on the road (again)

Tomorrow morning, my DTS and I leave for Cardiff, Wales. We have spent this week in drama practice, learning to paint faces, taking our final tests and doing our book reports, and packing up our rooms.

When we get back from our outreach to Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Newcastle, we will be graduating from DTS. After graduation, I will move to the arts house to do the arts internship for theatre. I still need support for the arts internship, which is $3700. If you would like to support me, you can email my mother at susancookstevenson@gmail.com. She is handling my finances for me while I am away from the internet.

Anyway, here are some pictures of the things I've been doing in the past few weeks.

This is my DTS at lunch last week.

This is the bus we take to central London.

This is our underground stop, Willesden Junction

These are my housemates whom I adore, Eli, Amy, and Marisa.

beautiful things out of dust

The past few weeks have been busy, but quiet. We have had teachings and been preparing for outreach.

However, we also do work around our community. On Thursday, we went to the park down the street and prayed as we cleaned it. It is the hang out for people to drink and do drugs, but it is meant to be a safe place for children. As we cleaned it up and prayed, men were sitting on the benches, smoking pot. Some of the people smoking pot looked to be as young as 15 years old.

Living in Harlesden has been marvelous. It's not posh like Notting Hill, but we are surrounded by a place in which it is really easy to find ways to minister. Whether we are busking by the clock, helping at the Salvation Army soup kitchen, or praying over and cleaning the park, there are numerous ways in which we can make a practical difference while telling our neighbors about Jesus. The fact that we live in a predominantly Muslim community makes it even more of a blessing. Giving up a comfortable life in America to come here and do this has been a blessing. I thank Jesus for calling me to do something so useful for His Kingdom, and for providing the means for me to do it.

Here are some pictures of the park after we cleaned it, and the bag of garbage that we ended up with:

On Friday morning, we leave for Cardiff, Wales. I will try to update my blog while on outreach, but for two months, we will be traveling to Cardiff, Wales, Glasgow, Scotland, Rostrevor, Northern Ireland, and Newcastle. While there, we will minister to churches and on the streets. Right now, we are practicing the music, facepainting, and dramas we will do while we are at these locations. However, we will also be doing without a lot of the things we normally have, like computers and showers and beds and clean clothes. Please pray for our group, that God unites us even more than we already are united, and that He works in our hearts as we serve others.

Future Plans

I have finally had a few days of breathing, which, after the Olympics and Notting Hill Carnival, were much needed. Right now, I am taking advantage of a free afternoon to update my blog from Starbucks in Notting Hill, where we are still living in Notting Hill Community Church. But we move home tomorrow, which is a relief.

In DTS, you do a two month outreach phase. My DTS leaves on September 21st for outreach in Wales, Glasgow Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Newcastle. We will be taking the bus across the isles, and we'll be doing different things at every site. This week, we've been learning dramas to perform. Jason and I have also been practicing our music. We've mashed together a few praise and worship songs to create a new message.

I've also realized that I will need a really good winter coat, since I'll be in Scotland and northern England in November. If you could pray for provision for that, I'd really appreciate it. I don't even know what other winter gear I'll need, since I'm not used to cold winters.

I will also need continuing support for the arts internship that I am applying to do starting in January. It is with the son and daughter of the Argentine family who head the house I live in, and it's at the same London base, just at a different house. They are starting a theatre track during this internship, as well as starting a magazine to distribute around Notting Hill. My degree is in theatre, and my minor is advertising (and of course I still adore photography), so I am really excited about the arts internship.

I have also discovered a passion for evangelising on the streets. I love talking to strangers about my Saviour. I am so excited that God has called me to be a missionary in London, and every time I speak to strangers about God, I thank Him for allowing me to do what He has called me to do. It's amazing, the way He's changed my heart to desire what He desires.

I also really appreciate everybody who has supported me to help me get to this point. It is just as expensive to live in London as you've heard it is, especially with living at the church and not always having a budget for food for our DTS. We've lived on toast and corn flakes quite a bit this week. But God is good in the midst of all of it.