I58-Network

With too many reflections submitted to fit them all into the upcoming 'i58 Update' (it'll be available within a week), it seems a pity not to post the remainder up here for people to read.

Ruth shared the following: "Climate camp was the highlight of my year (oh, dear, what does that say about me as
a wife and mother, as I was without my family for 6 days!). It was a little oasis in time and space of kingdom living, of HOW THINGS SHOULD BE. Of how it is possible to live within the limits of this beautiful earth. It was so exciting to be with radically caring people, who "were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had." So wonderful to witness and to be a part of real Christian living, real discipleship. And the cafe was a comforting, supportive "home" in a place where we were already at home somehow. And how fun to be an "undercover" Christian cafe - handing out cups of tea in the name of Jesus without people knowing! I am so endebted to you guys who
organised and ran the cafe....thank you!"

Adam's reflection got shortened a bit for the newsletter, so here it is in full: "Having now attended Climate Camp twice, it is enough of an honour to be another voice in what has proven to be a powerful movement of individuals and communities uniting for the common purpose of fighting climate change.

This year, it was a double honour to be involved in the café space,
organised and run predominantly by Christians from a variety of different backgrounds and denominations. I have often thought that we in the Church could stand to learn so much from this multitude of misfit activists, who, as part of a decentralised non-violent movement holding the authorities to account, appear to have the Image of God shining from them far more than we supposedly holy people do. In this regard, I felt that the café space was doing exactly what it needed to be doing within the Climate Camp – *serving*it and not presuming to "lead" it. A simple act of kindness as serving tea, coffee, and hot chocolate to fellow campers really felt like an active contribution, and while we didn't go out of our way to patronise anyone by preaching to them, I was personally encouraged by how many conversations happened simply by others asking questions and being genuinely interested.

All in all, I would like to think this was a significant witness to our
willingness to serve, confirmed by how proud I was of everyone who brought their prayers and praise to the day of action on Kingsnorth. May God continue to bless and empower us, Christ-follower or otherwise!"

Claire, a Christian activist who's been at all 3 camps and many similar events before, sent in this: "I arrived at climate camp on the Thursday morning. i was in tears before I even got through the gate as the police confiscated some props that my mum and granny had made for a drama workshop in the kids space (three bear heads for using in goldilocks and the three bears and a wolf head for the big bad wolf in little red riding hood). [An order under Section 60 of the Public Order Act, banning people from wearing masks], had just been brought into place, and apparently I or someone else might decide to use them as a mask in a protest to obstruct our identity...

Apart from that initial upset, my own personal dealings with the police were generally not too bad afterwards, although the twenty or so police officers that I had conversations with (mostly while I was on gate duty), generally had a very negative, and even ignorant attitude to notions surrounding climate change and an alternative lifestyle.

I was not involved very much with the Christian Cafe space, but i was impressed that quite a lot of people on site knew about it, and that there was generally a positive attitude towards it. i attended two prayer meetings, and was greatly encouraged that an average of 10 christians had been praying at least once or twice a day throughout
the week. last year we only met once to pray as a big group (of about 12) and this year it made a huge difference to have our own tent.

Despite the lack of props, i did two drama workshops for the older kids (aged about 8-12), and we improvised by finding other props from around site."