Last time we talked I was heading off to Bedford to help out with a kids camp. Everything went really well and we had a great time. The camp only went for 2days so it was not much time to build relationships with the kids, it would have been nice if it was a bit longer. But 12 kids decided to start following Jesus so that was really great to see! I managed to make my knee even worse than it was – we were playing British Bulldog and one of the kids tackled me, I fell over and landed on my knee which promptly swelled up like I was a cartoon character that had been hit on the head! I had to spend the rest of the day with an icepack on it, and I haven’t been able to do much more than walking since, although recently it has been better.

We spent the following week living in a Church in Bedford. It was the first time I had ever slept, showered and had meals in a church and it was a lot more fun than I expected. We had the sound system to play with, projector to watch movies on and an auditorium to play creative games we devised. During the week we went out on the streets and talked to random people and got involved in some local projects like a cafe for teenagers. One day we did a free car wash, it poured with rain so the few people who did stop stayed in their cars. Unhappy with only washing a few cars we started giving a way tea and biscuits to passers by.. which turned into giving it to people in their cars as they drove by! We had people running across the street at a busy roundabout handing out tea – even to a car with a couple of cops and someone they had arrested in the back! The last night of the week we put on a program for some of the kids from the camp. It was just a bit of a get together and a nice opportunity to see them again. We did a skit and a dance which was all a bit cheesy – but it was our first time performing together so wasn’t too bad! Some photos of the camp and Bedford are here.

Since then we have had many more lectures. A particular highlight was Godly Relationships where we looked at how families are structured, how issues get passed down from generation to generation and how to stop that. We also spent a week in Notting Hill (again living in a church) learning about evangelism. It was quite different to what I expected and really portrayed evangelism more like discipleship – showing people Gods love for them and helping them to get closer to Him. In the afternoons we went out onto the streets to practice starting conversations and trying to steer conversations towards God. I can’t say I was very good at the latter, but I at least enjoyed making conversation with random people and in situations I normally wouldn’t bother.

So now it is time for outreach! Our team has been split in two. 7 people are going to Milano Italy.. and the other 10 of us are going to Kenya, Uganda and possibly Sudan! Everyone is quite excited – I usually save mine for when I arrive in a new place.. we leave on Tuesday so not long to go now :) We have been practising some dramas which has been fun. We are doing one to the song Everything by Lifehouse. Hopefully it will look something like this version on youtube. I am playing Jesus but hopefully won’t be wearing that tunic thing! The drama is quite intense but has a pretty powerful message. I imagine we will take a video of us doing it at some point so that should be nice and embarrassing!!

Well not too sure when I will be in touch next, hopefully at least before we get back on Nov 26.
Please pray for safety for our teams and open hearts for the people we meet.