Thanks to Midsummer Place, I was able to put up an art installation in the shopping centre. Below are a few photos. The fractal images inside the box have been digitally created by graphic artist Richard Lyall. He currently works as a freelance graphic and web designer (www.richardlyall.co.uk). The images were named ‘Cross’, ‘Crown of Thorns’ and ‘Calvary’ (from top to bottom). As a response, passers-by were invited to write a prayer or thought on the box for friends, family or any situation important to them. The box was the same one we used for the ‘following.the.star‘ exhibition.

It was great to see so many prayers and comments left on the box by the end of the day, some from people who were on the walk and others from those who weren’t.

Thanks to everyone who took part!

The website has all the details but here are a selection of photos to give you an idea of what’s been going on…

In many ways, sleeping out helped me to see a glimpse of what many people have to go through every night – but it was only a glimpse. The fact that I chose to do it, knew I had a warm home to go back to and had a fantastic group of people to share the experience with helped the night to be quite bearable.

At 7pm we gathered and spent a few hours getting to know one another under the pillars of the Church of Christ the Cornerstone. Just after 11pm the lights went off and we got into our sleeping bags. The night was relatively mild but with a mist that made everything damp. I was glad of a bin bag which was given to me to put over my sleeping bag. After 5 minutes of trying to sleep I gave up – it wasn’t comfy enough and I wasn’t tired enough. At 4.30am I tried again and finally drifted off – only to be woken at 6am by some joker on his way to work!

Early on in the night a homeless man came over to chat with me. He’d clearly had a lot to drink but was able to string a sentence together. He said “I saw you guys over here, and you all have sleeping bags, but I don’t have a sleeping bag…” If I was sleeping rough without a sleeping bag, I think I’d probably use alcohol to warm myself up too. I’d brought two sleeping bags and planned to sleep in both, but gave one of them to this man. His reaction was a mixture of relief and thankfulness. It seemed that the gift was worth far more to him than what it cost me – and it was!

Two days later, having been back in my own home with 3 good meals a day, I have come down with a small cough, which I’m sure was caused (or at least worsened) by sleeping outside for a night. The health issues caused by homelessness are well documented, on average homeless people die at just 47 years old and are 13 times more likely to be victims of violence (from the Crisis Website).

Sleeping out highlighted the injustice between my life and the lives of people sleeping rough every night. By sleeping in the cold with two sleeping bags, I felt compelled to help somebody without one. If I hadn’t been sleeping out it would have been far easier for me to ignore the person, but the injustice would still be there.

Thank you to everyone who sponsored me. If you’d still like to donate then here’s the link. By going through this website the charity will get an extra £10 on top of your donation. If you’d like to give your time then YMCA are always looking for people to get involved in a variety of ways, details are on their website.

For anyone who’s interested, here’s the MK Pride Resource List that we put together for the day.

Thanks to everyone for helping out with our stall but also a massive thank you to the event organisers who did such a brilliant job. It was great to be a part of a festival with so much colour, enthusiasm and joy.

Here’s a couple of pictures..

…and to see a few more, have a look at tractor girl’s blog http://tractorgirl.wibsite.com/2012/08/11/mk-pride-amazing/

When the clouds part, it reminds me that the light was there behind them all along.

There’s a number of things in the pipeline that I’m really quite excited about. Firstly, a few of us are coming together to take part in MK Pride on the 11th August by providing a tent where people can swing by to relax or reflect and perhaps explore faith. One of the reasons that I’m really proud to be a part of this is that I believe that God’s love is available to everyone and this may be a way to demonstrate that.

I’m also quite excited about the potential of making some creative spaces in the City Centre; one of the ideas we’ve had is to make a ‘living advent calendar’ whereby each day of advent there will be a new thing to discover, all themed around the advent period.

With the YMCA, we hope to set up a new basketball club for residents and I’m currently looking round at venues. And there’s also the possibility of getting involved in the YMCA World Challenge.

While all this is in the planning stages it’s also been really good to make new friends across the city – we really feel like we’re settling into Milton Keynes and are looking forward to moving into our own house sometime soon.

Just a quick note to say thank you to everyone for reading my blog (1,635 hits over the last couple of months from at least 18 different countries). It’s made it even more worthwhile.

I’ll continue to blog (albeit a little less frequently) so do click follow or check back regularly.

Happy Easter!

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Count Your Blessings:

The following prayer is from the final day of Christian Aid’s ‘Count Your Blessings’ Sheet which I’ve been following each day of lent:

“Dear Lord, as we give thanks for the gift of your son, we remember that love and life are always stronger than violence and death. Help us to see past ourselves that we may love as he loves and bring your peace to the world.”

Count Your Blessings fact: Major Janvier Bulambo was one of 492 high-ranking Congolese soldiers to receive civilian rights training organised by Christian Aid partner CBCA. The training has seen the beginning of reconciliation between soldiers and civilians and a hope to finally bring peace to the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
Task: As we give thanks for our risen Lord, give thanks for all people around the world who are working for peace and reconcilliation
(Joint) Total Donation to Christian Aid: £37.84

A bargain at only 65p!

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(Final ‘count your blessings’ instalment tomorrow)

The most striking thing I’ve been aware of through doing these challenges is the fact that the way I choose to live directly affects the way in which others have to live. When picking up litter and recycling more, it affects the places that other people have to live in. When donating to MK Food Bank or giving blood, it directly helps other people and can even save their lives. When I choose to spend money on myself rather than give to charities, it means that those charities are less able to help others. When I act on my faith and follow the example of Jesus’ life, I’m inspired to live my life in a way that puts others first.

Jesus said ‘love your neighbour as yourself’ – the challenge to love our neighbour can be difficult but there is also the challenge to love ourselves. Some of the tasks that I’ve done over lent have been for my own benefit; (e.g. eating healthier, exercising more, taking a day off, looking for beauty in the ordinary. In order to help others we also need to help ourselves.

All that said, I wouldn’t say that my life has been radically transformed through these challenges. But I would say that I have significantly improved a number of aspects of my life. There’s still much more I’d like to change and I think it’s important for me to carry on trying, despite the fact I won’t always succeed. I believe that Jesus lived and died in a radically selfless way, which demonstrated his message of love and forgiveness from God. I hope that I can pass on this message of love and forgiveness through my words and the way I choose to live.

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Count Your Blessings fact: in 2010 73% of the British population donated to charity
Task: Give thanks for the generosity that has been shown and the work that has been accomplished through it
(Joint) Running total: £37.84