'Yes, whack it on me!'

A group of us headed out into the community once again to connect with those we met with prayer. Here's a snapshot:

We went towards the Square on the estate and had a chat with some council employees who were open to prayer and asked for help with their work. After a couple of 'NOs' we stopped a guy who was walking really fast. We gave a super quick offer as he sped along and to our surprise he said 'Yes, whack it on me!' and then he gave me a fist pump and hurried to his meeting. We were left speechless... 

We prayed for quite a few people this morning. We prayed for one person to find a job and then a couple of ladies waiting at bus stops who wanted prayers of blessing. We then came across an elderly gentleman who was partially sited and was really pleased to speak with us. He wanted prayer for his eyes as his sight was degenerating and said he felt a real peace afterwards. We connected deeply with him and he wanted to find out where we meet on Sundays as he wants to come along. 

Spring is in the...prayer

Spring was in the air as we headed out for a sunny morning of praying for our community. Here's the low down:

After a number of people who didn't want prayer initially, we got talking to a lady who wanted prayer for her leg. At the beginning, she seemed a bit weary but then was very cheery at the end! We then met a lady who we'd seen out and about before walking her dog. We chatted and she said she wanted prayer for her mum and her dog. It was nice to build more of a connection.

We also had a number of people who were in rush but managed to pray for a man working on a building site who wanted prayer for his sick mother in law. He was really thankful. We then approached a man who was a Muslim but who had a Christian wife. He was open to prayer and we offered a word of knowledge to him and he was really touched and welled up. And then we managed to pray for another woman who seemed very burdened. We prayed for peace upon her and was very thankful. She seemed surprised about how simple and easy it was.

There was someone we'd met on the streets a long time ago and we'd not seen for a while so we knocked on his door and his daughter answered and she was really grateful we were looking out for him. We had a really great connection and she was open to receiving prayer and seemed visibly touched. We then offered prayer for a few other people who didn't want any prayer and then tried taking a risk and offering a word of knowledge that didn't connect with them but they seemed unperturbed. We asked one couple if they wanted prayer and they said 'we don't have any money' so it took a while to tell them we weren't charging for prayer! Finally we met a lady who was very open and shared that it was actually her brother's funeral that day but she had been unable to make it due to health reasons. We had a very profound moment of prayer on the street and it was special to be able to minister to her in her sadness. She also let us pray for her leg that had been fractured. It was a beautiful encounter. 

"Please could I have another prayer"

With Spring peeking through the clouds, we heads out once again to see what God was up to on the streets around St Peter's. Here's some of the stories:

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We went towards the station but only got as far as the square by the wine shop and came across a man in a high vis jacket doing some surveying work.  We asked if we could pray for him and he was really happy we'd asked and turned out to be a Christian. He said he had some pain in his head and leg and we also shared some senses we'd had about him being a light wherever he went. Just as we were about to go on our way he said, 'please could I have another prayer if you have time'. He said he really wanted to know God more intimately and receive God's spirit. We encouraged him and prayed for God to fill him. We were with him for the rest of our time just being with Him as he encountered God deeply. It was very special. One of us had a peaceful heat inside our chests while we were praying for him, but it was very cold outside to our hands were freezing, so it was a strange temperature differential! 

We headed out to the park and had three great encounters with people. Firstly we met a lady in the park with a big dog and wanted prayer. We prayed that God would reveal himself to her. We met another man with a dog (smaller) who was really open to prayer and was really touched. 'Oh yes please' was his response to our offer. 'yeh nice one would you do that?'. He had some struggles that he shared and then we met a final lady who was a Christian who was taking her son to the clinic and said she was struggling with anxiety and tiredness so we prayed for her and invited her to one of our women's groups.  

A snowy day to pray

After a big dump overnight, the estate was looking beautiful in the snow. We thought that it might be too cold for conversations on the street so we headed to some of the housing blocks to knock on some doors. We had a community survey with us and were offering prayer.

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We headed off to one of the big blocks on the estate and went to the first door we knocked on was answered by none other than the Eastern European gentlemen we'd had an amazing connection with last week! He even said he'd been meditating that morning and the meeting we'd had with him on the street came to mind that very same morning.  This time we were able to continue the conversation, talking about life, faith and why we follow Jesus. We had a time of prayer and he said he felt vibrations in his chest, which we said we believed was the Holy Spirit. God is definitely on his case!

Deep street conversations

The streets beckoned us once again this morning so we headed out to see what was in store for us. Here's a few highlights:

We went to the park and met a lady who had been to St Peter's for the first time on Sunday. It was great to be able to reconnect with her. She asked us to pray for her work. And we had an amazing conversation about faith, why we believe in Jesus, doubts and and she even shared she had wanted to be a priest as a child! It was so good to chat.  Then we had a few quick pray and chat encounters as we walked round the park. 

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First of all we approached a guy who we'd met on the streets and prayed for a while back, but this time he was way more open. He'd just been to the doctors for a chest infection so he let us pray for him. We then said hello to a lady who told us it was her birthday but the first since her twin brother had died so she seemed very pleased to be prayed for. And then after a few very friendly nos, we bumped into a young Eastern European man. He had a bit of a Christian background but was exploring other faiths and practising meditation. He was really open, and asked us why we were out on the streets, when did we first start etc and we tried to reply by talking about God's grace, that we'd seen him at work and we wanted to pray for others because of His love for us. He said he wanted to read the Bible and so we showed him some apps he could download with Russian and English versions, with audio, which he was pleased about. Then we prayed for him that he would have a revelation of who Jesus was. He then prayed for us!  He held our hands and we had a moment of silence together. It was very special. 
 

StreetAsh for Ash Wednesday

This morning was Ash Wednesday, so we thought we'd break from the norm and some of us headed to the back of Clapham Junction station with some ash and a sign saying 'It's Ash Wednesday, we love to pray for you!' Our curate Kaf was wearing her dog collar and had already 'ashed' her forehead so she was looking the part. 

We wanted to take a risk and were interested to see how many people would engage with the ash, and to be honest the answer was - not many! 

We had a good chat with a guy handing out magazines who was very friendly. Then a girl came straight up to us and asked 'is there a prayer that I could take' and we asked her if she was a Christian and she said her mum was. So we prayed for her and she wanted an ash cross on her hand as a sign of repentance and God's love, which she was blessed by.  

We prayed for another chap who was on his way to an appointment and wanted a cross on his head, which we thought was bold of him! 

We also prayed for a lady on her way to the GPs for her sickness - she was happy to be prayed for if a little ambivalent. And we were able to pray short blessings on some other folks and also had a number of conversations with people asking if they knew if it was Ash Wednesday and if they were giving anything up for lent - one guy said 'i'm trying to give up these' as he stubbed out his cigarette..

It felt like we were more present this morning in an obvious way as we were waiting for people to walk past us rather than the other way round.  It was good to try something different. 

Taking a risk for us

A bitingly cold morning to hit the streets, but hit them we did, and here's a few stories...

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We prayed with a lady with a beautiful dog in the park and was really open and appreciative. That was a positive encounter which finished with her hugging us. Soon after that we briefly prayed for a man who had a Catholic background. He was quite surprised to be prayed for!

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There was a lady on the way to the doctors who asked us to pray for her and then we bumped into a couple we knew which was nice. There was a really nice older lady with four sons and one had recently had an operation and she was really appreciative of prayer.  Some of us today felt a little bit intimidated by approaching more professional looking British men, so we decided to offer prayer to some to get over that! And it was great. We spoke to a man who'd just come off a night shift and was up for prayer for his sleep. We then had a sense he was a good Father and he said he became a dad 5 months ago and seemed encouraged by that, although a bit bleary-eyed!

Finally, there was a guy I chatted with who I'd seen around a lot but never spoke to. He seemed quite intimidating but I went and said hello and turned out to be super friendly and we had a really good chat. He couldn't think of anything he wanted prayer for, but was really open.

"You've made my day!"

Another week heading out for StreetSeed on Wednesday morning. Here's a few stories:

First of all we met a lady who was a believer and very lovely, huggy and smiley and happy to be prayed for! Then we prayed for a lady's daughter who had financial difficulties and then a gentleman's mother had cancer and wanted prayer for her. We also had a sense from God for him about a meeting he was going to and God would give him the right strategy. He looked at us with bulged eyes and he said 'you've made my day!' It was great to be able to speak with someone who looked very professional and on their way to somewhere with purpose. And he was totally up for it!

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Going out this morning we felt there was a bit of a brick wall while we were out praying as lots of people we offered prayer to said no or were too busy to stop. Having said that we had a nice conversation with a chap outside the doctors and we prayed for his knee that was in pain. He said it felt a little better. He seemed more interested in God telling him the Thunderball lottery numbers though! And we then were able to pray for a local maintenance guy and finally a builder, who wasn't so sure about prayer but we offered a quick one for healing of his back that he'd said was in pain

A smiley morning

The wind nearly blew us off course this morning but we persevered with Street Seed, knowing we've had good times in the pouring rain before, whats a bit of wind!?  Turns out talking to people who don't speak much English in the wind is quite hard, but we had a really great morning chatting to lots of people who were really open, smiley and chatty.

We were surprised when approaching an apparent 'hard nut to crack' to find him a really warm and friendly Christian living nearby.  Another lady got approached twice but the second time was more interested in what we were doing but not open to prayer.  "It's very good of you to do this". 

We prayed for a guy who wanted to be more valued in his job and we met one of the woman who works at the library. Little chefs was promoted widely among some of the mums we stopped and one of us prayed for a dog for the first time when we met a guy with an Alsatian who had a bad leg.  He described himself as a follower of Christ so it was great to be able to pray for him. 

We also prayed for one of the owners of AJ's shop, holding his hand over the counter before buying some chocolate! 

When StreetSeed became StreetSweep

This morning Streetseed looked a bit different as we went out with 3 police officers to help with a weapons sweep on the estate.  The police are doing regular sweeps of the area to look for weapons stashed away for future use, rather than those being discarded.  The staff team walked through York Gardens and around Pennethorne House helping them look for weapons.  

It was a great chance to meet with the officers and encourage them and we were able to pray for wisdom, encouragement and safety for them.  

2018 here we come....

After a time of refreshing over the Christmas season we went out this morning with renewed energy and faith. Here's some highlights. 

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For the first time out we had a very smiley morning from everyone we met, which was nice. We met a bricklayer, who was in a suit! Turns out he was on the way to an interview to teach other bricklayers. He was a little resistant at first but eventually seemed very happy for us to pray for his interview. Then we met a lady we've seen before and she was keen to come to our midweek older folks group.  We were then able to bless a lady on her way to work and she was very smiley!  Then we had a lovely encounter with a woman who had recently moved to the area and had a bad back. She was a Christian and really excited to be prayed for: 'you're like two angels to me this morning'. 

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We met a young electrician who was up for prayer and then we went into the local convenience store and chatted to the two guys. We had a word that he had a father heart and he said his wife was going to have a baby and we were able to pray for the baby's birth. 

Then we went to a bus stop and approached a few people who weren't up for prayer but wanted to chat. We prayed for a lady who had a bad heal in the park. She didn't seem to have any release from pain in the moment but was blessed.

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We prayed for a lady in the park. We did a run/walk after them! She was off to an interview and let us pray for her. I then prayed for an Indian lady who was lovely and was able to pray for her health. The thing that I think I've learned is to inhabit who I am in Christ. This morning I inhabited who God has made me to be and it felt like I was received better, so that was really positive. 

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We also did a bit of walk/running after people as well! We saw a number of people and spoke to a big guy with a dog. We had a nice chat with him and really warmed up on our conversation. He asked us to pray that his life was long enough to deal with all the problems he had. We then spoke to another man with a smaller dog who didn't want prayer but it then led to our next conversation who was a really nice young man. We had a good time with him and prayed with him a couple of times. He was really warm and open and wanted prayer for his work and were able to pray for his health as well. 

Last time going out in 2017

For the final StreetSeed of 2017 just two of us went out, but we had an extraordinary time praying for folks in our community...

Almost as soon as we headed out a man caught our eye across the street and asked if he wanted prayer. He was really happy to meet us and asked for prayer for his family and strength for each day. We chatted for a bit and he lived really locally and had faith. He wasn't plugged into a worshipping community so were able to encourage him in that.

While we were chatting to this man a Syrian gentlemen who one of us had prayed for before approached us and asked for prayer for his daughter who was giving birth in a few days. It's always great when someone comes up to you asking for prayer!

We then spoke to a man outside the doctor's surgery from Moscow who wanted us to pray for his mum who had cancer and then we finally had an amazing time of conversation and prayer with a man who was going to share a message at his sister's funeral in a couple of days time. He hadn't been a believer but his sister who died was, and as a result of everything that had happened had found faith. He couldn't believe that we had approached him outside the station, just at the time he was seeking God for guidance about what to say. We prayed for him and we weren't sure who was more blessed by the encounter!

Good, great, fantastic

It was a cold and rainy day but that didn’t dampen our spirits going out to pray for folks in our community.

We had a good, great and then fantastic prayer encounter. It got better as we went on.  We prayed for a lovely lady from Morocco with three sons. She had a real heart for community and for people to know their neighbours and was very warm. She was a Muslim and was really happy for us to pray for her brother who was struggling. And we got a hug at the end, which is always nice!

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We met a lawyer for a local firm who wanted prayer as she represents clients with bereavements. She didn’t realise we wanted to pray with her (as is often the case) and after an initial shock was really up for it. Then we met with a lady we’d prayed for before who had faith and wanted prayer for her son. We encouraged her that God pursues us and it was a great encounter. Then there was a chap on a bike who stopped and said. ‘it’s funny you said that, yes please pray but I’m in a rush’. We prayed quickly for him and he seemed really moved.

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We first bumped into someone we knew and were able to pray for him and all his requests for the world!  Then we did a super quick prayer of blessing for someone on his way to work and then had some ‘nos’ from some atheists, even though we said we’d still love to pray for them. Then we shared a word with someone and after confirming it didn’t mean anything to him he told us in no uncertain terms that he didn’t want to talk! So we quickly went on our way and prayed for healing for a lady with a stick who had back pain and other health worries. She was very pleased and then finally met a guy in a local business who was really up for us praying for him and his business, so that was a good way to end our time.

Matter of fact prayer

A smaller group of us went out today in the cold to see who we could offer pray for. Here’s a few snippets.

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We met a lady who wanted prayer, but didn’t expect us to pray there and then! Then we met a guy who was the most matter of fact person we’d ever met. He accepted prayer without missing a blink, we prayed for him, and then he thanked us and went on his way as though he was completely expecting the encounter…

We blessed a salon owner’s business, and then after a lot of people too busy for prayer had a really great encounter with an older gentlemen who we approached as he looked like he had a bad leg, which he did but he also asked us to pray for his eye as he’d lost vision in it. We’d prayed for him and he thought it may have improved. He told us that morning he was worried about his eye and was praying to God for some encouragement, and said that we were angels for him.

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We met a mum with 3 kids including a tiny baby. She was new to the area and wanted to come to our Christmas events. Then an older lady with arthritis let us pray for her and then a chef from Algeria who we stopped in the middle of the road (!) and after a chat prayed a blessing over him.

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 We prayed for a guy around the square who was ‘open to ideas’ and for his cold to go away. He seemed like he would have been up for more of a chat but we ran out of things to ask. So he was open to ideas, we just didn’t get chance to share many of ours! We then met another person who wanted to come to the Midnight Mass and had some views on the new church building.  Finally there was a professional lady walking quickly who didn’t seem a likely stopper and she wanted prayer for an upcoming exam which was wonderful.

'I’ve been wanting to come to your church’

A bunch of us went out to bless the community. Here's how it went down...

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There was a man we met who just the day before had said he felt prompted by God to go to church for the first time in a long time. He was so excited to meet us just a day after this.

Then we met a young Muslim lady with a gentle spirit and wanted prayer that her ‘life would go well’.

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We combed the environment for people and just when we were at the point of despair we ran into a lady with crutches. As soon as we came to her and said where we were from she said ‘o yes, I’ve been wanting to come to your church’.  She let us pray for her leg, she’d fallen 17 steps. She said she couldn’t feel anything at the time but was blessed from the encounter. There was then a workman on his phone trying to find something and we were able to give him some advice on a local shop, which he was happy about. He said his parents in law were Vicars so although he doesn’t believe he’s comfortable with it all and he let us pray for him. Again someone looking unlikely was really up for prayer.

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We made some good connections today. We went to a bus stop and asked if anyone had any prayer or had any pain and then there was a self-assigned spokesperson who said ‘we’re all fine’. Then hilariously we started a really great conversation with her as though the first bit didn’t happen! We got to encourage her with how we felt God saw her and it was a great encounter.  There was a gentle guy in leather who was walking really slowly towards us. We offered prayer and he said he was in a rush (a slow rush it seemed) and we said we just needed 5 seconds. He then said ‘1, 2, 3, 4, 5 (really fast)– that’s your time’ and walked off. It was the quickest five seconds we’d ever experienced!

"Yeah you can pray for me"

It was wonderful to have another opportunity to go out into our community with the love of Jesus and see who God had lined up for us to meet...

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We went out and had a sense we should go out to Plough Road and bumped into a man that one of us had met earlier that day. He had a broken past with lots of pain and regret and we had a really good conversation with him. We were able to pray for him and prayed for healing in his wrists and shared with him about the thief on the cross who in his dying breath put his faith in Jesus.  We had a deep connection with him and he wanted to pray a prayer of giving his life to Jesus, which was amazing. He didn't quite get through all of the prayer as there were some things he wanted to process before he continued, which was totally understandable. It felt a real privilege for us to speak and pray with him. We hope to see him again. 

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We had an interesting morning and met a Portuguese family and prayed for them and told them about the love of Jesus. Then we prayed for another Christian straight after and she was also from Portugal! Then there was a guy who was well built and seemed a bit intimidating from afar, but was really open! 'Yeh you can pray for me' he said. 'go on then...!' so we did! Finally, there was a guy up a ladder who came down just as we were walking to him, and lo and behold he was from Portugal! We had a little pray for Portugal afterwards!

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We met a Muslim at a bus stop who really wanted prayer for exams she was doing. And then we saw some workmen in a cage thing and one of them thought God must be on his case and wanted us to pray for him. After that we met a guy who was disabled who'd fallen out of bed that morning and had hurt his hip and he let us pray for him to be healed. Then three Muslim removal men came out and were really warm and wanted prayer. 

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Does prayer cost anything?

A good group of us went out this morning to share seeds of love and hope to our community. Here's a little snapshot...

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We met someone who one of us had prayed for on an earlier occasion, and he was really up for prayer. We met a lady who had met nearly all of us who'd been out this morning which was amazing!

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We met two ladies in a row with the same name. The first one had had a connection with St Peter's in the past and was very fearful about the area. The second was a quick encounter praying a blessing on a lady.

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We had a really interesting encounter with a Muslim lady we already knew from the area. When we offered prayer she asked 'how do you pray' and we shared we would pray in the name of Jesus. We were able to talk about our relationship to God through Jesus. She said every Tuesday she walks past the church door but is too busy to come in. She said she had lots of questions about Christianity and wanted to connect with her again. 

There was a lady we ran across the park to as we thought we knew, but we didn't! But she was really receptive and wanted prayer. She was really enthusiastic about midweek family stuff we do and gave us her number so we could remind her when their on.

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I remember significantly a big beared guy we met who initially looked a bit sketchy. He said he thought we were the police! He had a great encounter with God! He was completely open. He said 'im confused, I don't get what you're doing. Will it cost me money?'. he was genuinely surprised we didn't want anything from him. 

'God sent you two angels to me'

A number of us headed out this morning to meet and bless our community. Here's some stories...

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We met an older gentlemen on his way back from the doctors. He was really blessed by our encounter. He used to come to St Peter's many years ago and said he still had a faith. He had tears streaming down his cheeks as we were praying for him and said 'God sent you two angels to me' today and couldn't get over why we'd approached him of all people. He had some health problems and he let us pray for him and he actually gave us his number and asked us to pick him up on Sunday so we can bring him to our service. He was utterly moved by the experience, as were we!

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We met someone we'd prayed for before which was nice and he was still really open. We met a fun Australian couple who we prayed for and also prayed for a chap struggling with addiction in the park who seemed to be moving towards recovery which was good. 

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We started talking to a man who, from the outside, seemed like he wouldn't be interested. But right from the outset was open and wanted to pray for goodness. He asked help in being a dad. He was a Muslim and asked questions because he reads the bible. It was very encouraging how hungry and receptive how he was.

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"This is amazing...! Yeah"

Another beaituful time out in the community praying for people we meet. Here's a few stories...

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The main one I can remember is a man who was surprisingly receptive, and wanted prayers for not getting sick over the winter. He was really up for chatting about faith and shared about his journey.  

We got some nice hugs after praying for people which was nice!

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We weaved round the estate and had a number of special encounters. A standout one was being able to pray for some parents who had a small child with them and they had a family member who had died earlier that week. We prayed for peace and that they would know God in their grief. They seemed really touched.   

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The last person we spoke to was really special. We approached a chap who seemed to have difficulty walking. We asked if we could pray for him and if he had any pain  in his body and he replied 'absolutely I would love prayer I  have pain all over!'  We laid hands on him and he became lost in a sense of peace. After praying we asked him how he was feeling and said 'this is amazing...! yeah' and just seemed to stay in a trance-like state. We had to get back and he seemed quite gutted we had to go! We left him standing there in peace - he may still be there now!

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After a lot of polite 'no thank yous', we approached a lady who was trying to get to St Peter's church for a course and couldn't find it! So we were able to help her find her way and pray for her and she was really touched.

We met a chap who was really open. He said he knew Jesus loved him, and we prayed for greater revelation of that.  We also got to pray for a Christian lady's son which was special. 

'She wanted to go to a church and get prayer'

We headed out on Wednesday morning once again to share the love of Jesus and here's some stories...

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We prayed for lady heading back home to the north of the country. We then prayed for a couple of other ladies before meeting a road surveyor. We got chatting about his dreams we had a word of knowledge about his work which really blessed him. He really opened up and it was a beautiful time.

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There was a guy who we approached who was quite rude to us so we headed on our way! We spoke to a number of people and blessed a man's baby.  We spoke to a chef who was picking up leaves who was up for prayer, but didn't realise we meant there and then so headed off before we got chance to pray with him then.

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The first lady we approached was in a wheelchair and with a friend. She was so up for prayer and said that sometimes she can walk on crutches and Jesus had done so much for her already. She said that moment she had literally been saying that she wanted to go to a church and get prayer!  She started crying as we prayed and they were really touched. We prayed for another lady who didn't speak much English who asked us to pray for her friends - she offered us their phone numbers! we said let's pray for them together and she was up for that.