 at 6am in the morning, totally unaware of what this year would hold. Yesterday morning (not at 6am!), I headed down to meet some of my teammates in the market, where we spent some time reading Psalm 115 and 116 together and praying for the market. Then we went out and gave muffins to market traders and got into some really good discussions. Afterwards, I trekked over to my team leader's house and worked on formatting a worship book that we're putting together for the churchgroup. I also helped to welcome the summer interns, who stopped by to meet our team. And in the evening, I got together with my friend/fellow apprentice who stepped off the plane with me, and then went to watch X-Men with some other apprentices. It was a good day. And just amazing to think of how different June 16, 2011 was from the one in 2010. I had no idea what I was getting myself into! But God did, and He's been so faithful through it all.

After 16 years of not picking up a tennis racquet, I made my debut onto the court, and a British one at that. I think the sport must come naturally to all of them (maybe because it was birthed in England), because some of them said they were "rubbish" at the sport, and yet were whacking the ball around like it was no one's business. All 3 of them were very understanding, as I lobbed the ball over the fence on my first try. I think I heard "unlucky" more than I have ever heard it in my life, as my serves went wide of the box 3/4 of the time. The whole "Remain calm and carry on" mentality must be ingrained in them, because they actually tolerated my bouncing and hopping around the court in much glee. I'm not sure about them, but I had a complete blast!!! :)

8 Ways to Live Missionally

1. Eat with unbelievers (You have to eat, anyway! If you can do it with someone else, why not do it?)

2. Walk, don't drive (Be intentional about your community. ie: Why does God have me on this particular bus? Open your ears... What are you hearing?)

3. Be a regular (ie: Try to go to the same coffee shop)

4. Do hobbies with unbelievers

5. Talk to your co-workers

6. Volunteer at Non-Profits

7. Participate in city events

8. Serve your neighbours

(from Chris Hatch, WHM)

This makes me sad, and I think it is a very accurate reflection of the state of Europe and the Church here. This is a massive church in Vienna, Austria. And they're paying for church upkeep and renovations by placing this massive, bikini (she is wearing a top and a bottom, fortunately. I've just photoshopped it a bit, so it's not as riske to see on my blog) swimsuit advertisement on the front of the building. That really makes my heart ache. Please pray for Vienna and the believers who are there. I got to go for a few days in May, along with the other WHM apprentices. We met with a WHM churchplant. Europe needs Jesus.

Some Recent Favourite Shots

Artists on Charles Bridge, Prague
Stephansdom, Vienna, Austria

Broken Fence
Top of Catbells, Lake District, England
Church between hills
London on the Thames
Keswick, The Lake District, Northern England