Arsenal

60,000: number of supporters chanting the name of Thierry Henry or Robin Van Persie, or screaming insults at Liverpool, or singing the praises of Arsene Wenger.
14: number of rows between us and the field.
3: number of goals Arsenal scored, compared to Liverpool's 0
2: number of hotdogs we ate
1: number of times I've been to see a football match here in England

Thanks to John for taking me, and for the pre- and post-match tea at his apartment. What a way to begin immersing myself in English culture.

Quick Roundup

It's been a full week here. You already know about Monday (see previous post). Yesterday I helped a buddy from the market deliver some furniture. Then Mark and I went rock climbing at The Castle last night. My hands are raw.
I had coffee this morning with a musician from Finsbury park. And by "coffee" I mean fresh squeezed OJ. John and Kathy's stuff has arrived already and was being unpacked (and even put together!) this afternoon when Somer and I stopped in to say 'hi'.
Tomorrow I'm heading out to Ilford to meet up with Stephen, one of the guys I worked with last year, and I'll be going to the youth club and seeing all the kids from last year.
Oh, and Sunday I'm supposed to be going to a certain football match (I'll keep it quiet so I don't jinx it...more to come...)

Monday

UPDATE: It's here! The guys brought a small van that was able to pull into the covered parking under our building. They were done in half an hour. Then about 20 minutes after they left, John and Kathy showed up to help unpack. What a treat. They worked all afternoon, and by the time Somer brought the girls home the boxes were all unpacked and the trash was in the dumpster. Thank you God. Thank you for friends and teammates in London, thank you for small vans and high ceilings in the parking garage. Thank you for whoever cancelled their shipment so we could get ours.

I got a call from our shipping company yesterday, and...Our belongings are supposed to be delivered on Monday!! Yay! There was a cancellation and a slot opened up in the delivery schedule. The only hitch could be that the water company started tearing up the road in front of our house on Friday. Today they broke up the section just opposite where the delivery truck would park, leaving just one lane to get by. Not sure how it's going to work. We were technically supposed to get a permit from the council for the truck to park, but with such short notice we didn't have time. So any parking fine the truck gets, I'll have to pay...but it's worth it.

Teammates Arrive

Our team leaders have arrived today. Jodie and I went to the airport to meet them. They were really tired, but we were so excited to see them. They joined us for pizza/movie night last night before going home to crash. SOOO glad they're here.

Stephen's Baptism

It's 11:11 PM and I have just returned from a house in one of the wealthiest parts of London. Imagine, if you will, the following scenes:
A group of young people in their 20s are loitering outside a train station. They have come from all over the city - Camden Town, Enfield, the Isle of Dogs. A guy in a ski hat with multicolored spikes pulls out a bag and starts to hand out food - wraps and fruit he's salvaged from a store that was throwing them away because they had reached their sell-by date.

At the appointed time, we march 500 yds down the road to a massive house. Inside, they are met with more food - more wraps, in fact - lovingly prepared by the occupant, a young doctor-to-be. More people arrive.

The crowd moves upstairs, cramming into a surprisingly small bathroom. A warm bath has been drawn, and Stephen steps in. After some interesting body contortions and one uncomfortable incident involving the water tap, he manages to lay down. His head is gently pushed under water. The ancient words are spoken: Stephen, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

When I met Stephen, he was living in Camden Town and had already started following Jesus. I had nothing to do with him finding Jesus, or Jesus finding him. But this is why we are here in Camden. We want to see many more like Stephen, welcomed into God's family. We want to see people joining Jesus in his death and resurrection, so that they might leave behind slavery to the elemental spiritual forces, and enter into their inheritance as dearly loved children of God.

Tonight, I was given a gift. The gift of participating in a baptism, of laying my hand on a new brother and praying God's blessing on him. Of helping to welcome him into God's family. God is at work here in Camden Town. Tonight he let me see a glimpse of the road ahead.

Stephen, if you happen to find your way here, thank you so much for inviting me.