SR07 - Cloughfern

I miraculously found my wallet which had been missing for over 2 months in the cinema completely by random this week (praise God!!). Inside was my writings about my time spent in Cloughfern during StreetReach in the summer and here they are, for memories sake.

Hebrews 12:1 - "...and let us run with patience the race that is set before us".

- out of the blocks
We finally hit the streets and straight away our team got stuck into action without having to be told. They already had eyes to see and ears to hear.

- false start
After lunch torrential rain hit. So we prayed and when we finished the rain had stopped. Thank the Lord!

- first lap
We tried to blitz a ladies garden that had knee height weeds with our limited resources. Her name was Cathy. There was lots of neglect inside and out - herself included. She spoke of fear to leave the house and hurt from the church. Lord please bless her. She seemed touched that we even wanted to chat.

- streakers
We were running this race, cleaning the local playpark when... kids! everywhere interrupted our work. The place exploded into life, even despite the rain there was no need to stop play (like at Wimbledon). The kids loved hanging with us so much, weren't we the ones supposed to be doing the loving?

- respect between competitors
We decided to stand-up and speak to the guys on the bonfire. They were initially hostile, but soon they were eating from the hand of a team leader who was formerly in the UDA. Lord break down the walls of sectarianism.

- lap 2
We were sent to Abbots cross to clean the local shopping area. We soon became disillusioned by the thought that no one could see and we didn't seem to be making much difference. That coupled with the sheer frustration that Cathy;s garden couldn't be finished as we weren't insured to use and equipment needed to finish the job. Who needs insurance? If God is for us, who can be against us? Should we not have taken that step of FAITH for the sake of the Gospel? Stand up!!

- 2nd Wind
...and then God. He showed up. A woman from the pharmacy saw what we were doing and decided to bless us with sweets; God had been working despite our ignorance - we are sorry Lord! Then a local man came up with a strimmer and we got to finish Cathy's garden after all. It turns out that when things don't go our way we learn to trust in God more.

- lap 3
2 laps gone - things have slipped into routine. Half of us tackled a ladies drive-way that had weeds. We also blessed her with grass seed on the bare patches - Lord, I pray new life in her Spirit as well. The other half helped run a fun day where we played games/football, had a bouncy castle and a bbq.

- hit the showers
In the park in the evening we were playing football and...

MORE RAIN!!

Then we met speedy. He wanted to know what it was like to worship God. Lord help him to come to you just as he is.

- final lap bell ringing
Starting to sprint now, doing the last minute things. A free car-wash, prayer-walking and praying with shop keepers to name a few. Lord please answer the groaning's of our ill-presented prayers.

- bell still ringing
With the sound of a new beat we will march the streets of Belfast, declaring a new way, new era, and the day of salvation 7/7/07. The bell is still ringing when we realise that this is not the last lap, in fact every day is a final lap; and our lives are a marathon of sprints - come Lord Jesus come!