Finally got out to Street Pastor for the first time. Not in my own town yet but still aiming to be 'Christ on the Streets' here well before Christmas.
What an amazing experience. People were so friendly, welcoming, supportive, positive about Street Pastors. They came up ready to speak and ask what a Street Pastor did and were particularly interested in whether we get paid for it! They seemed genuinely surprised when we said 'no' and told us what a great thing we were doing and how we were making the city centre safer by looking out for people. Some thought we were there to Bible bash and asked if we were going to 'convert' them. We explained that we were there to make sure people were safe and had a good night night out and that we were there if anyone wanted to speak to us about anything. Street Pastor motto - 'caring, listening and helping'.
People were keen to share their stories with us, whether it was a lost job, or to simply to blether about how they were out for the night with their friends, or in town on holiday, one person wanted to come up and confess his sin - he'd done something daft the night before, felt bad and wanted to talk about how he could be forgiven. But some people have stories that are far more moving and one person chose to share his with us. It was very moving, challenging and sobering.
Over all it was an amazing experience and my hope for our town is that people will welcome us they did on Saturday. It feels like the right thing to do - to be on the streets - to be Christ's hands and feet and more importantly - ears - and listen with his compassion.
Check out Aberdeen SPs here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NokodTxJ4Ts
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