London Through God’s Eyes

Hi All!

I just wanted to tell you a bit about what I’ve been up to the past couple weeks.

We have lots of intercession times throughout the week just praying for the city and things going on in the world. During this time the Lord has been speaking to us about the loneliness and depression that hangs over this city. People here don’t look you in the eye here when you pass on the street. No one cares about anyone else. There are so many people here from other countries, they just feel like this isn’t really their home, so why take care of it. For this reason, people just throw their trash on the street. Our neighborhood is one of the worst I’ve seen about this. Sometimes during our evangelism time, we pick up trash. It’s a testimony in and of itself because people ask us why we are doing it. It really opens up a door just to talk to people about Jesus.

Last Thursday we were taking a survey for one of the local churches. They are thinking of starting a school and wanted some feedback on what the neighborhood needed. So we went door to door in the neighborhood around this church. We had been knocking on doors without much luck for about 30 minutes. And then we met John(not his real name).

After we asked if he had any kids for our survey, he began to tell us his life story and how his girlfriend of 8 years left him for another guy. He told us he is a musician, a composer and writer. He talked about how he’d been wounded by the music business. People who were “friends” had stolen his music and claimed it as their own. His identity had been stolen and forced him into bankruptcy.

While listening to all this, I was just amazed at the loneliness and despair of this man. How lonely must you be if you spill out your life story to 2 strangers on your doorstep? The Lord just kept telling me to “just listen to him”. After talking to him for about 45 minutes, we were out of time, but resonating in my spirit was God’s voice saying, “Ask him about Me.” So I did. I asked if he believed in God or what his view was. He proceeded to tell us that he thinks there are good people and bad people and that some people are sent to look after others like guardian angels and whatnot. He went on about this for a while and I asked if I could tell him what I believe. He agreed.

I told him that I believe there is a Creator who always was and always will be. And before the foundation of the world He dreamed of John and He thought about how He would create Him. God didn’t make a mistake and God loves him. I could see the words I was saying bouncing off of him. Nothing was really penetrating the surface. He interrupted me after a minute and went on about the hurts he’d received from people.

When we told him we needed to leave, he continued talking even as we exited his his yard. I was once again hit with the loneliness of this man. As we walked back to the church, I just kept hearing the word “discipleship”. We had been taught earlier in the week about the Great Commission and how it is two fold. It’s not only preaching salvation, but also about discipleship and helping those who have received salvation to grow. I just felt that we needed to be Jesus to him, like go back and just let John play his piano for us or talk to us. God said a seed was planted whether I saw it or not. That’s the part of evangelism I have such a hard time with, not seeing the final result. But God has been showing me that even if I don’t see the fruit of it, I have planted a seed in their heart.

God is slowly allowing me to see London through His eyes. All the hurt and pain and loneliness that abides here. He is allowing our group to be a small light in this area.  Whether we see it right away or not we are making a difference.

I just want to encourage you all in that. People you’ve been praying for for a long time for salvation: friends, family members, people you work with…be Jesus to them. Sometimes the practical acts we do for people speaks louder than the words we say. It could be as simple as listening to them spill their heart or buying them lunch or doing some act of service

On Saturday we went to Camden which is near a canal. We found this tree that had a heart shape and a little tile that said "GOD" glued to it.

. It is those simple things that speak volumes of what’s truly in your heart. It’s putting their needs above our own. It’s giving of our time and energy for the sake of the Kingdom. We get so busy that we don’t even want to take 5 minutes to hear how someone is really doing…not just the polite, “How are you?” “I’m fine,”, but genuinely asking how they are. Let’s be honest, our time is not so important that we can’t invest a few minutes in someone else’s life. So I want to challenge you this week. Do a practical act of service for someone and watch how it brightens their day and opens a door for the Gospel.

I love and miss you all!

Lauren

Had to get one of these classic pics!

This is Tower Bridge(London Bridge)

This is a cool picture of the canal

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