Autumn Comes to London

It's September! A new season, new things, new opportunities, new ways to see God moving in the city. These last weeks have really been for digging into God. Discovering identity, intimacy, surrender, and so many other things. God has been showing me so many new sides of himself, of his character, his justice, his Father heart. One of the key verses for me in this time is Ezekiel 3:10 "Moreover, he said to me "Son of man, all my words that I shall speak to you receive in your heart, and hear with your ears.'" That it's not about hearing first, but about the time I spend opening my heart to God to receive from him.  The thing about this month is I don't know what else to talk about other than God, to be honest. We are not doing anything lately except preparing for the outreach and the theatre production, and having teachings and track time. But God has just been moving so much. We have been learning about forgiveness, faith, grace, truth, rejection, authority, and too many other things that God really is bringing out of our lives. He is awakening things in each and every area of our lives right now, I almost feel like I can't catch up, but he still keeps showing us more of his goodness and faithfulness. I have my ticket to Puerto Rico! Which is just one miracle of many in the last months.
Also, it has been a dream of mine to open a cafe here in London, but obviously I have no idea how that will happen, but I know it is something from God. As a team, we have been praying about the cafe, as well as a tattoo shop, a clothing store, and a hairdressers. In the last months, God opened a door for me to be able to volunteer, and later work, in the cafe in East London. After a few weeks volunteering there, they were looking for someone to work on just the weekends, and they ended up hiring me! So I've been able to work on the weekends, take the Food and Hygiene course, and have  barista training. The people I work with are so gracious, funny, and willing to teach me. It's such a miracle in my life, I still can't believe it sometimes. With it, God is really stretching me to depend on him, to be intentional in everything, and to be grateful in every moment. It's so easy to start complaining about having to go to work, or being called in on a day I wasn't supposed to work, when really it should be impossible for me to have this job, and a job that I love and is also supporting what we are moving towards with the YWAM ministry. I feel like I'm talking in circles, but I hope you all catch what I mean with this. I'm just overwhelmed with God.
These next few months we will be running with the theatre production, designing the scenery, writing scripts and music, practicing movement and percussion, and all the choreography possible. We leave at the beginning of December, and will be performing the show in different locations. The theme is about the fight we have with our logic in our mind. I know that God is going to take us all through this process personally before we are able to perform it, so it's going to be some crazy months coming.
things to pray for:
-an answer to prayer first: my ticket is paid for!!!!!
-a few others in the team are still waiting for the finances for the ticket and the outreach
-continued open doors in all the areas of the arts
-we are having and Arts Gathering in Berlin next week, for artists to come together and share vision and inspiration

Catharsis

And so begins another month! I can't believe it September. we are almost one month in to the DTS, and finished with Bones. Tomorrow we start with the regular time table (finally). The last few weeks have been a blur almost. Carnival flew by, as did the time with my family. I guess I should start there. It was amazing to have my brother her again for Bones, and to see him really enjoy and learn how to love God in a whole different way. But not only was my brother here, my mom came, and surprised me with my sister and my high school art teacher/friend Denise Mahoney. Having everyone here during the camp was sometimes difficult, but at the same time incredible for me and them to be able to experience what I live and love as normal life. I am really hoping that my teacher will be able to bring a group next year from my old high school, to experience urban missions and missions using art. This year the camp felt very different. The work seemed like it was going to be a lot more than previous years, but everything came together so smoothly, and we didn't really have to rush so much. But beyond the work, the spiritual atmosphere felt different. It was almost...easy. It was lighter, worship was smoother, and even conversations that we had with people were amazing. I think God was trying to show us that he has already done it, the victory has already been taken, and this year was a year of harvest, of moving in a land that already belongs to us. It was quite a shift, and its hard to not fight after being used to fighting for so many years. But once we settled into the groove, it flowed. For me, it almost felt surreal this year, especially having my family around, and the time flew by. The carnival days were madness, in a good way. We had built a giant eagle structure to represent God, and being under the shadow of his wing. Also we had some square structures set up, where there was guys doing parkour, and at some point the drummers played from the platforms. We were all dressed as factory workers, and the idea behind that was that God is the original dreamer, the original worker, and we are all a part of his plan and his dreams, working in his kingdom. One of the days, we had our friend and fellow YWAMer, Felix, who is a dj, set up his speakers in the church doors, and we threw a massive party out front. We danced until we couldn't any more, and then kept dancing. People stayed for the whole 5 hours that he was mixing, and at the end were sad because they felt a difference, they said they felt safe and comfortable where we were, that they didn't want to leave. It was a huge testimony of God's presence in that place. We also threw out little strips of paper with promises from God written on them. People were so surprised when they read what was on them. One girl I spoke with really could not comprehend the idea that it was a message of love straight from God FOR HER. She repeated it over and over, and let me pray for her and give her more words from God. It was amazing.
Now that we have finished Carnival, we are moving forward with the DTS on a project we are calling, Catharsis. We are going to develop a theatre production involving all the arts to take with us and perform in Puerto Rico. The word "catharsis" means a purging of the mind and emotions through the arts. We are basing the show off of Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas' arguments for the existence of God, and setting the stage inside the mind of the main character. It is going to be a spiritual battle to put this show together, but the end result is going to be incredible. I really feel that God is going to be treating us in different areas of our life as we prepare and produce, before we are ever ready to perform. If we haven't received from Him, how can we give to others? It's usually the way God works, at least with me. We are really excited as a team to do another theatre production, and I personally am so excited to see what God is going to do in my life and in all of our lives through this process. God is already doing so much in the lives of the students, and in all of us staff as well.
Still I am in need of some of the finances for the trip, but God has always been faithful and always will be. If you feel to donate or support in any way, please let me know via Facebook or email. Prayer points continue to be:
-finances for Puerto Rico
-house/commercial space in Camden
-the production, for us to find the right theatre ahead of time
-for the DTS students, for their lives to be changed radically
Thank you all for your continued love and support!
Bless you