kahaila = community

The community at Kahaila is hard to miss. It is truly a gathering place for the people of East London and Brick Lane. Right when my team and I arrived in London, we headed over to Kahaila to scope out our new digs. We were greeted by Paul Unsworth, one of the most welcoming gentlemen I have ever met. He shared his love of God and coffee with us and I felt instantly at home.

Since then, I have been met with plenty of experiences that have helped shape my thought towards London and the people that live here. God has been delighting me so much. I don't deserve the blessings he keeps pouring out on me, but I feel as if they keep coming. I'll go into 5 moments that have impacted me immensely so far....

#1: When we first got here, the three girls (Brittany, Carrie and myself) moved into our new home. I knew we would be living in a hostel, but I guess I really didn't understand what a European hostel would really be like. My parents didn't like the idea of us living in a hostel, but I assured them it was going to be a-okay. Oh wow.... I was terrified when we got there. The three of us were crammed in this tiny room with bunk beds and one sink. We shared this gnarly bathroom with the other 50 residents of the hostel. Let's just say I took a break from showering for a while. The first night I was so scared, I didn't sleep at all. There was also a music venue right beneath us which was blaring music until 4 a.m. every night. It was truly spiritual warfare though, because we were scared for no reason. God wouldn't have put us in a place without a purpose behind it. We saw a bunch of travelers who would come and go for a few days or just one night, and we met an interesting dude named Cameron-Daniel. Sidenote: His name is really Daniel but we called him the wrong name for a whole month without knowing. Daniel actually worked for the hostel and helped us and our supervisors find a new place to live. God kept us safe in that space. I knew living in a hostel was not going to be a posh lifestyle but I think I glorified the idea a little. I never felt unsafe but our supervisors were happy to get us a new space. I don't know.. I guess I think it's kind of cool that I can successfully say that I lived in a hostel for a WHOLE month. Ha! We now live in the basement of a flat down the road from the hostel and it's been nice. We bring home leftover pastries and sandwiches to our roomies and we can do laundry! Praise da Lord. We can officially feel at home for the next month. I know this was a lesson from God. I got to feel somewhat uncomfortable for a month and endured it. He then provided a new place for us to feel more comfortable. He always provides for our needs, eventually. We just need to be patient.

#2: Another impactful moment was when my team and I went on the London Eye. It was marvelous! This was actually about a week ago and it was super epic. Before we went on the Eye, we were scurried into this free 3D movie that displayed Southbank and the London Eye. I felt like such a loser because I started crying out of pure joy. My 3D glasses started foggin' and the tears were a-fallin' (what a lame-o!) I only say that because it was the cheesiest of all cheese movies. Anyways, we got in the queue behind these crazy kiddies that kept screaming and we were shuffled along to the entrance of one of the London Eye pods. Once we got to the top of the Eye we decided to pray over the city. It was such a brilliant moment and the image of the city from that height will forever be engrained in my mind. The song "God of this City" by Bluetree kept rolling around in my brain while we were up there. Greater things have yet to come and greater things are still to be done in this city.

#3: Kahaila is really interested in social causes that affect the city and community. Every staff member at Kahaila is involved with a social cause in the community. One of the girls that works at Kahaila, Sarah, works with a long term women's hostel called Hopetown. This hostel reaches out to vulnerable women in the community that are seeking refuge. Sarah goes every other week and provides the women with baking lessons. I was able to go with her two weeks ago and help with the baking club. I could just see the pain in the women's eyes and speech. It was such a blessing to just be there with them and to flash them a smile, something that is not a common muscle reflex for them. It was wonderful because they were able to take what they created with them. Chocolate chip cookies! How much of a blessing is it to create something? It's something I take for granted everyday. Oh and for all of you artists/musicians/creators out there who are reading this... you should read The Crowd, The Critic, and The Muse: A Book for Creators by Michael Gungor. I'm half-way through and it's quite good!

#4: Speaking of Michael Gungor... Brittany, Carrie and I got to see Gungor at the London School of Theology! It was such a good and peaceful time. We traveled via train about an hour north to the school where we met up with Christine, one of the girls that works at Kahaila. She lives by LST and met us up there because her fiancé was graduating from LST the same day. Woo! I found it rather cool because we were the only ones who actually knew who Gungor was. They were playing at the graduation party and none of the LST grads knew who they were. We scurried into a big red tent where Gungor was supposed to play. Next thing I knew, we were talking to Lisa and Michael Gungor. Lisa mistook me to be her brother's ex-girlfriend. I suppose I should be flattered? Anyways, it was just a wonderful night full of worship and cool hangout time with Gungor. Definitely one of those moments for the books.

#5: Brick Lane has loads of overpriced vintage shops that sell everything from acid washed overalls to skin tight body suits. You can't walk down Brick Lane without seeing a hardcore hipster with the latest half shaved head/bald with only bangs haircut. Being different and hip is totally a thing on Brick Lane. Shops have cats hanging out in the windows and Bill Murray is plastered in a few locations on Brick Lane. These shops all carry the equivalent to Goodwill t-shirts from the states that cost about 25 pounds. That's about $35 for a dinky t-shirt you probably wore in elementary school. Ugggghhhhhh. Well, every Sunday on Brick Lane people flock to the street for the markets that occur on the street. It's insane. There are loads of people everywhere! You can find any type of food imaginable: Lebanese, Chinese, Mexican, Cuban, Turkish, Hawaiian, Swedish, etc. It just goes to show how vast and different the people are here in London. Anyways, there's one vintage shop owner that always brightens up my day. His name is Antony and he owns this tiny pop-up vintage shop. He blares classical music from his little door and sits and watches the people passing by. I always stop and talk to him and ask how his sales are going and yada yada. Every time without fail I receive the answer, "Oh I am so blessed man!" This guy Antony is one blessed individual and he knows it. Why is it so hard sometimes to see how blessed we are? I constantly have to remove my blinders to see exactly what is right in front of me. Why is that so hard? I'm not saying Antony doesn't have to do the same thing, but his attitude towards life and people is genuine and one of a kind. He has influenced me in just the small time I have been able to talk to him.

{#6:} I know I said I would only lay out 5 moments but there are way more that I could talk about and this one just popped in my head. So we do origami workshops every Friday in the café for customers. One Friday we had two little girls show up with their mom who is a shop owner on the street. We got into a conversation with the mother and the convo got deeper. She started telling us about how her daughter claims to know God and believes in him. However, she has no idea where her daughter got this idea from because she doesn't advocate Christianity in her household and she seemed skeptical about creation, etc. She also explained how her daughter goes to a school that is 80% Muslim (Brick Lane has a big Bangladeshi/Muslim population). I thought it was neat because this opened up a convo about having child-like faith. Children see things so differently and I crave to still see life as a grown up but with the eyes of a child. People come to know Christ at different times, places, ages, seasons, etc. and it's awesome to think of the season that Christ was made known in my own life. It was a cool moment in the café and this lady is a regular customer, so I pray that more conversations like this could stir up again.


I apologize for the delay in my first update. It's only been a whole month! Geez, get it together Laura.

Anyways, I love you guys and thank you so much for your support and love! I will be sending out updates a little more regularly now, so expect 'em a little more often.

Over 'n out!