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Issue
3 – February 2010 |
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Welcome to our latest newsletter. It’s been nearly a
year since the last one and so much has happened. Our numbers have grown to over
80 members now, and still more people are joining the various teams. Last year I asked people to send in any news or
interesting stories about what happened on the streets or in the prayer room.
Well quite a few of you did. I’ve interspersed your stories with other
features in this newsletter, taking you (roughly) through the past year.
These testimonies and pictures are really encouraging, so please keep
them coming and we’ll try to include your contribution in the next edition –
hopefully a bit sooner next time! Ivor |
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Review of the Year By Tony Lees So we
are half way through the worst winter for many years and we have only missed
one night on the streets when it was unsafe to put out a team. We are coming
up to two years since we launched and we are now much more aware of the joys
and hazards of being ‘the |
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Over
the past few months we sent four Pastors to the National conference in Our
thanks to Tony Thompson for his support over the last two years but he now
has to drop out due to other commitments. We are using the We continue to be represented on Churches
Together in We
continue to work on alternative ‘town centre base’ options, as the one we
were offered near the library failed to materialise. We know Guy Harlings is
not ideal, but we are thankful for its use until we find a better place.
Please continue to encourage new Prayer Pastors to help at the base as this
seems to be our area of most need at
the moment. Blessings
to all our members and supporters for 2010 as we embark on a new decade. |
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Word On The Street – 1 By Debbie Campbell, March 2009 The
lad in the picture's name is Paul. His friend Peter wanted to take a photo of
him with the Street Pastors. Peter says there is more likelihood of there
being aliens than God. We told him that if he were to ask God to show him he
was real, then God would do something to show him. He wasn't sure about this,
but we prayed he would ask. He said, "What should I say?" so we
gave him some suggestions.
His
friend Paul said he was sitting on the fence when it comes to God as he has
some issues from being in the army and having to fight in We
also met Hannah who was very cold, had lost her friends and could not speak
properly. She was acting very strangely, as if she had taken something other
than alcohol. We managed to get a phone number out of her to call a friend to
pick her up.
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By Carol Kellingray On May
15 2009 we celebrated a year since our first patrols hit the streets of Tony
Lees told us what had been happening on the streets of Paul
Jacobs, representing Ascension Trust and also a Street Pastor in Wandsworth,
spoke of his own experiences and congratulated us on what we had achieved in
our work on the streets to date. Our prayers were led by David Burton, Street
Pastor and Local Preacher in the Methodist Circuit in We
sang again with the Oasis Band and this was followed by the homily given by
Rev. Mike The
service closed with what has now become the signature tune of Chelmsford
Street Pastors, ‘I the Lord of Sea and Sky’ which was accompanied on the
piano by Street Pastor James French. At the end, refreshments were served by
members of CBC. The
service was well attended by Street and Prayer teams and it was a wonderful
time of fellowship and celebration. How blessed we all are to be part of this
amazing initiative.
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Word On The Street – 2 By Debbie Campbell, April 2009 Peter
and Paul were out again last night (2 young lads who we met on the streets
last month and were chatting till about 4am outside |
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A lady
called Jo came rushing up to me and Alison and asked us to pray with her. She
had lost her dad and said she occasionally goes to church and loves the
street pastors and when she is dancing and singing she holds her hand up
singing to God. Some lads walked past and what appeared to be a jokingly
manner said 'bible bashers' and Jo had a right go at them and stuck up for
us! I found myself holding hands with Alison and Jo and praying with loads of
people queuing up for Chicago’s, walking past and onlookers. Funny what God
gets you to do isn’t it. I couldn’t have done that a few months ago – I would
have been in We
found a homeless man on the pavement. He appeared to be drunk. We gave him a
foil blanket and made him comfortable in a doorway. Nick knew him from the
night shelter and chatted with him for ages. A kind ambulance man on standby
went to check on him later. When it came to the end of the night we passed by
to find him still there snoring his head off, and someone had We saw
this well-dressed middle-aged man falling about, unable to walk, outside We saw
a very angry lad having a go at the police and the street pastors. Someone
had knocked his chips out of his hand and he wasn’t happy! We saw him later
and he was a bit calmer. A
group of lads came out of Que Pasa wanting a fight. Something was brewing.
The doorman radioed in and the police arrived. We contacted the base and the
prayer teams prayed. The street team removed glass from the area and hung
around the scene. Nothing appeared to develop, praise God. Some
of the doormen were happy to have photographs taken to use as visual cues for
the prayer team. One even has a passer-by wanting to join in (outside It was
an enjoyable evening.
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Half-Year Review By Tony Lees We are
half way through our second year having had a great commissioning service at
the We’re
now an accepted part of the weekend night-time scene and are regularly called
on the radio by the CCTV people or by pubs or clubs when they see someone
needing help. We are
looking to see if there is an alternative Town center base for the prayer
team as the current base has very little storage and the gardens are very
dark for people arriving and leaving at night. We
have set up a ‘Care team’ to watch over the welfare of both Street pastors
and prayer team members. It is to ensure that issues and concerns are
addressed and a channel for ideas as to how we can be more effective as a
team. We are
joining with We now
have more than twenty churches from in and around the town represented by our
team of volunteers and every month we get a request to send a speaker to
another church as they want to know about the work. Our thanks to all our
volunteers for the tremendous witness we now have in the town week by week.
The whole team is witnessing to the young folk who are out and about, as well
as to the police and ambulance teams, the Council officials and the pubs and
clubs who call on our services. We are
part of the Church in action, doing God’s work caring for those who need help
and support in the night in Please
continue to pray for the work of Street Pastors in Break it down For
those of you who like statistics, here’s a breakdown of the street pastors’
encounters during a one-year window:
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Street Pastors’ Garden Party By Carol Kellingray, July 2009 The weather forecast did not sound good as grey skies
gathered overhead. In the event, the rain held off until packing up time so
that we were able to enjoy Ivor and Ursula's hospitality and beautiful
garden. Approximately 50 people from the Base and Home Prayer
Teams and the Street Team came along and it was a wonderful time of
fellowship and sharing. Like many of us, I am still meeting some people
for the very first time, reminding me of the importance of our fellowship
events. |
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Tony
welcomed everyone, saying what a joy it was to see so many of us together, and
urged us to move around so that we got to meet everyone during the afternoon.
The table groaned with every kind of food - I always marvel at how Faith
Meals never produce all sandwiches
or all fruit cake! It was
especially good that we were meeting just a day after Ross' 60th birthday so
that we were able to congratulate him and sing Happy Birthday. June produced
a cake with candles (not sure how many) which Ross managed to blow out before
the wind beat him to it! It was
great to see that some of our Street Pastors had brought their
families, James with his lovely wife Maria and three delightful children (who
found themselves a quiet spot in the corner of the garden) It was
lovely to see Tony and Joyce's daughter Jane, visiting from Spain, who couldn't
have worked harder looking after everyone's needs and clearing away
afterwards - thank you, Jane. We were also pleased to meet Janet B's daughter
Lucy, who felt sure there would be no one she knew but was reunited with
Helen from our Base Prayer Team, whom she had known for some time Our
two injured soldiers bravely came along, Rosemary K and Andreas, both with
broken arms. We were so pleased to see them and pray for continued healing
for them. It
really was a lovely afternoon made especially so because of the
warm welcome from Ivor and Ursula, who so kindly shared their
lovely home and garden with us all. |
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Word On The Street – 3 By Phil Couch, August 2009 Ivor approached
me some time back to ask if I would contribute an article about some of the
encounters I've witnessed. I've kept a diary of a few of them so this may be
the first of a series. God is always there with us and reminds us of that
fact constantly, as the following encounters show. * The
names have been changed to protect the people’s identities. |
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Jason* It was
11pm and we were standing outside the entrance to Dukes chatting to the door
men. As people filed into the club I noticed one young man in
particular because of his unusual facial hair. He gave no
acknowledgement of us even being there, but it was a different matter when we
saw him at 2.30am. His friends called us over as they were worried about him
as he was rather drunk and very distressed. It
turned out that when he saw us outside Dukes, ‘something moved’ inside him,
as he put it. He said he was 23 and had a girlfriend and 14 month old child
at home, but there was a spiritual void inside him that left him feeling
empty. His girlfriend made fun of any spiritual conversation he tried to have
and this left him feeling alone. He said he couldn't understand what
drove him to go out and get drunk so often when he had a family at home. We
gave him the book of Mark and said we would pray for him. That induced a We
stayed with him for 45 minutes and then made sure he got safely in a taxi. Martin* We
were outside the kebab shops in When
he’d finished the female member of our team simply said, “Look, I don’t agree
with anything you’ve said, but you are clearly a troubled man – do you mind
if we pray for you?” With that,
his floodgates opened and he cried uncontrollably, his body wracked with
emotion. What had happened within him? We don’t know. Did it have a profound
long term effect? We don’t know. But that’s not what we’re about; street
pastoring is all about living in the moment and following God's
directions, and at that moment this young man needed us. Both
of the incidents have an open ending. As a pastor it can be hard
only being part of a chapter in the middle of someone's story; we don't know
the history of what brought the person to us and we don't know the subsequent
events in their lives and how - or if - meeting Street Pastors had any
profound effects on any individual. But that is not important - to place any
value on the need to know more is to misunderstand our purpose and His
purpose for us. Street Pastors endeavor to be God's mouthpieces on
the streets of the town. To want to know more, though it is human
nature/weakness to want to know God's Plan, that is certainly not our brief. It is
enough for us to actually be considered as worthy of being part of that plan.
When you think about that, you realise the privilege is immense and is more
than enough reward in itself. |
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Tom Jenkins |
MAKES IT ALL
WORTHWHILE Despite the late nights, cold, and occasional bit
of abuse, being a Street Pastor is very well worth it. Just before Christmas I received an anonymous
cash donation towards our work. Inside the envelope was a card which said
that some while ago Street Pastors found an unconscious young lady outside a
nightclub, tended her and got an ambulance to take her to hospital. |
LES ISAAC’S BOOK: Just six years ago a small group
of faith-filled Christians took to the crime-ridden streets of Brixton in |
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She was on anti-depressants at the time and had
been drinking, and for a while there was concern for he wellbeing as she had
dangerously low blood pressure. With help she is now full of hope, desire and
direction again. The donation comprised the value of the mother's
Christmas gift to the father, and the father's to the mother. They said that
they now had their daughter back, which was the only Christmas gift they
would ever need. I must say that it brought a tear to my eye when I read it. |
More projects are starting all
the time, and enquiries come from all over the world, because of course |
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LES ISAAC ON
RADIO 4 On 9th January 2010,
Street Pastors founder Les Isaac was
interviewed on BBC Radio 4’s ‘Saturday Live’ programme. To listen to the
interview, click here (please note it may take a
few minutes to load) |
Les Isaac |
RELEVANT CHURCH A
GOD-GIVEN GOAL by Les Isaac This book speaks from the heart about
the Church's civic duty to impact communities. It's pages barely contain Les
Isaac's excitement that God is challenging the Church to be a powerful
catalyst for social action. |
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FUND-RAISING LUNCH The Festive lunch hosted
by John & Yvonne Spence in January 2010 raised nearly £1000 for Street
Pastors. It was pleasing to see more than a dozen Street Pastors/Prayer
Partners there and it was a very enjoyable experience for us all. Carol Kellingray |
Isaac's radical nationwide initiative, Street Pastors, is helping
the Church to do just that. "Insightful, informative, provocative, '
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Don't forget, if you're away from
home and you can't remember whether or not you're on duty at the weekend, you
can simply go to a PC anywhere in the world and check our website at: |
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www.chelmsfordstreetpastors.org |
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Word On The Street – 4 By Felicity Sturt, August 2009 I am
Felicity Sturt, a member of base prayer team. What
motivates those over 70 to volunteer to pray either at home or at the Prayer
Base for a night shift? What understanding do they have of Do
Methodists do it haunted by their upbringing - perhaps in teetotal households
or where alcohol was seen as a demon? Do they do it to support in admiration
those who stand for 6 hours on the streets witnessing to The Gospel? |
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Always
questions arise for me, and answers can be hard to find. At the
cosy prayer base provided by the Cathedral, people from different Christian backgrounds
meet on equal terms. The sharing of life’s experiences and the succouring of
those on the streets may provide sufficient reward. There is no denying that
even one night a month cannot only disrupt that weekend but even the
following week’s sleep pattern. How do
the street teams manage, what do they find and how do they respond? Having
been in the prayer base team for 15 months, one blustery warm July evening I
had the chance to be one of the street team, though only for 90 minutes. It had
been, I was told, a quiet night. There had only been 4 requests for prayer
needs phoned back to base by 2am. As we
made our way via Yes,
to my ears the sounds were raucous, fast food cartons being rushed around by
the wind and littering the street, a street cleaning operator’s van appeared
later (a private enterprise?) and scantily dressed women hobbling on heels unusually
high. Were they having a good time? Too much drink had obviously been taken
by some who found it hard to steer a straight course but for the most part
were supported by friends. The
experienced pastors bided their time and within the hour had conversations
with two different men each pondering why the team was out, but glad that it
was, and hoping to find some understanding for themselves. That there are
individuals with deep needs who team members come across cannot be denied. For
someone who has never experienced solace in drink or loud music, it was an
interesting encounter with the current culture of the under 40s. An insight?
– maybe. An understanding? – limited. As for
the team, thank you for letting me join you – if only for a short time. I am
glad you have been trained to respond and feel dedicated to do it. One
pastor, as we set off, reflected, ‘One would dearly like on occasion to say
“Don’t be so stupid, don’t waste your money”.
But would one say that even to a grandchild?’ |
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Street Pastors’ – The
Practitioners’ Conference By Carol Kellingray, November
2009 |
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Four Street Pastors from On Thursday and Friday the day was divided into three
sections, each morning there was a Christian Keynote address followed by
speakers from outside Street Pastors. Afternoons were made up of six
workshops and we could choose which to attend. Between 7.00 – 9.00pm we had
Evening Conference Celebration, which was 2 hrs of worship with some
inspiring speakers |
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We had some excellent speakers and several stood out for
me. The Rev Christopher Chessun, Bishop of Woolwich, who had
been on the Stephen Lawrence Enquiry, reflected on the current challenges facing
the nation with regard to anti-social behavior and the role of the church in
the 21st century. He spoke of the deaths of so many young men in John Pitts, Professor of Socio-Legal Studies, Young men lived in fear if they were not part of a gang
and girlfriends of gang members often found themselves hiding guns or knives.
We heard from Rev David Shosanya, Regional Minister for
Mission with the London Baptist Society and Co-Founder of the Street Pastor
Initiative He shared his thoughts on Joshua 20, Cities of Refuge.
Rev Shosanya reminded us that the people we meet on the streets need a safe
place where their vulnerabilities are catered for. He wondered whether there is something missing in
society today, perhaps self esteem and respect are not celebrated in
families. He told us to take courage; God has set a precedent and calls us to
follow Him. |
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A surprise speaker was the Mayor of Mayor Johnson was presented with a copy of Les Isaac’s
book ‘Street Pastors’ and a Street Pastors baseball cap - not sure how
he could keep the cap on with all that hair, but I am sure he’s not the only
Street Pastor with that problem! |
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It was good to hear from Rod Jarman, Borough Commander
for Southwark, and Deputy Assistant Commissioner for New Scotland Yard, who
led the Damilola Taylor enquiry. He spoke about the challenges facing the
Met. at the present time. There are 700,000 new people coming to live in Commissioner Jarman spoke of the difficulty of cohesion
with people from so many cultures. The main issues for the Met. today are to
make people safe and to improve trust and confidence in the police. |
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Oliver Nyumbu CEO of Centre for Applied Research and
Educational Technology (CARET) told us that we should stand out and fit in.
Be authentic but be appropriate. I could go on about the wonderful speakers who so generously
gave their time to come and speak at the conference, but perhaps I shouldn’t
take up the entire Trinity News with just one subject! On Saturday morning there was a Graduation Ceremony for
more than one hundred new Street Pastors and a wonderfully uplifting message
from Rev Les Isaac CEO of Ascension Trust, who started this whole initiative
in 2003. Les is a man of such humility and takes no credit whatsoever for the
work that has given 120 towns and cities, 28 Les gives all the Glory to God and sees himself as
simply an instrument through whom God works. He is truly inspirational, a
warm and loving man. I feel blessed to know such a man, a true servant of God Part of Les’ message was ‘Unless God builds we labour in
vain. When God does something it is not about the individual, but about God.
It is not about denominations or traditions, none have a monopoly over God.
Walking and praying together should mean that we leave our denominational badges
at the door’ On Saturday evening we attended the 6th Annual Street
Pastors’ Dinner at It was the most wonderful three days and I am sure
everyone felt uplifted by all we had heard and shared and we felt
strengthened to go out on to the streets to do God’s work. We saw some old friends
from the Bishops Stortford Street Pastors and made some new friends too! Roll on next years Conference! Location – A dear little story told to us by Julianne Hedman, Chair
of Trustees at Ascension Trust: A little boy asked his mother if he could
start going to school by himself. Mother wanted to encourage him to be
independent so agreed, but was still worried. So she asked a neighbour who
regularly took her little girl for a walk in the mornings, to follow at a
distance making sure the by got to school safely. After several days a school
friend asked the boy the name of the lady who followed him to school each
day. ‘Oh, that’s Shirley Goodness and her little girl Mercy’ ‘How do you know
her’ asked the school friend? ‘I don’t, but my mother reads the 23rd Psalm to
me and it says Shirley Goodness and Mercy will follow me all the days of my
life…..’ |
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Hayley couldn’t quite get to grips with her new mobility scooter |
And finally…
Please don’t forget to send in
those contributions. Street Team and Prayer Team members, please email me at
either of my usual addresses.
Visitors to this website or non-members,
please email me at:
info@chelmsfordstreetpastors.org© 2010
Chelmsford Street Pastors |