(e mail sent to all by Roy in May 2011 with now updated figures to March 2017)

I am so grateful to God for the privilege of serving Him in this St Pastor ministry alongside every one of you. Frankly I love being on patrol with such a wonderful variety of people, from all sorts of backgrounds, different ages, denominations, ages and in all shapes and sizes (!), yet with one aim in mind; to serve Jesus on the streets of Plymouth.

Yet recently I’ve become aware of just a few times where St / Prayer Pastors have perhaps become a little “jaded”; with maybe the “shine” that was once there not being as bright as it once was towards our ministry. If that’s not you, as I believe it’s definitely not for the majority, then please feel free to ignore the rest of this e mail (though please do keep praying !)

I’d be the first to acknowledge that partly this is quite natural. It would be unreasonable from one point of view to expect that initial enthusiasm and thrill of being part of what God’s doing on the streets through us to last and anyway we of course want to be going out in faith not froth!

However, I think we must equally acknowledge the reality of Spiritual Warfare. Nothing spooky, but the fact is that in great unity we have marched into one of the enemy’s stronghold’s (pub- and club-land) in Plymouth and seen SO many people touched and even the very atmosphere change for the kingdom as we’ve ministered and brought the presence and gentle touch of Jesus <whether they’ve realised it or not!> to so many

No surprise at all then that we may experience some “kickback” – certainly it won’t come while we’re all fired up and ready to take the world on for Jesus but after a while thoughts such as

“the comfy armchair”
“I’m tired”
“wouldn’t you prefer a night off? You deserve it”
“I’ve done my bit”
“I don’t like the way that person…….”
“nothing ever happens” , can creep in so easily

The symptoms, are all too obvious – Discouragement, Dis-unity, Apathy, Lethargy……………….. I’m sure we could all add more

PLEASE let me repeat; this really isn’t something that applies to most but I am also aware that we all need to be guardful (is that a word?) and most certainly, prayer-ful about this

Thankfully we have the remedy in the Word of God

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ 2 Cor 10:5

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you James 4;7

Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace Eph 4;3

but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint (Is 40:31)

Be devoted to one another in love. Honour one another above yourselves Rom 12:10

never tire of doing what is good 2 Thess 3:13…………………….I’m definitely sure we could all add more here!

If e.g discouragement has set in, it’s easy to lose sight of the true perspective, which is that our God has us involved in one of the most effective front line ministries this city has ever seen, to the extent that the Police, Council and public hold us in very high esteem, often wanting us to do more patrols than we can cope with.

I don’t want us to boast but in order to help adjust our perspective, I’m sure we’d only have to ask ;

• One of the Street Sleepers we’ve engaged with (over 4,000 times!) to whom we’ve given away over 1,500 space blankets or ponchos – must be some grateful people there!
• Or one of the over 24,000 single people we’ve spoken with / helped (+ 11,000 groups)!
• We’ve prayed on the street with/for more than 650 people – bet their lives aren’t the same now……or of course the number of people our Prayer Pastors have prayed for!
• More than 1,500 times we’ve given advice / reassurance / directions – may not seem much to us; but to them…….
• Helped in more than 270 cases of assault – imagine the number of lives protected and touched there!
• We’ve given away over 7,000 pairs of flip flops – so that’s over 14,000 happy feet! – not many people giving something away free these days
• Called the emergency services more than 350 times……………….and
• Removed over 60,000 bottles from the streets – who knows what injuries might otherwise have taken place? Twice at least we’ve swept up broken glass and a lady has walked through that area barefooted within a minute!

That’s the statistics but imagine the number of lives that just aren’t the same now, because we’ve been there serving our God  – remember for example the guy who after meeting with one of our teams, woke up the next morning with a determination never to do drugs again and because of the money he saved, had been able to go to Australia, which had been a lifelong ambition! Or the girl who after talking to one of our ladies for quarter of an hour no longer wanted to kill the people she thought were responsible for the death of her young cousin Or…………(Blank for you to fill in testimonies you may know about nb if you can’t think of any let me know and I’ll send you some more)

So, if you’re a Street Pastor, or a Prayer Pastor, once again THANKYOU from me for all that you’re doing; it’s making a real difference in the lives of so many people in this city. And if I can presume to speak for others, then thankyou too from The Police who so appreciate our work, from the Council and from all the people whose lives are better than they would have been if we hadn’t been there

Such a profound phrase that…..”if we hadn’t been there”………

Bless you!

Roy