Kingston United Reformed Church blogs

prayer letter 99

Tue, 13 May 2008 09:27:16 -0700

Prayer Letter 99 – 9th and 10th May 08.

Hi Prayer Team

Friday - Phil Crump, Viv, Gordon and Justin. Prayer pastor Monika Cooper and Simon Cooper. Visitors film crew and Paul
Saturday – Jenny, Graceia Dereen, Alan, Paul and Meryn. Prayer pastors – Dave and Tessa
A brief overview
Friday A warm night. The riverside was packed including the restaurants with tables all outside - a good buzz early on. Elsewhere there were fewer people. The clubs and bars were poorly attended with hardly any queue at Oceana. Everyone was outside enjoying the fine weather and many going home once the pubs shut.
Saturday - very warm night, very busy down by the river 1st shift, a fantastic night with many great opportunities to share faith issues, nothing to share from police briefing.
1. Please continue to pray for the protection of the URC Kingston building and the safety of the team. Since praying for the building we have not had another attack
2. Please continue to pray for the other teams going out around the country, and the new places that are starting up.
3. Please pray for the people we will meet this weekend and ask God to prepare us for them.
4. Please continue to pray for the new team as they continue training they have their first times out on the streets and enjoyed it immensely, Paul, Alan, Andy, Bethany, Tessa, Dan, Kelly and Bronwyn.
5. Please continue to pray for Stella as she waits for an Op
6. Please pray for the deepening of relationships between us and the people we meet on the streets, that we would have God’s word for them, please pray for salvation on the streets.
9. We are trying to raise 100 people to give £10 per month to street pastors, please pray God would raise them up.

A few comments from the diaries this weekend to encourage you:

One of the film crew is a Muslim and was greatly impressed by our praying before going out on the 1st shift, please pray for him
We were approached by a couple of guys asking the usual questions of who we are and what we do. This initial engagement turned out to be the most fantastic opportunity to talk and share with not only them but a number of their friends as well, who began to engage with all the team members. After asking us about who we were and what we did they had many questions about faith issues and were so very keen and open to talk. We found ourselves in little groups of two or threes and were able to share the gospel, give testimonies, pray, explain about Alpha and invite them, many took s/p cards. Please pray for Phoebe, Gemma, Alex, Gary, Dan and Chelsea that they would contact us for further engagement.
Gave flip flops to young girl whose feet were "killing" her. Thank God for the witness of giving girls flip flops, a reminder of God’s grace.
Moved on to get Alistair and Ed drink from Subway, they provided it free, Thank God for the provision of free drinks which we hand out to the homeless and bless Subway.
1.55 - Gave Alistair tea - he told us he was in pain [thought he had infection in his leg] we had a word with him about his situation and prayed for his leg which was swollen [the reason why he was unable to wear his prosthesis] Prayer point: - He is going to hospital on Monday regarding this - please pray that they will be able to fit it for him.
We walked the young lady back to her car which was in the market car park, she talked to Graceia felt very much that God was tugging at her heart to bring her close to Him, so please pray that God will lead her to the right people who will speak His truth to her
He wanted to come back to God so we prayed for him that his faith would be revived. Please pray for Alex, Matt and Chris.
The young lady was so grateful she wanted to know how she could pay it back. The Lord had been pulling at her heart and she shared that although no one in her family prays or goes to church she had been praying in secret - she was very hungry spiritually and Graceia prayed with her to receive Jesus as saviour - please pray for her.
Outside TKMaxx chatting for a while with a number of people - one [w] guy Daniel - asked him if he knew the story of Daniel in the lions den, he said he did. He was very receptive when we told him that Daniel called on the Lord and he answered him and that same power was available to him, we gave him s/p card.- please pray that everything that is trying to hold him back from really seeking God would be removed
3.45 - outside Jessup’s - met 4 friends [f] 20,s all with very sore feet so we gave them each a pair of flip flops - v. grateful - Emma thought we were fantastic

We are increasingly asked about our faith and pray with people, God is indeed making lots of appointments for us please pray for the teams that are going out this week,

Friday - Tracey O’Shea, Sue Fraser, Reninca, Eddie and John. Prayer Pastor – Peter Watson.
Saturday – Alison, Andy, Graceia Dereen and Mike. Prayer Pastor – Martin Radford, Need 1 prayer pastor

Yours in Christ

Paul Jacobs
Street Pastor Kingston Coordinator

Prayer letter 98

Thu, 08 May 2008 05:15:02 -0700

Prayer Letter 98 – 2nd and 4th May 08.

Hi Prayer Team

Friday – Louis, Sharon Williamson, Ken, Doreen and Lucille. Prayer Pastor – Mike Parker and Carol, Visitor Colin.
Saturday - Tracey Germain, Suva, Tessa, Viv and John. Prayer Pastor Shervin
Sunday Jenny, Andy, Bethany, John and Helen. Prayer Pastor Ray
A brief overview
Friday - The Town Centre has people out in view of the nice weather. There is a not an anticipated hot spot that has been passed on by the Police who are visible patrolling this evening
Saturday -
Sunday - A really warm night, town busy but no major incidents no sign of any of our regular street homeless. Nothing to report from police briefing. Felt that it would be good tonight to pray at certain spots around the town that have seen aggressive incidents over the last couple of months.

Over the last couple of weeks we have seen a few incidents but on the whole the atmosphere has been peaceful and quiet, please continue to pray for the peace of the town that we might reach people with His love.

Please pray for the Street Pastors that are going out this

Friday - Phil Crump, Brenda Crump, Gordon and Justin. Prayer pastor Monika Cooper and Simon Cooper.
Saturday – Jenny, Graceia Dereen, Alan, Need 1 Pastor. Prayer pastors – Dave and Helen

Yours in Christ

Paul Jacobs
Street Pastor Kingston Coordinator

Prayer letter 96

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 10:08:55 -0700

Prayer Letter 96 – 18th and 19thApril 08.

Hi Prayer Team

Fri - Paul, Sue Murwill, Justin, Dan and Andy. Prayer pastors - Peter Watson
Helen Hancock. Visitor Richard
Sat – Alison, Lorraine, Reninca, Beth and Mike. Prayer pastors - Mike Sainsbury, Mary Moran.

A brief overview
Friday - It was quiet for the first two rounds and manic on the last round with some very encouraging conversations.
Saturday It was a busy night, with a high level of police presence. There were a number of fights, some of which we witnessed round at Essence and McClusky’s. Apart from that there was a good vibe on the street and we had a good evening.

And finally - 1.55 Met a group of young boys who called us over as they needed our help. They were concerned about 3 ducks that were in the road beside Monsoon in Union Street, they had seen them earlier and had now noticed that one was limping and they were concerned that people were kicking them. Just before we were about to go over to the ducks they took flight and we had a round of applause!

Please pray for the Street Pastors that are going out this

Friday - Brenda Tyrrell, Gordon Brook, Katie Beckett, Estrella and Heinrich. Prayer pastors – Bob and Barbara and Trevor’s Group

Sat - Tracey O’Shea, Sue Fraser, Helen Fish, Meryn, Alan and Tracey Germain. Prayer pastor Monica Cooper

Yours in Christ

Paul Jacobs

Street Pastor Kingston Coordinator

Stay and Play Launch This Saturday

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 08:37:38 -0700

After much thought and preparation Stay and Play is finally here.

10-1 Saturday 19th April in the Mayo Hall

There will be paint, sand and collage.

Dodgems and swing ball

Games, books, and trains.

Optional Worship approx 10mins at 11:30

All for £2 per family or absolutely free if you bring a print out of this screen with you.

Plus cake, free drinks for children and decent fair-trade coffee.

Oxygen's monday prayer mailings

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 00:39:28 -0700

School holidays are always strange times at Oxygen; many projects shift gear and end up working with young people in different ways and through different events. This spring break is no different; the team are running film, football and evening projects that engage with the same young people but in different contexts. As they do they are seeking ways to continue to reveal God’s serving, relational love to young people through both their words and actions. Please pray for them this week as they do this.

Whilst the team are involved in frontline youthwork, much of my time has been spent on an area of work that is important, but far less enjoyable. I have just spent the last 7 days taking time out of the office completing grant applications in support of our work. I have blogged about this before, but this is work that I feel that I can only do if I put my heart and soul into it, telling potential funders that the young people we work with really need their support. How depressing it is then to get a simply standard letter of rejection, or even worse no answer at all.

Please do pray for the grant applications that were submitted last week in support of Rm1, Urban Nites and Oxygen’s work experience programme.
Pray for the ongoing work in putting in place the finances needed to keep Oxygen going into the future as we continue to give young people the opportunity to discover and follow Jesus

Whilst we are looking for the funding to carry on our work, things are developing at pace on the ground. So below you will see prayer requests for a new St Peters Youthworker, who will work for the church in partnership Oxygen, you will also read about the impact of family time at Rm1 as well as some forthcoming events you may be interested in.

Thanks

Richard

VACANCY: Working alongside Oxygen

St Peter’s Norbiton in partnership with Oxygen, Kingston YFC are looking for a Mission Shaped “External Youthworker”. In an exciting new pioneering partnership with Oxygen, St Peters Norbiton are looking for an external youthworker (or youthwork trainee) to establish an emerging church community amongst non churched urban young people that have been contacted by the church & Oxygen’s Rock Solid Club.

Please pray for the right person to be found and appointed
Pray for the young people who will be reached through this work and the lives that will be changed

For more information including job description and application pack visit

http://stpetersnorbiton.typepad.com/stpetersnorbiton/2008/04/vancancy-extern.html

Tea and Cakes @ Rm1

Old fashioned family time has become one of the highlights of Oxygen's all new Rm1 project at Coombe Boys School in recent months. Each week those young people who are coming gather in the room straight after school and takes their first 1/2 hour to run off their energy, as they play pool, computer games or simply RELAX on the Rm1 sofa.

Please pray for the work of Rm1 and its leader Kate Davies
Pray for the expansion of Rm1 into Hollyfield and other potential schools in years to come

Read the rest of this story

http://wantachurch.typepad.com/oxygennews/2008/04/tea-and-cakes-r.html

Facebook Oxygen

Oxygen is now on Facebook. Here we have posted the pictures from thevent as well as news of forthcoming events. Become our friend by clicking here:

http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=1212395613&k=Z3F532V4T3YM511EU1YUVU&r&v=2

Powerhouse of Prayer Returns

Last year prayer was at the centre of all that took place as right in the middle of the year, during the month of May a non stop prayer room, called POWERHOUSE was opened at the prayer chapel in the YMCA in Victoria Road, Surbiton. The results of that week or prayer were obvious for all who took part, with lots of brilliant stories, times of blessing and some wonderful unity. This year the room opens at 6pm on the 18th May and finishes at 6pm on Sunday 25th May. The Green Fair is on 26th May during which people will be invited to come and join the prayer team.

You can find out more about Powerhouse here :
http://wantachurch.typepad.com/infusenews/2008/03/the-powerhouse.html

The Artists Way

Sacred Space recommend The Artists Way workshops, more at

http://wantachurch.typepad.com/churches/2008/04/artistic-worksh.html

Living as an ordinary radical: A dialogue with Shane Claiborne

Faithworks, Livability Community Mission and Tearfund are hosting a free discussion evening with Shane Claiborne, author of The Irresistible Revolution and founder of The Simple Way community in Philadelphia. Find out more

http://wantachurch.typepad.com/infusenews/2008/04/living-as-an-or.html

Prayer letter 94

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 00:13:22 -0700

Prayer Letter 94 – 4th and 5th April 08.

Hi Prayer Team

Friday – Louis, Teresa, Eddie, Sharon Williamson, and Fariydoon. Prayer Pastors: Simon Parker and John.
Saturday – Jenny, Katie Cooper, Suva, Alison and Kelly. Prayer Pastors – Dave and Helen Priest

A brief overview
Friday - Town Centre appears moderately busy with good weather. Police will be visible tonight with pairs of 2’s patrolling.
Saturday A coldish night, very quiet by the river, no major incidents, still a fair bit of broken glass about. No special information from the briefing.

1. Please continue to pray for the protection of the URC Kingston building and the safety of the team. Since praying for the building we have not had another attack
2. Please continue to pray for the other teams going out around the country, and the new places that are starting up.
3. Please pray for the people we will meet this weekend and ask God to prepare us for them.
4. Please continue to pray for the new team as they continue training, Paul, Alan, Andy, Bethany, Tessa, Dan, Kelly and Bronwyn.
5. Please continue to pray for Stella as she waits for an Op
6. Please pray for Southend who are in need of more Street Pastors, that they will raise up new team.
7. Please pray for the Triage and place of safety at the Market House in Kingston on Friday and Saturdays, it is running on a trial period until 12th April. Please pray that it continues and gets funding.
8. Please continue pray for Michael and Sarah. Friends of John Packham. They were in a serious car accident in Manchester.
9. Please pray for Paul (street homeless) he is moving out of the area, pray for his safety and provision.
10. Please pray for Angela, a Christian lady who was interested in joining Street Pastors.
11. Please pray for a young man we met on Friday, ‘He realises he stands no chance of getting his daughter back unless he sorts himself out’ please pray that we meet him again and that he encounters Jesus.
12. Please pray for Anjit in his search for God.
13. ‘As we shared with him, that God loved him as he was and was only interested in his future decision and life; he broke down and started to cry. We hugged and spoke to him to be encouraged by God’s love and the plans he had for his life. It was an emotional time’ Please pray for this young man
14. ‘TK Maxx – also spoke to Samuel and Brian who asked the team what Street Pastor’s was about. They discussed faith and Jesus and we should pray that they get to encounter God’ Please pray
15. Please pray for Zachariah, that he would find faith
16. Please pray for the two young ladies we met who have links with Oxygen, that they re connect with them
We have some real blessings on the streets – ‘Tamara's step dad is a bishop in America, she had been in a choir at one time so we asked her to sing something for us and to our surprise she sang amazing grace quite beautifully, 3 guys came along and joined in [a really lovely moment]’.

Please pray for the Street Pastors that are going out this
Friday - Phil Crump, Brenda Crump, Dina, Jason and Bronwyn. Sue Fraser. Prayer pastors – Valerie Davis
Saturday – Louis, Maddie, Ken, Doreen, Tessa and Paul Pearse. Need 1 prayer pastor

Yours in Christ

Paul Jacobs, Street Pastor Kingston Coordinator

Prayer Letter 93

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 01:17:41 -0700

Prayer Letter 93 – 28th and 29th March 08.

Hi Prayer Team

Friday – Paul, Lorraine, Sue Fraser and Estrella. Prayer pastors - Mike Parker and Mike Sainsbury
Sat - Tracey Germain, Dereen, Helen Fish and John. Prayer Pastor Julius.

A brief overview
Friday - A cold and sometimes damp night, plenty of people around, very quiet by the river, 30 specials on the streets until 2am so fairly well controlled until then.
Saturday Very windy night. Full of violence, however we had one salvation while the sirens and fighting was around us. Praise the Lord for keeping us safe to do this work.

Wow!!!!! What a weekend, this Saturday another young man gave his life to The Lord, what a privilege it is to be part of this. Please pray for him, he had just finished work and bumped into the team, engaged them and for nearly an hour asked questions and enquired resulting in the team praying for him and The Holy Spirit touching him. “The whole time this was happening the police sirens were going off and fighting was breaking out all around us. Not once were we interrupted.” Praise God. Please pray for him.

It seems that God is giving us many opportunities on the streets to share our lives with people and they are being touched, thank you so much for your prayers.

And lastly, Miss Munday who is a Home Prayer Pastor went to be with Jesus, she faithfully prayed for us from home as we went out, thank God for her, she finished the race!!

Please pray for the Street Pastors that are going out this

Friday – Louis, Teresa, Sharon Williamson, Viv and Eddie. Prayer Pastor – Simon Parker. Need 1 prayer pastor
Saturday – Jenny, Katie Cooper, Suva, Alison and Kelly. Prayer Pastors – Dave and Helen Priest

Yours in Christ

Paul Jacobs, Street Pastor Kingston Coordinator

Prayer Letter 92

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 09:43:44 -0700

Prayer Letter 92 – 21st and 22nd March 08.

Hi Prayer Team

Friday – Phil & Brenda Crump, Katie Beckett, Dina & Gordon Prayer Pastors: Helen Hancock & Peter Watson
Saturday - Louis, Meryn, Eddie, Maddie, Mike. Prayer Pastors:Valery and Bethany.
Visitors: Heather Paul (Prayer Pastor – Cornerstone the church), Alex Mansfield, Dan (currently on training – came out as an Observer.)

A brief overview
Friday - Extremely quiet - a cold biting wind with sleet at times - very few chats as people weren't hanging around. Pubs, including Kings Tun, were fairly empty, although Oceana did quite well. judging by their queue. The new Triage 'safe place' at the Market Hall also had a very quiet night.
Saturday The Town Centre appears to be quiet in view of the weather we have been experiencing.

1. Please continue to pray for the protection of the URC Kingston building and the safety of the team. Since praying for the building we have not had another attack.
2. Please continue to pray for the other teams going out around the country, and the new places that are starting up.
3. Please pray for the people we will meet this weekend and ask God to prepare us for them.
4. Please pray for Sasha to return to her job at Bacchus.
5. Please continue to pray for the new team as they continue training, Paul, Alan, Andy, Bethany, Tessa, Dan, Kelly and Bronwyn.
6. Please continue to pray for Stella as she waits for an Op
7. She showed us photos of her 2 month old son named, Alex, We need to pray for him as he has had one operation because of a hernia. Please pray for Alex
8. Please pray for Southend who are in need of more Street Pastors that they will raise up new team.
9. Please pray for the new Triage and place of safety at the Market House in Kingston on Friday and Saturdays.

I thought this week I would encourage you with the random acts of kindness that we are bringing to Kingston, and some responses to them:

A young woman (20?) with her friend had been brought in by door staff, having stubbed her toe badly. Brenda had provided TLC
Dina and Katie comforted the half asleep Tamara and kept her warm with a space blanket.
2.15 am Eddie (homeless) was sitting in his usual place by Dallas Chicken. We got him a mug of tea.
The fender in the middle of the road was causing traffic sweeping round the bend to swerve - an accident waiting to happen. When the road was clear, Phil moved the fender to the kerb.
We took the opportunity to thank him again for his assistance last week with a girl who he helped.
He is a Christian and we prayed for him to find favour in work and friendships.
They said they appreciated what we did, were glad of our presence and felt safer when they see the Street Pastors out
The one that said he was gay hugged us for our response.
We commended her for being that responsible as an individual, spoke to her about forgiving her friend, God’s love and Street Pastors.

Please pray for the Street Pastors that are going out this
Friday – Paul, Lorraine Gilby, Sue Fraser, Jason and Estrella. Prayer pastors - Mike Parker
Mike Sainsbury
Sat - Tracey Germain, Dereen, Helen Fish and John. Need 1 Street Pastor and 2 prayer pastors
Yours in Christ

Paul Jacobs, Street Pastor Kingston Coordinator

Oxygen monday mailings

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 02:45:30 -0700

Oxygen's Monday prayer mailings (this week sent on Tuesday!) sent out each week are a collection of news, stories and event news from around the various elements of Oxygen. This week (25th March 2008) They include an update from Jennifer Plummer who is completing her 2^nd year with Oxygen, this time in partnership with Tearfund. Alongside Jennifer’s more personal story there is a overview report from the work on the Kingsnympton estate where Oxygen has been developing a greater focused work in the last 2 -3 years. Finally exciting news about the annual non stop prayer event, this year called Powerhouse as well as training for the Kingston Green Fare in Prophetic Evangelism being run by the Sacred Space team.

With so many great stories, prayer requests and events could you continue to pray for Oxygen and the development of the work into the next few years. We are continuing our preparations for the launch event on the 24^th April, at which we hope to outline some exciting and God inspired plans. We hope you can join us at this event (more information on the day is available here: http://www.oxygen-online.org/o20812

In the meantime, thank you for your continued prayer, generosity and encouragement

Richard, Oxygen

A news update from Oxygen’s Tearfund placement, Jennifer

Hi, just a shortish update from myself. Spending time with the Oxygen team in Nottingham in February was great! Especially since I had been away to Zambia and Moorlands Bible College with Tearfund in Jan. Zambia was an amazing trip; I met some truly inspiring people that give so much even though they have so little. To hear their stories was so encouraging. One man, Guyemba who has AIDS told us now that he can not work, he has been blessed with time in the day to tell people about Jesus!

Read the rest of Jennifer’s update here

http://wantachurch.typepad.com/oxygennews/2008/03/jennifers-updat.html

Kingsnympton Work Report

Oxygen’s current work on the Kingsnympton Estate was launched in January 2006. It was developed, planned and undertaken in partnership between Kingston Youth Service and Oxygen, the partnership was completed by the Personal Development Trust who provided financial backing to the scheme. The original stated shared aim of the work on the estate was to build self esteem, confidence and motivation in young people on the Kingsnympton Estate and thus have a long term positive impact on the local community. The Latest Oxygen Kingsnympton report is now online outlining what has been achieved with these two grants and draws up proposals for the development of the project into year 3.

Link to this work here

http://wantachurch.typepad.com/oxygennews/2008/03/kingsnympton-yo.html

Training in Prophetic Evangelism

With a desire to see people equipped The Community Church, St Stephens Twickenham, Sacred Space Kingston and Eden People Guildford are putting together training to help people make the most of every God orientated conversation they have. Led by David Holl, who has experience of using prophecy to engage with spiritual seekers in shopping centres as well as psychic fairs, this is the second of a 2 part course in Prophetic Evangelism.

To find out more visit

http://wantachurch.typepad.com/churches/2008/03/training-in-pro.html

or Download the flyer here

Powerhouse of Prayer Returns

Last year prayer was at the centre of all that took place as right in the middle of the year, during the month of May a non stop prayer room, called POWERHOUSE was opened at the prayer chapel in the YMCA in Victoria Road, Surbiton. The results of that week or prayer were obvious for all who took part, with lots of brilliant stories, times of blessing and some wonderful unity. Then straight after the week when the prayer was transferred to the healing fields at Kingston’s Green Fair the result was huge, and in words echoing a story of Jesus, at times there was not enough “labourers” to pray with those requesting it!

The good news is that this year POWERHOUSE returns, once again leading up to the Green Fair. As with last time, there will be 1 hour slots that can be taken by individuals, groups of friends, church groups, prayer groups or house groups and lots of other issues can be prayed for. This year the room opens at 6pm on the 18th May and finishes at 6pm on Sunday 25th May.

The Green Fair is on 26th May during which people will be invited to come and join the prayer team. You can find out more about Powerhouse here

http://wantachurch.typepad.com/infusenews/2008/03/the-powerhouse.html

Prayer letter 91

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 09:59:08 -0700

Prayer Letter 91 - 14th and 15th March 08.

Hi Prayer Team

Friday – Louis, Katie Beckett, Brenda Tyrrell, Justin, Tracey Germain and Viv. Prayer pastor Ray.

Saturday – Teresa, John, Fariydoon, Heinrich, Sam and Jenny. Prayer Pastor Tessa

A brief overview

Friday - The Town Centre was very quiet with the venues seeming only about half full of the normal levels. There was not intelligence about anything unusual expected. This would be the first night of the Triage Centre being launched in the Market House.

Saturday Wet start to evening and quietish on streets esp at last part of night. Saw no Street Homeless except Mr Moon. No major incidents

Lots of groups of guys wandering (between clubs, at loose end)

1. Please continue to pray for the protection of the URC Kingston building and the safety of the team. Since praying for the building we have not had another attack.

2. Please pray for the ICE gang, we occasionally meet with them and they are easy with us.

3. Please continue to pray for the other teams going out around the country, and the new places that are starting up.

4. Please pray for the people we will meet this weekend and ask God to prepare us for them.

5. Please pray for Sasha to return to her job at Bacchus.

6. Please continue to pray for the new team as they continue training, Paul, Alan, Andy, Bethany, Tessa, Dan, Kelly and Bronwyn.

7. Please pray for Stella as she waits for an Op

8. The place of safety starts this week, please pray that we will have staff and that it would be effective

9. Please pray for Southend who are in need of more Street Pastors that they will raise up new team.

10. Please pray for the new Triage and place of safety at the Market House in Kingston on Friday and Saturdays.

A few comments from this weekend:

0115 – A young man, homeless stopped and asked if we remembered him. Last Friday we had got him some food. He said he was doing well and had eaten. Please pray for him

spoke to door staff; one was particularly pleased to see us and asked that we should usually include them in our rounds, especially round closing time (2am in the week Fri Sat 3am). Please pray for the staff at Evissa.

03.00 ....Said we’d pray for Matt – One of group 2/3 m. Not sure what for but please pray, maybe salvation.

Please pray for the Street Pastors that are going out this

Friday - Phil Crump, Brenda Crump, Gordon, Katie Beckett and Dina. Prayer pastors - Peter Watson

Helen Hancock

Saturday – Louis, Maddie, Meryn, Eddie and Mike. Prayer pastors – Valery and Bethany. Visitor Dan

Yours in Christ

Paul Jacobs

Street Pastor Kingston Coordinator

Prayer letter 89

Tue, 04 Mar 2008 08:46:42 -0800

Prayer Letter 89 – 29th and 1st March 08.
Hi Prayer Team

Friday – Brenda Tyrrell, Gordon, Katie, Lorraine and Justin. Paul and film crew Prayer pastor Greg
Saturday - Jenny Wright, John and Suva and Bev. Prayer pastor Tessa and Bethany

A brief overview
Friday - Very quiet night although clubs very busy. Weather very windy but not too wet.
Saturday - Quiet a few aggressive incidents needing both police and ambulance assistance. Huge amounts of broken glass everywhere (more than any of us can remember seeing before).Police AMPR operating (automated plate reading) to-night, hoping to catch some of the illegal cabs.

1. Please continue to pray for the protection of the URC Kingston building and the safety of the team. Since praying for the building we have not had another attack.
2. Please pray for the ICE gang, we occasionally meet with them and they are easy with us.
3. Please continue to pray for the other teams going out around the country, and the new places that are starting up.
4. Quite a few enquiries into what we do and a positive response each time – amazed it was all voluntary Please pray for the people we will meet this weekend and ask God to prepare us for them.
5. Please pray for Sasha to return to her job at Bacchus.
6. Please pray for the new team as they start training on 8th March, eight in total, Paul, Alan, Andy, Bethany, Tessa, Dan, Kelly and Bronwyn.
7. Please continue to pray for Stella, Ray’s wife as she waits for her Op on her hip.

A few comments from this weekend:
Saw a young woman (white 26) lying on the wall by the river. We tried to speak to her but she was unrousable. We managed to move her off the wall onto the ground to prevent her from falling in the river. As she was still unable to stand or sit unaided we called an ambulance and stayed with her till they arrived. Please pray for this young lady
11.25 - Walking past Gazzebo large group of mixed males and females on way to Essence. One girl had taken s/p card before and said she was coming to our church. One of the guys asked what we did and her friend said, "they look after us when we get drunk". Thought we were doing great job. Please pray for the young lady to follow up her statement.
One of the girls (Libby) was v. drunk and down on the floor, apparently she had hardly eaten all day. They wanted to get her home, so we helped them round to the cab office in London Road.Please pray for Libby
Had some light hearted banter with one of the guys who thought we were just going about trying to preach to everyone. Ended with hand shakes and appreciation for what we do. Please thank God for the easy relationship we have with people.
One guy down on ground, shirt ripped off, graze to forehead. We prayed and called prayer pastors. Fight broke up we went over to help and offer wet wipes etc: to guy who was now trying to put shirt back on. Please pray that we would be peacemakers.
You could still sense the tension among those still standing around, so we remained on the corner and prayed for a while. Please Pray that we would be led by the spirit in prayer.

Please pray for the teams out this weekend,
Friday – Louis, Katie Cooper, Alison, Ken Scrimshaw and Doreen Scrimshaw. Prayer Pastors - Mary Moran and Simon Parker
Saturday - Tracey O’Shea, Dereen, Meryn and Reninca. Prayer Pastors – Dave and Helen

Yours in Christ
Paul Jacobs - Street Pastor Kingston Coordinator

Servanthood

Thu, 21 Feb 2008 09:19:04 -0800

Religion and State Law - continuing the debate

Mon, 18 Feb 2008 05:19:03 -0800

EKKLESIA, an organisation that describes itself as “a think-tank that promotes transformative theological ideas in public life” (http://www.ekklesia.co.uk), has this to say about the ongoing discussion that Rowan Williams sought to spark off with his speech to The Temple Foundation recently:-

Muslim lawyers say they are puzzled that Archbishop Rowan Williams raised the Sharia issue before they have had a chance to tackle some key concerns. But Evangelicals and a progressive interfaith group are calling for wider debate.

Speaking after Dr Williams said introducing aspects of Sharia law into the British legal system was "unavoidable", Mahmud Al-Rashid, a spokesperson for the Association of Muslim Lawyers (AML) and a barrister at 6 Kings Bench Walk [which is in The Temple complex where Rowan Williams made his speech], said regulation could lead to improvements - but explained that Muslims had not asked for the debate and were a little puzzled as to how it had come about.

He said: "Sharia councils need to be formalised so they can be regulated and improved. Whenever anything operates that isn’t transparent there are always problems… people may not know the degree of competence of certain councils, as there is no way of standardising at the moment."

But while he felt regulation of existing courts would bring benefits, Mr Al-Rashid cautioned that the UK Muslim community had not been agitating for the introduction of Sharia, reports the UK Law Gazette, the profession's highly respected journal.

Al-Rashid said he was surprised by Dr Williams’ decision to raise the issue now, as "it is an internal debate Muslims need to have first".

He also warned: "I would want the experts in this country who understand the context, history and culture particular to our society here to develop the Sharia that way. It is not a fixed rule to be imported from another country… Muslims here are not of one view as to whether it is a good thing."

Mr Al-Rashid stressed that Sharia laws would not supersede English law.

Meahwhile, the Evangelical Alliance, which seeks to speak on behalf of a million Christians in that section of the churches, is inviting them to use its website to help set the agenda for discussions on faith and the law, following the Archbishop of Canterbury’s controversial Temple lecture.

The Alliance is inviting a group of church leaders, theologians and community practitioners to look at faith and law in the public square, and the impact this has on community relations and social cohesion.

It is undertood these will be persons in sympathy with the EA. But the organisation is also keen to get the wider Christian community involved in this discussion, by feeding in their opinions to the debate.

The Rev Joel Edwards, General Director of the Evangelical Alliance, said: “The way faith operates in the political and legal sphere has always been extremely important to the Alliance, but the response to the Archbishop’s speech has given this debate a real sense of urgency."

He explained: "We want to use this as a spring-board to find a way forward for those in our, and other, faith communities who feel disenfranchised on matters of conscience by the changing meaning of what it is to be British."

The Alliance says it will publish the findings of the consultation.

In a further development, the trustees of the Interfaith Alliance UK, a progressive body (and distinct from the Inter Faith Network, which has not commented) say they "reject the unfounded interpretations placed upon the Archbishop’s lecture but welcome the ensuing debate, including his further clarifications."

The groups adds: "The Interfaith Alliance UK is committed to expressing liberal and progressive views, rooted in the diversity of Abrahamic faith traditions, on a range of contemporary social justice and ethical issues. We regret that the questions raised by Dr Williams’ Lecture might suggest that those seeking exemptions for faith groups from equality legislation and other Government guidelines have a legitimate basis for their woeful strategies. A false opposition has been stated between the rights of faith communities to order their internal policies and procedures and the promotion of ‘the common good’. The Archbishop’s reflections should not be used to advance a reactionary agenda, seeking ‘opt-outs’ on matters which do not relate to central tenets of Abrahamic faith."

It continues: "Vital to the well-being of human society is that it should hear and give voice to those who are frequently marginalised in the corridors of both religious and political power, including vulnerable children, oppressed women, and those subject to prejudice on grounds of sexual orientation, gender identity or race. Misogyny and homophobia should no more be institutionalised than should racism. The principles of mercy, compassion and justice are as paramount to secular law as they are to the internal ordering of faith communities, and are not the sole preserve of the religious. Many people of faith see hopeful and joyful signs of the times in political commitment to civil rights which are entirely consistent with the values of our faith traditions, and are often more obvious in secular realities than within faith groups."

The Interfaith Alliance UK urges: "Let the leadership of our faith communities listen first to the voice of the voiceless, both in their midst as well as in wider society, seeking any structural integration of their juridical principles and codes in secular frameworks only where secular law fails in its commitment to the dispossessed."

I wonder how Kingston URC should respond to the Archbishop's initiative.

Prayer Letter 86

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 08:40:34 -0800

Prayer Letter 86, 8th, 9th Feb 08.

Hi Prayer Team

Friday - Phil Crump, Brenda Crump, Lucille, Katie Cooper and Justin. Prayer Pastors – Peter Watson and Valerie
Saturday - Tracey O’Shea, Ken Scrimshaw, Doreen Scrimshaw, Maddie and Louis. Prayer Pastors – Dave and Helen Priest

A brief overview

Friday : were quiet; not as many customers as usual. It seemed to be an evening for meeting homeless men. Two incidents were reported on the radio - nothing very serious.
Saturday - A very quiet 1st round but a busy second taken up with one incident. Thanks to my team for your support and care.

Please continue to pray for the protection of the URC Kingston building and the safety of the team. Since praying for the building we have not had another attack. Please pray protection for the team of Street Pastors, for circumstances in their lives, as the church building came under attack so are the team. Please continue to thank God for the prayer pastors who faithfully support the street pastors on the streets.

Please pray for the people we will meet this weekend and ask God to prepare us for them. Please continue to pray for the other teams going out around the country, and the new places that are starting up Please pray for the Six new trainees for this March, Alan Newbury, Paul Pearce, Rosette Bali, Tessa McLeod, Andy, Don

We are seeing lots more homeless people in Kingston, please pray that we can give them good advice and offer a solution to their issues
Please pray for the two girls who were very drunk on Saturday and were picked up by mum, please pray they will learn their lesson and try to remain sober.

Please pray for the 3 11 year olds we met at 11pm on Friday, told us their parents didn’t care the time they were out.
Please pray for an openness to the Gospel, they we would be prepared to give a reason for our hope in Jesus Please pray for the elderly accordion player, we haven’t seen him out for a couple of weeks, pray that he is safe. Please pray for the ICE gang, that we would continue to engage with them

Please pray for the Street Pastors and Prayer Pastors that are going out this

Fri - Louis Mansfield, Suva Catford, Helen Fish, Mike. Prayer Pastors - Mike Sainsbury and Shervin

Sat – Jenny, Paul Jacobs, Rob and Need 1 Street Pastor. Prayer Pastors - Richard Verge and Bethany

Yours in Christ

Paul Jacobs

Street Pastor Kingston Coordinator

Prayer Letter 84

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 07:48:20 -0800

Prayer Letter 84, 25th, 26th Jan 08.

Hi Prayer Team

Friday - Phil Crump, Brenda Crump, Sue Fraser and Lorraine. Prayer Pastors – Peter Watson and Pat

Saturday – Bev and Teresa, Doreen, Ken and John. Prayer Pastors Dave and Helen