To say it's been a busy few weeks would be an understatement. It's been a while since my last update. Liverpool and Manchester feel like ages ago even though it was merely a month. We have had some teachings, we traveled a bit, and we have spent a fair amount of time remodeling our house. We put in a new floors, did some painting, took apart walls and cupboards and made the house look new. It was a chance for us to show some love to our house which in the end turned out to be really fun. I always enjoy a bit of painting.
Beyond that, we have been investing even more in London. On Thursdays we spend most of the day in the neighbourhood of Camden which is a really cool artsy area of London. However, it can also be very dodgy. It's a very spiritual place but not in the right way. We spent a lot of time praying over the area and meeting some of the people in the shops, talking with them and praying for them. The longer we spend in Camden, the more God has given me a heart for the neighbourhood. They have a huge market and loads of shops as well. One of the sections of Camden is called Primrose Hill which is the highest point of London. Climbing to the top is rough but it's a gorgeous view of London from the top. It's also a spot where a lot of witchcraft has occurred. We have also spent more time in Notting Hill but intentionally evangelizing as well. Instead of just having a one off conversation, we are able to go back and invest in the people there. There was a guy that one of the girls, Hayley and I had met when we were in Liverpool who he actually lives in London and works at a stand in Notting Hill. The other day, we were walking through the market, he saw us, and burst out of the stand, almost forgetting the customer he was helping so that he could come and talk with us. It's moments like that which are encouraging. It shows that just being in a place and talking with someone can make a difference.
We also had the opportunity to go to Brighton at the beginning of this week. Huge thank you for the prayers sent up about outreaches. We were only in Brighton for a few days but we did some worship on the beach, evangelism and then we had a "faith day" on the last day that we were there. We were able to pray with people, pray over the area and also explore the different art that occurs there. For Faith Day, the whole idea is that you are sent out with nothing for the whole day and just see what God does.
My team and I decided in the morning we would start with talking with people. We had some conversations with some really strange people; a lady who wanted us to pray for her cat to use the back garden instead of the front garden and a man who couldn't remember where he was or who he was for that matter. But as the day wore on, we started to get really hungry so we popped into a coffee shop just to see what would happen. We got some waters and grabbed a few sugar packets. Our staff walked into the shop, only to find out that they had sandwiches . . .which they decided not to give us. It was a bummer at the time but we found a sign for a Salvation Army and we decided just to check it out. Turns out we came right as they were finishing lunch so they gave us quiche, soda, chips, and candy all for free. We talked with them for a while and were able to pray for them. Their hospitality was amazing and their heart for God and for the city was inspiring as well. It made up for kind of a bummer morning.
Brighton itself was fantastic. We're hoping to go on another outreach to Bristol in a few weeks which prayers for that would be awesome.
God has also been revealing some really deep things inside of me lately. He's confronted rejection, pride, control, manipulation, and co-dependency in a lot of ways that has been really painful. It's a process I'm learning. It's a process of letting God come into every inch of me, every crevice, every facet and allowing him to be the only thing that matters. People will let me down at some point. If that's where my affirmation is, that's not fair to my friends and those around me because they cannot fulfill those desires inside of me. God has to be the center of all. It's hard, it's a deep thing that's been unearthed but God is so faithful to put people around me to point out those things and help me to walk in a greater sense of freedom. It's a process. It won't change overnight but slowly and gently he's growing me into the person he has called me to be.
Thank you again for all your prayers, they have been greatly appreciated. Another prayer requests, all the visas for everyone in YWAM in England have been called into question. There's something that the immigration is questioning with the sponsorship of YWAM and there is a chance that everyone who is here on a visa will have to go home within sixty days of when they make that decision. It would affect most of our DTS (which thankfully, we would be able to finish out the DTS at this point), but it would affect about 80% of the staff here at the Urban Key base and over 250 people throughout YWAM England. Prayer that this issue would get resolved and be favourable that no one would have to go home would be greatly appreciated as well.
Saturday, November 15, 2014
Thursday, October 9, 2014
Yellow Submarine Imaginatorium
It's hard to believe it's been four months since I arrived in London. In many ways, it feels like I've lived many lifetimes since I arrived. Sometimes life in YWAM just doesn't seem to be done in real time. We have the opportunity to experience loads of things in a very short amount of time. The DTS began about a month and a half ago. God has already began to break down walls in my heart that have needed to be broken.
This week we've had teaching from Jorge Rios and he's been talking about being a new creation. When we are born again, something has to change inside of us. If it doesn't, then we have to question whether or not we've really been changed and whether our salvation is for real. God showed up this week for me. I realized just how much I fear failure. I've put so many pressures on myself from work, relationships, and even in my quiet times with God. I want to succeed and I stress out if I don't think I will. But God has broken through so many of those things and began to give me freedom in those moments. He's reminded me I just need to chill and let him work and do what he needs to. He'll work, he'll move, and I just need to chill and not put the pressures on myself that I have in the past. Going forth in my own strength isn't going to help me at all. Rather, it will make things worse because I will be trying to do it without God. When he's put certain things on my heart, then he's will complete them, not me.
Besides the intenseness of this week, we also went on outreach on Liverpool and Manchester two weeks ago which was quite awesome. We started in Liverpool, the birthplace of the Beatles. It was nice to be by water again. It was a beautiful city. We joined up with the YWAM base there that currently only has two full time staff members. We stayed in a flat that was owned by an older couple who belong to a local church. They were super sweet. Being able to be in Liverpool allowed us to really feel like we're in England. Being in London, there's so much international influence and multi culturalness which is great but to really experience British culture, it was wonderful to be in Liverpool and Manchester and to actually get a sense of that culture. We found people to be really friendly in both cities. In Liverpool, we performed some songs and our visual track did some art pieces. We were able to talk with people and share Christ in that way. We also walked the city to get a sense of the area. The YWAM base in Liverpool is also involved with a ministry to prostitutes. They took us to the spot where the girls work. We prayed over the area where the YWAM workers have been ministering to the girls.
Manchester was quite interesting. We stayed a church and the pastor was awesome. However, it was definitely in a more dodgy part of town. But to be able to be a light in that area was awesome. We went into the city center one of the days and performed and then had the chance to talk to people. One of the girls and I saw a girl sitting by herself. We went over and asked if there was anything we could pray for. She responded that she had been diagnosed with a tissue disease that made her really tired. We prayed for her. Then after we prayed, she told us she was a Christian but she had never had someone randomly come up and pray for her and just how cool it was. God used that moment to encourage her.
We had hoped to be in Brighton this week but connections with churches fell through. We still hope to go but there's a chance we won't. This week we've been continuing to work on our tracks so there's been new songs to learn, monologues to write and perform for theatre, and a huge blessing for me in that I also get to join the writing track! Being able to express and release through writing has been amazing so far. To check out my writing for our writing track, please visit www.writeuponthestars.blogspot.co.uk
As I close, prayer would be awesome for the rest of the outreaches that they would happen and we would make the right connections in all the places we wish to go. Also, prayer that God continues to do a work in our hearts and that we will be open to it. The final prayer request would be for unity amongst our team as well. I really do appreciate all your prayers while I've been here.
This week we've had teaching from Jorge Rios and he's been talking about being a new creation. When we are born again, something has to change inside of us. If it doesn't, then we have to question whether or not we've really been changed and whether our salvation is for real. God showed up this week for me. I realized just how much I fear failure. I've put so many pressures on myself from work, relationships, and even in my quiet times with God. I want to succeed and I stress out if I don't think I will. But God has broken through so many of those things and began to give me freedom in those moments. He's reminded me I just need to chill and let him work and do what he needs to. He'll work, he'll move, and I just need to chill and not put the pressures on myself that I have in the past. Going forth in my own strength isn't going to help me at all. Rather, it will make things worse because I will be trying to do it without God. When he's put certain things on my heart, then he's will complete them, not me.
Besides the intenseness of this week, we also went on outreach on Liverpool and Manchester two weeks ago which was quite awesome. We started in Liverpool, the birthplace of the Beatles. It was nice to be by water again. It was a beautiful city. We joined up with the YWAM base there that currently only has two full time staff members. We stayed in a flat that was owned by an older couple who belong to a local church. They were super sweet. Being able to be in Liverpool allowed us to really feel like we're in England. Being in London, there's so much international influence and multi culturalness which is great but to really experience British culture, it was wonderful to be in Liverpool and Manchester and to actually get a sense of that culture. We found people to be really friendly in both cities. In Liverpool, we performed some songs and our visual track did some art pieces. We were able to talk with people and share Christ in that way. We also walked the city to get a sense of the area. The YWAM base in Liverpool is also involved with a ministry to prostitutes. They took us to the spot where the girls work. We prayed over the area where the YWAM workers have been ministering to the girls.
Manchester was quite interesting. We stayed a church and the pastor was awesome. However, it was definitely in a more dodgy part of town. But to be able to be a light in that area was awesome. We went into the city center one of the days and performed and then had the chance to talk to people. One of the girls and I saw a girl sitting by herself. We went over and asked if there was anything we could pray for. She responded that she had been diagnosed with a tissue disease that made her really tired. We prayed for her. Then after we prayed, she told us she was a Christian but she had never had someone randomly come up and pray for her and just how cool it was. God used that moment to encourage her.
We had hoped to be in Brighton this week but connections with churches fell through. We still hope to go but there's a chance we won't. This week we've been continuing to work on our tracks so there's been new songs to learn, monologues to write and perform for theatre, and a huge blessing for me in that I also get to join the writing track! Being able to express and release through writing has been amazing so far. To check out my writing for our writing track, please visit www.writeuponthestars.blogspot.co.uk
As I close, prayer would be awesome for the rest of the outreaches that they would happen and we would make the right connections in all the places we wish to go. Also, prayer that God continues to do a work in our hearts and that we will be open to it. The final prayer request would be for unity amongst our team as well. I really do appreciate all your prayers while I've been here.
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
Oceans Imaginatorium
As I sit and type this, I can't help but think just how crazy life can be. On September 3rd, the intent was to come home after spending a couple days in Switzerland with my cousin and one of my good friends. But as September 3rd came around, I was indeed in Switzerland, which was amazing, but I found myself flying back to London, getting on the Tube, and heading right back to the Arts House instead of making my connecting flight to Vancouver.
Needless to say, this summer has been a time of growth, of change, and a time that God has used to refine me. He has broken down barriers, healed me of hurts I didn't even know existed and begun to show me how live out a greater sense of his calling for me. Before I came to London, I had every intention of going back home after the internship. I did know that the Arts Ministry here was going to be running a Discipleship Training School that would start just as internship was finishing. A DTS is the main school that YWAM runs that involves a certain amount of teaching and then an outreach portion to the school. The DTS here would be five months. But the idea of actually doing a DTS was the furthest thing from my mind. I actually told one of the staff, Elin, that I really didn't ever want to do a DTS. But as time went on, God kept brining the DTS to mind and I continued to fight it. I had my plan, three months and then I was going to be back to the States. Besides, the idea of doing a DTS, just didn't sound appealing to me despite hearing where the DTS outreach was going to be going be (around the UK) and what they were going to be doing (loads more theatre). But as time went on, the idea of DTS continued to come into my mind. When one of my best friends who was in a similar boat with me said that she was going to be stay, I thought that was brave of her but I was certain God was going to take me on a different path. Yet, it was in Edinburgh while singing "Breakaway" by Kelly Clarkson that for the first time I thought that maybe I would in fact stay. Finally, after a lot of prayers, some tears, some angry words towards God and even packing my bag to go home, God finally broke through the walls of conventionality and told me to do the DTS. Instead of coming home in September, I will be coming home in January, staying in London through the Holidays. It really was one of the hardest decisions I've made. Everything in me said I should go back and work but God has continued to confirm my decision. He's given me grace and blessings with my employer, he's given my parents peace about the decision, and already God has begun to do more work in my heart to stretch me and grow me closer to him.
I came to the internship knowing that I was going to grow closer to God but also with the focus of being able to do theatre. I ended up doing more music than theatre but God worked in my heart and gave me so many blessing with seeing Paris, Glasgow, and Scotland. We performed in the streets and talked to some amazing people about God. However, for the DTS, both of the leaders of the theatre track have returned which means we'll have a chance to work in that area more which I'm very excited about. But I also know that God has a lot more he wants to do in my heart to break down walls of insecurity and bring me in to a greater freedom with him.
But before the internship finished, we had one final phase: The Notting Hill Carnival. It was one of the craziest experiences I've ever had. There was stilt walking in which I was over seven feet tall with the stilts, a giant angel, people dancing on walls, a parade, and crazy drunk people all around us. We had some awesome opportunities to talk and pray with people as we lived in Notting Hill in a church for two weeks and practiced our stilts around the neighborhood which definitely got some reactions from people. One night we were talking with a couple for a while but then we ended up going back to the church, taking off our stilts and going back and talking with them for longer. They were not Christians and her dad has cancer. We had the opportunity just to pray with her and try to encourage her. It was amazing moment to connect with someone who really opened up to us. I also had the chance to talk with two guys during Carnival and we had awesome converstation about God although they were not believers. Just as they were walking away, I felt I needed to pray for them. As I finished, one of the set pieces fell over right where they would have been walking. It was in that moment that I really think he saw the power and protection of God in his life and I just continue to pray that God continues to work in his heart to show him truth.
The past three months were awesome. As I left the church on August 30th, saying goodbye to my friends from the internship, I couldn't help but think how blessed I had been to be a part of this internship. The friendships and connections have been awesome being able to meet people from so many different countries and cultures. There's a song that's quite popular right now by Hillsong called Oceans. The bridge says, "Take me deeper than my feet has ever wandered, then my faith will be made stronger in the presence of my Savior." I'll admit that I would sing that song with all I had . . but to be honest, I never thought that God would actually continue to lead me into deeper waters and test me in trusting in him. But as I step out in faith, I know God has blessings for me. To obey him means that he will bring blessings when we step out in faith and trust God to work. He works all things together for good for those who love him. I want to grow closer, I want to grow in my calling, and learn how to reach people in Christ in a greater way through both relationship and the arts. I'm excited to see what these next five months hold.
Please continue to pray for me as I walk through this crazy journey. The DTS will be set up that we'll have two weeks of teaching and then a week of outreach. Next week we head off to Manchester and Liverpool for our first outreach week!
Needless to say, this summer has been a time of growth, of change, and a time that God has used to refine me. He has broken down barriers, healed me of hurts I didn't even know existed and begun to show me how live out a greater sense of his calling for me. Before I came to London, I had every intention of going back home after the internship. I did know that the Arts Ministry here was going to be running a Discipleship Training School that would start just as internship was finishing. A DTS is the main school that YWAM runs that involves a certain amount of teaching and then an outreach portion to the school. The DTS here would be five months. But the idea of actually doing a DTS was the furthest thing from my mind. I actually told one of the staff, Elin, that I really didn't ever want to do a DTS. But as time went on, God kept brining the DTS to mind and I continued to fight it. I had my plan, three months and then I was going to be back to the States. Besides, the idea of doing a DTS, just didn't sound appealing to me despite hearing where the DTS outreach was going to be going be (around the UK) and what they were going to be doing (loads more theatre). But as time went on, the idea of DTS continued to come into my mind. When one of my best friends who was in a similar boat with me said that she was going to be stay, I thought that was brave of her but I was certain God was going to take me on a different path. Yet, it was in Edinburgh while singing "Breakaway" by Kelly Clarkson that for the first time I thought that maybe I would in fact stay. Finally, after a lot of prayers, some tears, some angry words towards God and even packing my bag to go home, God finally broke through the walls of conventionality and told me to do the DTS. Instead of coming home in September, I will be coming home in January, staying in London through the Holidays. It really was one of the hardest decisions I've made. Everything in me said I should go back and work but God has continued to confirm my decision. He's given me grace and blessings with my employer, he's given my parents peace about the decision, and already God has begun to do more work in my heart to stretch me and grow me closer to him.
I came to the internship knowing that I was going to grow closer to God but also with the focus of being able to do theatre. I ended up doing more music than theatre but God worked in my heart and gave me so many blessing with seeing Paris, Glasgow, and Scotland. We performed in the streets and talked to some amazing people about God. However, for the DTS, both of the leaders of the theatre track have returned which means we'll have a chance to work in that area more which I'm very excited about. But I also know that God has a lot more he wants to do in my heart to break down walls of insecurity and bring me in to a greater freedom with him.
But before the internship finished, we had one final phase: The Notting Hill Carnival. It was one of the craziest experiences I've ever had. There was stilt walking in which I was over seven feet tall with the stilts, a giant angel, people dancing on walls, a parade, and crazy drunk people all around us. We had some awesome opportunities to talk and pray with people as we lived in Notting Hill in a church for two weeks and practiced our stilts around the neighborhood which definitely got some reactions from people. One night we were talking with a couple for a while but then we ended up going back to the church, taking off our stilts and going back and talking with them for longer. They were not Christians and her dad has cancer. We had the opportunity just to pray with her and try to encourage her. It was amazing moment to connect with someone who really opened up to us. I also had the chance to talk with two guys during Carnival and we had awesome converstation about God although they were not believers. Just as they were walking away, I felt I needed to pray for them. As I finished, one of the set pieces fell over right where they would have been walking. It was in that moment that I really think he saw the power and protection of God in his life and I just continue to pray that God continues to work in his heart to show him truth.
The past three months were awesome. As I left the church on August 30th, saying goodbye to my friends from the internship, I couldn't help but think how blessed I had been to be a part of this internship. The friendships and connections have been awesome being able to meet people from so many different countries and cultures. There's a song that's quite popular right now by Hillsong called Oceans. The bridge says, "Take me deeper than my feet has ever wandered, then my faith will be made stronger in the presence of my Savior." I'll admit that I would sing that song with all I had . . but to be honest, I never thought that God would actually continue to lead me into deeper waters and test me in trusting in him. But as I step out in faith, I know God has blessings for me. To obey him means that he will bring blessings when we step out in faith and trust God to work. He works all things together for good for those who love him. I want to grow closer, I want to grow in my calling, and learn how to reach people in Christ in a greater way through both relationship and the arts. I'm excited to see what these next five months hold.
Please continue to pray for me as I walk through this crazy journey. The DTS will be set up that we'll have two weeks of teaching and then a week of outreach. Next week we head off to Manchester and Liverpool for our first outreach week!
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
Bagettes, Bagpipes, and Bibles Imaginatorium
When our team left on the thirteenth of July for Paris, I’ll
admit I was filled with a bit of trepidation about what I was to
encounter. I knew God was sovereign, I knew he was our protector, and I knew he
had great plans for us. What I didn’t know was just how much God planned to
teach me whilst we were gone.
We first arrived in Paris after an eight hour bus ride for their independence day. We stayed at a church that is connected with YWAM and quickly learned a couple of important phrases, "Un pain chocolat" (chocolate crossiant) and "Merci" (thank you). Although we had learned some French before we arrived, it was a whole different world when I was actually in front of French people but soon I began to relax into the language and my limited knowledge of what to say. We were very lucky that we did have two French speakers to get us through the subway and around the city without much of a problem.
With a lack of fireworks on the fourth of July, a fireworks show from the Eiffel Tower happened on the fourteenth for their Independence day as well as a real Parisan picnic of bagettes, cheese, and meat. It was quite surreal to be honest.
But we soon put the wonderful bagettes and crossiants away, and got down to work. We continued to work on some covers and the tracks we had written. We teamed up with a YWAM camp, Paris Je-taime (Paris, I love you), to go out on outreach and perform. We were joined by a team from Korea who were hip hop dancers. They were amazing and you could feel the difference they brought to the area the minute they began to perform. Jesus was so evident on their faces. There was also a dancer from Seattle and a guy who rapped. The first time we began our performance, we were moved by the police after our first song but began again and a couple of our team members got a chance to talk to some people about Jesus. We also had the chance to perform in some of the poorer sections of Paris which was amazing. One place had a group of kids we interacted with and were able to share Jesus with. In one of the other places, we had a guy come up to us who told us he was touched by the performance and was in absolute shock when we told him Jesus loved him. We gave him a Bible and a list of churches. We were also able to pray for him as well. We were prayed with another lady who was really wishing for more of God and we prayed that God would show himself real to her.
For one of the girls and I, we were often on the subway or walking the streets in heavy face paint. People were taking pictures of us but it was such an awesome opening to share what we were doing and why we were doing it. The language was definitely rough at first but we did have people translating which did make it easier and we did find people who spoke English as well.
Although, not everything went as planned while we were in Paris, we did see God move and speak to people which was so cool. As we left Paris, we had a ten hour overnight bus ride, which included going through customs, and a ferry ride. We arrived back in London to change over our bags and pack for Scotland.
Arriving in Scotland, I was struck by the beauty of it and how much like Washington it was. The people were so friendly. We joined up with another camp to do street evangelism during the Commonwealth Games which is basically like the Olympics but only for the nations that are a part of the Commonwealth of England. At the camp, there were all ages there from five years old all the way up to adults. There was also a Christian theatre company who performed. We got to talk to people, perform, and pray with people. We saw people come to Christ and experienced great times of worship. We had the opportunity to perform in a park and along one of the main streets. One of the days we were in a skate park where our graffiti artists set up their graffiti and some great conversations happened. Glasgow is a beautiful city but it was also extremely exhausting as we were with a lot of young kids. But seeing them find Jesus and share Jesus with others was awesome!
Our last stop was Edinburgh where we performed at the Fringe Festival which is a huge festival with tons of theatre, comedy, and other performance pieces. Although we were only able to perform two times, we spent most afternoons doing evangelism along the "Royal Mile" which is were a lot of the performers are. We prayed with people and we saw the impact prayer had. One of the guys we talked with was Agnostic and when we asked him if we could pray for him, he was so surprised. After we did, there was a real sense of Joy and Peace that came over him. As he left, he told us he hoped we blessed other people the way we blessed him. On one of the other days, two of the girls and I had gone to see a show. The next day during evangelism, we found some of the actors of the show and were able to pray with them. We found some people really open and others not as much. Most of the people we talked with were not Christians and many of them had little faith. We also got into conversations in Starbucks and along the street when we weren't intending on doing evangelism but God brought people into our path. There is a heaviness that resides over the Fringe as dark things happen but God is so good and is our shield and protector. He protected us and he made his name famous. People stopped, they listened, and we could see the change that God made.
I could go on for much longer about all the cool things God did while we were away from London. But he's also done some cool things in the hearts and lives of our team. For me, it was on a roof top in Paris that God began to speak truth to me and introduced himself to me in a whole new way. We often say God loves us and he does but to fully understand what that means, sometimes we miss the point or just don't quite understand it completely in our hearts. Yet God made his love so real to me, it has been practically bursting forth in a way that I never imagined. It's given me a peace like never before and it's really, really quite beautiful. I fell in love with God and have begun to understand in a much deeper way then before just what that means. It's amazing!
So now we are back in London for the last bit of the internship. This week we prepare the house for the new students that are coming for the next school in a couple of weeks and for the camp that we were be putting on, Bones, which leads up to the Notting Hill Carnival.
I know I keep on saying it but God is so good and it has been so amazing to meet God and see how he can move. God's been breaking down walls and just doing a massive transformation, encouraging me to relinquish control and let him take control. As we head into the last part of my time here, I would love prayer for endurance and for God to continue to move in awesome ways.
We first arrived in Paris after an eight hour bus ride for their independence day. We stayed at a church that is connected with YWAM and quickly learned a couple of important phrases, "Un pain chocolat" (chocolate crossiant) and "Merci" (thank you). Although we had learned some French before we arrived, it was a whole different world when I was actually in front of French people but soon I began to relax into the language and my limited knowledge of what to say. We were very lucky that we did have two French speakers to get us through the subway and around the city without much of a problem.
With a lack of fireworks on the fourth of July, a fireworks show from the Eiffel Tower happened on the fourteenth for their Independence day as well as a real Parisan picnic of bagettes, cheese, and meat. It was quite surreal to be honest.
But we soon put the wonderful bagettes and crossiants away, and got down to work. We continued to work on some covers and the tracks we had written. We teamed up with a YWAM camp, Paris Je-taime (Paris, I love you), to go out on outreach and perform. We were joined by a team from Korea who were hip hop dancers. They were amazing and you could feel the difference they brought to the area the minute they began to perform. Jesus was so evident on their faces. There was also a dancer from Seattle and a guy who rapped. The first time we began our performance, we were moved by the police after our first song but began again and a couple of our team members got a chance to talk to some people about Jesus. We also had the chance to perform in some of the poorer sections of Paris which was amazing. One place had a group of kids we interacted with and were able to share Jesus with. In one of the other places, we had a guy come up to us who told us he was touched by the performance and was in absolute shock when we told him Jesus loved him. We gave him a Bible and a list of churches. We were also able to pray for him as well. We were prayed with another lady who was really wishing for more of God and we prayed that God would show himself real to her.
For one of the girls and I, we were often on the subway or walking the streets in heavy face paint. People were taking pictures of us but it was such an awesome opening to share what we were doing and why we were doing it. The language was definitely rough at first but we did have people translating which did make it easier and we did find people who spoke English as well.
Although, not everything went as planned while we were in Paris, we did see God move and speak to people which was so cool. As we left Paris, we had a ten hour overnight bus ride, which included going through customs, and a ferry ride. We arrived back in London to change over our bags and pack for Scotland.
Arriving in Scotland, I was struck by the beauty of it and how much like Washington it was. The people were so friendly. We joined up with another camp to do street evangelism during the Commonwealth Games which is basically like the Olympics but only for the nations that are a part of the Commonwealth of England. At the camp, there were all ages there from five years old all the way up to adults. There was also a Christian theatre company who performed. We got to talk to people, perform, and pray with people. We saw people come to Christ and experienced great times of worship. We had the opportunity to perform in a park and along one of the main streets. One of the days we were in a skate park where our graffiti artists set up their graffiti and some great conversations happened. Glasgow is a beautiful city but it was also extremely exhausting as we were with a lot of young kids. But seeing them find Jesus and share Jesus with others was awesome!
Our last stop was Edinburgh where we performed at the Fringe Festival which is a huge festival with tons of theatre, comedy, and other performance pieces. Although we were only able to perform two times, we spent most afternoons doing evangelism along the "Royal Mile" which is were a lot of the performers are. We prayed with people and we saw the impact prayer had. One of the guys we talked with was Agnostic and when we asked him if we could pray for him, he was so surprised. After we did, there was a real sense of Joy and Peace that came over him. As he left, he told us he hoped we blessed other people the way we blessed him. On one of the other days, two of the girls and I had gone to see a show. The next day during evangelism, we found some of the actors of the show and were able to pray with them. We found some people really open and others not as much. Most of the people we talked with were not Christians and many of them had little faith. We also got into conversations in Starbucks and along the street when we weren't intending on doing evangelism but God brought people into our path. There is a heaviness that resides over the Fringe as dark things happen but God is so good and is our shield and protector. He protected us and he made his name famous. People stopped, they listened, and we could see the change that God made.
I could go on for much longer about all the cool things God did while we were away from London. But he's also done some cool things in the hearts and lives of our team. For me, it was on a roof top in Paris that God began to speak truth to me and introduced himself to me in a whole new way. We often say God loves us and he does but to fully understand what that means, sometimes we miss the point or just don't quite understand it completely in our hearts. Yet God made his love so real to me, it has been practically bursting forth in a way that I never imagined. It's given me a peace like never before and it's really, really quite beautiful. I fell in love with God and have begun to understand in a much deeper way then before just what that means. It's amazing!
So now we are back in London for the last bit of the internship. This week we prepare the house for the new students that are coming for the next school in a couple of weeks and for the camp that we were be putting on, Bones, which leads up to the Notting Hill Carnival.
I know I keep on saying it but God is so good and it has been so amazing to meet God and see how he can move. God's been breaking down walls and just doing a massive transformation, encouraging me to relinquish control and let him take control. As we head into the last part of my time here, I would love prayer for endurance and for God to continue to move in awesome ways.
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
Independence Day Imaginatorium
It doesn't surprise me that on the Fourth of July, no fireworks were set off in England and people did not take the day off to host BBQ's and celebrate the United States' rebellion from the mother country. The only celebration that broke out occurred when Brazil won their World Cup game on Friday. Other than that, it was a normal Friday in the UK.
But as the week goes on, our schedule continues to stay busy as we are only a week away from heading out to Paris to perform and bring the gospel to people on the streets. Our music tracks are completed and now it's rehearsal time. We have three tracks we wrote together that we will be performing and then we also have some covers to workup as well. We've spent many hours in the church in Notting Hill practicing within tracks of music, visual art, film, and fashion.
But as we've been working, God keeps on reminding me that I am not able to do any of this in my own strength. If I try, I fail. There are mornings where I wake up exhausted because I haven't gotten a ton of sleep or I'm just frustrated that I didn't get the song perfect the first time through. But if that's my focus, I miss the point. I miss that I'm here to learn, grow, and rest in God's love. I'm here to learn how to worship him and go deeper in my relationship with God. I feel blessed to spend the mornings in worship before we launch into practice time. Nothing is better than focusing our efforts back to where they need to be and that reminder that everything we do is for the glory of God. If I try to make it through on my own, I really will end up exhausted and not be productive at all. We are all here to use the gifts, talents, and passions that God has given us back to him in an act of praise and worship. How freeing it is that we can turn the focus back to God, give him everything and watch as he strengthens us. It's turned into an amazing week of growth and surrender the things that hold me captive and have begun to experience true freedom in him.
Among the track time and some great teaching from different speakers, we've continued to go to Soho. We were not able to go last Friday but the previous Friday we had another interesting time of conversations. We met one guy who was excited that we were Christians because he said Christians are always happy. But he had a problem with Jesus being the only way, the only truth, and the only life but we still had a great conversation with him. We also met a lady who was an atheist because she had been a religious education teacher. She didn't believe before she taught the class and she certainly didn't believe after. She said there were too many other cool religions to just pick one. It saddens my heart that some people can see the difference that God makes but they aren't willing to take that surrender and other people are so closed off to it that they can't see truth. But again, seeds were planted and from there, God can work and do what he needs to do.
Side note, on the tourist front, one of my friends and I headed into Hyde Park last weekend and I was finally able to see the Peter Pan Statue in Kensington Gardens. I know it sounds super silly but it was on my bucket list while I was here. We also saw the Princess Diana Memorial as well. One of the incredible things about London is all of the parks that are dotted throughout the city. Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park is so perfectly gorgeous and wonderful. There is also a park just a two minute walk away from our house and on the days that it is not pouring down rain (which honestly has been quite a few) it's a wonderful place just to hang out or do devotionals in the morning.
This summer has been incredible so far. It's been a month and God has been molding, shaping, and creating moments that blow my mind almost daily. As we are about to head on Outreach, I know God has big things planned. I'm excited to see what he does and how he works through all of us for his glory. Would love prayer as we head out for God to really move in the people that we come in contact with and also for us as team, that we grow closer to God and each other.
But as the week goes on, our schedule continues to stay busy as we are only a week away from heading out to Paris to perform and bring the gospel to people on the streets. Our music tracks are completed and now it's rehearsal time. We have three tracks we wrote together that we will be performing and then we also have some covers to workup as well. We've spent many hours in the church in Notting Hill practicing within tracks of music, visual art, film, and fashion.
But as we've been working, God keeps on reminding me that I am not able to do any of this in my own strength. If I try, I fail. There are mornings where I wake up exhausted because I haven't gotten a ton of sleep or I'm just frustrated that I didn't get the song perfect the first time through. But if that's my focus, I miss the point. I miss that I'm here to learn, grow, and rest in God's love. I'm here to learn how to worship him and go deeper in my relationship with God. I feel blessed to spend the mornings in worship before we launch into practice time. Nothing is better than focusing our efforts back to where they need to be and that reminder that everything we do is for the glory of God. If I try to make it through on my own, I really will end up exhausted and not be productive at all. We are all here to use the gifts, talents, and passions that God has given us back to him in an act of praise and worship. How freeing it is that we can turn the focus back to God, give him everything and watch as he strengthens us. It's turned into an amazing week of growth and surrender the things that hold me captive and have begun to experience true freedom in him.
Among the track time and some great teaching from different speakers, we've continued to go to Soho. We were not able to go last Friday but the previous Friday we had another interesting time of conversations. We met one guy who was excited that we were Christians because he said Christians are always happy. But he had a problem with Jesus being the only way, the only truth, and the only life but we still had a great conversation with him. We also met a lady who was an atheist because she had been a religious education teacher. She didn't believe before she taught the class and she certainly didn't believe after. She said there were too many other cool religions to just pick one. It saddens my heart that some people can see the difference that God makes but they aren't willing to take that surrender and other people are so closed off to it that they can't see truth. But again, seeds were planted and from there, God can work and do what he needs to do.
Side note, on the tourist front, one of my friends and I headed into Hyde Park last weekend and I was finally able to see the Peter Pan Statue in Kensington Gardens. I know it sounds super silly but it was on my bucket list while I was here. We also saw the Princess Diana Memorial as well. One of the incredible things about London is all of the parks that are dotted throughout the city. Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park is so perfectly gorgeous and wonderful. There is also a park just a two minute walk away from our house and on the days that it is not pouring down rain (which honestly has been quite a few) it's a wonderful place just to hang out or do devotionals in the morning.
This summer has been incredible so far. It's been a month and God has been molding, shaping, and creating moments that blow my mind almost daily. As we are about to head on Outreach, I know God has big things planned. I'm excited to see what he does and how he works through all of us for his glory. Would love prayer as we head out for God to really move in the people that we come in contact with and also for us as team, that we grow closer to God and each other.
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
Can I really survive on this little of sleep? imaginatorium
I'd love to say I've fully mastered the Tube, the Bus, and the British currency all within the past two and a half weeks. The Tube and I may have become friends but I've found the buses still don't appear exactly where and when I want them to and the patient Barista in the Covent Garden Starbucks can tell you exactly how well British coin and I are getting along. However, as I've adjusted to the new modes of transportation, which includes loads of walking around the city and a forty minute walk in the morning to Notting Hill, the past two weeks have been incredible if also not lacking in a bit of sleep.
We've began preparing for outreach and as we split up into tracks, I found myself not focusing just on theatre but rather in music track. I'll admit I was initially filled with a great amount of apprehension. I feel I have some skill in the area of music but not loads. However, as I've spent time in prayer and talking with one of the leaders of the music track, I began to realize that maybe God had a bigger plan for me than I realized upon arriving. I've often said within theatre that I can dance and I can act but I wish I was stronger vocally and I've been given three months to become stronger in that area. *mind blown* The leaders of the music track have incredible gifts and I'm really excited to be able to learn and work alongside of them. Our theme for our outreach performance is Joy. It is our task to write and compose three pieces that tell a story of Joy.
But amongst our track time and learning French, one of the most challenging but incredible moments of every week occurs on Friday nights in Soho. We partner with a church there to do evangelism. They set up a tent with free coffee and tea, have worship, and just talk with people. When I first heard about it, I was super excited as it sounded exactly like what I had done in Australia. But the moment I stepped onto the busy street corner, the atmosphere was vastly different than what I had experienced. People are rushing about, there are loads of adult shops, clubs, and pubs in the area, and the heaviness is real and tangible. For some reason, both times we've been out, fear has overwhelmed me. But God is good, gracious, and always present. The first week, I worshiped, watched, and prayed with our team and for our team. But towards the end of the evening, my roommate, Elin, began to talk with a gentleman and invited me to join. The man, we'll call him Willie, is not a Christian. He is a man who is very intelligent but due to life circumstances, he is currently homeless, sleeps in a church, and is working odd jobs. Money controls and motivates him. We were able to share with him how we've experienced God's love and provision in real and tangible ways and we were able to share how much God loves him and pray with him as well. The next week, Willie was there again. I don't think he's ready to let God take over and lead him but the seeds have been planted and we have to believe that God is working.
The second week we were in Soho, we teamed up with people from the church to talk with people. We had such a wide array of conversations. We talked with a man who was a Sikh and he was not afraid to ask us the hard questions about why we believed in our faith and why we wanted him to believe in Jesus. We talked to a group of guys who would rather go drink, party, and believe in science than believe in an awesome God. Lastly, we talked with two girls from Venezuela who were Catholic but not assured of their salvation. We were able to talk with them about truth and also pray with them which was an awesome experience. One of them had also been to Seattle so we had something in common. At the end of the evening, I was encouraged and I saw how God just changes the environment when we begin to worship, pray, and take courageous steps to talk to people.
The longer I am here, the more I see God moving and working not only in the city but also in my life. He's revealing and teaching me about myself and all the things in my life that I've hid behind for many years. There is true freedom in him when we rest in his love. I'm so grateful for the staff here, their hearts for the city, for the arts, and also for us. It's amazing what happens when you stick eighteen people from different nations with different languages into one house. There's been loads of laughter, fun, and deep conversations. They've become my family in a very short time. God consistently uses them to encourage and refine me. Plus, I've remembering Spanish, I know how to say "thank you" in Portuguese and have learned some words in Dutch. We have three more weeks in our house before we head out on outreach. I'm excited to see how our performance piece comes together and how God continues to move and grows us closer as a group. Oh, and continues to give me energy when I go to bed late and get up early. :)
We've began preparing for outreach and as we split up into tracks, I found myself not focusing just on theatre but rather in music track. I'll admit I was initially filled with a great amount of apprehension. I feel I have some skill in the area of music but not loads. However, as I've spent time in prayer and talking with one of the leaders of the music track, I began to realize that maybe God had a bigger plan for me than I realized upon arriving. I've often said within theatre that I can dance and I can act but I wish I was stronger vocally and I've been given three months to become stronger in that area. *mind blown* The leaders of the music track have incredible gifts and I'm really excited to be able to learn and work alongside of them. Our theme for our outreach performance is Joy. It is our task to write and compose three pieces that tell a story of Joy.
But amongst our track time and learning French, one of the most challenging but incredible moments of every week occurs on Friday nights in Soho. We partner with a church there to do evangelism. They set up a tent with free coffee and tea, have worship, and just talk with people. When I first heard about it, I was super excited as it sounded exactly like what I had done in Australia. But the moment I stepped onto the busy street corner, the atmosphere was vastly different than what I had experienced. People are rushing about, there are loads of adult shops, clubs, and pubs in the area, and the heaviness is real and tangible. For some reason, both times we've been out, fear has overwhelmed me. But God is good, gracious, and always present. The first week, I worshiped, watched, and prayed with our team and for our team. But towards the end of the evening, my roommate, Elin, began to talk with a gentleman and invited me to join. The man, we'll call him Willie, is not a Christian. He is a man who is very intelligent but due to life circumstances, he is currently homeless, sleeps in a church, and is working odd jobs. Money controls and motivates him. We were able to share with him how we've experienced God's love and provision in real and tangible ways and we were able to share how much God loves him and pray with him as well. The next week, Willie was there again. I don't think he's ready to let God take over and lead him but the seeds have been planted and we have to believe that God is working.
The second week we were in Soho, we teamed up with people from the church to talk with people. We had such a wide array of conversations. We talked with a man who was a Sikh and he was not afraid to ask us the hard questions about why we believed in our faith and why we wanted him to believe in Jesus. We talked to a group of guys who would rather go drink, party, and believe in science than believe in an awesome God. Lastly, we talked with two girls from Venezuela who were Catholic but not assured of their salvation. We were able to talk with them about truth and also pray with them which was an awesome experience. One of them had also been to Seattle so we had something in common. At the end of the evening, I was encouraged and I saw how God just changes the environment when we begin to worship, pray, and take courageous steps to talk to people.
The longer I am here, the more I see God moving and working not only in the city but also in my life. He's revealing and teaching me about myself and all the things in my life that I've hid behind for many years. There is true freedom in him when we rest in his love. I'm so grateful for the staff here, their hearts for the city, for the arts, and also for us. It's amazing what happens when you stick eighteen people from different nations with different languages into one house. There's been loads of laughter, fun, and deep conversations. They've become my family in a very short time. God consistently uses them to encourage and refine me. Plus, I've remembering Spanish, I know how to say "thank you" in Portuguese and have learned some words in Dutch. We have three more weeks in our house before we head out on outreach. I'm excited to see how our performance piece comes together and how God continues to move and grows us closer as a group. Oh, and continues to give me energy when I go to bed late and get up early. :)
Monday, June 9, 2014
Dusky imaginatorium goes to London
Over the past few years, books have reigned in my adventures. I've traveled to exotic places, seen lots of incredible things, and met some wonderful people. This year I returned once more to Narnia and Hogwarts. I climbed mountains with Wild, I've solved crimes with The Fellowship of Fear, and was trapped in a maze with The Maze Runner but despite all of these adventures, experiencing life outside the pages for myself can be more dramatic and wonderful.
So thus begins my own adventure. For the next three months, I'm off to Jolly Old London Town to work with YWAM (Youth With a Mission) to do an Arts Internship with them. We will be working through different Art Tracks such as music, drama, visual arts, dance, and fashion. Then with all the different tracks, we will put together a performance piece to take on Outreach. Outreach will begin in the middle of July and continue through to the end of August. We will spend a couple weeks in Paris, some time in Edinburgh at the Fringe Arts festival and then in Glasgow for the Commonwealth Games. Lastly, we will be back in London to do an Arts Camp called Bones which culminates in an event called Carnival in London's Notting Hill. Needless to say, I've been excited and nervous about the trip since I was accepted in February.
Upon arriving in London, making my way successfully through the tube system in the rain, I went to the coffee shop were I would be met by someone on the YWAM staff. Soon, Elin, who is from Finland, arrived with a big smile and a hug and instantly, all the nervous energy dissipated. We found Juliette, who is from Holland, and drove to the house. In the house, all of the interns and staff for the Arts Internship reside which means grace, patience, and a bit of organization is needed in a house with 17 people.
When I arrived, most of the other interns had already come. We have people from Brazil, Holland, Mexico, Argentina, France, and Spain in the house. There are two other girls from the US on the team. One of them, Amanda, is one of my roommates, along with Elin, and the other lives at one of the other houses. YWAM Urban Key has three different houses in three different neighbourhoods in the city. However, they are all within walking distance of each other. We are welcomed to any of the houses at any time. Amongst the three houses, there are around 70 people involved in the YWAM base. We will come together as a whole base two times a week for worship.
Immediately, the staff encouraged us to make the house our home and has provided such a family atmosphere. There is a sense of acceptance in the house and that people really take care of each other. The leaders of the house, Christian and Johanna, are intensely passionate about God, about reaching the city for Christ, and about the arts.
We had our introduction to the internship and our very busy schedule. Along with training and working in our art areas, we will also be doing ministry in Camden Market, a place where there is a lot of really heavy and secular things. We took a tour of the area and you can just feel the oppression when you walk through. We will be there once a week for evangelism to pray over the area and talk with people. They have seen the impact of prayer as some of the darker shops have closed their doors since they began praying and walking the market. We will also do outreach in Soho, joining with a church who owns a coffee shop. In many ways, it sounds like it'll be similar to Coffee Van that I did in Australia; talking to people, serving coffee, and showing the love of Christ through our actions. There will also be work duties, teaching time, one-on-ones and small groups, all of which, I'm quite excited about . . well, maybe not the work duties all the time. :) We will also have French classes before we head into Paris. Chris and Johanna feel it's important we have a sense of the language as it makes it difficult to share and talk with people if you do not know the language.
The second day of our internship, we took a tour of some of the major sites in London; the London Eye, the Tower of London, Trafalgar Square, and the London Bridge. It was good to begin to understand the public transportation and get a sense of the crazy busy-ness of the city as well. Yesterday, we went into the city centre to the Hillsong London church. After spending time in Australia, Hillsong is close to my heart. It was a great time of worship, refreshment, and even though it is a mega church, their heart for the city, for people, and passion for Christ is very evident. There's still a sense of family when you go which is unique for that big of church. Hopefully, we'll be able to frequent that church whilst we're here.
Tomorrow we start our official schedule for the internship. Wake up at 8 and off we go to the church in Notting Hill where we spend time working on our tracks and have some teaching time. I'm excited to see what God does through our team and through the hearts of the people we come in contact with. It's been a great experience already getting to know the other people here, finding out where they come from, but also seeing their heart for missions, for people, for arts, and for the city. With Dusky Imaginatorium, we go to adventure in London . . . more to come.
So thus begins my own adventure. For the next three months, I'm off to Jolly Old London Town to work with YWAM (Youth With a Mission) to do an Arts Internship with them. We will be working through different Art Tracks such as music, drama, visual arts, dance, and fashion. Then with all the different tracks, we will put together a performance piece to take on Outreach. Outreach will begin in the middle of July and continue through to the end of August. We will spend a couple weeks in Paris, some time in Edinburgh at the Fringe Arts festival and then in Glasgow for the Commonwealth Games. Lastly, we will be back in London to do an Arts Camp called Bones which culminates in an event called Carnival in London's Notting Hill. Needless to say, I've been excited and nervous about the trip since I was accepted in February.
Upon arriving in London, making my way successfully through the tube system in the rain, I went to the coffee shop were I would be met by someone on the YWAM staff. Soon, Elin, who is from Finland, arrived with a big smile and a hug and instantly, all the nervous energy dissipated. We found Juliette, who is from Holland, and drove to the house. In the house, all of the interns and staff for the Arts Internship reside which means grace, patience, and a bit of organization is needed in a house with 17 people.
When I arrived, most of the other interns had already come. We have people from Brazil, Holland, Mexico, Argentina, France, and Spain in the house. There are two other girls from the US on the team. One of them, Amanda, is one of my roommates, along with Elin, and the other lives at one of the other houses. YWAM Urban Key has three different houses in three different neighbourhoods in the city. However, they are all within walking distance of each other. We are welcomed to any of the houses at any time. Amongst the three houses, there are around 70 people involved in the YWAM base. We will come together as a whole base two times a week for worship.
Immediately, the staff encouraged us to make the house our home and has provided such a family atmosphere. There is a sense of acceptance in the house and that people really take care of each other. The leaders of the house, Christian and Johanna, are intensely passionate about God, about reaching the city for Christ, and about the arts.
We had our introduction to the internship and our very busy schedule. Along with training and working in our art areas, we will also be doing ministry in Camden Market, a place where there is a lot of really heavy and secular things. We took a tour of the area and you can just feel the oppression when you walk through. We will be there once a week for evangelism to pray over the area and talk with people. They have seen the impact of prayer as some of the darker shops have closed their doors since they began praying and walking the market. We will also do outreach in Soho, joining with a church who owns a coffee shop. In many ways, it sounds like it'll be similar to Coffee Van that I did in Australia; talking to people, serving coffee, and showing the love of Christ through our actions. There will also be work duties, teaching time, one-on-ones and small groups, all of which, I'm quite excited about . . well, maybe not the work duties all the time. :) We will also have French classes before we head into Paris. Chris and Johanna feel it's important we have a sense of the language as it makes it difficult to share and talk with people if you do not know the language.
The second day of our internship, we took a tour of some of the major sites in London; the London Eye, the Tower of London, Trafalgar Square, and the London Bridge. It was good to begin to understand the public transportation and get a sense of the crazy busy-ness of the city as well. Yesterday, we went into the city centre to the Hillsong London church. After spending time in Australia, Hillsong is close to my heart. It was a great time of worship, refreshment, and even though it is a mega church, their heart for the city, for people, and passion for Christ is very evident. There's still a sense of family when you go which is unique for that big of church. Hopefully, we'll be able to frequent that church whilst we're here.
Tomorrow we start our official schedule for the internship. Wake up at 8 and off we go to the church in Notting Hill where we spend time working on our tracks and have some teaching time. I'm excited to see what God does through our team and through the hearts of the people we come in contact with. It's been a great experience already getting to know the other people here, finding out where they come from, but also seeing their heart for missions, for people, for arts, and for the city. With Dusky Imaginatorium, we go to adventure in London . . . more to come.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)