***

London is one of the world’s most popular tourist cities but my time in London hasn’t involved the usual sightseeing. Instead I’ve been well off the beaten track exploring London’s many council estates – places you’ll never see in the travel brochures.

The differences between Urban Manchester and Urban London include both the obvious and the subtle. Urban London estates are more obvious on the landscape – tall, concrete, fortress-like, and often very compact, unlike Manchester’s endless sprawls of low-rise council semi-D’s and terraces.

Another curiosity to me is the way that the London estates often sit side by side with rows of pricey gentrified houses. The most striking symbol of this wealth–poverty divide has to be the East End communities along the Dockland Light Railway where overcrowded council flats are overshadowed by the glittering towers of Canary Wharf.

In the face of extreme overcrowding and huge ethnic diversity, establishing Eden teams in London is a big challenge. Your prayers are needed on both these fronts. Because living in the community is central to the way Eden goes about its ministry, we need to see some real breakthroughs in the provision of property.

We need divine favour with local councils, housing associations and private landlords if we’re to find homes for all our workers. We also need to get our recruitment message through to non-white church networks if our teams are to reflect the diversity present in the communities they are serving.

All the signs are that God is making a way where there was no way – which is exactly what we’re believing for!

If you want to become part of the adventure in London, or want to get a ticket for the launch celebration on March 18, visit www.eden-network.org.uk/london

Eden that first aired on national TV over Christmas is now available to view online.

‘Eden: A Story of Hope’ can be viewed for free via the Eden Network website.

The 25-minute film traces the history of Eden and how it has impacted the lives of the young people living in partner communities, together with Eden’s vision for the future. It features interviews with Eden workers, and National Director Matt Wilson (pictured).

The Eden Network is a series of community-based partnerships which aim to improve the lives of young people living in the most deprived communities in the nation.

There are currently 10 partnerships running across Greater Manchester, with youth workers moving into each community and working with local churches and organisations to provide activities and a ‘safe place’ for young people to hang out.

New partnerships are also being set up in other parts of the UK including Sheffield and London, marking the start of nine Eden ‘hubs’ in the most deprived areas across the nation.

story of Eden on national TV this Christmas.

UCB TV will show the 30-minute documentary about Eden titled ‘Eden: A Story of Hope’ twice over the Christmas period, on Sunday December 27 at 9pm, and on Wednesday December 30 at 7.30pm,

The programme traces the history of Eden and how it has impacted the lives of the young people living in partner communities, together with Eden’s vision for the future. It features interviews with Eden workers, and National Director Matt Wilson (pictured).

The Eden Network is a series of community-based partnerships which aim to improve the lives of young people living in the most deprived communities in the nation. 

There are currently 10 partnerships running across Greater Manchester, with youth workers moving into each community and working with local churches and organisations to provide activities and a ‘safe place’ for young people to hang out.

New partnerships are also being set up in other parts of the UK including Sheffield and London, marking the start of nine Eden ‘hubs’ in the most deprived areas across the nation.

Watch the documentary on UCB TV, Sky Channel 586 or via UCB’s website.

Broadcast Times: Sunday December 27 at 9pm, and Wednesday December 30 at 7.30pm.

As National Director of the Eden Network, Matt will oversee the growth and development of Eden, including the implementation of eight city ‘hubs’ to coordinate the rolling out of many more new Eden partnerships across the nation.

In September this year, Matt and his family will move to London with a view to setting up the first hub outside of Manchester in the nation’s capital.

Explaining the vision for London, Matt says: ‘By autumn 2010 a London City Director will have been handed responsibility for the London network and six new plants will have commenced, each with a full time leader and contextualized mission strategy to work out.

‘Ultimately the vision is to see potentially dozens of Edens all over the Greater London conurbation positively impacting tens of thousands of unreached youth with the gospel in word and deed.’

Matt has been part of the Eden movement since its inception, overseeing its development for the last six years.  He will remain closely involved with the Message as a part of the Executive Team travelling up to Manchester on a regular basis.

Message CEO Andy Hawthorne comments, ‘Right now we’re in one of those crystal clear “if-we-don’t-go-for-it-we’re-being-disobedient” seasons with the national vision for Eden. I am absolutely convinced that God is behind us and that this is the right time to roll out new Eden projects up and down the UK as well as doubling the number here in Manchester.

‘That’s why it’s a joy to be sending Matt and Grace to start the London ‘Eden hub’ in September and to start planning for another eight hubs around the nation.

‘We have been brought back to those early promises from Psalm 37 as we dream big for Eden: I’m convinced he promised that the “righteousness of the cause will shine like the noonday sun” and that we will ‘inherit a land’ through this long-term incarnational work on the toughest estates.’