Lovely London

Question: What do these words have in common? Lovely, splendid, brilliant, cheers, rubbish
Answer: They are all words that are suddenly in your vocabulary when you go to England!

No no I don't have the British accent to go with it...yet :)

I have another question for you. Did you know the nations of the world are in London? It is one of, if not the most, culturally diverse city in the world. And if we as Christians start to think of Gods kingdom, it is an amazing opportunity to reach out and serve all the people groups with the love of Jesus.

I was able to see a brief snapshot of this in my few days in London. I stayed with an incredible married couple who run a community center in the middle of a predominantly Muslim neighborhood in London. They have ministered there for several years and have built relationships with the Muslim people by teaching English classes, tutoring children, cooking meals, and hosting special activities. What I saw there were people being loved and cared for in such a way that they kept coming back because they were treated with such kindness and compassion.

One evening a Muslim family came over for dinner. The couple who runs the ministry center have been building a relationship with them for five years. They have three precious children. The Muslim couple have been going through very difficult times with serious illness and an injury on the job. But what I saw was that the ministry center had become a place of refuge for them in city that is so big that you can feel all alone.

Oh, what a great time we had that evening as we ate a meal together, laughed together, and shared life. What a great need there is to do this work in London.

I'm off to northern England now by train to stay for a few days to see more ministry areas. But London...I just don't think I can get you off my mind :)