The Prayer Tent

I want to see this happen. Soon. I need to get up and do it myself if no-one else wants to join me.

Drawing Crosses

For the second time this week, I find myself amidst people drawing crosses on inanimate objects. Strangely, the expressed purpose each time seemed quite different from my perspective. Is God trying to show me a deep difference, or an underlying similarity?

News Articles

I came across a couple of interesting articles in my travels today:

Aussie encourages Londoners to say hello

"Mr June' from the Mission Australia calendar of homeless people

And this is a late addition that I think is fantastic:

UK: Liverpool Boiler Room launched at Strawberry Fields
The Liverpool children's home that became world famous after The Beatles 1967 hit song "Strawberry Fields Forever" has just re-opened its doors as 24-7 Prayer's Liverpool Boiler Room - operated in association with the Salvation Army.

I think this is so cool...

Check out Andrew Clark's blog about creating a Prayer-mobile (like the Batmobile, but with more leg-room).

Coffee and Hope

I repeated yesterday's experiment and went for coffee again. And I discovered the strangest thing... community felt very close and easy to foster. A couple of guys at the next table said hello as I sat down, and we chatted a bit before they got back to their own conversation. People rushing for buses caught my eye and smiled back.

It's not always that easy. Not only that, the novelty of going somewhere and doing something different will wear off when I start seeing the ugly and just boring face of things. But for now, after the sorrow of last night, I feel the truth of the old Psalm -

weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.
Psalm 30:5b

Anyway, lest you think I turned all sentimental and smushy, let me go on...

I found a picture today that spoke to me. It was taken in the suburb that I've been talking about so much. I couldn't find any copyright information or contact details for the person who took the photo, so I'll include the site I found it on, and the photographer's name as given on that site.

It's from Images of Brisbane, and is attributed to Karen Milder.

Something I've worked out this week - I'm not very good at balance. I need to make sure I'm working on my marriage, too. No, it's not in crisis... I'm just getting a little unbalanced. It's like juggling. I'm OK when I've got two items to juggle. But it's boring. So I add more items, and it's exciting... and difficult.

Coffee and Meetings

I went for coffee this morning.

It was an interesting experience. I paid $1 for a black coffee, sat outside, and watched two (seemingly) different worlds go by. There were mostly well-dressed people rushing to work, and homeless? people ambling along the footpath chatting to their mates sitting near me. Some of my fellow customers bought breakfast too - weetbix, cornflakes or chocolate gateau.

I think I preferred the lower-income way of doing Monday mornings.

We had our weekly (so far) 'throw ideas about community around' meeting tonight. I was sad to find that one of the main points on the agenda was 'should we be holding these meetings anymore?' Man... they've been inspiring and encouraging me to get in there and do something. Maybe the meetings seem a lot less important to people who're already working together and in the Valley. To me they've been an important connecting point. But hey... I'm not everyone, right?

Novelty and Commitment

Whew...

I think the novelty has worn off this blog!

Regardless, here's a quick update on our doings:

• I'm exploring a cafe run by a charity in the area - and thinking that maybe I could have an accountability meeting there... great reason to be there once a week.
• Our corps leader is looking at coming along to planning meetings - woohoo!
• We've been throwing ideas around as to what we can do with our current resources. A couple of ideas close to my heart are in the mix.
• I'm pondering Christmas ideas. I'd love to hold an open Christmas Eve party. Any ideas/experiences you can share with me?