Dear blog readers/prayer warriors,
Today, our last day of service, we started out at King's Cross Church, reviewing the storying sessions from the week. We went over the 4 Soils story, Creation to Christ, Woman Who Washes Jesus's Feet, Luke 10, and the Wedding Feast. We talked about what stories we liked and related to the most, which ones we liked telling the most, which ones we had shared with people, and which ones we would tell when we got home. Overall, we talked about how much we liked using storying as a tool to remember and share the Bible.
Then we went out to share coffee and tea with students, and some groups went prayer walking/storying. One group (Danielle and Alex) met a homeless woman who said she was Catholic but not Christian and didn't believe in Christ, She said she hadn't been to church in years because she hadn't gone to confession, and she didn't want to go to confession because she didn't believe she should have been forgiven. Alex and Danielle shared Creation to Christ with her as well as the Wedding Feast story. She was very receptive and even said Amen when we prayed that she may find Christ in her life. The student tea/coffee giveaway went well as well and Gay and Funmi and some of the young adults from King's Cross were able to talk to some people about Christ and coming to church.
We will debrief with the leaders of the IMB and with Meredith in a little while so we can go over how the week went. Then tonight, we are going to see the musical Wicked and we may even get backstage passes! Pray that we will have the physical and emotional energy to complete our journey and that we will have safe travels tomorrow.
In His Love,
The London Team
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Friday, October 11, 2013
Thursday, October 10, 2013
Thursday update
Dear Blog Readers/Prayer Warriors,
Today was a very productive day for us. We had our Bible study this morning on 2 Corinthians 4 again, in which we learned that Christ is the true image of God and that Christ shined a light into the world and our hearts, taking away the darkness. It also encourages believers in Christ to lift the veil of the world that keeps so many from Christ and to spread the message of the Gospel. It was very uplifting to us since we are getting tired and didn't have as "fruitful" of a day as Tuesday. Yet, we recognize that God's plan is perfect and there's a design for everything - there's a reason we met with the people we did and had a difficult time speaking to some people. Overall, we found today's lesson very encouraging.
After the Bible study, we walked to King's Cross Baptist Church, where Meredith taught us the story of the wedding feast. In it, a king throws a wedding feast for his only son. He invites select people to the feast but they refuse. In fact, after being invited a second time some of the invited guests even kill the messengers because they're too busy to come and feel bothered by their message. So the king sends out his army to kill those who killed his messengers. Then, the king sends out other messengers to invite everyone to the feast - from all walks of life, rich, poor, etc. Those people come to the feast, and when the king is looking out at all the people who are in attendance, the king sees a man who's not dressed properly for the wedding feast. So the king says to his servants, "Take him out of here into a dark place filled with pain. Because many are called, but few are chosen." That's the story of the wedding feast. This story we found was very convicting and would spark a conversation with both believers and non-believers about God's justice and the need to come properly "dressed" in His presence.
After learning the story, some of us helped serve tea and coffee to students while others went out prayer walking/storying. Danielle stayed out with the students, serving tea/coffee and met many students and had interesting conversations with them. One student's name was Kaltha; she was a Muslim wearing a headscarf so Danielle asked her about wearing it and why she did it. She explained that you have to come properly dressed before God to show respect. So that led right into the Wedding Feast story. Danielle told her the story, and they discussed how they both felt it was their religious duty to come before God with respect, although Kaltha's was more physical dressing up for God and Danielle's was more spiritual. Danielle also had a good conversation with Amma, who was "not religious." He said his parents grew up Hindu and Jewish, but he doesn't have an affiliation and doesn't like to talk about religion. He did explain that he thought we shouldn't impose religion on anyone and he also thought that religion separated people more than it brought them together. Both of the conversations were very fruitful.
Of the groups that went out prayer walking/storying, one group (Mike, Marc and Charles) went into a Islamic bookstore and re-met Ackmad, a Muslim. They told him the wedding feast story to get his take on how the Muslim culture feels about dressing up for special occasions. Ackmad told them he thought that was a thing of the past, except in Morocco, but didn't really explain why he thought that. Mike also talked to another man named Mike who was raised Catholic but didn't want to believe in God because of all the bad stuff he'd been through in his life. Our Mike shared his testimony with him and prayed for the other Mike. Marc talked to Ian from New Castle who immediately lost interest in the conversation once he found out it was about religion. He did think people were more interested in religion in New Castle where he was from than they were in London.
The other group (Gay, Grace, and Funmi) talked to Chris, a student journalist who agreed to talk to them if they would answer his interview questions. They talked about all sorts of religious questions, although he's never been to church in his life (except for once at a wedding). He says that church isn't relevant today. He also said his family didn't go to church so he never went. They shared the gospel with him and he was very receptive. They also prayed for him with him, although he was intimidated by the thought of him praying for himself. They felt it was a very good spiritual conversation.They also invited him to go to church at King's Cross with Grace.
After debriefing and talking about that session of prayer walking, two groups went out again. The first (Gay, Danielle and Mike) walked into a store called the "School of Life." There they met an employee, Mary, who grew up Catholic but had since become agnostic because of the "scandals of the church." The School of Life taught philosophy and principals on how to life without religion. In fact, the owner of the store had written a book called "Religion for Atheists" and was an atheist himself. The store offers "Sunday Sermons" where they have a speaker come talk about a particular life topic and they sing "hymns by pop music artists." Mary said the store was very successful. They have 5 classes a day with 30 people in each class and she said hundreds come to the Sunday Sermons, even though they charge 40 pounds per class and 15 pounds per service. Mary says she thinks there's a need for her store because people are lonely in England and looking for something; she believes putting religion into their teachings would be "imposing." It was very interesting to be in there, and we did share our viewpoints on religion and she did listen. The other place that group went to was Lumen Church. It's not really a church in the sense that we know it. They do have Sunday Services and "Bible Study classes" but they don't have pastors or priests. They have elected leaders who talk on Sundays on a rotating basis every nine weeks. The elected leaders can only serve two years at a time. We met a barista (there's a cafe in the church) named Simon, who Mike had known from previous trips. Simon told us about the structure of the church and how it was run. He said they did preach the Gospel and encourage people to read the Bible. He likened Lumen to the Quakers because they focus on the community. They also allow all faiths to worship in the building; they even have this teepee structure in the middle of the church that's nonsecular to allow all different religions to meet there. Simon says its good because at least they're in a church building. Mike had given Simon a New Testament Bible last year, and Simon says he's been reading it and studying a little more now.
The other group (Charles, Marc, and Meredith) met a group named Shu, a Muslim background and professor. He's an atheist/under a branch of Islam. Charles told him the story about the wedding feast, and he had a lot of interesting feedback on the feast. Shu thought that the man who wasn't dressed right was brought there under social compulsion. He asked what Baptist believe and they shared the story of salvation with him. Shu said we all worship the same God and then left but gave them a hug goodbye. Meanwhile Meredith had a very odd encounter with someone she believes was a dark angel. A man came up and sought her out, walked across the grass in order to talk to her; he approached her. He told her that he was Jewish and that Jews control the world. He also offered that he was part of the free masons, believed power is the root of the world, and "angels are the ones who have power." He also said "As Jews we believe we gave Jesus a chance to prove himself and he didn't." Meredith tried to tell him the wedding feast story, but he cut her off telling her that she was confused, wrong and that the story doesn't apply to today. He ended up getting offended by her really saying nothing and walked off; he walked away saying "sometimes you don't know when you've met an angel." The incident really shook her, because she really felt like she met a dark angel today. Pray for her that she may not lose faith and pray for this demon person who has such darkness in his heart.
Tonight, we are going to Cheshire Cheese restaurant and prayer walking near Buckingham Palace. Tomorrow, we will do much of the same as today - prayer walking, passing out tea/coffee and learning stories. Pray that we conquer in spiritual warfare tomorrow, that we have the strengths to carry on in the Lord's work, and that The Lord brings us people to tell the Gospel to.
In His Love,
The London Team
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Today was a very productive day for us. We had our Bible study this morning on 2 Corinthians 4 again, in which we learned that Christ is the true image of God and that Christ shined a light into the world and our hearts, taking away the darkness. It also encourages believers in Christ to lift the veil of the world that keeps so many from Christ and to spread the message of the Gospel. It was very uplifting to us since we are getting tired and didn't have as "fruitful" of a day as Tuesday. Yet, we recognize that God's plan is perfect and there's a design for everything - there's a reason we met with the people we did and had a difficult time speaking to some people. Overall, we found today's lesson very encouraging.
After the Bible study, we walked to King's Cross Baptist Church, where Meredith taught us the story of the wedding feast. In it, a king throws a wedding feast for his only son. He invites select people to the feast but they refuse. In fact, after being invited a second time some of the invited guests even kill the messengers because they're too busy to come and feel bothered by their message. So the king sends out his army to kill those who killed his messengers. Then, the king sends out other messengers to invite everyone to the feast - from all walks of life, rich, poor, etc. Those people come to the feast, and when the king is looking out at all the people who are in attendance, the king sees a man who's not dressed properly for the wedding feast. So the king says to his servants, "Take him out of here into a dark place filled with pain. Because many are called, but few are chosen." That's the story of the wedding feast. This story we found was very convicting and would spark a conversation with both believers and non-believers about God's justice and the need to come properly "dressed" in His presence.
After learning the story, some of us helped serve tea and coffee to students while others went out prayer walking/storying. Danielle stayed out with the students, serving tea/coffee and met many students and had interesting conversations with them. One student's name was Kaltha; she was a Muslim wearing a headscarf so Danielle asked her about wearing it and why she did it. She explained that you have to come properly dressed before God to show respect. So that led right into the Wedding Feast story. Danielle told her the story, and they discussed how they both felt it was their religious duty to come before God with respect, although Kaltha's was more physical dressing up for God and Danielle's was more spiritual. Danielle also had a good conversation with Amma, who was "not religious." He said his parents grew up Hindu and Jewish, but he doesn't have an affiliation and doesn't like to talk about religion. He did explain that he thought we shouldn't impose religion on anyone and he also thought that religion separated people more than it brought them together. Both of the conversations were very fruitful.
Of the groups that went out prayer walking/storying, one group (Mike, Marc and Charles) went into a Islamic bookstore and re-met Ackmad, a Muslim. They told him the wedding feast story to get his take on how the Muslim culture feels about dressing up for special occasions. Ackmad told them he thought that was a thing of the past, except in Morocco, but didn't really explain why he thought that. Mike also talked to another man named Mike who was raised Catholic but didn't want to believe in God because of all the bad stuff he'd been through in his life. Our Mike shared his testimony with him and prayed for the other Mike. Marc talked to Ian from New Castle who immediately lost interest in the conversation once he found out it was about religion. He did think people were more interested in religion in New Castle where he was from than they were in London.
The other group (Gay, Grace, and Funmi) talked to Chris, a student journalist who agreed to talk to them if they would answer his interview questions. They talked about all sorts of religious questions, although he's never been to church in his life (except for once at a wedding). He says that church isn't relevant today. He also said his family didn't go to church so he never went. They shared the gospel with him and he was very receptive. They also prayed for him with him, although he was intimidated by the thought of him praying for himself. They felt it was a very good spiritual conversation.They also invited him to go to church at King's Cross with Grace.
After debriefing and talking about that session of prayer walking, two groups went out again. The first (Gay, Danielle and Mike) walked into a store called the "School of Life." There they met an employee, Mary, who grew up Catholic but had since become agnostic because of the "scandals of the church." The School of Life taught philosophy and principals on how to life without religion. In fact, the owner of the store had written a book called "Religion for Atheists" and was an atheist himself. The store offers "Sunday Sermons" where they have a speaker come talk about a particular life topic and they sing "hymns by pop music artists." Mary said the store was very successful. They have 5 classes a day with 30 people in each class and she said hundreds come to the Sunday Sermons, even though they charge 40 pounds per class and 15 pounds per service. Mary says she thinks there's a need for her store because people are lonely in England and looking for something; she believes putting religion into their teachings would be "imposing." It was very interesting to be in there, and we did share our viewpoints on religion and she did listen. The other place that group went to was Lumen Church. It's not really a church in the sense that we know it. They do have Sunday Services and "Bible Study classes" but they don't have pastors or priests. They have elected leaders who talk on Sundays on a rotating basis every nine weeks. The elected leaders can only serve two years at a time. We met a barista (there's a cafe in the church) named Simon, who Mike had known from previous trips. Simon told us about the structure of the church and how it was run. He said they did preach the Gospel and encourage people to read the Bible. He likened Lumen to the Quakers because they focus on the community. They also allow all faiths to worship in the building; they even have this teepee structure in the middle of the church that's nonsecular to allow all different religions to meet there. Simon says its good because at least they're in a church building. Mike had given Simon a New Testament Bible last year, and Simon says he's been reading it and studying a little more now.
The other group (Charles, Marc, and Meredith) met a group named Shu, a Muslim background and professor. He's an atheist/under a branch of Islam. Charles told him the story about the wedding feast, and he had a lot of interesting feedback on the feast. Shu thought that the man who wasn't dressed right was brought there under social compulsion. He asked what Baptist believe and they shared the story of salvation with him. Shu said we all worship the same God and then left but gave them a hug goodbye. Meanwhile Meredith had a very odd encounter with someone she believes was a dark angel. A man came up and sought her out, walked across the grass in order to talk to her; he approached her. He told her that he was Jewish and that Jews control the world. He also offered that he was part of the free masons, believed power is the root of the world, and "angels are the ones who have power." He also said "As Jews we believe we gave Jesus a chance to prove himself and he didn't." Meredith tried to tell him the wedding feast story, but he cut her off telling her that she was confused, wrong and that the story doesn't apply to today. He ended up getting offended by her really saying nothing and walked off; he walked away saying "sometimes you don't know when you've met an angel." The incident really shook her, because she really felt like she met a dark angel today. Pray for her that she may not lose faith and pray for this demon person who has such darkness in his heart.
Tonight, we are going to Cheshire Cheese restaurant and prayer walking near Buckingham Palace. Tomorrow, we will do much of the same as today - prayer walking, passing out tea/coffee and learning stories. Pray that we conquer in spiritual warfare tomorrow, that we have the strengths to carry on in the Lord's work, and that The Lord brings us people to tell the Gospel to.
In His Love,
The London Team
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Other Stories from the Streets of Camden
Today in the square in front of Kings Cross Station, Charles, Alex, a member of KCBC, & I all spoke with people who are in need of our prayers. Alex spoke for some time with a new student at the U of London who is from from Belgium, who we are certain God put in his path. Like Alex, she is involved in youth ministry. In addition, she is looking for a church to attend while in school. She & Alex exchanged contact information. Alex shared with her the Luke 7 story of Jesus & the woman who washed his feet at the religious leaders home. What she liked best about that story was that Jesus sees the hearts of people & not the superficial exterior we tend to look for. Please pray for her successful transition to school life here, her being led to the appropriate church, hopefully KCBC, and the development of a cooperative and productive collaboration between her and Alex' youth ministry activities.
Paul is a building contractor professional who commutes to London from the southeast shore of England. He & I spoke for over an hour about his life and activities, and how, although considering himself an Anglican Church member, has not attended church in many, many years. I shared with him the story of the four soils from Mark 4, and asked him to choose which of the four soils he would categorize his spiritual life to be. He chose the second, or the thin soil in which the seed which sprouted quickly soon withered & died because of shallow roots. Please pray for Paul, that he be convicted of the need for his heart to become the fertile soil where the Word can grow, multiply and bear fruit. He needs to not only recognize Christ as his savior, but accept him as his Lord.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
More stories
Dear Prayer Warriors,
Today was an awesome day divined by God. We woke up a little later than usual since some of us really needed some rest, and that extra hour of sleep was a real blessing. Then, we had our Bible study on 2 Corinthians 4, in which we learned that because we have been saved by His mercy we are called to ministry. In that same verse, Paul tells us we shouldn't lose heart as missionaries. He also tells us not to distort God's Word and to tell every man the truth of Christ.
After the Bible study, we went to King's Cross Baptist Church. On our way there, Danielle ran into Hassain, a Muslim she had spoken to yesterday, and Hassain told her he had since accepted Christ into his heart. She was so happy for him and encouraged him to keep building his relationship with God, and to keep going to King's Cross Church. After that, Meredith, a missionary from Hunter Street who lives in London, led us to review the Creation to Christ story, the Woman Who Washes Jesus's Feet story, and the Four Soils story. We then learned the story of the Son Who Was Lost and Now is Found (Prodigal Son). That story was great because it dealt with a great many topics like being at the very bottom of your life, repentance, greed, and God's great mercy for all of his chosen people. After learning and reviewing the stories, we went prayer walking/storying again. Many of the groups had a lot of people to talk to today. One group (Danielle and Meredith) met a Buddhist who believed in the goodness of people rather than a religion. He was told the story of the Four Soils because he mentioned he was a gardener. He told us that he was the first kind of soil where the Devil snatches away the Word from him before he can really understand it. The second person the group met was an agnostic who was very receptive to conversations about Christ and had obviously thought a lot about life before. He talked a lot about how greed controlled society today, and so Danielle told him the story of the Prodigal Son, who was greedy but forgiven by his father for his sinful ways. Ozzy really liked that story and we agreed to keep in touch by email. Another group (Mike and Spencer) talked to Rachel, an Ango-Catholic believer who needed prayer for the spiritual influence that her godson was going through; they encouraged her in her faith and hoped that she would continue to spread the message of Christ to London. MIke also talked Rodger who was a physicist and educator who was an atheist/agnostic that who enjoyed the chapels in Wales where he lived. Mike also spoke to Tim who was an atheist who was open to conversation about Jesus. He thought the only truth was that there was no God. Mike took his card to talk to him later. Spencer talked to Sean a professor but didn't get much spiritual conversation from him. Mike also spoke to Roy who was a Catholic believer in Christ whose concern was the number of Muslims in the area. The third group (Gay, Marc and Charles) spoke to Olga, who was an agnostic, said she didn't think religion was relevant to modern day, but who cried when Gay shared a story about her friend who was an agnostic too but came to Christ later in life. They also talked to Claire from yesterday, the socialist atheist but didn't get to talk to her much because she was busy. Marc and Charles talked to a man named Guy who talked of a high and low church (the high church being the Catholic Church and the low church being Protestant). Gay also talked to a crowd of homeless people who were receptive to religious talk, but ultimately too high or drunk to really understand; they just really wanted someone to talk to. Finally, Charles and Marc reconnected with a homeless man named Guy who they had met earlier in the week, who had been drinking, bumped his head, and had to go to the hospital. Guy told them he was doing much better and that his scans had come back well. Charles got to share his testimony with him and even told him the decisions Guy was making were truly life and death.
After the prayer walking/storying, we debriefed and had some prayer time with the members of King's Cross Baptist Church. We were able to pray for all the people we've met this week as well as some of the church's needs. We praised God for His mighty power and influence in our lives this week and that he would continue His ministry this week and into the future.
What a wonderful day it was! We are so blessed to be in His presence. Tomorrow, we are working with King's Cross to hand out coffee/tea to students in the morning and share the Gospel with them. We will also be prayer walking/storying and even learn a new story in the afternoon. Pray for open and receptive hearts. Pray that we may have the strengths, physically and spiritually, to continue God's work.
In His Love,
The London Team
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Today was an awesome day divined by God. We woke up a little later than usual since some of us really needed some rest, and that extra hour of sleep was a real blessing. Then, we had our Bible study on 2 Corinthians 4, in which we learned that because we have been saved by His mercy we are called to ministry. In that same verse, Paul tells us we shouldn't lose heart as missionaries. He also tells us not to distort God's Word and to tell every man the truth of Christ.
After the Bible study, we went to King's Cross Baptist Church. On our way there, Danielle ran into Hassain, a Muslim she had spoken to yesterday, and Hassain told her he had since accepted Christ into his heart. She was so happy for him and encouraged him to keep building his relationship with God, and to keep going to King's Cross Church. After that, Meredith, a missionary from Hunter Street who lives in London, led us to review the Creation to Christ story, the Woman Who Washes Jesus's Feet story, and the Four Soils story. We then learned the story of the Son Who Was Lost and Now is Found (Prodigal Son). That story was great because it dealt with a great many topics like being at the very bottom of your life, repentance, greed, and God's great mercy for all of his chosen people. After learning and reviewing the stories, we went prayer walking/storying again. Many of the groups had a lot of people to talk to today. One group (Danielle and Meredith) met a Buddhist who believed in the goodness of people rather than a religion. He was told the story of the Four Soils because he mentioned he was a gardener. He told us that he was the first kind of soil where the Devil snatches away the Word from him before he can really understand it. The second person the group met was an agnostic who was very receptive to conversations about Christ and had obviously thought a lot about life before. He talked a lot about how greed controlled society today, and so Danielle told him the story of the Prodigal Son, who was greedy but forgiven by his father for his sinful ways. Ozzy really liked that story and we agreed to keep in touch by email. Another group (Mike and Spencer) talked to Rachel, an Ango-Catholic believer who needed prayer for the spiritual influence that her godson was going through; they encouraged her in her faith and hoped that she would continue to spread the message of Christ to London. MIke also talked Rodger who was a physicist and educator who was an atheist/agnostic that who enjoyed the chapels in Wales where he lived. Mike also spoke to Tim who was an atheist who was open to conversation about Jesus. He thought the only truth was that there was no God. Mike took his card to talk to him later. Spencer talked to Sean a professor but didn't get much spiritual conversation from him. Mike also spoke to Roy who was a Catholic believer in Christ whose concern was the number of Muslims in the area. The third group (Gay, Marc and Charles) spoke to Olga, who was an agnostic, said she didn't think religion was relevant to modern day, but who cried when Gay shared a story about her friend who was an agnostic too but came to Christ later in life. They also talked to Claire from yesterday, the socialist atheist but didn't get to talk to her much because she was busy. Marc and Charles talked to a man named Guy who talked of a high and low church (the high church being the Catholic Church and the low church being Protestant). Gay also talked to a crowd of homeless people who were receptive to religious talk, but ultimately too high or drunk to really understand; they just really wanted someone to talk to. Finally, Charles and Marc reconnected with a homeless man named Guy who they had met earlier in the week, who had been drinking, bumped his head, and had to go to the hospital. Guy told them he was doing much better and that his scans had come back well. Charles got to share his testimony with him and even told him the decisions Guy was making were truly life and death.
After the prayer walking/storying, we debriefed and had some prayer time with the members of King's Cross Baptist Church. We were able to pray for all the people we've met this week as well as some of the church's needs. We praised God for His mighty power and influence in our lives this week and that he would continue His ministry this week and into the future.
What a wonderful day it was! We are so blessed to be in His presence. Tomorrow, we are working with King's Cross to hand out coffee/tea to students in the morning and share the Gospel with them. We will also be prayer walking/storying and even learn a new story in the afternoon. Pray for open and receptive hearts. Pray that we may have the strengths, physically and spiritually, to continue God's work.
In His Love,
The London Team
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Wednesday, stories
Dear Blog Readers/Prayer Warriors,
Today we did more prayer walking and spoke to different people about the Gospel. I met two men today that I want to tell you about. The first was a British man from Kent (which is the countryside). The name's man was Richard, and he was in Camden working. He commutes about an hour every day by train. I met Richard in a park by a church, so I asked him about the church. He said that while he had been sitting in the park for over two months now at lunchtime everyday, he had never even really noticed that there was a church there. He told me he wasn't religious and if he had to pick a religion, he would be Buddhist. He said he believed in people's goodness and that's what we should concentrate on in this life. When I asked about his life in Kent, he told me about his garden, which he was having a hard time cultivating because of the different types of soils he had available. I thought this was God's perfect way of letting me transition into the Four Soils story, so I told it to him. Richard immediately reiterated that he wasn't religious and didn't believe Christ really existed. I asked what soil he thought he was and he said the first one, where Satan snatches the Word from people without them being able to understand it. That broke my heart for him that he hasn't been exposed to the Word of God yet, and I pray that maybe my words fell on some more fertile soil than had once been there.
The second person we met was named Ozzy. Ozzy was from Camden, although his parents were from Turkey, and had lived in Camden all of his life. We met him in restaurant where he says he comes three or four times a week to eat. He seemed very lonely so I invited him to sit with us. We had a two hour conversation with Ozzy about a lot of different things. He told us that he wasn't religious but that he believed in a higher power. He said he thought all the world's religions were the same so it didn't matter if we picked one or another. He said he thought we were all going to the same place when we died, except for people who did really bad things, although he didn't really know where they went. Ozzy started talking about how he felt most of the world was motivated by greed so I told him the story of the Prodigal Son, where one son takes his inheritance and in his greed, blows his inheritance on the things of this world until he has nothing left. Then, of course, the son returns to his father humbled and his father accepts him back. I told Ozzy that this was how Christ was, that he would accept those who humbled themselves to Him no matter how great their greeds or sins were. Ozzy seemed very interested in that concept. During that time of interest, I told him my testimony and that I was forgiven for my great sins. I also tried to tell him about the Creation to Christ story, although he stopped me at the point where Jesus was crucified and rose again, because he said he didn't think that had actually happened. We also discussed the true meaning of Christmas, which he said he only celebrated for the presents. We left the conversation saying that we would speak to each other through email again, so I hope to continue to speak to him about Christ. I hope that the seeds were planted in his jumbled mind and that God may give him the peace to sort out the real Truth.
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Today we did more prayer walking and spoke to different people about the Gospel. I met two men today that I want to tell you about. The first was a British man from Kent (which is the countryside). The name's man was Richard, and he was in Camden working. He commutes about an hour every day by train. I met Richard in a park by a church, so I asked him about the church. He said that while he had been sitting in the park for over two months now at lunchtime everyday, he had never even really noticed that there was a church there. He told me he wasn't religious and if he had to pick a religion, he would be Buddhist. He said he believed in people's goodness and that's what we should concentrate on in this life. When I asked about his life in Kent, he told me about his garden, which he was having a hard time cultivating because of the different types of soils he had available. I thought this was God's perfect way of letting me transition into the Four Soils story, so I told it to him. Richard immediately reiterated that he wasn't religious and didn't believe Christ really existed. I asked what soil he thought he was and he said the first one, where Satan snatches the Word from people without them being able to understand it. That broke my heart for him that he hasn't been exposed to the Word of God yet, and I pray that maybe my words fell on some more fertile soil than had once been there.
The second person we met was named Ozzy. Ozzy was from Camden, although his parents were from Turkey, and had lived in Camden all of his life. We met him in restaurant where he says he comes three or four times a week to eat. He seemed very lonely so I invited him to sit with us. We had a two hour conversation with Ozzy about a lot of different things. He told us that he wasn't religious but that he believed in a higher power. He said he thought all the world's religions were the same so it didn't matter if we picked one or another. He said he thought we were all going to the same place when we died, except for people who did really bad things, although he didn't really know where they went. Ozzy started talking about how he felt most of the world was motivated by greed so I told him the story of the Prodigal Son, where one son takes his inheritance and in his greed, blows his inheritance on the things of this world until he has nothing left. Then, of course, the son returns to his father humbled and his father accepts him back. I told Ozzy that this was how Christ was, that he would accept those who humbled themselves to Him no matter how great their greeds or sins were. Ozzy seemed very interested in that concept. During that time of interest, I told him my testimony and that I was forgiven for my great sins. I also tried to tell him about the Creation to Christ story, although he stopped me at the point where Jesus was crucified and rose again, because he said he didn't think that had actually happened. We also discussed the true meaning of Christmas, which he said he only celebrated for the presents. We left the conversation saying that we would speak to each other through email again, so I hope to continue to speak to him about Christ. I hope that the seeds were planted in his jumbled mind and that God may give him the peace to sort out the real Truth.
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Wednesday, Stories from the streets
Dear Blog Readers/Prayer Warriors,
This is a story about my journey prayer walking yesterday. We came across two men - one was Muslim, the other completely lost and hurting. The first man's name was Hassaid. Hassaid was waiting outside the church for a friend who had gone to the drop off center, where they feed the homeless and help them clean up. Hassaid told us that he was having to go to jail in a few hours for a fight he had been in. We asked him about what he believed would save him from his sins, and he said he believed in a "God by a different name," and said he was Muslim. As we talked to him, Danielle told him that no sins were too great to be forgiven. She told him the story of the Woman Who Washes Jesus's Feet. He was very moved by the story. He said thinking about religion hurt his head though and that he was afraid he'd choose the wrong religion. By the end of the conversation, Hassaid promised he would start praying to a higher power to show him the true religion, which we told him was Christ.
The second man's name was Julius. Danielle actually saw his dog before she saw Julius and tried to play with the dog. When she was playing with him, the owner, Julius, came up and started talking to her. Julius was drinking as he talked to her, and he admitted to being a heroin addict. He said he had been in and out of jail and rehab all of his life. I asked what he thought would be able to cure him and he said the only option he knew of was suicide. I told him that he had a lot to live for like his dog Oscar and his girlfriend that he had told me about. He said he really missed his mum who had died two years ago, and I told him that if she was a believer (which she was) that the only way to see her again was to believe in Christ and have a good relationship with Him. When Danielle and Liz started praying for Julius in front of him, he began weeping and told us to stop praying because the pain was too much. We didn't stop praying for him though and by the end of the prayer, especially when we said we wanted Jesus to wipe away his sins and make Julius clean, Julius said "Amen." We promised we would continue praying for him that he would get sober and that he would find comfort in his pain through the love of Christ.
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Monday night, Tuesday
Dear Prayer Warriors,
Last night we were given the opportunity to help teach the young adults at King's Cross Baptist Church in Camden how to story. Storying is a form of telling the Bible in an approachable, understandable way. The Spirit really moved through Danielle last night as she taught the class. She was able to not only explain the importance of storying to her, but teach the parable of the Four Soils last night. The class had a tremendous response to the workshop, and many said they felt moved to share the Gospel with others because of the class. It could change the way King's Cross works in the community to share God's love and Word with others and especially non-believers. Pray that the people of King's Cross will continue to use storying as a tool to help spread the Word of Christ and that they may find comfort in using storying as a tool to evangelize.
We woke up this morning and did more storying Bible studying on Luke 10. Today we really focused on obedience to God, reliance on Him, and the power of prayer in our missionary experiences. Then, we went to King's Cross again to learn another story. This morning, Meredith (the worker from Hunter Street for King's Cross) taught us the story of the Woman who Washes Jesus's feet. The morals behind that story are that no sin is too great to be forgiven, and we as Christians should never judge who has forgiveness and who doesn't.
After learning the story, we broke up into groups and did prayer walking/storying. A lot of the groups had a very moving and successful day. One group (Danielle and Liz) told the Washing of Jesus's feet story when talking to a Muslim who said he would start praying to find the "true religion" of Christ. The same group also talked to a drunk heroin addict who said he wanted to be cleaned up by Christ's love, and has decided to start going to church again. Another group (Charles, Alex, and Marc) talked to a homeless man who was a Christian and was encouraged by the telling of the Woman Washing the Woman's feet story. The same group told the four soils story to a gardener who really enjoyed hearing the story and planted a seed of Jesus in his agnostic heart. Another group (Spencer, Gay, Meredith and Mike) told someone they met in a drugstore the four soils story, and the man wanted to know more about Christianity so the group told him the Creation to Christ story; at the end, the man said he didn't know about Jesus but the group did feel like he did believe in God. The same group also talked to a "revolutionary socialist atheist" who used to be a Mormon and whom we are planning on trying to talk to Christ again.
Everyone had very emotional and impactful days today, and it is partly because of your prayers for us. Continue to pray that God will open doors for us, that we will follow His Spirit patiently, and that we have the physical, mental and emotional strength to carry on God's mission in London.
Praise God for all He has done for us this week and all He is planning on us to do later this week. Thank you Lord for all your blessings.
The London Team
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Last night we were given the opportunity to help teach the young adults at King's Cross Baptist Church in Camden how to story. Storying is a form of telling the Bible in an approachable, understandable way. The Spirit really moved through Danielle last night as she taught the class. She was able to not only explain the importance of storying to her, but teach the parable of the Four Soils last night. The class had a tremendous response to the workshop, and many said they felt moved to share the Gospel with others because of the class. It could change the way King's Cross works in the community to share God's love and Word with others and especially non-believers. Pray that the people of King's Cross will continue to use storying as a tool to help spread the Word of Christ and that they may find comfort in using storying as a tool to evangelize.
We woke up this morning and did more storying Bible studying on Luke 10. Today we really focused on obedience to God, reliance on Him, and the power of prayer in our missionary experiences. Then, we went to King's Cross again to learn another story. This morning, Meredith (the worker from Hunter Street for King's Cross) taught us the story of the Woman who Washes Jesus's feet. The morals behind that story are that no sin is too great to be forgiven, and we as Christians should never judge who has forgiveness and who doesn't.
After learning the story, we broke up into groups and did prayer walking/storying. A lot of the groups had a very moving and successful day. One group (Danielle and Liz) told the Washing of Jesus's feet story when talking to a Muslim who said he would start praying to find the "true religion" of Christ. The same group also talked to a drunk heroin addict who said he wanted to be cleaned up by Christ's love, and has decided to start going to church again. Another group (Charles, Alex, and Marc) talked to a homeless man who was a Christian and was encouraged by the telling of the Woman Washing the Woman's feet story. The same group told the four soils story to a gardener who really enjoyed hearing the story and planted a seed of Jesus in his agnostic heart. Another group (Spencer, Gay, Meredith and Mike) told someone they met in a drugstore the four soils story, and the man wanted to know more about Christianity so the group told him the Creation to Christ story; at the end, the man said he didn't know about Jesus but the group did feel like he did believe in God. The same group also talked to a "revolutionary socialist atheist" who used to be a Mormon and whom we are planning on trying to talk to Christ again.
Everyone had very emotional and impactful days today, and it is partly because of your prayers for us. Continue to pray that God will open doors for us, that we will follow His Spirit patiently, and that we have the physical, mental and emotional strength to carry on God's mission in London.
Praise God for all He has done for us this week and all He is planning on us to do later this week. Thank you Lord for all your blessings.
The London Team
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Monday, October 7, 2013
Storying
Dear Prayer Warriors,
Our trip to London has already been filled with God's grace. We arrived on Saturday around noon, London time. Even though most of us were tired, we stayed up and prayer walked around Camden. We visited the Camden Market, which is an eccentric place filled with a lot of punk-rock influences and many different cultures. Then, we walked up Primrose Hill in the park and saw the most incredible view of London from on top of the hill. We prayed for the people that were in the park, and especially that God would open doors for us throughout the week. That prayer has been answered ten-fold already!
On Sunday, we had our Bible study at the hotel, went to service as King's Cross Baptist, had tea/lunch with members of the congregation, and then did a scavenger hunt around the city. The scavenger hunt consisted of a map with numbers corresponding to clues about different, unique things in London. One of the favorite stops was platform 9 3/4 at the St. Pan's Train Station, which is a tribute to Harry Potter. Even members of the team who had been to London many times before saw interesting things around the city they'd never seen before. A few of the teams also had opportunities to stop and talk to people who needed prayer. One team met a woman named Chloe, who was very sad and lonely, but was very thankful that people wanted to pray for her. After the scavenger hunt, most of the mission team went and prayer walked the Westminster area. We saw iconic London while we walked by the London Eye, Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Downing Street and Trafalgar Square. We prayed for the government and people of London that they may once again find God's grace.
Monday, today, we started off the day again with Bible Study - Luke 10. We then went to King's Cross Church to learn more about storying. Storying is a way of telling people about the Bible in a more approachable, conversational way. We learned the Creation to Christ story, which encapsulates the key parts of the Bible into one story. Then, the mission team and a few members of King's Cross went people mapping and prayer walking. Each group met different strangers and asked them about their lives and their ideas on faith. Some of the stories were very moving, including one where a team met a homeless man who cried with joy when they asked to pray with him. Another team met a man who was sitting on King's Cross's doorstep, and they got to tell him the story of the Four Soils from Mark 4. God opened up the doors for all of these opportunities, and they wouldn't have been possible without prayer.
Tonight, we are going back to King's Cross in order to teach the young adults there about how to story. We are going to be teaching the Four Soils story and the Christ to Creation story. Please pray that we will be able to guide King's Cross through the lesson, and that they will use these tools to share the gospel with the people of London, making disciples of themselves. We are doing much of the same (story training during the day, prayer walking/telling stories during the afternoon, and prayer walking at night) tomorrow. Please pray that God will continue to open doors for us to tell people the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Thank you for all of your prayers and support. They are greatly felt, and certainly much appreciated.
Sincerely,
The London Team
Sent from my iPad
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Our trip to London has already been filled with God's grace. We arrived on Saturday around noon, London time. Even though most of us were tired, we stayed up and prayer walked around Camden. We visited the Camden Market, which is an eccentric place filled with a lot of punk-rock influences and many different cultures. Then, we walked up Primrose Hill in the park and saw the most incredible view of London from on top of the hill. We prayed for the people that were in the park, and especially that God would open doors for us throughout the week. That prayer has been answered ten-fold already!
On Sunday, we had our Bible study at the hotel, went to service as King's Cross Baptist, had tea/lunch with members of the congregation, and then did a scavenger hunt around the city. The scavenger hunt consisted of a map with numbers corresponding to clues about different, unique things in London. One of the favorite stops was platform 9 3/4 at the St. Pan's Train Station, which is a tribute to Harry Potter. Even members of the team who had been to London many times before saw interesting things around the city they'd never seen before. A few of the teams also had opportunities to stop and talk to people who needed prayer. One team met a woman named Chloe, who was very sad and lonely, but was very thankful that people wanted to pray for her. After the scavenger hunt, most of the mission team went and prayer walked the Westminster area. We saw iconic London while we walked by the London Eye, Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Downing Street and Trafalgar Square. We prayed for the government and people of London that they may once again find God's grace.
Monday, today, we started off the day again with Bible Study - Luke 10. We then went to King's Cross Church to learn more about storying. Storying is a way of telling people about the Bible in a more approachable, conversational way. We learned the Creation to Christ story, which encapsulates the key parts of the Bible into one story. Then, the mission team and a few members of King's Cross went people mapping and prayer walking. Each group met different strangers and asked them about their lives and their ideas on faith. Some of the stories were very moving, including one where a team met a homeless man who cried with joy when they asked to pray with him. Another team met a man who was sitting on King's Cross's doorstep, and they got to tell him the story of the Four Soils from Mark 4. God opened up the doors for all of these opportunities, and they wouldn't have been possible without prayer.
Tonight, we are going back to King's Cross in order to teach the young adults there about how to story. We are going to be teaching the Four Soils story and the Christ to Creation story. Please pray that we will be able to guide King's Cross through the lesson, and that they will use these tools to share the gospel with the people of London, making disciples of themselves. We are doing much of the same (story training during the day, prayer walking/telling stories during the afternoon, and prayer walking at night) tomorrow. Please pray that God will continue to open doors for us to tell people the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Thank you for all of your prayers and support. They are greatly felt, and certainly much appreciated.
Sincerely,
The London Team
Sent from my iPad
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Camden
Saturday, October 5, 2013
Training at Kings Cross
Today is a busy day for Hunter Street' opportunities in London. We had one team leave today and another team arrived today. In between both teams, Meredith led a great training on Bible storing with the members of Kings Cross. These members along with Hunter Street's second-team will work together this week in engaging the people of London with God's story.
Please be in prayer for the following request. First, pray for open opportunities to share Christ and to communicate in the way that they will best understand the message of the Gospel. Pray that we will be able to find persons of peace that we can invest in and form a discipling relationship. Pray that the members of Kings Cross Baptist Church will be encouraged by their time spent with the members of Hunter Street.
Here are some pictures taken at today's training.
It is interesting to note that in the above pictures that there is no one who is from London, England, or even the United Kingdom. Everyone pictured was born in another country. This shows how multi-cultural London has become and it also shows that perhaps the greatest people group in England that needs the true Gospel are the English them-self.
Thank you for your prayers for the second team this week.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Please be in prayer for the following request. First, pray for open opportunities to share Christ and to communicate in the way that they will best understand the message of the Gospel. Pray that we will be able to find persons of peace that we can invest in and form a discipling relationship. Pray that the members of Kings Cross Baptist Church will be encouraged by their time spent with the members of Hunter Street.
Here are some pictures taken at today's training.
It is interesting to note that in the above pictures that there is no one who is from London, England, or even the United Kingdom. Everyone pictured was born in another country. This shows how multi-cultural London has become and it also shows that perhaps the greatest people group in England that needs the true Gospel are the English them-self.
Thank you for your prayers for the second team this week.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Location:London
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
Bruner Team - Camden/ / King's Cross Sep 27 thru Oct 2
We arrived safely and without travel issues midday Saturday, September 28. After an uneventful Tube trip to Russell Square we walked through the University of London to our hotel. Students were returning to school and signing up for clubs, so the area was quite busy. We were greeted by Meredith from HSBC who is working locally with the IMB. What a blessing to have a smiling, familiar face greet us. God blessed us with beautiful weather so we all immediately left for a prayer walk through Camden Town and up to Primrose Hill.
Camden Town continues to be a dark area where the focus is far from God. We prayed that God would bring his light to the area. We prayed that the people would turn from their various vices to the freeing relationship we all enjoy in Christ. Once through Camden Town, we headed up to Primrose Hill for a view of the city, but most importantly to any conversations God would bring our way before sunset.
God did bless us with conversations. I will share one. We were able to talk to a couple visiting London. She grew up in the city, but now lives outside the city. In our conversation we asked the couple what they thought of the Royal Family. That seemed to hit a nerve with her and she proceeded to tell us exactly how she felt about them. She explained that they are normal people, yet get to live such a privleged life and that did not seem fair for everyone else. In describing the Royal Family, she mentioned that they are not really very spiritual either. God opened a door for us.
For the next 30 minutes or so we were able to share thoughts about religion, the state of the world, where are we from, what went wrong, how do we fix it, what does it matter, where are we headed, God, man, Jesus, salvation, and many more theological concepts and questions. They were so open to conversation that we knew it was the power of the Holy Spirit working. When asked what religion they followed, they said really they were quite confused. They both said they followed eastern thinking along the lines of Budhism. For them it is more about your mind. In terms of the Bible, they felt like it should not be taken literal. She frequently meditates and often does so on short trips for days. We were able to share the gospel. They struggled with how God could be a loving God and yet judge the world. Explaining that God also loves the world so much that he gave his only Son for the world seemed to resonate with them. We left them with a Gideon "Life Book" which is the Book of John and God's plan of salvation. Pray they will read the book and that the Holy Spirit will continue to work in their lives.
Worship Sunday morning at King's Cross was a wonderful experience as usual. There were nationalities from all over the world praising the one true God. We are thankful for the partnership and hospitality of King's Cross. After worship, we had coffee and tea with the congregation and then lunch with the students. I was a wonderful chance to learn about life from around the world. Then after lunch, we had a chance to visit with Meredith from HSBC at her flat before heading off to Russell Square Park for conversations. As atop Primrose Hill, God was faithful to open doors for spiritual conversations. A recurring theme has come to view at this point, Budhism. To mention one, we had a conversation with Majda who is Catholic, but her husband is from China and is Budhist. They respect one another's beliefs and worship separately. We were able to share the gospel with Majda and left her with one of the Gideon books on John, Life Book. Pray Majda's Catholic faith is grounded in grace and that her husband will find the gospel message through Majda or the book of John.
Monday thru Wednesday was pretty much the same routine, prayer walking in the morning, helping King's Cross with their student ministry during midday, and then prayer walking the afternoon and nights. One exception was Wednesday night which was "Global Food Night" at King's Cross. That was a wonderful chance to not only learn more about the members and visitors at King's Cross, but also about the food from all the various countries represented there. Please pray for one particular member who is from Iran, is now Christian, and after finishing school will return to his family in Iran. Pray that God will protect him, keep him strong in his faith, and allow him to be a light in a very dark place.
Helping with the student ministry has been a blessing to all. First, it is amazing how the chance for rain seems to keep moving further into the week and how Wednesday the steady mist stopped right before the free coffee, tea, and cookie give-away. Of course we know God is sovereign and none of this is by chance. We praise him for blessing us with the wonderful weather. Second, we praise God for the many doors opened to not only invite the students to be a part of King's Cross, but also to have a spiritual conversation. The amazing thing is watching God open the doors by having the students themselves start the spiritual conversations by asking us questions like "How is King's Cross different from your church back in the states?" which is an opportunity to say our beliefs are the same, Jesus and grace, just one church is much bigger than the other and one church is much more diverse than the other. It is also amazing how the students soak it all in. They are hungry for knowledge and very interested in what God has to say through us. Pray their hearts accept the gospel and that they will be connected to King's Cross.
Camden Town continues to be a dark area where the focus is far from God. We prayed that God would bring his light to the area. We prayed that the people would turn from their various vices to the freeing relationship we all enjoy in Christ. Once through Camden Town, we headed up to Primrose Hill for a view of the city, but most importantly to any conversations God would bring our way before sunset.
God did bless us with conversations. I will share one. We were able to talk to a couple visiting London. She grew up in the city, but now lives outside the city. In our conversation we asked the couple what they thought of the Royal Family. That seemed to hit a nerve with her and she proceeded to tell us exactly how she felt about them. She explained that they are normal people, yet get to live such a privleged life and that did not seem fair for everyone else. In describing the Royal Family, she mentioned that they are not really very spiritual either. God opened a door for us.
For the next 30 minutes or so we were able to share thoughts about religion, the state of the world, where are we from, what went wrong, how do we fix it, what does it matter, where are we headed, God, man, Jesus, salvation, and many more theological concepts and questions. They were so open to conversation that we knew it was the power of the Holy Spirit working. When asked what religion they followed, they said really they were quite confused. They both said they followed eastern thinking along the lines of Budhism. For them it is more about your mind. In terms of the Bible, they felt like it should not be taken literal. She frequently meditates and often does so on short trips for days. We were able to share the gospel. They struggled with how God could be a loving God and yet judge the world. Explaining that God also loves the world so much that he gave his only Son for the world seemed to resonate with them. We left them with a Gideon "Life Book" which is the Book of John and God's plan of salvation. Pray they will read the book and that the Holy Spirit will continue to work in their lives.
Worship Sunday morning at King's Cross was a wonderful experience as usual. There were nationalities from all over the world praising the one true God. We are thankful for the partnership and hospitality of King's Cross. After worship, we had coffee and tea with the congregation and then lunch with the students. I was a wonderful chance to learn about life from around the world. Then after lunch, we had a chance to visit with Meredith from HSBC at her flat before heading off to Russell Square Park for conversations. As atop Primrose Hill, God was faithful to open doors for spiritual conversations. A recurring theme has come to view at this point, Budhism. To mention one, we had a conversation with Majda who is Catholic, but her husband is from China and is Budhist. They respect one another's beliefs and worship separately. We were able to share the gospel with Majda and left her with one of the Gideon books on John, Life Book. Pray Majda's Catholic faith is grounded in grace and that her husband will find the gospel message through Majda or the book of John.
Monday thru Wednesday was pretty much the same routine, prayer walking in the morning, helping King's Cross with their student ministry during midday, and then prayer walking the afternoon and nights. One exception was Wednesday night which was "Global Food Night" at King's Cross. That was a wonderful chance to not only learn more about the members and visitors at King's Cross, but also about the food from all the various countries represented there. Please pray for one particular member who is from Iran, is now Christian, and after finishing school will return to his family in Iran. Pray that God will protect him, keep him strong in his faith, and allow him to be a light in a very dark place.
Helping with the student ministry has been a blessing to all. First, it is amazing how the chance for rain seems to keep moving further into the week and how Wednesday the steady mist stopped right before the free coffee, tea, and cookie give-away. Of course we know God is sovereign and none of this is by chance. We praise him for blessing us with the wonderful weather. Second, we praise God for the many doors opened to not only invite the students to be a part of King's Cross, but also to have a spiritual conversation. The amazing thing is watching God open the doors by having the students themselves start the spiritual conversations by asking us questions like "How is King's Cross different from your church back in the states?" which is an opportunity to say our beliefs are the same, Jesus and grace, just one church is much bigger than the other and one church is much more diverse than the other. It is also amazing how the students soak it all in. They are hungry for knowledge and very interested in what God has to say through us. Pray their hearts accept the gospel and that they will be connected to King's Cross.
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