It’s all kicking off in Bow

On Sunday morning in East London,  Eden Bow‘s Team Leader Alex got a message from her next door neighbour asking if they knew of the whereabouts of Rory and Anna who lived down the road.  She had just walked past their house and seen that their door had been kicked in…

The beautiful original Victorian door which Anna had spent days sanding down after they moved in, had been broken irreparably. The police were called and an hour or so later Anna and Rory returned from their weekend away to the sight of police about to board up their house. Thankfully nothing was taken, it seems whoever did it ran in, saw nothing of value they wanted to take and ran out quick.

It could have been a horrible Sunday for them and those who knew them. The violation of having your door kicked in and the discovery that two other neighbours had their doors kicked at too over the last two days could have bred real insecurity.

“Instead God used it for good,” said Eden’s Alex. “The Christians on our street had been having a Feast Fortnight – each night eating at a different person’s house, and Sunday lunch was going to be at Rory and Anna’s. So we went ahead with it anyway, resulting in 18 of us carrying chairs and plates and pans from all over the street and then hanging out at their place.

“Phil fitted two new locks on the door so it was secure enough until a new one could be fitted, whilst children played in the living room. Others in the community who walked past stopped to say hello, as we all milled around chatting. Then after lunch some of us went knocking on the doors along the street, to let them know what had been happening and to ask if they wanted to be part of an informal neighbourhood watch for the next 10 days.

For us in Bow, Eden is here to be community and that Sunday was a great example of it – one year in, neighbours knowing each other well enough to be able to ring round when they see broken doors;  fitting new locks whilst dinner for 18 is cooking; neighbourhood watches being set up. Not caring about your beautiful door because the building of community is even more beautiful!”

If you want to know more about the Eden Bow team, take a look at their team page and email Alex bow@eden-network.org