In September Patrick returned to us from USA, he liked being with us so much that he wanted to stay. We are very glad to have him, his devotion and attitude to serve is so really inspiring to all of us. As his room mate, and to assist us as well, is James who works for XLP. James also does a little café help and also has joined me for school assemblies.
Once a term I feel the need to organise a men's activity; I live with a house of women and every now and again I want to do something a little more masculine! So we got a group together for Clay Pigeon Shooting. It went down a treat. One of the youngsters - anyone over 12 can take part - got the highest score! I will need to have a think about what we will do next. Maybe go-karts!
Living and loving on the Isle of Dogs can be quite surprising. Two weeks ago Carol met me on a Thursday and asked if I would be interested in going to visit her contact with her. I thought about it and decided to go. He is sharing a flat with someone else who I am quite fond of and Carol knew that this would get me in the door. The following morning we visited their flat. It is a really smart apartment. The man lives in the living room. We had a great conversation about the church; was quite upset with the way the Catholic church had amassed such a fortune and gives so little to the poor. I know the heart of this discussion as it is something which has bothered me in my life. The heart of it I believe is that we want to point out someone else's fault so that we don't have to look at our own. I challenged him, asking him what has he done with his hands today? Has he glorified God by showing love to others? Has he gently helped up those who stumble or given a donation of wealth to those who have nothing? He is healthy and fit, he is able to walk, to carry, to move, to do all sorts of things that others cannot do, but does he do it? Do you do it? Do you give glory to God, do you praise him? Do you make the most of every day? We love to focus attention on someone else in order that we can excuse ourselves. I invited him to study the bible with us on Thursday during the day at Café Forever.
Yes, we have begun a Thursday daytime, lunchtime, bible study. It has been initiated by a man who I met around 2008. We had had a few discussions and then he disappeared off the scene. In October we met up again and he asked me if we could start up a lunch time study for the office workers in the area. It is such a great idea and so we set it up and now it is in it's 6th week and going strong! It is so nice to have a short time to read the bible with others and to break the day up in this way. Besides the lunchtime study, we have also started running an evening Alpha Course with City of Peace Church.
Guy Fawkes night was an event to remember! As it was a Saturday this year quite a lot of people turned up, about 100! We did not expect this. Quite a lot of families brought their own fireworks,... and let them off,... as they felt! This resulted in one near incident! Fortunately a miss is as good as a mile! It was a great evening.
The church has its measure of illnesses making life hard, and currently many of the team have illnesses ranging from flu to exhaustion, and Christmas looms. It is always a tiring time, but we push on because we know that we will get relief. At the moment there's no team leader for the Isle of Dogs team - Tom has moved over to work exclusively with City of Peace church, but there is a replacement being recruited. The days get shorter and a lot of our contacts - and ourselves - find it quite depressing. We know that the sun is coming, but we have the winter to sit through! It is with a strong community that cares for each other that we can do this. This given only by the grace of God.
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| KAPOWWW! |
Living and loving on the Isle of Dogs can be quite surprising. Two weeks ago Carol met me on a Thursday and asked if I would be interested in going to visit her contact with her. I thought about it and decided to go. He is sharing a flat with someone else who I am quite fond of and Carol knew that this would get me in the door. The following morning we visited their flat. It is a really smart apartment. The man lives in the living room. We had a great conversation about the church; was quite upset with the way the Catholic church had amassed such a fortune and gives so little to the poor. I know the heart of this discussion as it is something which has bothered me in my life. The heart of it I believe is that we want to point out someone else's fault so that we don't have to look at our own. I challenged him, asking him what has he done with his hands today? Has he glorified God by showing love to others? Has he gently helped up those who stumble or given a donation of wealth to those who have nothing? He is healthy and fit, he is able to walk, to carry, to move, to do all sorts of things that others cannot do, but does he do it? Do you do it? Do you give glory to God, do you praise him? Do you make the most of every day? We love to focus attention on someone else in order that we can excuse ourselves. I invited him to study the bible with us on Thursday during the day at Café Forever.
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| Guy Fawkes Night |
Guy Fawkes night was an event to remember! As it was a Saturday this year quite a lot of people turned up, about 100! We did not expect this. Quite a lot of families brought their own fireworks,... and let them off,... as they felt! This resulted in one near incident! Fortunately a miss is as good as a mile! It was a great evening.
The church has its measure of illnesses making life hard, and currently many of the team have illnesses ranging from flu to exhaustion, and Christmas looms. It is always a tiring time, but we push on because we know that we will get relief. At the moment there's no team leader for the Isle of Dogs team - Tom has moved over to work exclusively with City of Peace church, but there is a replacement being recruited. The days get shorter and a lot of our contacts - and ourselves - find it quite depressing. We know that the sun is coming, but we have the winter to sit through! It is with a strong community that cares for each other that we can do this. This given only by the grace of God.
