Love All Serve All

There were more people than expected in the queues last night, a couple of rows of tents, and still plenty of people for us to chat to and offer free drinks and cookies.   Although they can’t buy tickets for the final, they are hoping for the best place on Murray Mound/Henman Hill or to queue for a return ticket when they get inside.  We had such a great final night with the tennis fans and the wonderful stewards that we love so much.  It has been a good fortnight with opportunities to build relationships, and the privilege of being part of someone’s life for even a short time. My thanks go to the stewards who welcome us onto their patch so warmly each year, and who do a great job of looking after everyone.  I also want to give my thanks to an amazing Love All Serve All team who work so enthusiastically night after night.  This year we had 110 team members from 12 different churches coming together to love God and love people.  A special thanks to Alex and John – my right hand guys who carried this vision with me this year!  At the end of the day it all comes back to God’s love – it drives what we do, and it’s what we aim to bring with each encounter during the fortnight.  I’ll definitely miss the atmosphere of this special place, but am now looking forward to some early nights!  See you next year, same time, same place! 

Well, yesterday was deja vu for Murray as once again he couldn’t get past Rafa in the semi’s.  A sad day for all the Murray fans.  As we go out to the queues each night it’s a little bit of deja vu too as we do the same thing night after night, and yet at the same time, each night is different.  We meet new people, have new conversations, have different team members.  We have met some amazing people in the queues from all over the world. We’ve met a couple who were celebrating their 6th wedding anniversary with glasses of champagne in the tent; campers under prepared in the rain without a tent and just a sleeping bag; campers well prepared with spectacular lanterns, picnic tables, chairs, hampers; people who are queuing who don’t even want to see the tennis but just want the experience; people who have become friends simply through the queue; people who have been coming for decades and have many stories to tell.  We have had the immense privilege of being a part of this during the fortnight as we have talked with people and shared their stories, we’ve cried with them, and laughed with them, we’ve prayed with them, and we hope we have simply loved them.  Each night is unique and special, as are the people we meet.  One night left to go!

As I write Tsonga and Djokovic are battling it out on Centre Court, with Murray and Nadal up next.  Let’s hope it’s not deja vu for Murray and a repeat of last year’s semi when Nadal proved to be too good for him.  The quarters and semi’s are often great matches, and it’s at this stage in the Championships that you hope for some nail biting 5 setters. 

The tents are still out in the park with people still hoping to catch something of what is left of this special place and time.  A lot of the campers are quite surprised that the Love All Serve All team still come out on these last 4 nights when no-one else seems to bother.  The reason we do is because it’s not about us and what we get out of it, and whether it’s ‘worth it’ or not.  We truly believe that we are there for 10 people as much as 1000 people.  Spending time with 1 person and hopefully making a little bit of a difference to their evening is as valuable as time with 100 people.  We are there to be available to others and to be a listening ear too.  We are there to love and to serve regardless of numbers or the weather.  Every person is valuable.  So yes, we’ll be out tonight and tomorrow for some final chats, laughter and goodbyes.

We’ve reached the semi-finals stage, with the women’s matches today and the men’s tomorrow.  There’s a lot of excitement that Andy Murray is still holding on and beat Lopez in 3 straight sets.  He’s looking good but the big question is can he hold it together for his semi against Rafa tomorrow?  It’s quite a challenge.  The drama of the day yesterday was Federer being knocked out by Tsonga.  It was an incredible match and I loved watching Tsonga jumping for joy at the end!  

The queues predictably were much shorter last night.  The atmosphere changes when it gets to this stage in the fortnight as there are fewer tents, fewer stewards and no refreshment vans.  There is a sense of calm and quiet that descends on Wimbledon Park.  The Love All Serve All team were still out and about, chatting to the fans that were there, as well as the stewards.   We met a couple of girls who live very close to the park and don’t even want to watch the tennis, but they wanted to camp in the park overnight just for the experience of saying they’ve camped in the Wimbledon queue!  Hilarious!  It’s funny what this fortnight does to people! It will probably be a quiet night again tonight as the only tickets people can queue for are ground passes, and you don’t really need to be there overnight for that.  However, with Murray in the semi’s tomorrow there may be a few that want to make sure they get the best spot on Murray Mound and head to the queues tonight.  If that’s you, I’m sure you’ll bump into us tonight!

The ladies quarter finals yesterday saw ‘wild card’ Lisicki get through – the first female German semi finalist since Steffi Graf.   Out in the queues last night there was still a good crowd despite the tickets getting more expensive and more difficult to get hold of.  Perhaps some of them were attracted by the prospect of watching Murray today in his quarter final match.  We had a film crew with us last night working on a promotional dvd for Love All Serve All.  We have a great bunch of churches involved in this work but we always want to involve more, so if we can give them a flavour of what it’s like then it helps to get them on board.  We got some good responses from team members and tennis fans alike, along with some hilarious moments with some very raucous Australians enjoying their experience!  There was a lot of fun in Wimbledon Park last night! We’re expecting it to be much quieter tonight but who knows?!

Yesterday, I had the privilege of having Centre Court tickets.  I had an incredible day watching the tennis in the glorious sunshine.  Lots of upset in the women’s game  with both the Williams sisters out on the same day, and Wozniacki (world no1) beaten by Cibulkova.  It really opens it up now for a new female champion.  Nadal beat Del Potro despite an injured foot, with some incredible shots and rallies in the match. Fantastic to see Andy Murray go through to the last eight, but how far fan he go this year?  He was supported by Wills and Kate who were cheering him on.  In fact they got so involved in the day that they even joined in with our Mexican wave – much to everyone’s delight!  Our team had a good evening with the queues and stewards too.  A big HAPPY BIRTHDAY  to Catriona serving in the food vans in Wimbledon Park who celebrated last night by serving others.  We think you’re great! See you all again tonight.

Middle Sunday is the championships’ traditional day of rest. No rest for the campers or the love all serve all team though. 2000 people camped through Sunday night and with our smallest team of the championships (only 4) it was always going to be a challenge to get around to everyone. If you were in the queues and didn’t manage to catch us then we do apologise but if you’re back any other nights then do look out for us.

Today sees the men’s draw get interesting, the fourth round pairs Andy Murray against a man against who he has struggled in the past, Richard Gasquet, and Rafa Nadal against a dangerous Juan Martin Del Potro. It should be a cracking day in the London sunshine so enjoy