June Project, A Poem by Emily Pringle

Our church has just had our Sixth June Project in Durham, and last year, a friend of mine; Emily Pringle wrote the report in the form of a poem.

With her permission I have the privilege of sharing it with you. :-)

Juby and his crew put the final plans in place,
for gardens, flyers, painting and the King’s Art Space.
United by God and his good news for all,
120 delegates filled St Oswald’s hall.
Nerves, excitement and expectation spread,
for what God had in store for the next few days ahead.
Everyone in teams, we jumped to our feet,
to work with young and old, play sport and worship on the street.
Prayer for healing, digging gardens, painting fences, serving tea,
through our actions God was working for any and all to see.
Residents joined in too with many a cell event,
to Newton Hall, Gilesgate and Neville’s Cross we went.
Our hearts were being moulded and our city being changed,
with many lives transformed and priorities rearranged.
Just the eager few got up soon after light,
to serve coffees at the station and then again at night!
Evenings saw youth events, Ceilidhs and such things,
with many having fun and others learning how to swing.
Chat to a delegate to find out lots more,
for much has God been doing and more has He in store.
Though June Project came and went in less than a week,
we know that God is still at work and His Kingdom we still seek.


Poem written by Emily Pringle, June 2011.

I hope you enjoyed her creative report, I think it beautifully captures the variety and essence of the project combined with the importance of seeing what God's heart for us and the community is.


Check out the internlog to find out more about this year's June project http://www.kcd.org.uk/internship/log/

Tree from the Rocks

 


'Tree from the Rocks', Acrylic on Canvas



It's about rocks like a tomb, trapping a tree, 

Blocking the light, but the tree bursts free.

Pushing the slab of rock aside,

I don't think I could if I tried!

The dark is too dark

How can you survive

Hope is so small

but it is alive.

Life has strength and power

and Hope does not die.

A tree stands firm like a tower,

from a seed of faith buried on a hillside.

When the power of heaven join and face

The struggles and darkness of this place

Hope goes hand in hand with reality!

Rocks like a tomb, but the tree bursts free!



Inspired by a tree discovered off the beaten track in the Lake District, while I was on a walking trip with my Dad and stepmum the weekend before Easter 2011. I took a photo of this prophetic tree and decided to paint it for the June Project Art Space and up sprung this poem while starting to write the blurb to accompany it!   



Original sketch: water colour pencils





When I wrote this in June, poetry was not something that I considered to be 'my thing'; particularly as I'm dyslexic, it was quite the opposite. I always struggled getting thoughts and ideas on paper in anyway other than a mindmap or picture! (Although, I did used to write very long letters- that only occasionally made it to the postbox!) 

So I was quite surprised and totally amazed at how natural it seemed to write, and how easily this poem had appeared like a new spring!

Hope you like it! :-)