London - Stepney Green

The pastoral hills and lazy sheep of Ireland have been exchanged for the dingy streets and nervous pigeons of London, England.  The last time Deena and I were here I had just started to feel the constricting pain of a completely blocked lower anterior descending coronary artery—the widowmaker as it’s known in the heart trade.  I didn’t know what was causing the pain at the time, and I came close to death as we were running to catch a train back to London from Canterbury.  The rest is a long story, but here I am twenty years later with two great kids and my bride who is committed to making every day count for the Lord and our family.  We’ve lived that way for many years, and it’s one of the main reasons we’re on this journey. 

 Ok, enough of that heavy stuff!  We spent Saturday, August 20 traveling from Ireland to England, and I won’t bore you with the details.  We did catch a break once we got to London as the train ticket purveyor put us on the fast train from Gatwick airport to London at the slow train price.  We figured the underground transportation (tube) out fairly quickly and  made it to our flat about 10:00 Saturday night after leaving our last house in Ireland at 8:00 AM.  We’re staying in the Stepney Green area which is east London, and it’s a working-class neighborhood with many ethnic groups represented.  Our flat is on the first floor in a large apartment building that takes up most of a city block.  The four of us are in one room with a double bed and a futon, and we share a kitchen and bathroom with whoever happens to be staying in the three other one-room flats upstairs.  The girls have the double bed, and Joseph and I are on the futon.  Yes, it’s tight, but we’re spending the majority of our time here sleeping.  Besides, it’s how most of the people in London live, and we’re right in there with ‘em.  London is one of the more expensive places we’re visiting on this trip, and the budget has to be trimmed in many areas such as food and transportation.  Deena will be doing some guest posts from time to time to let you know how we’re pulling all this off.

Our main goal for Sunday was to get to church, and boy did we ever.  We had no food in the flat, and we struck out early to hunt and gather.  Luckily, there was a Subway nearby serving breakfast, and we bought a huge breakfast sandwich that the four of us split and two drinks for less than five pounds.  The drinks were refillable too, and we took full advantage of that privilege.  We were heading for the Emmanuel Evangelical Church located just down the street from Westminster Abbey, and the tube from Stepney took us within easy walking distance.  I smiled as I noticed the kids already looking up and around at the grandeur of London in the bright morning sunshine.  We found the entrance to the church and were greeted by a pleasant young man with a walkie-talkie who had obviously spent a lot of time at the gym, and I noted that while he was cordial, he also looked every one of us in the eye and gave us the complete once-over as we entered.  I was reminded that in London and other major world cities Christians have to be on their guard.

Foyer of the church

The church building was cavernous and bright, and the sanctuary was round with a large glass dome in the ceiling.  All of the wood trim, doors, and pews were made of quarter-sawn oak stained with a rich honey brown color that had mellowed with age.  We were greeted by many people, and the kids were immediately befriended by Madalin, a twenty-something Romanian lad who is studying criminology at a local university.

We were swept into a two-hour celebration of worship with singing, testimonies, and preaching, and we felt right at home with these sincere believers.  The worship team consisted of the leader, an Englishman playing a keyboard and two Chinese ladies singing backup—they were fantastic.  The Chinese senior pastor, Peter Loo, did not preach that day but greeted the congregation warmly.  His two associates were Jamaican and English, and they did a tremendous job teaching and preaching.  I would estimate there were 200 people in the congregation, and when the pastor asked for visitors to stand and be welcomed, they were on us like hummingbirds at a feeder.  Over half the congregation was Chinese, and the rest were a mix of other races.  After worship we were invited to a newcomers lunch where the ladies served us chicken, rice, and cucumbers with spicy chili sauce.  Madalin joined us for lunch and many people stopped to shake our hands and welcome us.  Peter Loo eventually sat down to eat with us and talked long about the history of his church and his personal story of salvation.  He talked many times about the bond that Christians have all over the world, and it was so evident to us at this gracious church.  I glanced at my watch and realized that we had been at church for over three hours, but if felt like thirty minutes—wow.

Fellowship with Pastor Loo and friends

Madalin accompanied us back up to Westminster Abbey, and we parted ways.  As it was Sunday, there were many services being conducted at the Abbey including a 4:00  PM evensong time of worship, and we decided to attend.  I confess that our motivation was to show the children the interior of the Abbey without paying the 20 pound per person tour fee—heaven help us.  We had an hour to spare so we walked all over the area around Westminster and went as far as Trafalgar Square before turning back for the evensong service.  Westminster Abbey is a grand gothic cathedral, and daily prayer has been offered there for over a thousand years.  While that statistic pales in the light of eternity, it’s still a pretty impressive streak.  

As we were escorted into this grand old building, we beheld the soaring gothic arches and ribbed ceiling all designed to bring the worshipper’s eyes up toward the heavens in preparation for time with God—it works.  With the stained glass rose windows, intricate sculptures, ornate tombs, and a truckload of history, Westminster Abbey assaults the senses.  The service was musical in nature, and the choir sounded like an angelic host.  Bible readings were given from Isaiah and I Corinthinans.  As the Reverend Doctor Richard Heskins stood to deliver the sermon, I rolled my eyes a bit.  The last time Deena and I were here, we sat through a real snoozefest of a sermon delivered by one of these intellectual types, but this sermon was completely different.  Dr. Heskins gave a sermon about the importance of relationships while striving to turn one’s focus away from material possessions and the pursuit of worldly status.  He was witty and charming, and his teaching was spot-on.  After the sermon, there was more singing and prayer, and our reverie was broken only by Joseph dozing off and dropping his bulletin, which hit the floor with a loud thwack that reverberated through the cathedral….sighhh.  We took our time leaving the Abbey pointing out all the important people entombed there—we may go back for another service next Sunday.  Curiously, I was one of just a couple people that shook the Reverend Heskin’s hand, and I thanked him for his teaching and told him our family is focusing on the very theme of his sermon right now.  He seemed very pleased by this, and we spoke for a few moments before he sent us on our way with a hearty “Cheerio!”

Westminster Abbey

We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering the streets in search of food and saline contact solution to replace the two bottles thrown away by Irish security at the airport.  We found the food but not the solution.  Back at the flat we talked for some time about the adventures we shared on our first full day in London.  We’ve taken the children to some cool cities over the years, but Joseph said that he enjoyed walking around London most of all.  We’re looking forward to exploring as much of this city as we can over the next two weeks.  Cheerio!

Deveny and Richard