Saturday 27 June 2009

The Soup Kitchen


It was with some trepidation that I arrived at the little van that calls itself Boston's Soup Kitchen, to work my first ever two hour stint. There were already several people sitting on the wall beside the van. They looked hungry. They were foreign. I waited a little distance away, unsure what the procedure was meant to be and too scared to approach these people. After a short while I was relieved to see Marianne arrive on her trusty bicycle. She parked it beside the wall, and started chatting to the woman and two men who were already there,

'You are queuing today, then?' she asked them, 'We just have to wait for Mike to come with the key.' As she said this she mimed unlocking the door of the van and shrugged. The people smiled and stood up. They did not seem to understand, and they were hungry.


Before long, Mike did arrive. He unlocked and went off to fetch more rolls, while Marianne and and I put the kettles on. More people were arriving, greeting each other with the regulation continental handshake and saying a few words. They nodded at Marianne and myself. As the kettle boiled, the folk, attracted by the tiny, barely audible click, began to hover by the hatch.

'Soup?' Marianne asked, 'Chicken soup?'

The first man nodded. 'Chicken,' he pronounced it sheeken. Those behind him nodded too, sheeken was murmured. 'Zupa'

We poured six cups of chicken soup and a cup of tomato for the one dissenter. Marianne asked some of the folks where they were living. A lot of miming took place and someone found the word 'tent'. Lots of nodding.

'Well last night I was in the police station,'

I asked this young man why he had ended up there. 'I was in TK Max, because I needed new shoes...' the rest was apparently obvious. 'At least you get fed at the police station.' he added.

The evening continued with a constant stream of people, most of whom lived in tents and all but four of whom were not English: Latvian, Lithuanian, Portugese. As a group, despite their differences in language and nationality, they were very caring and respectful of one another, they shared cigarettes and even helped each other roll them. The appreciation for what we were doing was genuine and I felt fully accepted into a group of people with whom I had very little in common. I am truly looking forward to the next time!

Friday 26 June 2009

The fourth Station- Jesus meets His Mother



I have spent the day experimenting with plaster of Paris and rubber gloves. This is my result. It is my interpretation of the fourth Station of the cross.You can see the first three below. I am quite pleased with it, although after it has had a chance to settle I am hoping to sand off some of the plaster from the smaller (Mary's) hand. . Now, shall I paint it, or leave it white??

Hattie has friends staying over tonight. We have three extras plus our own four. Hmmm, I wonder if we will get any sleep?! I did make her a birthday cake of enormous proportions, so hopefully they will be so full up they will fall straight to sleep! Now I think I must be dreaming!

Wednesday 24 June 2009

Happy Birthday Hattie!


Today is a special day. It is the 12th birthday of my daughter Hattie. She had a good day, despite having to go to school, and was able to ride there on her new bicycle!

She is a great kid, and I am very proud of her.

Wednesday 17 June 2009

Stations of the cross




I a working on some images that could become part of the stations of the cross. I want them to all be done with different media.
The First Station is done in acrylic paint with tissue and fabric to provide texture.
The second station is done in pencil on white cartridge paper, which sadly looks blueish on this photo.
The third image is acrylic paint with a background of newspaper.
I am planning to do the third station in the form of a sculpture.
...Be interesting to see what people think.

Writing Group

There are writers in Boston....
Well I guess there are, but where? I am a member of a writing group that meets in Boston on a Tuesday night. We teach each other, we inspire each other, we write together and of course we end each Tuesday night in the pub.
If you are out there and you are a writer then get in touch. You'd be welcome to join us.

Sunday 14 June 2009

Boston with Christ!

I have just listened to an amazing sermon. Boston is in need of God, and Christians in Boston need to get together to fulfill this need. We are many. We need to step out of our comfort zones and be Jesus to the people of our town. I am praying that I will not be complacent about this. I need to be pro-active and expectant to see God's amazing works.

What have I done?

Well so far I have signed up to help at the soup kitchen which has been running around a year now, but I feel that I am being called to something else. Street Pastoring? Perhaps...

Watch this space!