yoga on children's tv

Is it acceptable of the BBC to air waybuloo? The programme airs in the morning and evening twice per day and encourages children in yoga, meditation and crystal powers. If you think this is an abuse what should be done? To complain.. https://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints/forms/process/television?id=TD59F9FQIVDG15EFMJ6SNS5VNG&uid=210156407

Your self-portrait

On a thursday during term time there is an art platform in Cafe Forever, I have not done a drawing in a long time and today I decided to join the group. My attempt is on the right - I think it is quite a good likeness, but others don't really recognise it. I think this may be because I see myself in a mirror and I drew myself in a mirror, but everybody else sees me the correct way around. I had a chat with a friend today about how we feel purposeless and this is due to a wrong portrait of ourselves, we are de-valued by the words and actions others have said or done in our lives - these then become our identity or self-portrait. I told him that the bible shows that we are VERY valuable to God and have a purpose! This shown through the sacrifice of Jesus, his son. Later in the evening kids club took place in the cafe and I got a chance to do some break-dancing with 2 of the other boys!

Were on TV - maybe

Channel 4 news found out about the cafe via the website! It's good to know there's some usefulness in it. They came down to do an interview with guests; they wanted to know our impressions of the recession and the governements handling of it. In case they edit it - I tried to get across the notion that salaries are not meeting the inflation but that I thought the government was doing a difficult but necessary thing. I said I couldn't see how a country could spend money they didn't have. Scott, Bill and Radka were also interviewed. I also told them that I had worked in TV news for 9 years but left, when they asked why I said 'I got tired of being a commentator on attempts to improve the world and wanted to try being a part of it.' I was so glad for the friends who made it in to the cafe during a particularly quiet time - I texted them about Ch4 interest.

In the balance

In the morning we read from 1 John 4 how 'the father's' love is perfect and that we find peace and encouragement there. Two friends from the area visited us today, Bill and Anna. They are often in the cafe and Bill wanted to come in and use the Ninetendo wi. They are such wonderful friends, always ready for a joke and a bit of banter. He wanted to use the wi to improve his balance and his reactions. It is unusual and remarkeable because Bill is not a teenager. In fact he is retired! It was great fun watching him on the wi balance board trying to head the ball! I spent a large portion of my day trying to get some web domain procedures sorted out. I have to learn as I go - in fact I have built the cafe website just from reading the internet, I hope this inspires others. The site is built using a content management system called Joomla which makes it possible to edit the material as often as you want. I have since been offering my assistance to others who may want to build a site. Domain management is very confusing though and took a lot of time - I still don't think I am all there yet!

Why this city?

Back in at London City Mission support centre, more work on the video. Yesterday and today I have some really painful mouth-ulcers and a sore throat - I feel run-down! I must have got my children's virus. The video is looking okay. I think it could be improved by giving more time to pre-production and hiring somebody regularly to do the work. I see that most org's are busy releasing video's or promotional material on an almost daily basis which keeps supporters informed and makes it possibile to get new supporters in the ridiuclously fast world of social networking and internet markets. It is good for accountability and record keeping too. The video we are producing looks at the reason for the work in London - many people can't see London as a mission field, and if you were looking at merely physical needs, you'd be almost right. But when you look at the spirit of this city, you will find a spirit of fear, anger, misuse, wickedness. It is not the London of the past, it has received many influences from other parts of the world. Some of them are good, but some of the thinking revolves around getting us to worship ourselves or other people. Narcissistic self-indulgent thinking and teaching. This video hopes in some way to show the reason for a London City Mission.

Egoism of Peter

Natalie was on music rota for this morning at City of Peace, she did an awesome job, accompanied by Scott on the djembe. It is quite difficult to get some of us moving in the morning but with the aid of some good music things became more relaxed. We heard one of my favourite songs 'But for you who fear my name', I think it was first recorded by Lenny Smith. It is from Malachai 4. Simon preached from Matthew 26 - he pointed out that Peter was actually very brave, he was prepared to lay down his life for Jesus - Mark 14:43 'Just as he was speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, appeared. With him was a crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests'. So Judas came with a small armed militia and Peter was prepared to fight - he alone with one sword! This was a brave move. But it was about Peter going out in a blaze of glory! Later when he comes to understand Jesus' message better, Peter does die for Jesus, but in a submitted and humble way - no sword in hand. So the main point is - do we do what we do for the one we love or for ourself? What does He really want and do we trust Him with the end result?

Who do you portray?

I asked Scott today if he had a personal favourite subject for discussion -  I was thinking something like applied science - he said doctrine, specifically the struggle between predestination and personal choice. It was an interesting discussion. I'll leave it there and hope that it will stimulate you to thought. We had the usual lot in the cafe and I did some drawings with one little girl who I have known since birth. She has come a long way, for a while we thought she wouldn't walk, but today she was jumping around. There's an art class in the cafe on a thursday - earlier in the day I had discussed with Carol how we portray ourselves, how this portrayal is what we desire to be. Jesus has a new portrait for us, a new image that we can receive if we desire - but it means the old portrait must end. In the art class the subject of the day was 'self-portrait' and there were some impressive one's. For some people it is so incredibly difficult to recevie this new portrait. We can be so tied up in the lies of the enemy - the angry, malicious words that the devil fills their mother/father/teacher/friends/self with and have heard it so much, it becomes difficult to hear the voice of the Lord saying 'you are the apple of my eye', or 'chosen'.  Please pray in particular for us in this community who are besieged by lies about our purpose and capabilities - that we would seek the truth from our creator. Only when we embrace our identity in Christ will we see changes.

Personal photo exhibition



City of peace weekend away walk

There's an intern working with us at Cafe Forever for the next 5 weeks, Scott. I took some time today to get to know him. He was busy downstairs in the morning helping out at the Island Music for Toddlers class. He loves drumming and beats and is always drumming on something if there's a beat going. I think he's going to have sore fingers working here since there's always some music playing. He enjoys working on the counter and running the till. Scott is the first home-schooled preson I have met. That may seem a bit wierd, but I guess it is becoming more common. A lot of people have lost faith in the education systems of the world. I asked him if he would home school his children if he had any, he said no, but he'd take great steps to ensure that their school was a good one. We had about 35 visitors today, as always more than half are regulars - they become like family in a way, you get to know some of everybody's preferences and attitudes. I am very fortunate to have this space - I studied photography in South Africa and quite often I get to take pictures of the amazing things we do and then enlarge them to A1 size for marketing purposes. Today I have put up pictures of the 'City of Peace weekend away' in the Cafe.

A general day

When I arrived at the Cafe this morning Carol was already there, bent over picking up the litter in the front of the Cafe. It is amazing to see how much trash is left lying around outside the Cafe. Some of it blows down the street and deposits itself on our doorstep. Some however is due to night visitors and it is a small declaration of the state of some people and how they feel about the world - a trash heap. We read the bible together as a team and then proceeded on to our duties. I looked at trying to get link thumbshots onto our frontpage of our website and tried various different ways.
I met up with Natalie and Lisa for a lunch run. On our way we encountered G&C our two friends from our previous estate; 2 friends who have lived together for years, now in their 80's. They regularly get a visit from Natalie, Hannah and Lisa.
When I returned to the cafe, Mr Mc was in. I haven't seen him for a long while and feared he may have not made it through the winter. He said he was suffering from a cold and not feeling very well, but still positive about life. He asked about my daughters so I showed him some pictures of them during Christmas. 2 other irregular but old friends came in and chatted for a short while. So many people are just looking for a friendly face and a place they can call home. Scott has just begun working here and he seems like he may be very useful. Had a nice chat with one of the young adults today about can you love someone if you don't like them?
There's a lot of good opportunities here but there's a temptation to become negative too. Please pray for our encouragement and for those that hold onto hope.

Video work

For the next two weeks on a monday I am working at London City Mission Support Centre on a promotional video.I began working on it during December and it is not a bad attempt. I think that there has not been sufficient emphasis placed on the need for good marketing IRO the mission. Thankfully this appears to be changing, but change is always slow in any organisation and can be particularly difficult when you have been estabished for 175 years! The video looks at the question 'Why London?' and is an attempt to expose the reason for the passion of the missionaries and the complexities involved. It is so nice to work with Video again, I am using an Avid Express and After Effects. I find it very stimulating and I am very grateful for the technological abilities that I have. Please pray that I will do a good job on the video.

Worship not church

Sometimes I have to prepare to lead the church service on sunday, and today I have read an interesting book, it's called 'Parenting in the Pew' given to me by a good friend Tom Carpenter. It is very encouraging reading. the writer suggests that too often we 'go to church' with it being some formality or business and we go to 'get' something at the service and come home disappointed if we don't 'get' something. She reckons that we will enjoy it more, and we will encourage our children better if we go to a 'worship' service. I have made this a great emphasis in todays service. I have not enjoyed a service so much in a long time. The sermon was on Matthew 26. 4 different responses to life from Mary, Peter, Judas and Jesus. In the 2010 edition of the NIV Jesus' words to Judas are 'you have said so' - Judas gets a chance again! Join us in giving thanks to God for an amazing week.

American's are interesting

Well it was a busy day. We began the morning meeting with Duncan our director to discuss the future staffing needs of cafe Forever and to address our concerns. Duncan was encouraging and we hope to see the ministry growing again soon. After the meeting I worked on the counter and met up with an old friend who has been having some hard times. He has some sort of paranoia about mobile phones and new technology. He wasn't in a very good way and very difficult to talk with. Then I chatted with another person who I have met once before, he was very interesting, an American, and liked to talk philosophy. He indicated he appreciates the mentor Jesus but not the spiritual Jesus. We had an interesting talk about existentialism. I find a lot of American people have a great vocabulary and provide for interesting discussion. I also heard from another old friend during the day, he has had some medical problems recently. When the cafe closes administration is necessary before going home and I totalled up the days takings. Please pray for these two men and the board of directors of the London City Mission

Jesus the 12 year old teacher

On friday mornnigs during term time some of the women of the church - the mum's particularly, meet up in the cafe for a bible study and I had forgotten they were coming today. This means that the floor needs to be cleaned very quiclkly in order for it to dry before they come. I then met up with Tom and we talked about the things that need to be done at the cafe when I go on vacation. I had come in the door and began preparing assembly which I was not able to do earlier in the week. At 10am I went across to Cubitt Town School for the assembly, a lady from Barnardos was talking about her charity. Then I spoke about Jesus as a child when he went to the temple and lectured the teachers (pharisees), which the children found very funny. A regular contact who I saw yesterday came in again today and he was much friendlier and easier to talk with. We had some very light conversation. He is 'on the wagon' again and has been now for a long time. He says Christmas is a particularly hard time since you are obligated to drink with others and that makes you out of favour with your friends if you won't drink. He says he prefers waking up with a clear head and being able to enjoy the morning. I really like talking to him, he is very encouraging. Later on 2 other people we know for a long time arrive at the cafe. They haven't been in for a long time and they look as if they aren't doing too well. They say they will be in on sunday for church. Let's pray that God meets them and lifts them up. Please pray for these people, that they would draw near to God in their efforts to escape themselves.

Copycats

This was a tiring day, lots to keep me busy. I spent a lot of time doing paperwork - sorting out mail accumulated over the Christmas period, paying unpaid bills etc... I know the saying, 'how do you eat an elephant? - one bite at a time' and I can see how this works because just when you begin it begins to get easier. I started with all the simple tasks such as sorting out the junk and mis-addressed mail from that which was important. I then sorted bills from statements and so on. I made some relevant phone calls IRO unpaid bills. It didn't take too long before I began to get some order. God created order from chaos too. Marlene and Carol helped running the counter during the day too. There's a new till and using it is not always an easy adjustment to make. We also celebrated the birthday of a good friend, had Ginni and Pavna drop in, and about 30 other visitors today. I tried to encourage one of the children not to do art from their imagination but to do it by looking at and copying the wonderful things God has given us, I told her that this is what makes a true artist, someone who looks carefully at what God has done. No artist would deny being a copycat. Please pray for her, that she would look more to copying the beauty of God's creation, particularly in Jesus.

First day back

Today the cafe opened for the first time since the december holidays, it was a good day, filled with things to do. Lots of cleaning and sorting done as a team - the team being Izzy, Chris, Anandi, Paula, Ian and Tom and myself. About 30 customers in total during the day, the return of one old friend who enquired about the forthcoming Alpha course and regular visits of families coming through the school. Anandi emptied out everybody's mailbox in the hope that we can keep them emptied on a daily/per visit basis. We also created an odd-jobs book to list all the odd-jobs that need to be done around the cafe, otherwise we forget them and they never get done until they are a problem. It is a good way to start and nice to work as a strong team today, hopefully that spirit will remain through the year. Please pray for this dear friend that he would continue to seek God and pray that the team will work well this year.