Ridley

Ridley Hall. Destroyed by bombs 1940 - Rebuilt to the glory of God 1951

Today, walking past the local bookstore on my way home from a meeting, I saw a card with this inscription on it:

“One of the advantages of being disorganized is that one is always having surprising discoveries.”

- A. A. Milne

I loved the sentiment expressed on this card. Of course, one of the disadvantages of being disorganized is forgetting to have your money on you, so I didn't purchase it this time round. 

Without being totally and completely disorganized, I have still managed to make a few surprising discoveries - the efficiency of the Royal Mail, the wonders of an available public transport system, and the tastiness of mayonnaise on chips being among them. I've also learned some valuable lessons - what the Qur'an says about Jesus, how gentrification is affecting neighborhoods here, the importance of unity in sharing the Gospel.

The past few weeks have mostly been invested in training, settling in, and getting to know the people I'll be living, studying, and working with - English, American, Pakistani, Bulgarian - we're a diverse crowd, which is a great blessing in such a diverse city. The LCM hostel I'm living in is comprised of people from various parts of England and the States (Perhaps too many from the States, as some of our English brothers and sisters would tell you.)

This Monday I saw Ridley Christian Centre – originally Ridley Mission Hall – for the first time. Sammy, the leader at that location, showed us around the Mission and the neighborhood. This Tuesday we were accepted at a local Christian school to do a short lesson on Job with the year six students. Primary schools here run through year six, basically covering preschool through sixth grade. Secondary school runs from the age of thirteen until the age of sixteen – combining part of what we would think of as middle-school with the freshman and sophomore years of high school. At sixteen, students are no longer required to attend school. (Did you hear that, Juniors?) They may choose to join the military or pursue another course of further education, such as an apprenticeship, until they are eighteen. If they choose to continue in school, it would be called college. College is not the same thing as University, which is higher education where they may receive a three-year Bachelor’s degree.

*Whew* That was a lot of information to run you through. Trust me, it had to be said to avoid confusion. After the lesson, we walked back to Ridley to host an after-school club. There were a lot of new students there, mostly year sevens adjusting to their new gender-exclusive secondary schools. Our girls’ club is starting Monday and the boys’ club meets on Fridays right after a community outreach. Tuesday evening we finished with a local Bible study that has been running for quite a while.

Today I had a meeting with some representatives of my sending organisation (I’ll give you the non-North American spelling just to liven up your day a bit) to ensure I was settling in well. Wednesdays will generally be more relaxed than the rest of the week as they’re set aside for connecting with individuals in the community and preparing for Thursday’s lessons.

There you have it. Thank you so much for your prayers, and please feel free to email me. I'm always happy to hear how things are going. I have a church that I’ve researched and intend to visit this Sunday with the hope that it will be a good fit for me as a regular attender. Please pray for discernment there. Also be praying that I would manage money well; that everyone would continue to get along well in the Hostel, classes, and work; that friendships would continue to develop; and that we would be bold and respectful witnesses for the Gospel.

“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”

– Hebrews 10 : 23 - 25 (ESV)

Oh, and I almost forgot, click here for a video testimony from LCM.

A Quiet Moment by Tower Bridge

 

Crisis Averted

Hello Everyone,

My laptop cord arrived today. I should have a full post up over this weekend. First, I would like to ask my housemates and coworkers for permission to mention them on this blog.

Thank you for your prayers and patience,
Corrie

A Technological Malfunction

Hello Everyone,

I wanted to thank you again for your prayers. I'm currently typing this very rapidly on a dying laptop. The power chord I brought with me was old and apparently in bad repair. I say apparently because it fizzed, showed sparks, and was severed in two about half an hour ago. My new charger should be here within the week, but in the meantime, please pray that I ordered the correct one. (Otherwise my next post will be written from a phone.)

That's all for now. I'll be sure to update you on events as soon as I can. God bless!

Love,
Corrie

Training Week

Hello Everyone,

Today was the first day of training. Before I get into that, however, you're probably wondering what I've been up to these past few days. (Apart from tea with the Queen and all the usual things visitors from the States are expected to attend, of course.)

Mostly, I've been getting to know the people I'll be working with this year and walking around the city. I'm trying to get comfortable and be wise in these new surroundings. There's a lot to learn, and I would rather not look every inch a tourist for the entire year. One example - I've got to get used to looking right, then left, then right before crossing the street. However, I can't always remember which way to start looking. As a compromise, I end up whipping my head back and forth about five times before crossing at all.

There's also the language barrier. Who out there actually knew a gherkin and a pickle were more or less the same things? I had one very confusing exchange operating on the assumption a gherkin was a kind of fish.

Alright, back to my original point. Today was the first day of training. We began with singing, then Graham Miller, the CEO of LCM, opened the meeting in prayer. In his introduction, these words stuck out to me,

"We have been brought together today for an overwhelming task..."

An overwhelming task.

Including tourists and people who may not show up on a census, there are an estimated 9 million people living in the City of London. It is known worldwide as a "Super-diversity" due to the incredible mix of cultures found here. In short, to quote Douglas Addams on space, London is "big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is." 

The task is too large for us. However, as Duncan Cuthill, one of the Ministries Directors, reminded us, "Many a mickle makes a muckle." Or, "Many little things make a large thing." We are many little parts, and weak on our own. Together, however, with God's grace and help, it's a different story.

Arrived.

Hello Everyone,

I wanted to let you know I successfully arrived yesterday at 11:30 a.m. local time. (Don't ask me the Mountain Standard time, as I'm trying to ignore it completely in hopes of getting over Jetlag faster.) On my arrival Jonathan, the Ministries Support Manager and Hostel Warden, picked me up and helped me negotiate two large bags and a guitar to the other end of London. I unpacked everything into a lovely room that I don't even have to share at the moment, got cleaned up from the flight, and got to know some of the people I will be working with.

For anyone who's curious about the flight, I got on the plane, watched Chariots of Fire, and pretty much slept until Heathrow.

Today, another intern is arriving. I think she's the last one before LCM training kicks off. There's a meeting tomorrow, but the bulk of the training should be the 5th - 9th. My plan is to run errands - I need to stop by the post office to get my biometric residence permit and then run by the market to buy groceries.

Finally, a word about the hostel, copied straight from the Hostel Manual in the downstairs room,

"Visitors often ask about the Hostel building, so here is a brief history...

The house was built in 1734, in the reign of George II (1727 - 1760), as the parsonage to St John's Church, Horsleydown, which was one of the last works of the Commission for Building Fifty New Churches. This body, which in fact only managed 15 churches, was set up in Queen Anne's reign by the Tories who were anxious to rescue the suburbs from the clutches of nonconformity. By 1734 the Whigs had been long in power, money was short, and for St John's church the commissioners ordered a cut-price job from their two surveyors - Nicholas Hawksmoor and John James. The parsonage was designed by Hawksmoor in 1733.

Land for Horsleydown church and parsonage was bought from St Olave's school as early as 1718, but it  was only in June 1727 that the two surveyors who had been trailing their separate designs were ordered to "jointly prepare a model of the Church by the next meeting that may be built as cheap as possible". The church was built, a rector, Philip Ayscough, appointed, and in July 1733 he applied to the commissioners, stating that as much of a sum of £1,100 "as your Lordships shall judge convenient" should be set aside for building him his parsonage. The vestry minutes preserved in Lambeth Palace Library record on 12 July 1733 that £700 should go to "building a Parson's House". Two of the vestrymen who signed the minutes, John Arnott and William Coates (a mason and carpenter respectively), also signed the detailed contract for building the parsonage on 13 August.

One brick on the east side, just above head height and readable from the pavement of Tower Bridge Road, still has John Arnott's scratched record of the completion date.

Finally, in case you are curious, the Latin inscription on the plaque outside means:

"To give is to receive"
(DARE QUAM ACCIPERE)

You can click here for an image of the house. It's the one on the right with a green door. Feel free to look around the neighborhood. I don't know where anything is yet, so tell me when you find the grocery store. Man does not live on toffee and digestive biscuits alone.

Grace and Peace,
Corrie