"Shine a Light on Crime - Tower Hamlets"

Long time, no post, I'm so sorry! If my calculations are correct, I think I'm now on week 24 of my Essential Gap Year? Now that is crazy!

In the past few weeks I've been up to a lot, from attending a prayer gathering for London Central Division at THQ, to a Prayer Weekend held by the Prayer Network, from playing ukuleles in church, to playing them around the streets as a part of a London Citizens campaign for a safer Tower Hamlets, from having my first Essential appraisal to my first interview for Officership. All of this has happened, as well as the usual programmes at Stepney, so I hope that you can forgive me for the radio silence on this Blog!

I think one of the experiences which has challenged me in the most diverse ways recently has been the "Shine a Light on Crime in Tower Hamlets" action which happened a couple of weeks ago. It was the result of several local institutions in Tower Hamlets meeting through TELCO, the Tower Hamlets branch of Citizens UK, over a shared concern in the safety of those living in our area.


We initially met at the Citizens UK office in Whitechapel a couple of months ago to talk about the issue of Safety in our community. It was encouraging to see individuals from different backgrounds and stages in life sharing in their negative experiences of this area and then moving together to change that for their communities. It was then that we decided that a lack of light in our local parks and along the canal was contributing to crime in the area and we wanted to change that. Over the next few weeks, we were walked through the process of staging an "action" - a stunt that would not only unite our community and our institutions under a common concern, but that would also send a message and instigate a change. As a group, we decided upon a walk from Shadwell to Mile End, stopping at local parks and stations, meeting local groups along the way - all dressed in high visability jackets, and holding torches - and it was fabulous! People really seemed to enjoy themselves, getting to talk to other people in their community, local police officers, the Chief Inspector Mark Long and the Mayor, Lutfur Rahmen. The Salvation Army in Stepney brought our ukuleles along, and entertained the group and passers by with "This Little Light of Mine", as well as our own improvised version of "Put Oil in Our Lamps". A couple of us even got a cheeky little Police escort through Mile End Park on the way to our house-group by Chief Inspector Mark Long, who was a lovely chap, and asked us about how it all affected the running of our programmes at the Salvation Army.

For the event, I was appointed as a Steward, which meant that I was responsible for the Salvation Army group which would meet the larger group at Stepney Green Park. It pushed my comfort zones, particularly in leadership, as I had to co-ordinate with TELCO and people I didn't know very well, give notices to parents at our projects, and talk to a group of people about crime and safety in our area. I have also never really experienced being a part of the planning and organising of an action, and so that was a fantastic learning experience in itself.


All of this had a deeper significance to me, particularly within the wider context of the London Central Division. At the beginning of January, a prayer evening was held at THQ which was entitled "God in this City" where we asked God to show us how we could break down the barriers and boundaries that exist within our communities. Here, I was overwhelmed with the image of greyness of Mile End Road, and the faces of those whom I knew along there. I felt a distinct lack of light within our community, a light to lift the greyness of the everyday living, and prayed that God could show me how I could be light, like in Matthew 5:16. I think I found that getting involved in this action group was a funny way of God answering that prayer. In more than the obvious, physical "being light in the darkness", He demonstrated that through social action and engaging in our community, we could be that light that leads to change within people's lives and I have grown to appreciate the importance of being a church which faces outwards even more because of it.