The Place to Be & Meet Together

Rebekah Rankin writers about "Jesus: The provider of hope, safety, and compassion".

*Please be advised that this post deals with themes of violence and abuse against women.

Over one in three women globally will, at some point in their lives, experience gender-based violence. If that feels like an abstract number, think about it this way: how many women or girls are in your church, school, workplace, neighbourhood, among your family or friends? Now apply the one-in-three statistic.

Elaine Storkey, former LICC Executive Director, described it as a ‘global pandemic’. This is an unfortunate reality of our workplaces, neighbourhoods, regular haunts – even our churches.

This article is from the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity section on Connecting with Culture, Understanding Culture.

Here's Steve Rouse on 'Loving the neighbours who build our homes'

My friend was walking into work when a builder crossed her path. As he did, his toolbox broke and there were screws, pliers, and raw plugs all over the pavement.

‘Should I walk on?’ – always a dilemma – but she stopped, helped gather the scattered tools, and after a short exchange felt prompted to ask, ‘Can I pray for you?’ She found a welcome response: ‘Thank you, it hasn’t been a good week.’ It’s 8am and this builder is already having an ‘exploding toolbox’ kind of day.

In Luke 10, Jesus is asked the question: ‘Who is my neighbour?’ He answers with a story about responding to people in the way God would respond to them. Being willing to be there for people in broken toolbox moments models God’s character to others.

This article is from the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity section on Connecting with Culture, Understanding Culture.