One Friday, five stories

Just another night as a Street Pastor on the streets of South London…

My name is Hayley and I am a Street Pastor where I live in Mitcham, South London. This is the story of just another Friday night in my neighbourhood…

Preparing for action

It’s Friday night and after work I put on my Street Pastor jacket and head off to Mitcham town Centre. Tonight I am leading a team of four other Street Pastors – Richard, Teresa, Vic and Jim. Before we meet up I keep thinking about the passage in Scripture which says “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us” (1 John 3:16). As I thought about love, I found my Bible and went to the famous passage in 1 Corinthians 13 “Love is patient, love is kind… love never fails… three remain faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” Often when we are out as Street Pastors, some people want to argue about doctrine and theology with us. Tonight, before we went out, I reminded the team to keep it simple: let’s remember that above all Jesus calls us to love others.

When we are out as Street Pastors, some people want to argue about doctrine and theology with us. Tonight, I reminded the team to keep it simple:  Jesus calls us to love others

Fred

I got to Mitcham Town Centre and as I am waiting for the team I see a familiar face – it’s Fred. I have had conversations before with Fred about cannabis and we pick up right where we left off. Fred is brutally honest – he says that he is unmotivated and it’s because of the smoking. He tells me that when he was younger he used to go to church and ‘had dreams of being a doctor or a Reverend’. I thought of what Jesus said in John 10:10 “the thief comes to steal and kill and destroy”. Fred had dreams, ambitions and hopes, but smoking cannabis was robbing him of this, robbing him of abundant life that Jesus came to give. Fred talked about wanting God to ‘zap him’ and free him from addiction. I told him what I know and have experienced personally: that God can break addiction but we have to work with Him and take responsibility for our own actions as well.

Daniel

The team turn up and we begin to walk around the town centre. Outside a betting shop we meet Daniel, a young man, aged 21, who was waiting for his friends. Daniel had finished an art course at college but hasn’t been able to get a job since. He admitted he was ‘getting up to no good’ and that ‘there were people after him’. It was sad seeing a young man with his whole life in front of him, already living his life looking over his shoulder. But Daniel is like so many people in my neighbourhood – there are so few good jobs for young people and such feeling of hopelessness. I told him God did have a plan for his life, a plan to prosper him not to harm him, to give him a hope and future. To be honest I am not sure he was ready to hear it.

Rob and Paul

Round the corner of the betting shop were two men, Rob and Paul, smoking cannabis. We engaged in conversation while they smoked. Paul was a bit hostile towards us - he kept talking about the DeVinci code and how it disproved the Bible. When people are like this I feel like walking away, because to be honest I don’t want the argument but I heard the Scripture coming back to me: “…and the greatest of these is love”. We carried on talking to Paul and he started to tell us how his sister had been tragically murdered in Ghana and that he was travelling there to escort her body back home. I asked if I could pray for him and he agreed – and was very grateful afterwards.

Evie

After a quick break in McDonalds, which included more great conversations, we heard lots of noise coming from a group of about ten people - none of whom spoke any English – who were drinking cans of lager, including a boy who was only about six and a woman who seemed very vulnerable. The woman was clearly drunk and as the group was singing they were urging her to dance, whilst mocking and jeering and filming her on a mobile phone.

We manage to separate her from the group and asked if she was OK.  But she told us bluntly that she had made new friends and was going home with them. We tried to urge her to be careful because she was clearly vulnerable and they were taking advantage of her but she was adamant. She said that they were fun people and that she was only going home to an empty flat. We were quite concerned for her safety so we got together and prayed - there was nothing we could do as we knew the police would not be interested.

We prayed that she would change her mind and God would send angels to encamp around her. Just as we prayed, she walked away and said, “Oh, I’m going home”. She wandered off round the corner walking in zigzags and stopping to steady herself. We asked her where she lived and if we could escort her home or carry her bags but she seemed offended, telling us, “I can look after myself”.

By now it was late so I let the rest of the team go home but Vic and I continued to follow her at a distance. Every now and then she would stop either to prop herself up, double over against a garden fence to be sick or turn and look at us through squinted eyes and ask, “Why are you following me?” It took her ages to walk 100 yards because she was zigzagging across the pavement. She stopped again and repeated, “Why are you following me?” We told her we wanted to make sure she got home OK and that she was safe, but she swore and mumbled something under her breath.

A few minutes later she stopped again and once more we asked if we could help. This time she relented and allowed Vic to carry her bags and I walked alongside steadying her slightly. She started to tell us how many people had died in her life and then said, “Who’s next - me? I have liver problems”. She told us that she had a boyfriend in Hackney but the guy she really loved was in Jamaica. She told us about how people call her names, want to fight her and that she had recently been robbed.

After about 45 minutes we managed to get her to her door and we helped her to her flat. It was almost completely empty – there was no furniture apart from a fridge-freezer with the doors open which was also empty. She then asked us, “Why have you been so kind?” Vic shared with her about the love of Christ and how precious she was to God. We left Evie in her empty flat, and quietly walked back to Vic’s car in thoughtful contemplation.

This is how we know what love is

Vic is one of our oldest Street Pastors; he’s in his seventies, has arthritis and walks with a stick. I am at least half his age and if I am honest I wanted to leave Evie once we got her away from the group, but Vic was persistent. That night he did not just show Evie Jesus’ love – he also showed me. Love is seeking another’s good, sometimes to our cost. I bet the next day Vic will have been stiff and sore from all that walking – the price for him of love and compassion.

Returning to where I started, “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.” The passage continues: “And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.” (1 John 3:16-18).

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Hayley Teague is a Community Mission Advisor with Livability's Community Mission Team.  She has been a Street Pastor for three years.