Tower Hamlets and the surrounding area, is almost defined by contrasts, to the outside eye at least. Old, very old and new buildings are separate neighbours who at times intertwine. This is also true of people of different cultures, backgrounds, faiths and ethnicities who live in, work at or pass through. Neighbourhoods themselves are juxtapositioned, touching and merging. The easiest way to describe this effectively is through images*, although because of their snapshot nature, they still don’t do any justice to the intensity of the concentrated diversity and space.
I’ve surprised myself by loving it here. I came to be near a ministry team who live and work in this unique tapestry, befriending their neighbours. I didn’t want to strike out somewhere by myself for 6 months to read and pray alone. So this team generously invited me to spend a month here joining their rhythms of prayer, bible study, fellowship and community life. I spend other parts of my day alone wandering and in theory reading. Although, in reality I’ve been by turns too fascinated by the area or too exhausted by it, to read. The rest of my time is spent meeting with people to talk about prayer. It is proving to be a good combination for me and I’m loving it!
God has also been teaching me a lot, both through people and directly. And yet I’m still finding it hard to concentrate on prayer, on the bible and on God. It’s amazing how much he is teaching me in spite of that! I considered writing this post about prayer but I feel like my thoughts are too fresh and unordered to do that just now. So I thought I would attempt to give you a snapshot of life here instead.
(Spot where the Scottish people are living as you look at these photos.... 😂)
I’ve surprised myself by loving it here. I came to be near a ministry team who live and work in this unique tapestry, befriending their neighbours. I didn’t want to strike out somewhere by myself for 6 months to read and pray alone. So this team generously invited me to spend a month here joining their rhythms of prayer, bible study, fellowship and community life. I spend other parts of my day alone wandering and in theory reading. Although, in reality I’ve been by turns too fascinated by the area or too exhausted by it, to read. The rest of my time is spent meeting with people to talk about prayer. It is proving to be a good combination for me and I’m loving it!
God has also been teaching me a lot, both through people and directly. And yet I’m still finding it hard to concentrate on prayer, on the bible and on God. It’s amazing how much he is teaching me in spite of that! I considered writing this post about prayer but I feel like my thoughts are too fresh and unordered to do that just now. So I thought I would attempt to give you a snapshot of life here instead.
(Spot where the Scottish people are living as you look at these photos.... 😂)
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