Final Reflections...

Can evangelism happen in different ways?  Or is there only one way to evangelize?  This has been something I have been pondering this week. 

My original expectation of evangelism was where you would go out 2-by-2 and specifically share the gospel message with someone.  I thought it should be more direct and specific.  That’s what I would have called evangelism.  So, when I ended up doing puppet shows this week more than one-on-one conversations, I began to question—am I really evangelizing? 

Honestly, I felt discouraged because I felt like what I was doing was not making a difference for the Kingdom.  You should know, the puppet show was giving a gospel message—so can I call that evangelizing?  What do you think?

As the week has gone on, I’ve come to a personal conclusion that this puppet ministry was indeed evangelizing.  Jesus said, let the little children come to me.  God knew this was the plan for me for this week before I did.  I had expectations of ministering one-on-one with Muslim women, but that’s not what happened.

While originally I felt like I didn’t do much this week, other than let the inner child in me come out doing the puppet show, now I’m changing my thoughts on that.  I DID evangelize this week.  I did what was placed in front of me.  I know many seeds were planted this week in all we did--I pray that each child who heard the powerful message during the week will come to know Jesus one day.

As I think about returning home, I still have much to process in regards to Islam and the few conversations I did have with Muslims.  I am challenged.  I am thankful for this time of year when we celebrate the amazing gift of Jesus.  And I return home, knowing I was obedient to Jesus in all I did this week.

Our final day in London

Our final day in London…

Well, our day was just as I mentioned in the blog earlier…church service in the morning, some street ministry and a few people went to Speaker’s Corner, and a Christmas program at the Oasis Church to end the day. 

The Oasis church is on Abbey Road where The Beatles took the picture for the cover of their “Free Help” album.  We had to take a photo walking across the road like they are on the cover.  That was quite interesting trying to get the shot.  There were so many other tourists doing the same thing.

The puppet performance went very well.  (Pictures of the puppet show will have to come later.)  Both adults and children were entertained.  There were close to 80 people there—of that, maybe close to 12 children to watch the puppet show.  We ended the evening with a couple of team photos and goodbyes. 

Here are some fun comments and quotes from throughout the week:

“brilliant” or “brill”

“hundreds and thousands” – (for sprinkles or jimmies)

“that’s just jammy”

“scratches the itches”

“his face looks like a wet weekend”

“trackies and cross trainers” – (rather than track pants and sneakers)

“mind your head” and “mind the gap”

“take away” (for carry out)

“have a lie in” (for sleeping in)

“fizzy drink” (for soda)

That's just a sampling...it seemed like we were laughing and comparing things all week.  It’s so fun to compare what people say in different parts of the world.  I love culture!

Oasis Church

Abbey Road Studios

The Beatles Album Cover

Our attempt to re-enact the cover--we're swinging our arms too much  LOL

Valerie, Naomi and I

The Stonebridge Team

Meghan and I (and Ha'ill)

A rainy day in London (oh, and that's different from another day,how?)

On Saturday, most of the team was together for street ministry.  Due to the steady rain, they couldn’t do this on the street, so they took it to the mall.  They could not hand out any materials at the mall, so they were just praying for the people God wanted them to speak with.  It sounded like it was definitely challenging for some.

Since I’m part of the puppet team, we were not part of the street ministry on Saturday.  We got up and went to a local café for breakfast for some bacon and eggs—a nice change again from cereal and toast.  After breakfast, we had another practice for the puppet show.  Our “trainer” was very proud of us—she said we did “brilliant!”  (which is used quite frequently around here)

We had several hours to kill before we had to be at St. Luke’s for the children’s Christmas party and puppet show.  So, the four of us just went out for lunch together to a nice café.  Our food was delicious!  I had a salad and Bangers and Mash (no trip to London would be complete without that!).  We actually sampled everyone’s dishes—baked butternut squash and quiche—all quite delicious!  We ended our lunch with some very tasty desserts.  It was a nice time together, just sharing how we were feeling about the trip and where we were at.  We sort of had our own “debrief.”

We ended up at St. Luke’s around 2:30 in the afternoon and began the set up for the party.  The children arrived around 4:00 and began with crafts and games, and then we were on for our first performance.  The children loved it, even the adults were impressed.  They didn’t notice any of the mistakes we made—it was quite funny behind the curtain when we were all scrambling for the next puppet and trying to follow the script.  I am quite surprised that I am having so much fun doing the puppets—I guess it’s my inner child that refuses to ever leave.

After the program, they had hot dogs and snacks for the children.  The dessert was “jelly and ice cream” which is a very common dish here.  It’s what we call “jell-o” and they serve it together with ice cream?  I had to try it…I wasn’t impressed.  I think those two dishes belong separate.

We arrived back at the Center to join the rest of our team, as well as the Woodberry team of 8 that has been serving together this week.  We debriefed and shared a meal together.  After the meal, we played some silly games and sang some Christmas carols.  I’ll let a few pictures tell those stories.  Needless to say, I’ve come back with another idea for a youth group game.  One of the games we played is one we have done with our youth group and it requires great flexibility.  I’m happy to report that I took it much farther than I did with our group at home—so, watch out Albert and Duane!  We ended the evening with a complete team photo.  This was the last time we would see the Woodberry team (at least here on Earth), so, we said our goodbyes to them. 

I’m reflecting on so much from the week.  I’m hoping to have time to post some “reflections.”  This may happen once I return home.  Our day today (Sunday) will be full with a few church services, some additional street ministry and another Christmas program at a church for our final puppet performance. 

Thanks for your continued prayers.  Everyone is exhausted and dealing with many different thoughts and emotions right now.  Pray that our final day together would be a good one with much encouragement and fun!

Extra strength, please

Today (Friday), we had a bit of free time in the morning, so I was able to go on another run.  I ran in the park nearby.  It was a beautiful, crisp morning for a run.  There were quite a few other runners there in the park this morning, too.

After breakfast, a few of us took the tube to go to Camden Town for the market.  We didn’t have a lot of time, but we shopped a bit there.  Close to Camden market is the Horse Tunnel Market.  I loved the atmosphere there!  The shops were so fun!  I was wishing we would have had more time to spend there.  We had to come back to join the group for lunch. 

After lunch, the group split into 3 groups.  One group went on a home visit to a Muslim mother and her children.  Another group of 4 (including me), had puppeteer practice.  The last group went out near Hyde Park for some more street ministry.  All of the groups actually met up there near Hyde Park later in the day.

I have to say, I have a whole new respect for anyone who does puppets.  That is hard work!  To keep your arm in one position, high above you head, and moving your hand (the puppet’s mouth) is definitely challenging—but it is so much fun!  Who knew!?  We had a 3 hour practice this afternoon and we have another 3 hour practice on Saturday morning.  We will be doing our first performance at a children’s program on Saturday afternoon. 

Please continue to pray for our team.  Our days are long and the street ministry is taxing.  Please pray for boldness and courage for everyone.  Pray for renewed strength for our team.  Pray that God would soften hearts to receive him and be open to hearing about Him.  Pray for opportunities for conversations.  Pray that lives will be changed.  Also, pray for us doing the puppets that we would be able to put on a great program for the children and that they would understand the story clearly.  Pray for extra strength for our arms.  J

Thanks for joining me in this adventure!

A Day on the Town

Thursday was our free day.  Six of us decided to start our day at King’s Cross Station.  A few of the guys wanted to see the 9 ¾ platform and have the whole Harry Potter experience.  We amused them, by joining them.  After they felt fulfilled, we sat down for some breakfast together.  It was nice to order some eggs, rather than having the same cereal we have been eating each morning during our time here. 

After breakfast, we walked to the British Museum.  As part of the day, you could choose to take part in the British Museum Tour as well as the British Library.  This tour was led by our very own, Jay Smith.  The tour was very interesting, and that says something, for those of you who know me—I don’t normally enjoy museums of any kind.  Jay took us through various exhibits at the museum that proved the Bible’s accuracy throughout the Old Testament.  One of the exhibits showed dinner plates they have found that were the plates that Esther’s family actually dined on!  The British Library holds the first entire copy of the New Testament!  They also have one of the original Gutenberg Bibles and a Wycliffe Bible.  When you stop and truly think about the artifacts and manuscripts, it’s amazing! 

After our tour, there were about 8 of us who took off on our sightseeing adventure.  We went to Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, the Queen’s horse’s stable and the changing of the guard there—it’s called the Horse Guards Parade, Downing Street (where the Prime Minister is), Big Ben, the London Eye, Leicester Square where we ate dinner in Chinatown, and South Bank, by the London Eye which had a German festival of some sort going on.  We had a great day together!  Lots of laughter.  I’ll let the pictures tell the story.

Inside King's Cross station

Breakfast at King's Cross Station

at King's Cross Station

The British Museum

Jay giving our tour

the plates that Esther's family dined on

Buckingham Palace

Our "candid" family photo in front of the palace (I can't remember what was said that was so funny)

Trafalgar Square

Pulling the tourist card at Trafalgar Square

at the Queen's horses stable

These poor guards put up with so much from tourists

During the Horse Guards Parade

This guard stomped and changed positions--I don't think he liked that we were doing this!

The classic phone booth shot...just with the entire pile of us

The London Eye

Big Ben

Some fun goodies at the German festival at South Bank

They had several bicycles here that if you pedaled, the tree would light up more and snow would fly up inside of the globe

Shops at the German festival

 

Sharing a Chimney Cake

At Leicester Square

Dinner in Chinatown (sorry the photo is blurry)

Riding the tube