viva Mexico!

On Saturday, the last day of the Olympics, our DTS leader, Mats, surprised us by taking us to Wembley to do evangelism. Wembley is the next town to ours, and it was the location of the Brasil/Mexico football final.

The whole team was tired, since we had gotten back from Soho around 4 am, but we were excited to be at an actual Olympic event. We broke into teams to evangelize, and Lexie and Jason held up this sign right in the main pathway to the stadium.

Meanwhile, Amy and I went around the area to speak to people.

This is a group to whom we spoke briefly. They were Brasilian, and they asked me to be in a picture with them.

This is me with Amy, my roommate and partner at Wembley. Together, we talked to a Bosnian athlete and her coach and prayed with a British guy about our age. Then we stood by the "We want to pray for you" sign as the match let out (Viva Mexico! They won!), and while there were a lot of mean things said to us, it was also exhilarating to be so open about why we were there. I spoke to two more people and prayed with them, and many others thanked us or took pictures.

Our leader, Mats, found us all, and we followed him through the massive crowd to where the Arts House, our sister base, had set up drums. They began drumming, and loads of Brasilians came to dance. They danced for about an hour, and everyone going to the subway stopped to watch. It opened up a lot of conversations. I surprised myself by dancing with them - the latin dance lessons I had really paid off!

I noticed a woman watching, and I went to speak with her. Her name is Andra, and she married a Muslim man, but she was a Christian. For a while, she had been doubting whether or not she was still a Christian. But we talked, and I ascertained that she still believes that Christ is her Saviour, as she accepted Him years ago. She said He is still her Saviour, and that she loves Him, so we prayed for a while and exchanged contact information. Please pray for Andra, that God's love will be evident in her life, and that she will enjoy a prosperous relationship with Him.

Now the Olympics are over, and we are getting ready to move into a church for 3 weeks to be a part of Bones, an arts camp that prepares for Notting Hill Carnival. I won't really have internet access, so I may go quiet for a while. The camp is pretty intense, though, so please pray for us. Bones is basically worse than Soho as far as sex and drugs and alcohol go, and it takes over Notting Hill for a whole weekend. We are going to be there as Christ's lights in the middle of the vast darkness.

I will see you guys during Bones!

loving broken places

I took my camera to Soho, London, this past week when we went to spread Jesus' love. God worked through the camera and let me use it to speak to people and pray for them. God also worked through the images, because while I am there, I am often unaware of the extent of the debauchery happening around me. I saw these pictures the morning after I took them, and I was appalled. But at the same time, my resolve to spread Jesus' love throughout Soho was renewed. 

I am posting them here so that you can see Soho through my eyes.

These are just some shots of the streets of Soho, full of trash and clubs and prostitution and sex shops.

 

These are two Georgian girls I met and prayed for. I took the pictures for my strangers' project, and it opened up a conversation with them. Their expressions explain a lot of what I see nightly in Soho.

This is the inside of a sex bookshop, the shop outside of which I met the girls from Georgia.

This is right across the road from the entrance to Soho: Chinatown

These are Aleksandra and Anna, two girls from Estonia with whom I briefly spoke.

Amy had a conversation with this Muslim man, who eventually came back to the coffee shop to talk with her further.

This is Jonathan. Alexa and I met him while he was doing window art at a restaurant. He met us at the coffee shop later, and we had a really good talk.

These men were going upstairs to visit prostitutes.

And this is what we do in Soho. We run a coffee shop where we perform live music and paint and generally try to help out people and show them the love of Jesus.

on the palms of His hands

"See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me."
Isaiah 49:16

It's amazing to think that Jesus had all of our names written in the piercings on his hands while He was on the cross.

Everyone's name. He died for everyone, regardless of whether or not they ever accept Him as their Saviour and Lover of their soul.

That revelation struck me especially hard this past weekend, as my DTS and I joined the Arts Internship in the cafe they run in SoHo. SoHo is just north of Piccadilly Circus, and during the night, it transforms from a shopping area to a seedy underworld of prostitution, sex shops, adult clubs, and other illicit activities. YWAM Urban Key is also present, though, several evenings a week. A church lets us use their coffee shop, and we have coffee on the street level and live music in the basement. Every evening, we go out to the streets to start conversations with people, and if they are willing, we bring them back to the cafe to chat further.

On the first night, Jason and I were on the line up to perform. We didn't have anything prepared, but luckily, when we did evangelism here in Harlesden, we busked for about an hour, so we have created music together. Before we went, though, we went out to the streets to find people.

Within the first two blocks, I saw several prostitutes (and even brushed against one who tried to get to the three guys who were with me), drunk people, and even some people who were undoubtedly on drugs. I also saw dozens of young people just like me queuing to get into clubs.

They were just like me because Jesus also had their names engraved on His palms when He died.

On our second night in SoHo, I talked to a homeless man, Daniel, for about an hour. I was surprised to find out that he was 22, just like me. He let me pray for him, and although he turned down an invitation to come to the cafe, he showed up later. I'm pretty sure that I'll see him again. I pray that, through more encounters, his heart will open up to the Saviour's love.

One of the most heartbreaking things that I see in SoHo is the desperation and pain that leaks out of people when they don't realize it. Drunk people are terribly honest, and terribly desperate. I saw a woman lying on the pavement, crying. The man that she was with wouldn't let me help her or even talk to her, so I stood on the corner and prayed. I saw a woman's boyfriend leave her as she cried, "If you leave me, I'll have nothing! I won't have a home! Please don't go, please!"

We left at 3:30 am and passed case after case of broken hearts. All I could think was, "Who will help them?"

We will.

Arise All Nations

Last night, Arise All Nations kicked off. Two hundred young people from many nations came to London to join us in Olympic outreach. I met people from Orlando, Florida, Finland, Sweden, Nebraska, Portugal, Uganda, South Korea, Holland, Ecuador, and many other places. They are sleeping in churches and going without showers for three weeks in order to spread the news of the Gospel to the nations that are present at the Olympics.

We had a time of worship, and at one point, we sang, "Let It Rain," each in our own language. The South Korean woman in front of me started doing a cultural form of dance to it, and the Swedish toddlers had streamers and were dancing across the front, and the Spirit of the Lord was heavily present.

We are an army for God, nations taking forth His word, and today begins our three weeks of intense evangelism. My DTS is still in teaching, as well, so we have teaching in the mornings, then walk an hour to minister at our church and do evangelism late into the night.

Please pray for the people with whom we come into contact. Pray that their hearts will be prepared for God's message. Please also pray for us, for the DTS, as we are in a time of teaching, but also evangelizing. Simple things like sleep and laundry are not going to happen, and we need prayer in order to stay on fire for God in this time. And finally, please pray for the 200 young people who have come from different nations to sleep on church floors and go out every day to declare the Gospel, that personal drama will be left behind, and that they will be filled with the joy of the Lord.

Learning the Mission

We have been in intensive teaching all week, because the Olympics start next week, and we will be doing outreach for the entire three weeks of it. The teachings have been really heavy, and all of us have been handed a lot from God that we have to sort through and confess and release.

Last night, after an intense day of teaching, my small group and I went to the Salvation Army's soup kitchen. Since we live in a community where English are in the minority, there were a lot of languages and ethnicities there. I sat at the tables and began talking to the men. I met one man who said he was the devil, but after a few moments, he let me pray for his seventeen year old son, who he wishes would get on the straight and narrow.

I know it sounds ridiculous, but in that moment that I was praying for Perry, the man's son, and holding his hand, I felt the most at home that I have in years. It's amazing to be here, in the middle of God's plan, and to be giving my time to tell others about Him.

It's been a hard week, and it will be even harder once Olympic Outreach starts, but we are doing it all for God and for His glory. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

here, where the Spirit of the Lord is

One of the things that most excited me about coming to Discipleship Training School was the teaching. We get to learn about Jesus and the Bible for at least five hours every day. In the past week, we've learned about prayer, intercessory prayer, hearing the voice of God, having a serving heart, and the creative ways to have a quiet time with God daily.

At the same time, we've briefly touched on the spiritual warfare that is taking place here in London. A lot of churches shy away from this topic, but it is real. We live in the Borough of Brent, where English people are in a minority. There is a mosque just down the street from a Hindu worship centre, and there are churches in between. There are also satanists, and apparently a curse has been placed on this house before. We are fighting a very real battle here in London, a battle to win hearts, not just from apathy, but from other gods. Every time I pop round to the shop, I see women in burkas. I see crazed men ranting on street corners. I see children with wide eyes and wondering hearts.

The whole YWAM team, and our DTS specifically, is in need of prayer. My fellow DTSers and I are a bit overwhelmed by knowing that we've come into the midst of spiritual warfare, but at the same time, God is equipping us. I am also learning about the manifest Spirit, and I am eager to see how that manifestation works out in the weeks to come.

However, it's not all heavy stuff happening here. We do work duties daily, which is the hour in which everybody cleans. I clean the living room daily. While I do it, I sing and listen to music and praise God. It's a great way to show love to those around me.

We also go to central London sometimes. Last night, I went to an organ concert and the evening service at Westminster Abbey. Worshiping God in a place that has been His for a thousand years was amazing.

I am so blessed to be here, and so thankful for all of your prayers and support.

And now, as you probably guessed, it is picture time!

 the bunting in Chinatown.

 

the whole DTS at the London Eye.

 A street in our neighborhood.

Jason, Valaurie, and me on the bus.

 My silhouette at the Eye.

 A touristy photo

The view from our rooftops.

London Calling

I am in London! I got here around noon yesterday (7 am Eastern time), after traveling for 24 hours.

The breakdown: I flew from Atlanta to Chicago, Chicago to Dublin, Dublin to London. There were thunderstorms in Chicago that almost put everything off, but my plane got in on time, and all was well.

I was picked up at the airport by YWAM staff, and they took me to my new home. I share a room with three other girls around my age, and so far, we've had some sessions, taken a few walks, and I rode down to Trafalgar Square today and read my Bible on the Underground on the way.

I am incredibly excited to see the way that God works here, and I thank you for your prayers and support.

We start Olympic Outreach quite soon, and afterwards we'll go immediately into outreach at the Notting Hill Carnival, the second largest carnival in the world.

I'm sorry this is so short; we're still settling in and having loads of community events in the house. But all is well, and God was faithful in the journey.

 My fellow DTSers, minus two of them. 

 The road right outside our house.

A stranger at the bus stop.