Pushed or pulled

 Are you forever fighting fires? It seems that I have been doing this for a long time - always having to react to what the world throws at me. I have become complacent, I have to admit. I have got used to coasting along and enjoying the easy life. 

There's a time for everything under the sun says the teacher, Solomon the wise. Time to reap, time to sow, time to live, time to die... Etc. but am I proactive or do I just go with the flow? It will take huge effort to get up out of the couch. I don't know if I can do it.

I woke up thinking this morning about how I am always being pushed. I imagined climbing on a rock face. I and some friends were captured by terrorists on the rock and we had to act before they did. I didn't want to get pushed again. 

When I lived on the isle of dogs we had such a sweet and easy, safe existence and I started getting used to it, it encouraged me to lose sight of God, although we were engaged in church and ministry I didn't really actively seek God's word for my own life and direction. If I had would I have been ready to move on earlier? would I have been better prepared for the move to Margate? possibly even preempting the redundancy from LCM.

God always holds us in his hands, but I'd rather I was getting up and moving when He required it rather than when I was prodded, it's far less stressful I think.

So I came downstairs to read my bible. I opened as you do at Christmas on the story of the Magi following the star. The say 'we have seen his star in the east and have come to worship him.' Pulled, not pushed. They came because they are looking for God in their life. Am I looking for God in my life?

There's another line in the bible that says that every knee shall bend and every tongue confess to worship Jesus. I'd rather I did this voluntarily.

I hope that I will change, that I will find renewed desire to seek his face and that I will go in response to the call. 

One day we will perish, we can choose to go through that door kicking and screaming or we can go faithfully and peacefully, I think the ultimate goal is this dignified exit that has the knowledge of a positive future.

6 Months later - What an adventure!

 

MMS-360 Media Hub 

So, what has happened in the last 6 months? A lot, more than a lot! the support we have had from family, friends and City of Peace church has been astonishing! At times I had thought I was going to crack up completely! the stress of moving has been immense, and all I can consider is that it is nothing like what it must be to be a refugee running for your life! 

The Girls have more or less settled into their new school - the playgrounds are big enough to have athletics tracks and football fields and tennis courts etc... But for some reason my children are too timid to take part in any of the after school clubs - I am hoping that I will be able to persuade them to get more involved and for the moment the teachers seem to think very highly of them, I hope that it will remain so!

It has been quite a difficult and expensive challenge having Natalie go back to London every week on the train to complete her studies. Last week we celebrated the end of that and the completion of her studies! We are expecting results and licence to practice in August. This will make a huge difference to us, particularly that Natalie will no longer have to work at a school as a mentor. She has found that mentors are quite often the dogsbodies of the therapy world and will be glad to get into a more respected position in order that she will be able to play a more significant role in therapeutic relationships.

Over Christmas we had a visit by our dear friends Bill and Anna - they joined us for Christmas dinner. We have actually had many visits from many Londoners since we moved here. It is really pleasant bridging the gap between new relationships formed here in Margate - we had such a close neighbourly lifestyle in London. I found a 10ft trampoline on Facebook marketplace for £10 which I gave to my kids for Christmas, and now that it is warming up it is truly a marvellous place for a lunch time snooze. 

Now about lunchtime snoozes - I am working from home, have been since November. I didn't know what I would be doing when I left First Love Foundation, but when London City Mission paid out redundancy money I took some of that and used it to purchase a great laptop to do video editing with. I have continued to do video work ever since I left Sky News as I really enjoy it and hoped I could get back into the game. I answered an advertisement for a local job for a freelance editor, and I got the job. The client is called MMS-360  and the work is varied as can be! The head honcho - Damien - is an excellent drone pilot, motorsports lover and altogether thoroughly nice bloke in charge of a fantastic team of people. I have truly connected up with an awesome bunch! Through them I have worked with some really interesting clients, from small businesses to huge recycling depots! Damien is a real innovator and he seems to surround himself with positive and adventurous people, so I have really got to thank you for all of your prayers and concerns! We are well blessed.

So for this reason, yes, lunchtime snoozes are very possible - however they don't happen all too often as I have a lot of editing and video work keeping me busy. And some of it is super exciting stuff! take a look here! 

Moving on

Palm Bay - Margate

In 2006 I followed a call to the Isle of Dogs, I was working at Sky News and had to make a choice - to stay at Sky and get a mortgage and buy a house or to move to Isle of Dogs chasing after a more purposeful existence - a vocation. We chose the move and have been living there ever since, but now we are having to move on. 

We have loved staying here, the people of the Isle of Dogs are truly wonderful - I have very little negative feedback to give - I see a wonderful community, we have loved being a part of City of Peace church - for sure we would not have had such a great time without this beautiful bunch.

First Love
Foundation

If you are reading this and wondering about living here, I suggest you connect with this church - they are graceful, forgiving, generous and walking the walk. You will find a space where you can be useful. 

I have also loved working with First Love Foundation, over the last year. What an amazing team - so enthusiastically reaching, engaging and uplifting those who are through circumstance or mistake facing threats of eviction, hunger, poverty and showing them hope and connecting them to solutions that can return them to self-sufficiency and dignity. I've loved meeting the clients and seeing their appreciation, their hope and their diginity being restored - it has given me hope too, you can so easily become despondent if you do not interact or engage with organisations like this, see that they exist, learn how they are doing things. Long live FLF! 

The Bellingers will be moving to Margate, the girls are all at a local school and loving it. It is a peaceful place and everywhere there's sky. The beaches are long and sandy and we have a wonderfully big back garden. To get here we've been through the mill, and with a lot of help from very loving friends and family we are now about to move. So the East End chapter closes, we will miss you London. But it's not goodbye, it's see you later.

Winter snow! Turn up the heat!

 I was woken up yesterday morning at 4.30 by the central heating kicking in. At night when I go to sleep I always lower the temperature of the thermostat to 18 in the kitchen so that we don't all boil in our beds. Needless to say I was quite tired by the time bed came around again. Well, it did it again, and before you ditch this story and turn away with a tiny violin playing for my suffering, there's purpose in this story. SO I lay there in my bed annoyed at the noise. I lay there thinking about it.

There's a chap called Andy who I met sitting on the ground outside Tescos in Poplar High st, he had put out a wonderful display of his hand drawn art. He's thin as a rake and has an unshaved face. I stopped by him and asked what he was doing. He said that he does the pictures in the hope that he can sell them so that he can use the money to top up his central heating as he has none. He wanted to raise £18. Canary Wharf and it's wealth loomed in the background. I wondered as I lay in my bed how Andy is doing right now.

Andy's Art

I thought what it would be like to wake up in the morning, as I occasionally have when the fuel card has run out of funds, and not be able to nip up to NISA and top it up? What would it be like if my kids woke up to find the house cold - they actually amaze me at how low a temperature they run around in just PJ's, but I bet the house would be less of a home if we had no heating at all. Probably find ourselves huddling in one room with an electric heater and loads of blankets! Imagine being a parent and having to choose between eating and heating?

Thankfully for the moment these are only nightmares, not realities for us. But for some people, although they live in one of the wealthiest cities in the world, it is a truth. I see the steam rising from the heating on the glass towers of Canary Wharf, warming the empty space in lockdown. I know there's hearing and there's listening and a God who is just. Loving your neighbour isn't just a spontaneous thing - spontonaeity is good but I think that to really love you need to be thinking into how things are going for others, and if they have needs how you can address them. I'm thinking about Andy (and I'm glad my heating is on) and the other Andy's out there. The organisation I now work for, First Love Foundation runs on a motto, it is from the bible - it is "Let us not love merely with words, but in action and in truth". 

New job!

 14 Years ago, on the 6th of August 2006, Natalie and I left our home in Harrow-on-The-Hill and moved to the Isle of Dogs to begin working at Café Forever. We had no children and with that very little possessions (especially the barbie dolls)! We didn't know what to expect, I left a job as a news editor at Sky News because I wanted to get involved in community work, following a vocation. Well that work for the London City Mission is now at an end, the café has ceased trading due to the missions strategic plan change. I can't say I was enthusiastic about the change. I know there are many local people who we worked with who are feeling very lost without the café, who don't know of another space quite like it. They were often the marginalised of society, those who didn't quite behave as the world would have and didn't quite fit in.

I worked with some amazing people at Café Forever, in the early years Jo who brought so much character and was frequently visited by her children after school, Elise who always had her eyes on peace and hope and the supplier of many quick chirps to keep Paula and Iain in check. Thai Pim who showed us all what hard work really was, also always with a little humour to add. Andrew, Esther and Abimaro who helped relaunch the café and get systems in operation - and added a little style, along with Spof who sang to the kids. Our cheerful Hungarian chef Gabby who was followed by superhero Dot, with Duncan and Sarah in supporting roles with a side order of gateau and pc repairs, Jolly to cover whenever someone was ill and finishing off with Justyna and Stevie! And of course all of the amazing volunteers who helped us, many of them American!

Outside Café Forever with Dot and Sarah

What a great bunch - I know there were many more!

But for myself, I and my beautiful family are still on the Isle of Dogs, fortunately as part of redundancy pay out we get to remain in the house for one more year, so we are on the lookout for how things might change, praying that something will become apparent in our accommodation needs before December 2021. As for work, well I have landed beautifully, onto the warehouse floor of the wonderful First Love Foundation foodbank in Poplar. It is such an encouraging team, so needed! The motto of the place is from the apostle John's first letter, "let us not love with words or speech but in action and in truth", now that works for me, maybe I'll learn a thing or two.

Are you hopeless?

There's a lot of mess in the world. In your world. I bet it.

You are in denial if you don't agree, maybe riding a high of some quick happiness. The laughter will end. You will see these soda cannisters and talk about the mess. Will you stoop down and pick it up or Is that beneath you? The world is short of saviours.

If you are of 'noble birth', that nobility is not yet bestowed.

Where is YOUR hope?

Who will save you?

If you're going to be saved, will you stoop?

Check your attitude.

Do you see these two views, one is of the trash spilling out of the bin, the other is of some pretty poppies 2 meters away. Without the poppies there's not a lot of beauty in the picture, not a lot that can inspire us to hope. The bin and it's contents are in contrast with the beauty of the poppy. The poppies weren't always there, and the bin doesn't always look this bad. But if we isolate the two pictures we have an incomplete picture. The full picture is the bin and the poppies.

Does the state of the bin make you feel happy at all? To me, no, not at all. In fact the bin makes me feel unhappy, and to a certain extent unloved. The flowers though, they are a really welcome sight. They make me feel hopeful and loved, like somebody cares. If we spend all of our time looking at the bad things in life without ever seeing the good we will become despondent and hopeless. If we spend all day with our head in the poppies we will miss the opportunity to bring about the change that the flowers bring about in us. Any situation can be made prettier. Everyone has an opportunity to bring about some good. When you see some bad in life, remember how good it can be. Jesus said that it is not what goes into a person that makes them rotten, it's the way they respond that does  - specifically meaning their behaviours. How about today we go about looking for the best in every situation, encouraging the flowers to grow in our friends, neighbours, even opponents! This is the way of seeing good things happen. Check your attitude out. If you want to do just that join me Thursdays from 12:30-1:30pm with some others online in a free zoom meeting.

Sense in isolation

The first story in the bible is the creation account, how God created everything that is in existence - does that mean he created the computer I am now typing on? Not in the beginning of time. But everything that exists has come from this first creation story, (even ICU) .

The pinnacle of this event we are told is the creation of the human. God at first creates a man, and although the man is in relation with God, He knows that the one thing that needs to be created in order for this event to be all good is for the man to have a counterpart, a wife, and for them to be able to reproduce. Right at the beginning of time God knows isolation is not a good idea. But then things go wrong; the first couple reject God and trouble enters into creation. Rejecting the Author of life has it's consequences...

...further down the spiral, into the current day we now have prisoners who are kept in isolation as a form of torture, World Wars, famine, conflict and of disease and in the current, global lockdown, many people are not doing so well. The incidences of domestic abuse have soared, the consequences of that rejection apparent between husbands and wives and children. There are many single people who have nobody living with them, left largely to their own counsel, their own thoughts, and many of them are finding this time very difficult - a time when their loneliness has become ever apparent - their neighbour families either a treasure that they can hear but cannot enjoy, or a mess they are so glad to escape. Some find small consolation in online chats but how much body language is available? And there's this human need for touch.
Who knows what will happen when the strain is too much for the system to bare - the response in the supermarkets are really only an indicator of peoples real awareness of how much we rely on 3rd, 4th and 5th parties in our food/ toilet paper chain! All those variables that are now in our lives - How do you make sense of them? What will happen in the next turn towards the abyss?

What are you immune to?

What we are all sitting in is a human imposed isolation that has it's main goal in reducing the strains on our health services that are trying to extend human life. Now extending and protecting life is in itself a good thing - until it becomes our God, NHS nurses, backed by science on Facebook beg us to stay indoors while they fight for our lives. We wait for an immunity, an antiviral drug, something that may give us 10 or 15 more years. But the real diseases is the one that exists in the heart of man, it needs to not only hear the words of God, but be touched by and feel the comfort of Him who draws near - to reconnect with that creator. There's a permanent separation coming, a time when second, third and fourth chances are up.

For years I have worked in Cafe Forever on the Isle of Dogs (a sort of spiritual ICU) and one of our chief challenges is to get those who are at home, those who are afraid of going outside to come down and visit, to find a safe refuge where they can assimilate into society - and be encouraged by the word of God. Cafe Forever is closed right now - and we are doing our best under the circumstances to remain connected, but it needs to re-open. Right now ALL their fears are being rewarded! The addicted, those with OCD's, hermits, Who knows if they will ever be brave enough to venture out again?

Death is a guarantee, it's been hidden for a long time now, but it sits under the surface, very close. No amount of NHS or whatever your health service is called can prevent it indefinitely, it is only a temporary stay. This self-isolation is merely a way for us to participate, to be employed, in that false hope. Real hope is found in Jesus. He, and those who believe in Him, are given eternal life, and employed in the dispensation of that medicine, the elixir.
But we are not given much of an option - governments worldwide are pretty strong in enforcing this agenda. But how about you - are you doing it because you are afraid of death? Or because you are obedient to the government?

We are sitting pretty at the moment - we have a relatively large London home and the children are getting onto our allotment regularly - we often go for bike rides and our larder is full - hallelujah! But what is in store for the future? Well we can only look into in the scriptures and it is not looking good for those who reject God. The best source to answer all the 'who knows' is the one who writes the future, Jesus welcomes anyone into a relationship that is protected, forgiving, loving and full of joy, but to those who reject it there's a darkness coming.

250 consumed!

Oak hall relaxation

Pancake day was fun - we had a pancake race! Really amusing entertainment for the observers - and a bridge building competition. There were more than 250 homemade pancakes consumed! A mammoth effort both in eating and producing. About 50 people turned up for the event which was used as an opportunity to make friends, tell them that on Sunday we celebrate the fact we don't have to do any fasting to get into a relationship with God and invite them to our palm Sunday service and our weekend away trip. 

We make a bigger thing of palm Sunday than Easter since many families are away over the extended bank holiday period. For weekend away were going back to Oak Hall again - we love the surroundings and the great service they give us there. This year we have asked Horvath Levente to come and share some of his insights, the Bouma family will still be joining us, but Henk will not be giving the talk on this occasion. There will as always be the walk in the countryside, swimming, and games and lots of fellowship too. 
  

How long do cafe's last?

Café Forever has undergone a ministry review in October last year - the 

mission has a 5 year goal that has shifted somewhat in that it is trying to encourage the church into mission - something that I believe missions should do - of course City of Peace church, and many of the other local churches on the Isle of Dogs have always been very mission minded and we're hoping that the purpose and outlook of Café Forever still fits within the mandate of the LCM.

Big Fat Global Dinner

When Halloween passes us the next thing on our diary is the Christmas Nativity service and the rehearsals in the Kids Club! (City of Peace has now taken the responsibility for the kids club off Cafe Forever.) The children are always surprisingly good at taking part and learning their lines! This year the youth group got involved - they produced a strong final message in the story - a sort of aside that interjected into the play that talked about how the birth of Jesus is still important today. It was so refreshing!

And then we started wondering what we would do for Christmas. We don't like Christmas alone - it doesn't seem to be the sort of thing God intended, and family, well God provides us with a great family, so we invited them - our Church family. The Café is a great space available in the tight confines of London homes and for too long we've cramped ourselves up in our house trying to fit in too many people. It was a lot of fun, so many different nationalities represented, and each one bringing a dish that speaks of their kind of Christmas. Of course there was the obligatory turkey too. Lots of interesting cakes, salads, finger food. And we carried on from 1 til 6pm! It was however, exhausting! I slept well that night, until my phone rung at 4:30am telling me there was a break-in at Cafe Forever! The till was stolen and the iPad, annoying at the most really. First break in since I have been at the cafe, so we have done well!

In Sunday services from 2020 we will be looking through the book of Acts - having spent some time in the Old Testament and our weekly reading is in Mark - we thought it would be good to see how the Spirit of God enables action. And we look forward to the pancake day in February!

Big nobodies - happy halloween!

Have you ever searched Google for somebody from your past? Why did you do it? Possibly because that person was important to you, whether it be for good or bad. There's a need among people to be recognised, to be found in a google search, as if by being part of that library you are in some way something important in the world. We want to be celebrated or acknowledged for our achievements, Google our own little epitaph. There are some people who have been in my life who I have searched for, thinking that the world must have in some way be influenced by them. Dr Martin Lawrence, our family GP, the sweetest, most gentle doctor anyone could have wished for their child. I still remember his deep voice and his jowly face. And at the end of a visit you got a little plastic car to take home with you, or a sticker.

Surprisingly though, he doesn't appear on Google. Neither does our wonderful caring dentist, Dr Patrick Masters appear. Both of these great men seem to be very little to the world. Alongside them is Mr Roth my amazing science teacher who stayed late to get me a good grade, Mr Peart who visited us from time to time; my grandparents who meant so much in my upbringing, not merely how they loved me, but how they loved others - they are definitely not indexed. There are many others who have shown great love to me, some of who I didn't even recognise it, but now their words and actions affect me.
The origins of All Saints day is the day when the church would remember the glorious dead - those who are saints. The Bible, if we read it carefully indicates that we are all saints the moment we come to faith, we are set free to become something more than what we have been, but twisted doctrine changed that and made it a title only available to Catholics who got into google search or got some other public recognition. Some of the people I can find from my past aren't there because they were nice. Notoriety is newsworthy. 


Yet we persist in attempting to be something big, to be the front page news as if that is all life is about. I have taken assemblies in a nearby school for about 12 years, told stories to the kids and behaved like a fool for them at fun days. They see me nowadays and let me know how much they enjoyed my acts. At the cafe I'm often entertaining kids and behaving like a little kid myself. I give ears to the little people, both adult and child, who are of no importance to the world, their input is drowned out by big headlines, but each of them is important to their creator. I would be embarrassed to be celebrated for my life, and I'm not unique in these efforts - the world is full of people who are doing little things for people. But this story is about keeping on, remembering you are important on somebodies personal front page news, the gentle word, the loving your neighbour. Jesus says that when you have given even a cup of water to one of these little one's it is as if you had done it for me. Surely the place to be is in the happy stories of children's hearts rather than front page news. So I suggest give up looking for recognition, let go of all your anxieties about success. To succeed you need to let go of your own progress and cling onto the one thing that God gave you, after all he called you for a purpose. You probably will amount to nothing in google search, very few of Jesus' followers ever make front page news - those that do, it seems, quite often is because the world doesn't want their testimony of God any longer. Lets rediscover what it is to be a saint, join with the glorious dead.

Into the Autumn we fall!

Welsh Waterfall

The summer holidays were really busy for the Bellinger family. I booked a property in Wales before summer so that we could go and get some R&R in the mountains. I also remembered I had a friend who had moved to Cardiff and wondered if he felt like a house swap! It's a bit of an unusual idea but I messaged him. He agreed to the plan (house swapping is not for the fainthearted however - we had to do a lot of tidying up beforehand). So now we had two dates in Wales. One of the highlights being a number of beautiful waterfalls we visited,  and watching Typhoons fly-by at Machloop. Besides the Wales trips we also visited Broadstairs for a week and Natalie and the girls also did the Longbarn trip! I was kind of glad when the holidays were over, we had a very busy summer!

The new term was the start for Hannah at Canary Wharf Secondary School and time will tell how well she fits in there; not being inside secondary school systems before except when we were children the institution is very  different to primary. One of the challenges these new year 7's face is mingling ith year 10' and 11's who are watching 16/18 rated films and thinking and talking about more adult content. This is a complicated issue for the children and parents. In my schooling we didn't go into secondary until we were turning 13 years old but these children are going in at age 11. It may be the school or it may be a general thing of secondary but Hannah is finding the way that her peers and the staff are responding quite shocking. The children spend a lot of time on their phones, there's a lot of gossiping and unwholesome talk from years 7's.

In Café Forever we have settled down somewhat, though it is quite a long process of getting new workers to adopt the café into themselves.We had a ministry review in October where the director of mission and others came to understand the work that we do so that they were better able to assess our alignmet with the mission strategy and see if we need adjustment. We don't yet know how this will go,but we believe wholeheartedly that  we are providing a unique service in the area, and that at it's core we are sharing the good news of salvation in Christ.

Bouncing youth group 

City of Peace, our church appointed Hannah Luke as a youth worker in December last year and now we are seeing huge growth in it's youth ministry, for which we are massively grateful, especially in these times of transition between primary and secondary school. There are discussion for the children on confidence,bullying, and self-respect to name a few. In the half-term I joined the youth group who got together for a trampolining session at Zap Space in Stratford. We took about 19 kids with us who all seemed to have a great time. I never think about how the exercise is going to affect me afterwards, always feeling at the time that I'm still a youth myself.

Light party

The same youth group put on a helloween alternative 'Light Party' on 31st October at Café Forever that was very well attended, with two of the young leaders giving a brief message on why physical and spiritual light are so important to us. They lit up a candle and passed the flame from one candle to another but showed that a fake candle with a battery in it was unable to do the same - they encouraging us to be real about our relationships with each other and with Christ. So please, in all these issues, think about us as we continue to bring light into this corner of London.

Team Changes

This year has proved to be a year of staff movements at Café Forever! We have operated on and off for several years with different team leaders, Tom Carpenter looked after us for  8 years, then Jason, Sammy, and in between we have not had leaders which has sometimes proved challenging. We are  quite an enthusiastic and passionate bunch and so it might not be that easy to find someone who wants to take that role. In March this year Gareth Jones, who used to run City Gateway has taken a role with us as team leader - brave! But he has already proved to be very considerate, likeable, passionate and fun, we are very glad to have his input.

In April Sarah who worked at Café Forever for 6 years handed in her notice, she was going to pursue her art career, and giving us 2 months notice we had some time to recruit a replacement. There were a surprising number of really good applications and we ended up selecting Justyna to replace her. It's always a challenge filling someones position, we tend to have a basic set of qualities that we are looking for in someone, but not necessarily a specific set of skills although we do have some requirements; working  with computers and an aptitude in the kitchen. Sarah had a passion for baking cakes and they were a huge draw-card for people, now we have to discover what is the secret passion or talent of Justyna!

Move over Sarah!

As soon as we had Justyna in place, Duncan handed in his notice too - he moved to Ireland with his family and they are all doing well if a little wetter in Cork than they were in London! With school holidays approaching and not a lot of time we had to make a plan fast, fortunately God has provided, long before we were even worrying about this, in fact 14 years before! Stevie, who used to visit the cafe daily when her mum (Jo) was working here as a schoolchild has returned to the Café as an adult and been working as a volunteer, showing great enthusiasm and appreciation for the work, so it was quite a simple process to get her to sign up for a temporary placement, we are hoping that at the end of 2 months with us she will apply for a full time place. Now Stevie, she has that cake makers love! She is often in the kitchen trying out a new recipe, in fact as I write she is doing her first baked cheesecake!

In all these changes we have prayed, hoped, and held on. Please keep us in your prayers, a new team needs time to bond. A huge part of this work is actually starting with ourselves - we need to be filled in order to prove fulfilling - this means dealing with our pasts, our own challenges, our weaknesses. We appreciate your joining in these prayers.

Winter has left us, and maybe the EU.

How can you visit a website without it mentioning BREXIT?

Go Karting Gear is weird!

Well that's all you are going to get about it here, were fed up with it and how the whole process is City of Peace and Café Forever exist to bring people together, through the love of Jesus. And that's what we are doing! ....But it's quite difficult with men, to get us together and go and do something, some of us are old and have back pain, some of us are young and want to go to live concerts, some of us are married and tied down to helping the wife! It seems there's no end of excuses, but there's one event that we have run that has almost always been attended, go-karting! In February there was a deal on in the nearby track and 11 of us went down to go and test our nerves and reflexes. The little machines are really fast and it is a lot of fun - always a good way to make connection with those who don't normally attend a church.
causing division among people.

Another way of reaching people is through our City of Peace youth events organised by Hannah Luke.The group meets on  Wednesday evening and is attended by about 10 young people. Over half-term they got together for a game of Jugger in the park. Jugger is a strange game, eye-catching because participants run around with huge lances, maces, swords and shields, all made of foam,and try and pin each other down. Its a hard work out but a lot of healthy fun for this lot. Hannah also works in partnership with Marlene who runs the Kids club at Café Forever on Thursday night. It may seem strange for a youth-worker to be working with children, but some of these children will be considered youth next year,so it is good for a smooth transition.

The church also hosted the pancake day party, a crazy occasion that brings many local children and their parents into Café Forever to consume a huge number of the things filled with chocolate, syrup, all the messy stuff, which makes cleaning up really pleasant!

And of course our Café; you have read on may occasions that it is a great place for meeting new people and a comfortable place to talk about things that trouble people, share the gospel and the hope that comes with it. Of course it would be difficult to run a Café that has a low hygiene rating, and once again we're proud to have received a 5 star award (in conjunction with Joe Vella of https://www.magna-fhs.com/)

While we are so busy reaching out to the locals, some of us are from other lands and so it is great to be able to get back to our country of origin and visit family, which we did, in February, for a wedding. Our children spent about 3 hours of each day in the various swimming pools of the homes we visited, which is just exactly how I hoped it would be.

Ditto 2017 with exclamations!!!

2018 ended in a similar fashion to 2017, and it was good. We all want our nativity play to be fun for kids, but also we want it to be something that impacts the whole audience positively, there' always the problem of it becoming something that is a bit of a joke, and the majesty of the moment is lost in mirth. Hannah Luke and I battled with various scripts that were available and decided that we'd come up with our own. We wanted the moment that God sends Jesus to earth to become somehow a part of the skit and I had in a previous church seen something that I had somehow retained. We crafted a simple script where the actors carried the story along, providing the background for the play, rather than some narrators voice over. Many of the children are now old enough to memorise lines and at school have learnt some confidence in projecting their voice. We had the best kids you could ever ask for, all from the Isle of Dogs, and what a show we put on together. One dad, who is never able to make it because of work, filmed the entire event on his phone, singing with the songs. The play ended with Mary, Joseph and Jesus fleeing because the roman soldiers were coming!

Brian preaching to a full house!

Actors move into position

This wasn't the only highlight of December, for about 6 weeks my daughter had been meeting up with Brian Stevens talking about baptism, and just like last year, we borrowed the pool from St Peters Barge and I got in the water again and was given the honour of baptising Hannah and Theo! It was freezing cold and both of them shot up out of the cold bath pretty quickly, resulting in some rather amusing pictures. Theo has been coming to church for about 4 years and it is so amazing to see him take this moment for himself, as for Hannah, I'm an extremely glad dad.

And just to end the year with another impressive story, for a number of months Hannah Luke had been without work, and we had been wondering what she would do for employment. Having worked with Hannah at Café Forever I knew a lot about her, how hard and dedicated she is to a job and how passionate she is about her faith and reaching youth. We prayed about this and recognized we really need to see City of Peace grow from organic growth and that Hannah was a potential gift from God. It did take a couple of months of deliberation and prayer and she accepted the role! She has already proved to be an excellent asset.

On a sadder note, Vivian Webb who had attended Café Forever and City of Peace a number of years passed away. She was always good at bringing lightheartedness into a room and super friendly. She had been battling with injuries and illnesses as she got older and had been in a care home for a number of years.

Café wise we have begun a football team, an initiative by Marlene, that focuses on the kids who would probably never get to be in a team, those who are always picked last. It runs on wednesdays and is SO successful, Gareth of Ambassadors Football and a chap called Ben who is an Oak Hill student are running the show! The players get a 45 min training session, 15 minute match and then 15 minutes of  football tactics meets bible talk. It is attended by at least 18 children on each occasion.

At this point it is fair to say we are being well used, and having a lot of fun doing it, it is truly a joy to be in this position and we have a lot of wonderful stories to tell. In the new year we have a lot of plans including Go-Karting, making space for ministry, weekend away, pancake day, etc... Please keep us in your prayers and come and visit us if your'e feeling like a little challenging experience!

Café Forever - a day in the life!

Café Forever is open from 11am-5pm Monday to Friday, however the staff begin at 9am. First there's the purchase and preparation of the food in the kitchen and the cleaning of the café, ensuring there's stock in the fridges and on the counter, updating the menu while remembering the allergens in each product, deciding on what should be sold for desert and ensuring the facility is clean and presentable and safe. This includes checking the rooms for choking hazards for the little children that visit, locking up cupboards and clearing away rubbish that has blown over our walls (excellence honours God and inspires others is our motto). Then at 10:30 am there's a short devotional quiet time where we align ourselves to the purpose of the day before greeting the customers when we open the doors at 11am (it is after all, Mary who sat at her masters feet, receiving love who was afterwards in the best place to serve). It can be mum's with children from the singing group or builders working on a nearby site, travellers printing an airline ticket or looking for work or somebody who has had a bad night and is looking for some solace.

Dot serving up delights

At around 12:30pm visitors begin arriving, the TA's from the school next door enter and they want their food quickly as it is only a short lunch break, office workers, mum's and infants, Bengali's, East Enders, East Europeans - this can be a stressful time on the kitchen as the dishes mount up and the orders increase. Quite often I will step in to do dishes or prepare a sandwich or serving coffee behind the counter in order that some pressure is relieved from Angela (Dot) in the kitchen. In the midst of all these food orders we or also helping customers with their formatting of their CV, printing documents from their phone or faxing title deeds to Pakistan! Of course all of these things that keep us busy are really just things that we can stop in order that we can share the Gospel. What good is it if a man can gain the whole world but lose his soul? There's no point in all this business except the sharing of the love of Jesus and how much better way to show that than by stopping the mundane in order to share the extraordinary! We are looking for a bridge, sometimes it is a little pocket to put a seed in, other times it opens up a whole discussion involving identity, sin and grace.

Sarah baking with Joy

 Thursday's tend to be the busiest day with lots of local groups coming to us when their events finish, and at 12:30pm a group of us meet including local businessmen to read the bible together. From about 2:30pm onwards the day can quieten down a little, someone may even get a lunch break! Quite often it is at this time that the marginalised are in and looking for friendship. In the bible we see how Jesus joins those who are unacceptable to man, outside the walls of the city, and allows them to enter into the City of God. By 4pm the kitchen closes and then until 5pm it is time to tidy it up. There's quite often a group of some sort that takes over in the evening, such as Bible Study on Tuesday, Kids club on Thursday and Scrabble on Friday. The venue is also opened up on weekends to provide a much needed space for people who want to celebrate birthday's and anniversaries.

When I first began working here there where two kitchen staff, a gap year student and a probationer and 3 other missionary staff. We have had several other gap year volunteers since then, all who maintained their relationship with us; Patrick liked us so much he decided to stay on an extra year. When the recession hit in 2008 we had to cut down the staff numbers here to one in the kitchen and one on the counter and Marlene and Carol were released from regular service in the café and moved to a more district role, which left myself and one other. In 2010 we were able to finally re-open the kitchen service and since then we have been serving hot food alongside internet and coffee. We are a team of three, one on the counter(either Sarah or Duncan), one in the kitchen (Dot - who used to attend Harry White's after school club!), and myself being the cover for either absence. This setup is far from ideal; if two are absent we have a problem! Fortunately we have some amazing volunteers who step in to help at the drop of a hat.

My role has always been a split role of Manager/Missionary, so I have the responsibility of overseeing the running of the café and it's customers, and as a missionary, engaging with them. It is a very busy role, one that I have always loved - I really do not do well sitting around with nothing to do, but sometimes the cafe does come to a place of quiet, a slow day. These slow days could be useful for doing some of the things we don't normally do, such as sanding and varnishing a table top, repairing some furniture or stopping a leaking tap. It is important to be able to do these things in order that precious funds are not squandered away on something that is easily solved.

Duncan teaching a group how to use a PC

Café Forever has been running 20 years and it continues to show love and care to the people of the Isle of Dogs. There's an amazing team, that keeps the place going and regularly I meet young adults who I first met here as far back as 2006 who ask, "are you still here?" They talk about the assemblies that we presented in the neighboring school, the after school homework club they attended or maybe an outing we have been on. It is so encouraging to see how some of them have overcome the challenges or resisted the temptations presented in growing up on the Isle of Dogs. The area is developing fast and there are many changes for residents to deal with. Café Forever remains, a beacon, a haven, a place to return to! However, the Grass withers and the flower fades, cafés come and cafés go, but it is the Word of the Lord that stands forever!

Successful Weekend Away

BBQ in desert

Well the Go-Karting was so successful that everyone wants to go back. So far we have not been able to find a good deal, but we keep looking, in the meantime it looks as if we will be doing some paintballing to keep our group together. In March of 2017 my brother called me to ask if I would like to go and visit the desert in Kgalagadi in 2018 - he would cover the costs! Well of course, who could refuse, and so in March I left my family in London and flew to South Africa for a week with my mum, brother and aunt. The desert was very green, lots of unusual rainfall, and the week after we visited one river flooded for the first time in 100 years! It was a great time together and we stayed in some beautiful places. On a daily basis we had a BBQ (braai) for our dinner with chirping geckos, jackals and stars as our hosts.

Ella chatting to Anna and Carol

Back in London my family had missed me, which is always nice to know, but having never left for more than a couple of days, I had not really experienced it, and neither they! Ella changed dramatically to me, clinging on to me and hugging me at every opportunity!

The following week City of Peace went on our annual weekend away to Oak Hall, and it was, as usual, fantastic. A large number of new visitors came with us and it is always wonderful to see them when they first view the area, always gasps of wonder and amazement. More images can be seen on the City of Peace facebook page.

Wrest Park - Jolly

We have had our regular school holiday visits to Kent and enjoyed a day out on the river Stour with the inflatable kayak's that Henk and Lynne donated to us while celebrating Natalie's birthday. And a visit with the Peters family and Jolly to Wrest park during a very warm bank holiday monday.

We are now looking forward to the Fun Day in the park, TK will soon be moving into his accommodation at the now complete St Luke's Millwall building. John Jenkins continues to work with our church. We are seeking musicians to help with our worship and are ever grateful for the supply of amazing guest speakers, some of the teaching can be heard here. Please have these things in your thoughts and minds giving praise and thanks and requests.

Elders, Nativity and Racing

At the end of November City of Peace had only one official elder, but the church has at the beginning of December, gone through the process of creating a membership base and then into elections for new elders. This gives the group a bit of a structure, makes it more possible for us to find a suitable candidate pastor - and for a suitable one to find us. As we progress through the design and structure of the church so we become more easily approached. It is not as if a pastor is required to make a church run - the bible tells us what we need to be doing - meeting together, encouraging one another, baptising and sharing in the Lord's supper. A pastor is a great addition to a church; we miss Tom, but a church can - and we prove it - exist without one, although it is not easy.

Shortly after this we put on a Christmas Nativity play - I met with the children of the Thursday evening

Nativity play

kids club over 3 weeks to run through their parts. It was a little worrying at first , I don't really see myself looking after a bunch of kids like this - but they were very generous and forgiving of me and the end result was magnificent. Some said it was the best ever! The play was in rhyme so that all the parts were easy to remember - Angela Yardy is the source - I recommend her! The play is easily adapted and we interspersed it with traditional carol's for the adults. Afterwards there was something to eat. At least 4 new families attended the service!

And then just recently a group of us went Go-Karting which was great fun - 12 men racing around a track at silly speeds. Justin Kingharn was the fastest. It was really enjoyed by all.

And so to the future - we have Pancake Tuesday to look forward to, Easter Service and our annual weekend away at Oak Hall in Kent. The numbers attending City of Peace on a sunday and in the week are definitely on the increase. Praise God for his goodness to us, and that we might know how easy our burden is and how light our load.

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.