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.
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