Bike rides & Bible study

This week has been glorious, the real arrival of spring. Warm evenings and long days have begun and I want to make the most of them. The cherry blossom trees are dropping their sweet petals and the fragrance fills lined streets. Im so ready for this. 

Im my light induced excitement I suggested Matt and I went for a bike ride on thursday evening. We cycled down the quietest streets we could find, over railways and rivers. After a few miles we reached Barking and found a nice park, we then cycled in a nice big circle and arrived back home feeling refreshed and satisfied.

On Friday we went to a monthly bible study with the ‘20 somethings’ from Britannia Village church. Although its not our home church its really nice to hang out and study the bible with people our age. This week we were discussing Angels, a topic that is often set aside. I don’t know why its often set aside because the reality of them just fills me with awe at all the things God has created. There’s a chorus in an IHOP song i’ve been listening to recently that really captured my heart, ‘I can understand, just a little bit, why they never stop singing around your throne’. 

Whenever I hear or sing that line it just makes me want to fall on my face in worship and adoration.

The people that host bible study, Seyi and Lizi, have a lovely flat with west facing windows which is perfect when there’s a sunset like this. Look at that sun reflecting off Canary Wharf, beautifullllll!

Ages ago I said there was something exciting to share (no, I’m not pregnant), so I will be sure to do a post with all the details soon. Woohoo.

Anyway, I hope your coming week is filled with JOY. 

Esther x

As many of you know last month I had the privilege of visiting the beautiful country that is India. I was in Kolkata for 11 days and learnt so much from my time there. 

Admittedly in the days running up to my trip and even once I had decided to go (the week before leaving) I wasnt sure if I even wanted to go. I’ve written before on my blog about my concerns with getting comfortable in life, not leaving my comfort zone. This was absolutely one of those times. I was still feeling this way as I waited at Gatwick airport for my plane to come in. It hit me on the third day, after Karen (Matt’s mum, who I went with) had left for a meeting further north, that I had no one to make me feel at home except God. I think its probably something that happens when you get married young, but I had become very dependant on Matt. If feeling sad, struggling, angry, worried etc. I would always turn to him to comfort me. It’s so so good that I can do this, but I think I had cut God out the picture a bit. The following week I went through a process of remembering that if I dont have God, I have nothing. It truly was great and by the time I met up with Karen again I felt like a new person inside.  Matthew 12:34 ‘For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of’, I felt my heart was full of something new, fresh and alive. 

I spent most of my time working with a lady called Loch at her project ‘House of Hope’. This is a project working with families living on the street.

One of the girls washing up at the side of the main road

Loch has 5 girls and 2 boys living with her, they get to go to school and be part of a really lovely home. Each day about 20 children from the streets come to her project. They wash, play, eat, sing and tell stories. It was really fun plaiting the girls hair and being climbed on by joyful children.

Some of the children at the House of Hope

Lunch time

One day we decided to sew up the holes in the children’s clothes. This beauty below had this lovely dress but it was full of holes, the straps had come off and it was fraying. We sewed it back together and she looked beautiful. In sewing up those clothes I feel I learnt so much about the way God restores us.  He takes our brokenness and makes us whole again.

The market at night

We also saw another two projects, the first is run by a wonderful lady called Cabita. Cabita leads a school and church inside the slum, she is the type of person that has real warrior qualities, not backing down easily and not easily intimidated. She also fed us a very delicious meal, I accidently ate a green chilli and cried for about 10 minutes. I have never done that before….it burned. 

Cabita on the way back from the airport

The second project was YWAM Life connection, it was the work of this small family with such big hearts that has really inspired me. They work with the people who live on the platforms at Howrah railways station, they do outreach but also have a drop in centre. The day we visited the station I found the hardest, there is a big glue sniffing problem, it supresses hunger so they dont have to buy food. it also makes the children that should be full of life sit there, totally disconected from the world. That was heartbreaking. They would love to have people volunteer with them, short or long term, if anyone is feeling a calling to Asia check out the work they do. They come across as having a really Christ centered project. It was a privilege to see the work they are doing.

Howrah railway station

It was very humbling to see the way so many of these people have given their lives to serve and invest in their communities, in selfless and often challenging ways. I came away remembering the price that Christ payed on the cross for our lives and wanting to step into the life that I have only been given by grace with a soft heart and hard feet. 

Loch’s beautiful smile

Also, whilst being there I met a wonderful group of people from a church in North Carolina, they made me very happy and I loved worshipping with them.

Emily and me on washing up duty

The children praying for Emily and Jen the day they left

My wonderful mother in law, Karen, buying some bling

Very wise words written in flowers on Mother Teresa’s tomb

I feel a post about our time in Korea is a little overdue.
So I write this whilst on a free 30min Internet trial at Gatwick airport.

It’s hard to think of how to describe our time there, it was stunning in so many ways.
I’m not sure what I expected, I’ve never been to Asia before and my mind was filled with busy cities and dirty pavements.
I’m usually a sworn advocate for the countryside, it wins every time. However, the city of Busan has totally changed my perception. It’s a city of calm and beauty.

It’s skyscrapers are impressive but the fact they have clean sandy beaches and a turquoise sea at their feet I couldn’t get my mind around. The city has little hills dotted around giving it a feel of Rio de Janeiro, and mountains on the horizon. The roads are wide and long, I felt like I could be in LA. The weather is sunny and cold in the winter, the perfect combination. Apparently in summer it’s really hot and rainy….what more could you want from a country?
The people were friendly and helpful everywhere we went, I felt safe all the time. Nightlife consists of bubble tea and karaoke, there were no drunken arguments or vomit covered streets (Hello England).

Eating out is the norm and really cheap, most meals were communally eaten from a pan over a flame in the middle of the table. I even got the hang of eating with chopsticks.

And the recycling, it was BEAUTIFUL, everything is sorted and recycled- everything.
We took a trip to the local fish market- I left out the gory pictures. But check out that super sad face in the middle.

But more importantly, the reason we went. To be part of the wedding of Danny and Eun Mi. they did an amazing job in the days running up to the wedding of hosting, being tour guides, working full time and wedding planning. I hate to think how I would have been with all those responsibilities the week before my wedding. I had never met any of Danny’s family apart from Stef, one of matts best friends and Danny’s brother. So it was so great to meet them and a real privilege to spend this precious week with them, we really felt like one of the family.

One of the things Matt and I are missing the most is living in community, we travelled with Stef and the three of us stayed a Danny’s flat. A lovely little studio on the 8th floor, although it was pretty snug and there were things to overcome like clear bathroom doors, we had such a nice time being in one anothers company.

The wedding was beautiful, I appreciate it must have been quite a challenge combining the two cultures but it was pulled off spectacularly.

So, if you ever get the chance to visit Busan, I would highly recommend it!