Carrying the load

The fluidity of the community of the Isle of Dogs has some good and some bad effects. New people who move in bring new ideas and new vitality, but they are not yet known and so it takes time for them to become understood, trusted and embraced. While those who move away often leave a gap from what we have come to know, an empty space where we used to meet. This gap isn't always negative as it can be a space for reflection, assessment and realignment. It is always the best if we can focus on the good of an event, it helps move towards something positive. A new arrival is TK, who is doing internship with Ed Dix at St Lukes Millwall. He was supposed to be residing at their newly built premises...which are yet to be completed! So he is now taking a room at the Café and helping us out at times.

City of Peace now operates without a salaried minister; it isn't easy having to pick up the roles. They have been divided up to myself, Robin and Simon. As the church has operated for sometime in a missional way there has been little focus on church structure and so we have begun trying to create a membership, a base that can be counted on and who will together with the leadership enable City of Peace to develop. This work is quite time consuming and requiring attention to detail. We have been looking at affiliation and discussing the reason for a church, what a service consists of etc... Besides this we have a Christmas Nativity service to present and to continue our regular services. These additional inputs are taxing on families and relationships involved.
The church has been blessed recently with a number of eloquent, passionate speakers who have helped us negotiate what is quite a trying time. Just last week we had TK talk about the need for us to let go of our identity, to become like little children. We have had the opportunity to meet with John Jenkins of 'Partnership' who is very encouraging and helpful. I have also been quite involved in working on facebook/twitter and webpages.

These events require prayer; these changes, decisions and circumstances require divine insight; resilience is to know that when something fails, I can learn from it, and I am loved despite it. We are fortunate to be able to rest on one another and as we rest on our Lord, and at times, escape to a quiet place to get some head-space.

For Christmas this year we will be taking a break from our usual events on the Isle of Dogs, and will head over to our family in Teddington to feast and celebrate the birth of Jesus. Please also pray for those who are on the island, those who don't have someone to go to, or those who feel alone, even though they are surrounded by friends.

People movements

Early Morning on the Isle of Dogs

Well the wait through the winter for some sunshine was worthwhile, it is like a promise that you have to hold onto and the winter was soon eaten up by the appearance of daffodils and crocuses. I always knew that owning a dog was good for my soul and I have really enjoyed being forced to get up and take walks so that I can see the sunrise/sunset. The Isle of Dogs is really a very picturesque place and if you can get that calm on the water it seems as if you are stuck in a picture book, and it can be a wonderful place to be stuck. I have lived here now for 11 years, all the time working at Café Forever. I believe that part of the restoration of others comes from our own stability, a stability that is often challenged and sometimes I wonder if this is my last year, but so far we have not been moved, God is good.

There are some people who rarely get to leave the Island, whether it be for health reasons/physical disabilities or for mental phobias etc... But if you can get people to leave, even for a bit, they really enjoy themselves. I have a couple of friends who occasionally get together to go on a trip. We went to Leeds Castle and the visit went down really well. On the way home they were commenting in the car how grateful they are for Café Forever, how it feels like a safe place where they can just be; they'll not be judged and they feel at home. This was so good for me to hear as it is rare to hear such things, I passed it on to the team as soon as I got back. Many of the locals also get a great escape, joining us on our visit to Oak Hall for our church weekend away.

Patrick and Ella - friends!

Some people are only here for a period, Patrick Webb has now returned to Texas having completed 2 years with us. He is already missed in many ways - he was a great servant here both in youth groups and serving coffee and I have no doubt that he has taken some of what he learned here and is using it in USA. Patrick shared the café living quarters with James Farley from XLP who also is completing his year with them. James was also very involved with us and had a superb rapport with the youth on the Island.
And Tom Carpenter who has worked on the island for 11 years is also going back to the USA. He has always added a charismatic flavour to the events in the park and great teaching in the church services as well as bringing many great ideas for improving the business side of things of the café.

The work on the Island can be very challenging.These movements within the team and in the church are always difficult because the relationships come and go and each time you have to learn to know each other and understand each other and then you function together and then people move on and it is over until the next change. Please keep us in your prayers as team dynamics change.