Silence

I won't be posting for the next two weeks. Check back after that to see what we've been up to.

Heard on the streets of Camden:

"I gave my life over. Did it about thirty minutes ago."

"To Jesus?"

"Yeah, to Jesus."

I just got home from buying a couple books (see the sidebar for my new reads). On the walk home, I ran into a guy who I haven't seen in quite a while. Last time I saw him was when I preached at Freedom House. He said he had just come from a friend's house, and about thirty minutes ago had decided to take the plunge and follow Jesus!
We chatted for a bit about how hard it's going to be to tell his friends. I prayed for him, and he asked me how it was going with keeping the house clean (I had shared in my sermon that one of the things I need forgiveness for is telling Somer I'll clean up and then not doing it).

And I thought nothing interesting was going to happen today.

Last week of shelter

One more week to go for the cold weather shelter. We've had close to 50 people staying at the shelter for various lengths of time. Some of them only stay for a few days, others for almost a month. Last month, we were able to find housing for almost half of those who stayed with us longer than three nights. Which is pretty exciting.
The response to the appeal for starter-pack items was overwhelming. We should have a good number of things left over to provide seed for packs for next year. Even though the shelter itself is about to finish, the advocacy work of helping find homes for people will continue for another month. So in theory we could use up everything that's been donated. Next year we're going to work on getting some companies and local civic organizations on board at the beginning to provide some of the items we need to buy new, like alarm clocks and electric kettles (for my American friends, an electric kettle is a basic household necessity, used to boil water for tea...people here can't imagine how we cope with having to boil water on the stove-top!!)

Pigeon on the Tube

There's this great scene in You've Got Mail where Kathleen Kelly describes a butterfly who got on the subway at 53rd St. and off again at 59th, "presumably to buy a hat from Bloomingdale's."
Last night I was on my way home from an appointment in North London when I saw a pigeon on the platform for the Northern Line at Euston station. I started thinking how cool it would be if the pigeon got on the train. Well, wouldn't you know it? When my train arrived and the doors opened, the little guy hopped right in front of me and got on the train. I just stood there staring at it with the woman next to me...neither of us were sure what to do. She decided to get on a different carriage; I didn't want to miss any of the action. What would the bird do next? I wondered.
When I got on, it scared the pigeon, who flew franticaly down the length of the carriage. People were scared and held up their arms to fend off the panicked bird. It got to the end of the car, fluttered around for a bit, and then flew out the other door before the driver closed the doors and drove off to the next station.

Football

The past two Saturdays I've been at football training. Yes, after a nearly ten-year absence from the football pitch, I am again breaking out the skills. I'm not sure my body is all that happy about it - it's a lot different playing as a soft 28-year-old than as an 18-year-old. You kind of have to pace yourself a bit more. But it does help that the guys I'm playing with have been even less active than me.
Basically, we've put together a team from guys I know over at 55, and entered into a tournament at the beginning of May. It's a one-day tournament sponsored by my friend Mark's church over in Islington. It should be really interesting. So far, our team looks decent. Plus, it's loads of fun.

Starter Pack Update

We've been overwhelmed with the response to our appeal for items for the starter packs. The Texas group brought lots of bedding items (things we were very low on) and we've had donations from a number of different sources. We've only given away 3 packs so far, but today I'm meeting the project coordinator to get him two more packs, and it looks like the rate of placement into housing from the shelter is on the rise. Also, there are a few people who have resettled into housing who didn't get packs, so it's looking like this week will see a number of packs delivered.

Texas Team

Last week we had a group of Texans come to Camden to pray over our city. We had a fun, encouraging, busy week (hence the silence over the past week). They prayed over the neighborhoods, schools, and shops in Camden Town. A few shopkeepers were eager to have their businesses prayed for and had members of the group pray with them.
We also had them help us with some of the neighborhood research we've been doing. When they weren't busy prayer-walking, they were talking to people on the streets, finding out what they like and dislike about Camden, what kinds of things they think the church ought to be doing here, etc.
For us, it was really nice to have people who were so encouraging and who could understand some of the things we've been experiencing over the past six months. It was also really helpful to have fresh sets of eyes and ears to help us understand Camden in a new way. Thanks for coming!

Waterloo

Yesterday I dropped into the Waterloo homeless center, run by one of my friends with London City Mission. I gave the morning talk and then had breakfast with the men. The talk was based on a conversation I had with one of the guys at 55. We had talked about civil war, and how people are so quick to find reasons to fight with each other. Even when we're really young, we try to pull other people down so that we can look better or feal better about ourselves. But Jesus introduces a different way of living, a way that isn't based on how good we are, how strong we are, who we can beat up, or even how bad we are. It's based on how much we're loved. This frees us from the daily burden of climbing the human ladder, dragging other people down so we can get closer to the top. That's why he could say "Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yolk upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in spirit, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yolk is easy and my burden is light."

Jet Powered Beetle

This is totally random, but I stumbled onto Ron Patrick's site today. My engineer friends ought to enjoy this one, plus anyone who's ever dreamed of sticking a jet engine out the back of their vehicle. Come to think of it, my London teammate Dan B might want to see if this guy can do anything for Lucille.

The People of the Abyss

Russell, one of the regulars down at Fifty-Five, dropped off a couple books for me to read yesterday. He's really into historical sociologies of London. One book he's currently reading is a history of crime in the city. Anyway, he lent me two books: The People of the Abyss by Jack London, and East End, which is a 400 year history of London.
I'm especially intersted in the Jack London book - Russell says it'll be a good intro for me, since it's coming from the perspective of an American investigating London. I'll have to add them to the "reading list" on the sidebar, since it's already out of date, but I'm lazy and that takes more work.

Start of Lent

With the start of Lent comes the beginning of our fast from alcohol (not really much of a "fast" I'll admit). Thursday I went down to Fifty-Five and hung out with regulars Russ and Tina. Ben and Dom were there (two of the bartenders who are doing the Thirst for Life). I had a fruit smoothie and a grapefruit juice. Kinda wish there'd be a campaign to give us cigarettes for lent, as that's the most unpleasant part of going to any bar...but only for another 4 months, as smoking will be banned in all bars and restaurants starting in July.

Pancake Day

Shrove Tuesday (or Pancake day) came and went and I forgot to post about it. Lots of people do pancakes here - though they're a bit different from the American version. Usually they are thinner, more like crepes. The most popular topping seems to be sugar and lemon juice. Sainsbury's sells ready-made pancake batter in a bottle.
Somer made ours the old-fashioned way. You can see the receipe and a picture here.

Starter Packs

As some of you have probably heard, I'm helping coordinate starter packs for a local night shelter. The packs help people who move out of the shelter and into permanent housing by giving them the basic household items they need to make a good start in their new home.
So far we have items for about 3 packs, and I'm picking up more items in the next few days: a guy who's leaving the country and clearing out his house, a reject kitchen store is giving us two shelves of plates and mugs, and the Salvation Army recently closed a charity shop and has a few things to donate.

Thirst for Life

So I've decided to give up alcohol for Lent. Ben, one of the Bartenders at 55, asked me if I'd be willing to do it with him. It's part of this campaign called Thirst for Life, which aims to raise awareness of the problems of binge drinking in the UK. Because it's so unusual for a bartender to give up drinking (and ask one of his customers to do it too!), Ben has been asked to do a weekly update for the BBC about the experience. So starting next week, it'll be fruit smoothies and milkshakes for me at 55 until Easter.

England 1-0 Australia

Just finished watching the first of the three match CB One Day International series final between England and Australia. It was incredibly close...England won in the final over with three balls to spare. Very exciting play. Paul Collingwood was clearly the man of the match, scoring 120 not out, and hitting the winning run. Final tally was England 253-6 to Australia 252.

For those of you who wonder how in the world you can have a close game when teams score upwards of 250 runs, well, you'll just have to watch. But I will say this: Cricket is much more exciting than Baseball. Though the games take longer to play, there's no standing around, waiting for the guy to hit the ball, waiting for a team to score runs. Very rarely do you get an over without any runs scored (an over consists of six balls - how many times in baseball do you get a run scored every couple of pitches?).

And yes, I know my Aussie friend Doug will say that he's not very interested in ODI matches...it's Test Matches that really matter. Fair enough. His boys did destroy England in the Ashes test series. But still, it's nice to see England on top for a change.

Starter Packs Start

We're finally getting off the ground with our starter pack initiative. Last week I met with a board member for the Camden & City Churches Cold Weather Shelter, who gave us the go-ahead to work on the starter packs. We arranged over the weekend to use a basement room that's standing empty in the local Methodist church as our base of operations. We'll be picking up the keys and then collecting the first of our donated items early next week.
What are 'starter packs' you ask? Here's an excerpt from the literature:
Starter packs help people establish a route out of homelessness. Many new tenancies fail in the initial stages because of a lack of financial resources to provide the basic household items that turn a house into a home. By providing these essentials, starter packs can help eliminate the ‘revolving door’ experience of many homeless people.
We are starting with the bare minimums - kitchen items, cleaning supplies, and a few other things. In the future, we hope to follow the model of other groups who provide bedding, small kitchen appliances, drapes, etc.
I'm really excited about all this, but also feeling a bit overwhelmed with it all. If any of you have any experience or ideas for who I should talk to about getting used or donated new items, let me know.

Reading Changes

Thought I'd update you on the changes to my reading list. First, apologies for the lack of update in recent months...I've read many things, forgotten most of them...anyway, here's what's on the horizon for my eyes:
Watership Down was recommended by Jeff, an artist who is all over Camden. In addition to his own stall, Jeff's work is displayed at As Yet Unknown Gallery and helps set the tone for the newly opened RB Cafe. The book played a part in his latest series of works exploring Killer Bunnies.
Mayflower was recommended by one of my readers in response to my lack of knowledge of Thanksgiving. He actually sent me a copy - thanks!
Celtic Way of Evangelism is a combination of historical analysis of the movement of Celtic monks combined with present-day application. Our team is reading it as part of our ongoing exploration of appropriate models for the life of the church in Camden

55 for dinner tomorrow

Update: Dinner with 55 was really fun. The girls were a little shy, but came out of their shells by the end. It was great to spend some time with Shannon as well. She's helping organize a Saturday workshop in March around the concept of missional entrepreneurs (or something like that - sorry if I've totally missed the point, Shannon) - anyway, it sounds really interesting. She's in the process of looking for an apartment, so we had Somer pray for her since she has a special gift of prayer when it comes to those kinds of things.

Original post:
The guys of 55 will be over for dinner before they open the bar tomorrow. They should be over around 4:30. Can't wait.
Then, in what is probably a first for us, we'll be having a second dinner seating at a more normal time. Shannon is coming over. Shannon's been helping to connect various people in London who are exploring new ways of doing church. I'll fill you in on our meal later, if there's anything to report.

Birthday Party

We had my birthday party yesterday. The girls were very excited about the party, probably more than I was. They couldn't believe that we were thinking of having a party without playing "Pass the Parcel". We explained that this was a grown-up party, to which Jodie responded that it sounded like a very boring party, and she wondered how people would have fun if we didn't play games.We decided to do Pass the Parcel, and it ended up being lots of fun. We had a few friends over; and Somer and Kathy made sushi and little toasts. Instead of a cake, Somer made cupcakes. When it was all over, we took some extras across the street to the bartenders at Fifty-Five.

I'm On TV

I was having lunch with my team leader and a friend at a local Indian restaurant. The place had undergone major rennovations and just recently re-opened. While we were waiting for our food, I saw throught the kitchen door that a camera crew was filming the restaurant. The manager asked us if we'd be willing to let them film us while we ate. Always hungry for attention, we agreed.
It felt a little strange to have people filming our discussion about research in Camden and what a future church will look like. But then came the real fun: They asked to interview me. I have absolutely no idea what they were filming for...the questions surrounded my experience with the restaurant, the service and food, that type of thing. They told me to call back and they'd tell me when it was going to air. Doubtful anyone outside the UK will be able to see it, and even if you do live here, it could be showing on some tiny public-access cable station for all I know. But I'll let you know if I find out.