There are so many huge and depressing news stories in the world at the moment, I am sure I need not mention them all, but I do sometimes feel that my life's problems are mere trifles in comparison. 50 years ago communication was a lot harder. I wouldn't have had an audience who could read my words all around the world unless I was some sort of journalist writing for 'The Times'. Nowadays I can write and you can read in seconds of me writing, and you can send what I have written to others. This is a great big bonus for news agencies who can disseminate stories rapidly. When I worked for Sky News internet communication was in it's infancy and TV was the big channel. The challenge was to be first with the most accurate news, and I have to commend the journalists and producers who did and still do an amazing job. Problem is there are now so many different sources that there is a lot of opportunity for opinion, propaganda and lies. It can easily become confusing as to which side you should support. It is interesting how, in the Bible, a lot of the time the good guys turn out to be the bad guys and the bad guys turn out to be the good - King Cyrus of Persia, Rahab the harlot, and King Saul. All the way through the Old Testament the drive is for the promised King who will restore everything. But in the NT, we see Jesus fixing people's lives on an individual level, their personal stories are important to Him.
I am busy reading a group study book by Neil T Anderson called "Experiencing Christ Together" for couples. It is so far excellent, I purchased it in response to a number of struggling marriages in our community and a prompt from my wife who suggested that we need some form of marriage support in the church. One thing that I believe for sure is that if we lift up Jesus to those who want help, they will find it. Family is a beautiful thing and I hope that we can rescue some.
At Café Forever we were looking for a replacement for Andrew who will be leaving us at the end of August, and were found by a lady by the name of Gabriella, from Hungary, who is transferring to us from Café Eterno. She will be starting on the 6th August. She seems like somebody with a lot of character and enthusiasm. We have been told that the doorway into the garden is being put on hold - it may be coming at the end of the year. We have been asking for a door for a long time. I continue to hope that it will come this year. Meanwhile we have tidied up the garden and I have planted a little grass. I do not have the energy to cement the area, nor the time available and I figured it was the easiest thing to do.
Towards the end of school term I went on a trip with the nursery class to 'Old Macdonalds Farm'. The excitement of a 4 year old getting on a bus and going to the top floor is such a great thing to witness, I had the charge of Lisa and a friends daughter - they both sang all the way there. It was a stifling hot day and many of the children fell asleep on the bus on the way back. It is a great opportunity to get to know the parents and teachers better. I chatted with Lisa's teacher, Amanda on the way back. She is a believer who has been on a mission trip to Kenya, and has worked for Café Eterno and Departure and knows Lynne Van Der Meer! It is great to know that this lady will be educating my daughter for another year. I also took Hannah to her sports day and came second in the fathers race, only being beaten by her teacher! These events are so great to attend and it is so good that my work allows it. I only wish more dad's would be able to do the same.
Another combined church fun day this time organised by St Luke's Milwall. 2 days before Tom's wife gave birth and so I took his children with mine so that their parents could get some rest. It was a lot of fun and there was a huge variety of things to do such as, a massive Jenga tower, a bouncy castle dragon, water balloon volleyball and free food! The sunday was a joint church service where Henk Bouma gave a sermon on Caleb's inheritance - a difficult topic given world events.
The school holidays are upon us and already there are a number of children who are wandering around with nothing to do but mischief. It is really difficult to live in the inner city as a child. When I grew up we had a huge walled back garden with a swimming pool. We were able to play safely and invite our friends around to join us and make noise and nobody was bothered. If you live in an apartment open spaces are at a premium, quite often guarded by the biggest bully which leaves you with choices - don't go, or go, join the bullies gang, or go and challenge the bully. It's really tough for these kids and so often they avoid the normal places and end up in other places, perhaps where they are not wanted. As they come without their parents they tend to repeat the process wherever they are, establishing their own gang that protects the little spot of terrafirma. One case of parental neglect I would not be able to share as the child is then put at risk, but we will try to get involved and encourage that child and their parents. We do have the benefit of the local park- St Johns Park café is managed by a team from Café Forever, and there are activities there throughout the summer - we believe Jesus needs to be in the park. Some parents can be too protective, preventing their children from going outside. This is also not very good because they need the fresh air, they need to play with others and how much good can you learn from an Xbox? I think mostly they fear damage to their reputation rather then the safety of their children.
At the moment we are awaiting our 3rd child, she is now 8 days overdue. The other two were also late and so we aren't surprised. The problem is that I cannot make any serious appointments with anyone - I have to largely do what I can day by day, which is a little frustrating, and it is also very uncomfortable for Natalie.
We must not become fixated on the world and it's problems, God isn't, we can lift up our prayers about the struggling marriage next door just as much as we can pray for the people of Mosul. The demands of news agencies to focus our attention on certain parts of the world is quite new, but everyone of us lives in a neighbourhood. Quite often the thrust of these stories is to get us to hate a certain group in our community, yet they may be as divorced from that as we are. If we take our eyes off loving our neighbours and ignore their needs because we are fixated on some story on the other side of the globe we are missing the point.
I am busy reading a group study book by Neil T Anderson called "Experiencing Christ Together" for couples. It is so far excellent, I purchased it in response to a number of struggling marriages in our community and a prompt from my wife who suggested that we need some form of marriage support in the church. One thing that I believe for sure is that if we lift up Jesus to those who want help, they will find it. Family is a beautiful thing and I hope that we can rescue some.
At Café Forever we were looking for a replacement for Andrew who will be leaving us at the end of August, and were found by a lady by the name of Gabriella, from Hungary, who is transferring to us from Café Eterno. She will be starting on the 6th August. She seems like somebody with a lot of character and enthusiasm. We have been told that the doorway into the garden is being put on hold - it may be coming at the end of the year. We have been asking for a door for a long time. I continue to hope that it will come this year. Meanwhile we have tidied up the garden and I have planted a little grass. I do not have the energy to cement the area, nor the time available and I figured it was the easiest thing to do.
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| Tough topic for Henk |
The school holidays are upon us and already there are a number of children who are wandering around with nothing to do but mischief. It is really difficult to live in the inner city as a child. When I grew up we had a huge walled back garden with a swimming pool. We were able to play safely and invite our friends around to join us and make noise and nobody was bothered. If you live in an apartment open spaces are at a premium, quite often guarded by the biggest bully which leaves you with choices - don't go, or go, join the bullies gang, or go and challenge the bully. It's really tough for these kids and so often they avoid the normal places and end up in other places, perhaps where they are not wanted. As they come without their parents they tend to repeat the process wherever they are, establishing their own gang that protects the little spot of terrafirma. One case of parental neglect I would not be able to share as the child is then put at risk, but we will try to get involved and encourage that child and their parents. We do have the benefit of the local park- St Johns Park café is managed by a team from Café Forever, and there are activities there throughout the summer - we believe Jesus needs to be in the park. Some parents can be too protective, preventing their children from going outside. This is also not very good because they need the fresh air, they need to play with others and how much good can you learn from an Xbox? I think mostly they fear damage to their reputation rather then the safety of their children.
At the moment we are awaiting our 3rd child, she is now 8 days overdue. The other two were also late and so we aren't surprised. The problem is that I cannot make any serious appointments with anyone - I have to largely do what I can day by day, which is a little frustrating, and it is also very uncomfortable for Natalie.
We must not become fixated on the world and it's problems, God isn't, we can lift up our prayers about the struggling marriage next door just as much as we can pray for the people of Mosul. The demands of news agencies to focus our attention on certain parts of the world is quite new, but everyone of us lives in a neighbourhood. Quite often the thrust of these stories is to get us to hate a certain group in our community, yet they may be as divorced from that as we are. If we take our eyes off loving our neighbours and ignore their needs because we are fixated on some story on the other side of the globe we are missing the point.
