Building the Wall, Restoring a City

It's July already! Which means its time for my June update. Two months in a row, I'm getting better at this. At the end of May I had the opportunity to be in one of my good friend's wedding in Toronto, Canada. It was such a blessing to see her, as it had been almost two years since we had last seen each other. It was so much fun to see the city, meet her family and friends, and be a part of celebrating her wedding. It was a beautiful outdoor ceremony under some weeping willow trees, and later we took wedding party photos with colored smoke bombs! After the ceremony, there was another HUGE blessing: my mom came to pick me up! She and my brother took a long weekend off of school and work to come out and see me. We drove from Toronto to upstate New York and spent two too-short days together, and then I flew home to London.
God has been speaking to us about Nehemiah, who was sent back to Jerusalem from captivity in Babylon to rebuild the walls of the city. But there were many people against him, and they had to have a sword in one hand and a shovel in the other. So they were building and defending at the same time. It talks so much about how even if we don't have students or aren't doing many outreaches and "ministry" things right now, we are still in a battle and still facing opposition. We still have to keep our swords in hand and be ready, we can't let out guards down and let the enemy sneak in and whisper in our ears. While we are doing physical things, we are also building something spiritual for the generations and people who are coming in the future.
Speaking of people coming, we are having our next DTS in August!!! As of now we have about 13  students coming! From Sweden, Switzerland, the USA, Australia, Argentina, Germany, and Brazil. We are continuously preparing the house, making more space, getting new kettles, pots, and pans, rearranging luggage, and doing a lot of paperwork for visas. God has been so good to us in that he never gives us more than we can handle, but he definitely has a better picture than we do, and is stretching us in great ways. Our outreach is planned for December 9-January 20th in PUERTO RICO!!! We are preparing a theatre production to go and perform around the island as a whole team. We see the importance of finding a way for all the arts to work together, because now a days artists are so individualistic and proud, that whenever we can combine our strengths, we do. We have some contacts on the island that are already checking different theaters for us, and places we can stay. As well, the annual festival of San Sebastian is on the third week of January, and we will be participating in that. This outreach is going to be more expensive, as it is further away than where we usually go in Europe, and I really am praying for God to provide. I need about $700 for the flight alone, and right now I do not have any of the finances. We are hoping to buy the tickets as soon as possible before the prices go up. If you would like to support me in this please send me a message or email, or you can get in touch with my mom, who is helping manage my banking in the States.
As well, God opened up a door for me to volunteer in a cafe in East London on Brick Lane called Kahaila's. It is a Christian cafe that runs as a charity organization and partners with a bakery that helps at-risk and recovering women. I don't get paid, but it is an incredible opportunity to have more experience in a cafe before we start towards opening our own. It is a dream of mine to run a cafe/restaurant here in London, and I can definitely see God starting to open doors in that area. It is so exciting!!! The ways that we have been praying into this city of London that we love so much, God is so faithful to move. We don't always see it when WE want or think it should happen, but God doesn't move in human ways. He is so much bigger and better than I can ever imagine, and he is SO good.
Some other prayer points are:
-we are still looking for a house/commercial space in Camden
-finances for the outreach to Puerto Rico
-more doors to open for the cafe/tattoo shop/restaurant/clothing shop we are wanting to open
-a smooth process for the students who are coming in august
Thankyou all so much for yours prayers, love and support!!!