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.
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