Late Nights

We are full on in for it with carnival preparation. Last night was one of those 3 am working-til-you-drop kind of nights. High on glue, hands sore from spray painting and cutting, legs wobbly from hours on the stilts. But personally, I love working at night. There's something about being awake until the dawn that makes me excited. And everyone is more funny when they are tired. I think there's a point where people hit a wall though. Which was about ten minutes to 3 last night. But we pressed on and in total got so much completed. We started with cutting foam. What else would we be doing? The puppets are almost completed. It is the best thing to see them getting ready to go out the doors on carnival days. We have worked on these things so dang long, I think I'll cry when they are finished. But last night we cut out 15 helmets, cut them in half, glued them together, glued them to the heads. They look so cool. The bodies are starting to be painted with color, the bits we've been cutting to look like viking fur has been put on the cuff links, the mustaches have been glued on to exaggerate the masculinity of these warriors.
And all this causes a lot of attention. Loud music, young people everywhere, late at night, in a church...People stop in all the time. Some stop just on the door step; some are brave enough to come inside the church; kids point and stare and ask if they can take photos. What's this all for? they ask. Carnival, of course! It is the easiest avenue for evangelism. I think we talk to more people in our non-scheduled times than we do in the hours we are sent out specifically for evangelism! Some passerby's stick around to chat, others laugh it off and walk away, some seem really impacted. It's all planting a seed though. Whether it grows or not is up to them and God. Our task is simple- share the gospel, the message of grace and truth that came through Christ Jesus, the beloved Son of God.
Nowadays we just have to be more creative with the ways we share. This generation is so unique. I know that is said about every generation, but really. Our generation, my generation, is so different. A lot of people just don't know what to do with us, or what will become of us. And that is our greatest strength. We are such a passionate and extreme group of people, unable to pin down or define. Imagine if even half of them were on fire for God. How we could change this world! So we attack that head on. We take our crazy giant puppets; and dancers and stilt-walkers; costumes of wind, fire, water. We have to stand out. We have to jar them, get their attention. There are so many other things vying for our attention in this age. What will win out? I guess that's the question, isn't it.

Preparation Time

Thud! I look over and see one of our male stilt walkers completely laid out on the floor. Evidently the makeshift walls for the girls sleeping area are not very stable. And when you have 4 extra feet of fake legs strapped to yours, it's a long ways to fall. This is only part of the madness. Cardboard and plastered  pieces of armor lay along the tables waiting for a template to paint on fake abs or fake shoulder blades. Soon to come is the neon spray paint that will make us stand out even more. Our warrior costumes are coming together. All the sewing has been finished. Marta slaves away at the iron, making sure there are no wrinkles in the costumes so we can properly decorate them. There's a chainsaw running in the background, cutting apart pallets for who knows what! Johanna and Matias practice tango so that we can perform in the streets and draw a crowd.
It's starting to come together. Everything my internship has been about, all the preparation for the Arise All Nations outreach and it is already over. Now we are in full swing prep for the carnival. People pop into the church as they see the stilt walkers and hear the percussionists practice our war march. Josue is teaching about 10 people a routine that we will all follow in our procession around Notting Hill. Stilt walkers, warriors, puppets 15 ft tall, marchers- all accompanied by a strong drum line, a call to the nations, a declaration of war. We are sure to draw a lot of attention.
This carnival is said to be second largest to Rio's Carnival. It's origins are in the race riots that were held just around the corner at our very own Ladbroke Grove tube station in August of 1958. The carnival came the year after the riots as the "unofficial reply" to the riots. It has been growing ever since. Now people come ever year at the end of August, gets themselves smashed, wasted, stoned out of their minds, and however else you say "completely removed from reality". The shops around board up, the churches close, no one can drive through, and you can barely even walk through on carnival days.
And yet here we are. We have come from all over the world to shine God's light in this place. And we know that light shines brightest in the darkness. This carnival, this whole area, has a serious darkness. People think us crazy, they ask us why we would come to such a difficult area, and our answer is always "Because that's where God is needed the most." When there is only darkness, it gives God the biggest opportunity to do the craziest miracles. And when we pray, God moves.
It doesn't look very glamorous, sleeping on the floor of the church, showering only every few days, getting 4 or 5 hours of sleep, depending on how lucky you are, and working our butts off during the day. But we have the best time of it. What more could I ask for? Working with my friends, my family, to further the kingdom of our God in London. but really the impact is worldwide. All the things we do,  plant seeds. And we perform for an international audience. For His glory, so others may know the joy we have, and the grace we have been given, and the future we get to look forward to.

Bones

Bones.

Dry bones.

Weary bones.

Heavy bones.

Dead bones. 

Son of Man, can these bones live?

Breath was given to dust and it became man.

Ashes and dust, rise.

Be filled with the breath of life.

The Word of the Lord is life, so speak. 

Speak life.

Speak truth.

Awake.

Rise.

Dance.

As life comes to these dry bones,

so hope will come to the desolate soul.

Lift up your head,

Oh you gate.

Be watching for the return.

The bridegroom is coming.

Dead bones.

Heavy bones. 

Weary bones.

Dry bones.

Live.

Ezekiel 37                                                                                                                                    Psalm 27 vs 1 to 14                                                                                                                                             vs 7

A Need

So, you all have been following my journey for some time now. Maybe even from Kenya to now. And the next part of my life is the most intense yet. It is going to require crazy faith, and serious prayer. I will be living here in England for at least two years, if not more. My commitment has been made, and I know it's exactly where God wants me to be. But my financial situation is....struggling. I will not be able to work while I'm here, unless it's a back door, under the table kind of thing. I will have staff fees to pay, rent, and living expenses on top of that. So what I'm asking is that you will pray about supporting me. Whether it be a one time support, or a monthly thing, please pray and ask God, as I will be praying for His faithfulness.
I know this is where I should be, in a huge part because I cannot physically do it on my own. Once again He has to come in and save me. Which I think is the whole point. God wants me to rely on Him, so He puts me in situations where I can't do anything else but cry out. And the best part is, He's always faithful. Whether it's finances, character changes, heart issues, family problems, direction, He always comes through. It might be hard in the getting there, but it so worth it in the end. So please consider and pray about supporting me in this next season of my life, and if God puts something on your heart, even if it's just a prayer, email or Facebook is the best way to contact me (periwinkle228@hotmail.com). Thankyou so much. Love to my family and friends.

Soho Night Live

So, my life is getting crazy. We've been given the keys to a cafe in Soho, and we've opened it up to the nightlife in that area. It has a very heavy spirit of homosexuality and prostitution. the cafe is across from an adult shop, and next door to a brothel. It is heart breaking. We open the doors every wednesday, friday, and saturday with coffee, tea, cakes, art on the walls, and live music downstairs. Me and Jordan have put our artwork up on the walls, in place of some other creepy stuff that was there when we began. We paint outside every night to draw people in and we put people out on the streets to start conversations. The area is Satan's playground.
Right now we have several teams working with us. the DTS from April who spent three weeks in Poland recently; individuals from England, the US, Argentina, the Philippines and Chile; a family from Sweden; a team from Sweden; a team from Norway; a team from Chile; a team from Orlando; a team from Columbia; a team from Korea; and a team from South Africa right now. All these people have come to work with us to reach this area, while it's full of people for the Olympics. Most if not all of them are some sort of artists. It's craziness!
So last night was insane. We had spoken to a prostitute on wednesday, and she had given her life to Jesus and was radically changed. She was saying she could feel the spiritual atmosphere, and that she felt so much better with us than with anyone else she'd been with. We sent her home on the bus with kisses and hugs. Unfortunately she came back last night cussing us out, and telling us she didn't need Jesus, with new scars on her legs and chest. Satan has such a strong hold on this area. There have been many other people we've met who've told us they sold their souls to the devil, that they can't be saved. It's very intense, and sometimes really scary. We always have a guy standing outside with us while we paint.
The best conversation I've had yet started with a young guy coming up and asking if we just saw a prostitute chasing a black guy down our alley....which there had been! It was ridiculous. But we got talking, and he's an Irish guy who happens to be a classical pianist. He was very intellectual and asked all the hard questions about faith, including why God lets bad things happen. For some reason, I put my foot in my mouth and gave the worst answer ever, but Lexie and Heather came to the rescue and he stuck around a bit longer. He was on his way to hang out with some friends, but ended up talking with us for over and hour, and even coming back later. It's always really difficult when you meet people who were raised in religion, whether it be Catholic or some form of Christianity, and have given up on it. But he was very open and understanding of us. He said once that he was so impressed that young women were out there by choice speaking out on their faith, when the whole world is against them right now, and it must be the hardest fight we've ever fought. He is so so so close to getting it, but he's seen so much hurt and can't understand why it happens, and I don't know how else to explain it other than man is fallen, and our world is full of sin and bad things. Hopefully he's coming back tonight to play for us.
It's always really cool to come inside the cafe from painting and see all of my team mates having discussions with all types of people. We had a pair of friends from Latvia come in and hang out for the whole night. They had been on their way to find somewhere to party, but all the clubs were gay, and no one was dancing. So they "happened" upon our cafe. They are wine distributors living in London, one of them a musician as well. So we invited them downstairs, and Rheanne was with them most of the night. When they left, they told her that they felt so accepted, that they didn't have to be anything but themselves with us. I was so encouraged! Because that's exactly what we're going for. To show people that we are not religious, we're not bible-thumping, soap-box screaming people. We are regular people, who live an extraordinary life but the grace of God.
The only bad thing is that we attract the worst people. Like last night, some of the guys were playing on the sidewalk, and someone threw a bucket of water out the window and got them soaking. It happened three more times that night, even though we weren't loud. And one of the guys from the apartments next door came out, swearing like a sailor and telling us to beat it, almost starting a fight with the guys Chris was talking to at the time. The old guy made it down the alley and we let it go, but he came back a minute later with two police officers. They knew that he was not stable (high out of his mind) and so they sent him upstairs to him apartment. They chatted with us for a while, joking about the kind of people we attract because we're missionaries. They asked us to keep the music inside, and keep the wild conversations down, then went and talked to the old man. After they left, he came down and walked the alley twice more, fuming. But we didn't get any more trouble from him.
God really turned the night around for me. On the bus ride there, I was feeling really ill and just wanted to go back home. When we arrived at the cafe, one of the Norwegian team members was actually sick, throwing up and stuff. But once I got painting and got into the spirit of loving the people, Jesus worked on my body and heart and kept me awake and healthy. It's really sad when an early night is 3am, but that's what last night was. Getting back to the church, washing my hair, and getting in my bed by 4am was sweet relief.
In other exciting news, I've made a commitment of two years at this base, in the arts house, being a full part of the ministry and this family here. I've never heard from God so strongly about direction. Thankyou all for your prayers and thoughts during this time. It's continuing to be amazing, as more and more teams come through, reviving our spirits and strengthening our resolve to make God known.