Finding Yonder

'Cuz I'm under the weather
Just like the world
So sorry for being so bold...

posted by Lisa @ 3:35 AM

Dare I say....splendid?

Yes I do. That's the theme of Kora and Sarah visiting me. It was lovely. A little hard, a little sleep deprived, and a little frusterating at times, but still fantastic. London is gorgeous, especially the parks. But I do have to go back there to find Chris Martin's house, as Kora and Sarah wouldn't let me go to Notting Hill and find it. So I'll have to go again, such a shame. Maybe next time I can go with another person and we can share a proper hotel room.

Seeing K and S was bizarre. I feel like I'm in a bit of a bubble here. I've created my own life for myself, but I've still got my old life waiting for me back in Canada. And to see my Canadian life mix with my Manchester life was - odd. But it was great to have friends to do things with all the time, without having to rely on a certain individual for social contact outside of work. I did miss him, though.

Look for pictures on Sarah's MSN space. There will be some of Didsbury where I live as well, so you guys can see some of what my life looks like here.

I've spent the entire weekend recovering from the Kora and Sarah trip. My body had a meltdown on Saturday. I slept till around 11:30, got up for a few hours, and went to bed again at 2 in the afternoon. A horrible migrane developed, the worst one I've had in my life. So I spent the evening sleeping and hiding away from light, which hurt my head so badly that at some points I thought I was going to throw up. Most of Sunday has been spent in bed as well, recovering from my migrane. After church I went back to bed and slept till 6:30, and I'm feeling myself starting to fade. I'll probably head to bed after this post.

There was a huge event yesterday that I missed due to being sick. It was called Redeeming our Communities. I tell you, nothing like this has happened in Canada that I am aware of. There were about seven or eight thousand people there. It was almost like a huge prayer gathering, with a community and city wide focus.

It stemmed from a group called City Links, which was created in 2003. One of our pastors is the director, and it's amazing to hear what's happened/is happening through it. City Links is basically a program that is forging a network of churches around the UK, so that they will be working together as opposed to separate, individual churches. In addition to that, though, they've been praying for communities and cities as a whole. What's truly amazing is that they've been getting results.

Within the last year, City Links had begun to pray for a reduction in crime around Manchester. And within the last year the crime rate in this city has dropped by 12%. They have forged a partnership with the police, who lent their logo to the Redeeming our Communities advertisements. What's more is that the police force actually acknowleges the partnership and supports it, as they have seen the rates of crime go down for no apparent reason. These police officers, most of whom are not religious, are openly talking about (and asking for) the prayer that's been making an actual difference in the city. Whether you believe it or not doesn't matter. The fact is that this is what has happened.

The Manchester Passion was also the answer to a huge amount of prayer. The story of Jesus was brought to all areas of Manchester at Easter time - and the idea didn't come from the church, it came from the BBC.

The church in the UK seems so alive. They are doing things for the actual nation, not just day to day living. And things are actually happening. It's such a contrast to what I've expirienced growing up. Check out a book called City Changing Prayer which goes into much more detail than I am able to.

I just think it's cool. If it's not God, it's a crazy amount of very big coincidences. It doesn't matter if you believe it or not. The reason why I'm talking about this at all is because this church is a part of my life, and my blog is meant to be about what I'm expiriencing.

So I wish you all a very happy week. And for those of you who have dishwashers, please take a moment to sit back and appreciate them. You don't realize how good you've got it.

posted by Lisa @ 11:48 AM

I'm at Chris' and he has a computer, therefore I feel that I should take advantage of it by posting.

I really don't have much to say, though, so this will be a very short post.

Sarah and Kora are coming tomorrow. I am excited, and life is good.

End of post.

posted by Lisa @ 12:47 PM