prayer @ Newman's/Toggies...

We're continuing our monthly rhythm of 24-hour prayer next weekend, kicking off at midday on Saturday 6th and ending at midday on Sunday 7th March (and then we'll be at Clare and David's house for community meal from 12.30pm - please let them know if you're going to be there).

I'll email out the rota for our 24-hours of prayer a little bit later. If we fill it up really quickly, we might add an extra 12/24 hours and start on the Friday instead... but let's see how we do with what we've got first.

To follow-on with the way we've been praying this past couple of weeks, we'd like to describe this prayer room as a 'waiting room'... space to wait on God, to listen out for revelation... even regarding things that we've been wondering and praying and talking about for some time. So come with that in mind.

We'll probably also take some time over the weekend to respond to the bit in Justin's prophetic word to us about Romford train station... would you like to take a little prayer-wander down there sometime?

Let's pray...

prayer spaces in schools, Coopers Coburn

In less than 18 months, we've now had six whole weeks of prayer in secondary schools... and there are at least 3 or 4 more to go before the Summer break. Last week, I joined in with the re:generation guys for our first week in Coopers Coburn School, where Caroline Shepherd used to be a student!

I'm going to post some more thoughts and reflections on my blog a bit later, but as a summary - it was amazing, yet again. The Head of RS popped in before we'd even finished packing the room down on the Friday afternoon to show us an email she'd sent to the Head teacher, with a list of recommendations for how to keep the momentum going. Waaaaaay beyond what we'd hoped.

Please keep praying for me, and for others involved in this stuff. For Caroline and probably Sue as they explore taking the 'Unseen Traffik' show into Coopers. For me - I'm speaking at a Havering youth workers forum next Saturday, and I'm also up to my neck in all this with 24-7 nationally. Fun fun fun...

Newsy bits and bobs...

It was fun to be together at Sarah & Dewi's today for our community meal. There were a bunch of dates and newsy bits and bobs, so I thought it might be worth posting them up here...

Please pray for Phil and others who are hosting a prayer space in Coopers (secondary) School, Upminster this week (22nd - 26th). This is the third 'prayer spaces in school' week since September, and there are at least four more in our Borough before July. Amazing stuff!

And please pray for Rich, who's doing a Fair Trade presentation tomorrow. See below for all the info on Fair Trade fortnight which starts today.

Izzy is one of 24-7's Wild Goose interns this year, and she'll be staying with the Toggies/Newmans from Monday 22nd till Thursday 25th. Say hello if you bump into her.

Monday 22nd: creative/craft circle at Toggies/Newmans from 7.30pm. Anyone is welcome to come and join in... either to share a creative skill, or learn one, or just join in/watch. Lots of fun.

Tuesday 23rd: prayer at Rosi & Jon's, from 8.30pm

Thursday 25th: Unseen Traffick follow up evening, at The Deeper Lounge beside St Edwards Church in Romford market-place, from 7.30pm - whether you saw the Unseen Traffick show back in November or not, if you're interested in 'human trafficking' in any way, you're very welcome to come along. Caroline Shepherd and Sue & Drew are hosting an session to explore human trafficking a little more, and to consider how we can engage in challenging this injustice, beginning locally.

Sunday 28th: Mandy Moo (ex-Wild Goose intern - she's already visited us a few times) coming to stay with Anna & Tim for a month, to 'check us/Romford out', and to decide whether to move here permanently. Be hospitable. Invite her for dinner.

prayer weekend... we'll be praying for at least 24 hours (maybe more) between Friday 5th and Sunday 7th March. Any preferences/thoughts?

Strictly Fairtrade Tea Dance

The event will be held on Saturday 27 February in Spitalfields Market.
It will run from 12 noon to 5pm, and is free and open to the public. From salsa to samba, from ballroom to Bollywood beats, come along and get movin’ in support of Fairtrade!

The programme will include dance performances and workshops representing a variety of styles and many different Fairtrade producer countries. Enjoy performances and participate in free dance classes from the following wonderful groups:

• London Swing Dance Society
• Kensington Dance Studio - Ballroom dance
• Threebee, Bollywood and Bhangra Beats
• Ritmo – Brazilian Dance Company
  Salsa Teen Dance Group, with Latinculture.net Salsa & Tango Classes and entertainment
• Al Zaytouna - Dabke Palestinian dance

Join us to learn more about Fairtrade, sample and buy Fairtrade goodies at the Fairtrade market, register your Fairtrade swaps as part of The Big Swap campaign – and of course dance!

The event location is:
Spitalfields Market, 1 Crispin Place, Shoreditch, E1 6DW (near Wagamama and Leon).

Fairtrade news

It is great when products become Fairtrade products, but it is really exciting when a company makes 100% of their products Fairtrade.

I was listening to the radio this morning to an interview with Ben (Cohen) and Jerry (Greenfield) - apparently despite Unilever taking over their ice cream business ten years ago they still speak for the business.

Anyway the interview was all about the fact that they are making their entire range of ice creams Fairtrade by the end of next year in Europe and by the end of 2013 in the rest of the world. It was an interesting interview because they were very candid about the fact that this would have happened sooner had they not had to answer to Unilever's managers. They were also very frank about the fact that Fairtrade really has not caught on in the USA as it has this side of the Atlantic.

Lots of Fairtrade profile. You can hear the interview I heard here.

You can also see them on BBC Breakfast here.

Also, there's an article in the FT about it here.

This news come after last month when Green & Black made a similar announcement. Up until now only their Maya Gold chocolate has been Fairtrade. By then end of 2011 their entire range becomes Fairtrade. Brilliant!

Tuesday Night Refelections

Heya guys!

Was just a small number of us last night but thought I'd share a few of the reflections that came up as it felt significant.
Mainly to highlight again two words that had come up time and time again throughout the week and these are the words 'Slow' and 'Patience'. I remember Drew mentioning 'Slow' on the first night I think, and it was echoed a few times by other people. I also wonder if it comes into play with the image Dewi had of the seasons?
The really cool part though came when we were putting our words into the dough on Sunday and there came a little voice (Oscar), who offered his word into the mix... of all the words he should choose he said, 'Patience'. Which, when you think about it, seems an unlikely choice. (Feel free to correct us though Claire! :) ). Ian admitted he assumed Oscar had got it from when Claire shared on Friday about the 'wide space', only to realise Oscar wasn't even there! Maybe it was the emotive music playing in the background as we talked about this, but I felt a stirring in my Spirit as I remembered that moment.
We prayed about this some more and my personal feeling is that this is about listening. When we are 'slow' we are able to listen more. I also happened to fall upon the topic of patience later that night in a book I am reading which Anna kindly lent me called Finding Sanctuary.

Humility involves patience and that is why it provides a good opportunity for personal growth. Patience is not the same as tolerance, since some things should not be tolerated. But all things should be dealt with patiently; an over hasty response is rarely helpful, even in a crisis. But nor is patience simply grinning and bearing things we hate; that is endurance. Patience is more subtle: it is the attempt to live out in a positive frame of mind the difficulties that come from trying to obey and love other people. To embrace patience is to embrace suffering, but a suffering out of love.

Peace.
J0N

Prayer Week, Day Five

Our final evening together... before launching into 38 hours of non-stop prayer, and then gathering for our community meal on Sunday afternoon. What a week! :)

We re-capped the last couple of days and prayed that Holy Spirit would help us to filter and sift through all we've felt and heard, so that we discern the way forward together. After summarising Justin Blake's email-dream about the station/journey and the prayer spaces, I read an email that David sent me;

"I was interested to hear/read JB's prophetic word, especially the bit about the prayer room being a safe, restful space with drink/food. Earlier in evening yesterday my mind wandered a little, triggered by something Dewi prayed about going/reaching out.

I saw the festival thing in Rafael's Park that we went to last summer, and in my mind's eye there was an open-fronted marquee with space for prayer (and being prayed for), free food, local people relaxing and talking. I didn't think anything of it until I read JB's prophetic word again this evening. I was thinking that 'mobility' is an important aspect. Tents more than bricks. Going out and creating a welcoming space. A kind of 'community roadshow'!

Not that that precludes anything else of course. Not even sure if it's God or just 'me'. Anyway, something to add into the mix perhaps."

We didn't feel that this was 'just David'. :)

The conversation and the prayer weaved in and out all evening. Here's a brief summary;

+ Jon likened Helen's sewing to the ways that God was weaving the things we'd written on the scraps of paper yesterday into our lives. "We wear them like scout badges" he added. "Let's..." go for it!

+ Tim talked about 'moving on' and told us that we can't do it tidily. There are always loose ends. The challenge for us is to choose to move on, and to leave some of our ways behind. Which reminded me of our last non-stop prayer weekend, and the 'river' we'd created in the prayer room in response to the story in Exodus 33. It's time to cross over. This seemed to fit in with what Justin had dreamed about us too.

+ Rosi read the parable of the ten virgins and the oil lamps, and felt that this was encouragement to live led by, and intimate with God's Spirit.

+ Rich described a picture he'd had all week of a forest. Emma added that she'd been praying for Tim about 'forests', and then Tim explained a few things he'd seen in a documentary about forests... about seeds been buried, but protected from the frost by the trees above, about clearing trees to release the new life/seeds, etc. It all seemed to fit together.

+ Rosi felt that this all spoke to her of slow and safety and sanctuary and hope...

+ Rich added that he'd been carrying 'hope' around in his pocket all week. :)

+ Clare picked up the slow theme, and talked about patience. She described God's relationship with us as parent to child. Parent-God is encouraging us in a particular direction, but is patient and gentle in allowing plenty of room for our "childlike meanderings" in the general direction. It is not a narrow way! There is nothing to fear in this!

+ Emma pointed to a collage on the wall, and the different distinct threads. "It makes me think of the textures and colours of our community life, which are being added to all the time."

+ Sue acknowledged that she'd been pining recently for something 'old' and 'past', as if she'd lost something of her life with God... but that she now felt excited and hopeful about a 'new future'. "There is a way forward that I haven't anticipated yet."

This felt like a good time to pray for one another... so, picking up Jon's image of the scout's badges, we each grabbed a handful of the scraps of paper we'd written values on and prayed for one another around these themes. As usual, glorious chaos ensued... :)

After this, as we drew the final themes of our week together, we asked ourselves the question -are we ready to say clearly and confidently what kind of people God has called us together to be? Are we ready, as Sue said, "to nail our colours to the mast", to cross over, to choose to go and to go together into the new season... to begin a new season of "childlike meandering" together?

We toyed with the idea of 'engagement and marriage'... in this moment, acknowledging all that Jesus has spoken to us and through us to one another, we feel ready to 'engage' ourselves to this way... to being a people of prayer, of welcome and hospitality, of justice, of creativity, of safety and sanctuary, of hope. And in this short period, we will count the cost, consider the implications, and prepare to be wed.

In closing, Ian read a few verses from Matthew 11, where Jesus invites his friends to 'come with him' (remember David's picture earlier in the week of Peter asking Jesus to call him out of the boat and onto the waves?). Reflecting on this now, it feels to me that these verses wrap it all up... "Come with me," says Jesus, "lay down your burdens, your old ways, and take on this new yoke. Be yoked with and to me. My burden is light and my yoke is easy. Come carry it with me."

And so we say, "yes, Lord".

Prayer Week, Day Four

For our fourth evening praying together, we switched venue from Rosi and Jon's to our community house. With candles and some incense, and some low-volume chill-out beats, we gathered in the main room and began to pray once more...

Picking up on common themes from the week-so-far, we prayed that people would experience the generous welcome of God through our pale hospitality. We prayed particularly for friends who are finding life hard for one reason or another right now... that Jesus, the Prince of Peace, would be with them, and that they would experience God's welcome in us too.

Later on, Tim asked everyone to hold out their open hands - to position ourselves to receive, to welcome God's gifts.

For some reason, this made me think of Paul's letter to the Philippians, where he describes his determination to forget what is behind him, and strain towards what is ahead, into all that Jesus Christ has taken hold of his life for. I prayed that we would throw off everything that hinders us, the fear/sin that so easily entangles us, and run the race marked out ahead of us.

Jon asked that God would restore his naivety, his expectation that 'revival is just around the corner'! We prayed for a childlike faith to be born again in us.

And then Tim walked around the room praying for each person in turn.

For the remainder of the evening we did a little exercise together. We imagined someone encountering us for the first time, and someone being able to encounter all that we are in one moment... how would this person describe who we are? We all scribbled our thoughts on scraps of paper, and then attempted to group them into themes. Here's what emerged;

+ creative, gifted, original, creativity, creative - music, baking, art, textiles, being 'out of the box', story-telling, arts

+ cafe, food, good cooks

+ a heartbeat (life)

+ real

+ multi-layered

+ justice, compassionate, seeking justice

+ Romford & London, local

+ interesting, challenging

+ safe, safe, a safe place where it's OK to have questions and express feelings

+ happy, party

+ we all have an equal part to play, individuality

+ listeners

+ prayer, a people of prayer

+ Jesus-centred

+ encouragers, encouraging

+ kind, loving, friendly, fun (for no reason), supportive, open, warm, relationships - open - not limited to structures, welcoming, welcoming, welcoming, acceptance, hospitable/welcoming - easy to join/easy to leave, welcoming

+ see/sense the presence of God

We prayed a bit to wrap up the exercise, but also agreed to continue tomorrow evening... :)

Prayer Week, Day Three

Tim started by reading a Psalm full of instruments and songs and melody. And then Jon followed this by reading a few paragraphs from Tolkein's Silmarillion which described musicians and singers gathering to participate in the Song of creation, the Great Symphony.

It reminded me of Nate and Merisa Chud's prophetic word to David a couple of years ago, all about rhythm. David and I met in a pub a few weeks later to reflect on the word and try to figure out it's meaning. We talked about our community being a collection of wonderful 'soloists', who maybe need to learn to 'play together'... by submitting to percussion, a rhythm (of life), the soloists begin to harmonise and become an orchestra - greater than the sum of their parts.

Rosi talked about being slow, seasons being slow, and encouraged us to enjoy the process of learning to harmonise. Jon added that any band needs to learn to listen carefully to the other instruments.

David then talked about a short documentary he'd seen about a conductor who taught business-people using the metaphor of 'orchestra'. He talked about not judging, about encouraging, about 'starting with an A', and compassion... and we took this back into prayer for a few minutes...

As we prayed, a strong theme emerged - we want to be a community of welcome, where people feel warmly accepted and not judged. We want to be hospitabe with our lives, and not just with our homes and mealtables.

Tim followed this by pointing out that we need to be willing to welcome ourselves, so that we can be fully free to welcome others. Jesus said, "love your neighbour as yourself."

And then Rosi read some verses from the book of Joel (2v28); "And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people (she emphasised, "all of you, all of you, all of you!"). Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions."
And then she read Joel 3v18, which talked about water and wine and fountains pouring on acacia... (which, strangely, means quite a lot to our community household. We very nearly named the house 'acacia'.) Ian commented that the second one is dependent on the first - the water/wine/fountain is poured out in and through us, by his Spirit. We are the presence of God.

We acknowledged that it is fear - of rejection, of failure, etc. - that prevents us from contributing sometimes... from 'playing our sound', from risking loving others, even from receiving God's poured-out Spirit. So... by way of response, we stood and prayed for one another, to be filled with God's Spirit without measure, :)

To close, I read a dream that Justin Blake (good friend of 24-7 prayer) had back on 1st January, which seems very relevant to this moment of our journey...

"On 1st January I dreamt that I was in Romford with the 24-7 Community visiting a new 24-7 prayer room that had recently opened in the centre of the community. The prayer room was part of the railway station and had a café.

The prayer room was used by the 24-7 Community and local people and had a steady stream of commuters and local people passing through. As I walked away from the prayer room I was left with the sense that this was a wonderfully, free and safe space where people wanted to be and where they were able to be themselves. It was a place in the heart of the community to pray but also a place where people met friends, talked with local people over a drink/food and a place where people could pop in simply to rest and unwind.

At the end of the dream I walked around the railway station and saw that much of it was undergoing major reconstruction and development.

Railways often represent our life/journey and the moving from one season to the next. My interpretations are:

The start of 2010 marks an important and significant shift for the 24-7 Community in Romford. The Holy Spirit has been at work forming, growing, nurturing and pruning this prayerful community and that time of preparation and formation has come to an end. It is a marker moment. Now is the time for them to know clearly their DNA, who they are called to be and where they are to practically engage in blessing/serving their local community. It is the end of one season and the beginning of an exciting new time together. To me the dream also speaks of planting new places of prayer into the heart of Romford. I’d encourage a few of you from Romford to pray around the railway station to see if the Holy Spirit says anything about planting a place of prayer into that location specifically. It may be more than symbolic in the dream.

The ‘Waiting Room’ of a railway speaks clearly about prayer and prayer rooms staying at the heart of our communities and at the heart of our lives. There is also encouragement in this dream to keep nurturing holisitic places of prayer that are also places of hospitality."

Amen. So be it. Help us to weigh this, Holy Spirit, and receive fully what is from you...

Prayer Week, Day Two (part two)

Once again God remained the centre of our conversation between Him and with each other!

We began by thanking God for our time last night, freedom from our fears. We meditated on what David had shared about stepping out of the boat, and how Peter first listened for God's voice calling back. We asked God to show us what the 'boat' might mean for us individually and as a community and where he may be calling us to step out into.

Ros had the word WONDER! Wonder of God, wonder of people. A child like simplicity to love one another.

Tim shared how he felt God wanted to kiss us, a big intimate kiss. He felt that stepping out of the boat meant for us moving into a deeper intimacy, and read from Hebrews 4 v 16 ...therefore we can come BOLDLY to the throne. Also that worship reminds us of who God is, so we know his grace and are then able to share it. He also talked about having grace for the little things, not just the big things, which can sometimes be easier, but having grace for the everyday things that can irritate.

Emma and Wendy shared about being open with each other, asking for help, being vulnerable, deeper relationship with God and each other. Trusting God and trusting each other.

We talked about honouring people, sharing our lives and our stories not just in opening our homes. We prayed for God to reveal to us ways we can be more open with each other, and create spaces we can do so.

Clare reminded us of prayer as the first and last resort, the power of praying in earnest in times of darkness (JAMES 5 v13- 18).

Prayer Week, Day Two

Here's a brief summary of our first evening together, last night (Taken from my ToggieTales blog)... let's reflect on this and dig a little deeper on Tuesday evening, back at Rosi & Jon's...

~ _ _ _ _ _ ~

As a community of friends in and around Romford we're praying every evening this week and then non-stop, 24-7-style, from Friday evening until our community meal at midday on Sunday. In his email-intro, Jon summarised our hope... that God will "shine a light on who we are together", that we can discern and commit ourselves to our 'calling' together. Tonight was a good start.

Eleven of us gathered in Rosi and Jon's front room, illuminated by the candles, and soothed by tunes by LTJ Bukem and Sigur Ros. After Jon and Dewi introduced the week and invited us to share our expectations of the week together, we began to pray... and for ninety minutes or so we dipped in and out of prayer and conversation. We described pictures and read Bible-passages. We prayed for one another when that felt appropriate. And we listened carefully.

Below, I've summarised a bunch of the themes and pictures that emerged tonight. I realise that readers who are not part of our local community life may not 'get' some of this, nor feel the weight of it's significance, but that's OK. Please just pray for us, that we would be;

"intelligent and discerning in knowing him (God) personally, our eyes focused and clear, so that we can see exactly what he is calling us to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for us in Christ Jesus, oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him - endless energy, boundless strength." (Ephesians 1, The Message)

"It's in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for."

+ we need space to express our feelings and hopes

+ we may reach the end of the week and find a simple summary - our outcomes don't have to be profound and mysterious

+ this week is partly about healing and 'letting go', so that we can 'go'... individually and together

+ it's a pilgrimage, a journey. Holy Spirit, guide us...

+ our relationships are essential. We need to learn to love one another more deeply

+ we also need to receive the Father's pleasure and love... Father is delighted

+ "we want to know who we are, but we need to know who he is"

+ the first of Dewi's email questions (see our community whispers blog for the full list) was "What does our community mean to you?" Megan replied, "Trust" This felt significant

+ David re-told the story of Peter walking on the water to Jesus. Peter calls out, "If it's you Lord, tell me to come", and Jesus replies, "Come!" Perhaps we are calling out the same as Peter?

+ Dewi described a picture he'd had of the seasons, the process of life. Rosi said that this reminded her of rhythms of life, of action and reflection. Jon talked about seasons in relationships, which reminded me of the classic group-work forming-storming-norming-performing theory... perhaps we are to move into deeper, more authentic relationships

+ Drew took the seasons theme further and talked about them being slow. And obvious, I added. We can 'read the seasonal signs' fairly easily. Perhaps we could do the same in our community life - read the seasonal signs? Sue mentioned that we rest better in darkness, which Dewi and David followed with encouragement not to fear. "Do not be afraid... trust me, says the Lord. I love you!"

+ dipping back into prayer, we asked God to show us where we are afraid, where fear limits our generosity and hospitality and love-for-others, and to pour in his love... which drives out and displaces all fear.

+ we prayed for Jon and Richy and Karen specifically. Somehow that too felt part of our pilgrimage this week... part of the same searching process, towards our together-identity. Dewi affirmed that this week is about us, who we are and how we are together, not about an idea or a concept or a 'mission statement'. In expressing our love and care for towards one another, in 'fitting' the pieces of our lives together, a big picture will slowly emerge...

+ and then Ian wrapped things up a bit, suggesting that it all linked together... seasons, relationships, learning to trust deeply and love one another, which drives out fear. He read a verse from Ephesians about Jesus' "extravagant love". "I want to love extravagantly," he added. "If we want to move on as a community, a spiritual family together, then we have to move on in our love for one another."

Same time, same place tomorrow... :)

Prayer Week, Day One

Our Prayer Week starts tonight at Rosi & Jon's, from 8.30pm. Come along... everyone is welcome.

Dewi and Tim emailed some questions/themes through yesterday to help us focus and engage in this short season of prayer, and in our journey towards Sunday's celebration.

If you haven't seen the email, here's what Dewi wrote;
I thought it may be an appropriate time send round some thought provoking questions as we spend time next week starting to think about what our community is all about. I hope that these simple questions help you to think about what the community represents for you personally. I think it is important to identify what the community currently represents for you in order to identify what you feel God is calling us into.

1) What does our community mean to you personally? (Try to think of one or two words if you can)

2) How do you see our community reaching your friends?

3) What are your giftings? How do/could you use these in the community?

4) How are you are able to serve within the community (other than serving within our meals!)?

5) How do you worship God in our community?

And here's what Tim wrote;
In this weeks prayers/reflection etc i felt like it was really important AS A COMMUNITY to;

1/ confess
wrong attitudes and letting go of any any baggage from past hurts and church experiences. God wants to heal us.

2/ repent
experience grace and forgiveness. God wants to minister to us.

3 /worship
focus on God for no other reason than to worship him corporately. God wants to remind us.

4/ listening
in stillness, while walking whatever but Listen. God wants to speak to us

5/ prophetic
speak out to each other what we see Gods heart is and what we see in each other. God wants to use us

Please feel free to bring your thoughts and ideas, pictures and Bible-bits, and especially anything that you feel has shaped our journey-so-far - prophetic words, metaphors, etc. See you later. :)