Prayer Letter
November 2000
Praying for Crisis Centre Ministries,
its work, staff and
clients
in the context of Bristol's inner city
areas.
The potential for change is so exciting! The fact that anyone would want to change has the touch of a miracle around (or maybe it's something to do with how God created us).
Generally, the people we work with don't want to change, or perhaps it would be more accurate to say they don't think of change. The majority are actively using drugs and/or alcohol and it is unlikely that their minds are clear for any period of time. Thinking and behaviour tends to revolve around survival or getting the next fix, and change does not easily fit into that scene. Perhaps, then, you can imagine my excitement when I'm talking to someone who says he doesn't want to use drugs any more.
Please thank and praise God with us for the budding atmosphere of potential for change. This is part of our vision and part of the good news of the Gospel - to introduce hope, the possibility of things being different, of being able to achieve and of reaching potential.
Please pray: that we will be sensitive to God in encouraging this motivation, that appropriate opportunities will be available (rehabilitation, training courses, work etc), that God will encourage, provoke and challenge these people (convicting them of sin and righteousness), that the atmosphere of hope might be part of our 'trademark'.
LITE
LITE is going so well. Thank you for your prayers. The outdoor activities week was brilliant, with one student wanting to aim for full-time work as an instructor for these sort of activities!
Six people are presently registered on the course (but not all turn up every day). In the October prayer letter, I asked you to pray about people reaching their potential. This is an ongoing prayer request. Two of the students are near the end of their 13 weeks: one has plans for the future and the other is uncertain. Both are doing well in avoiding drug use. We would love them to come to know Jesus.
BRIDGEHEAD CHURCH
Open meeting on 16 November at The Missing Peace, starting at 8 pm. A group from City Road Baptist will be joining us on that evening. Please pray for the evening - that people will come, that the folk from City Road will be encouraged, that God will talk to everyone here on that evening, that it will be a church experience relevant to 'street people'.
CCM home group. We will be reviewing this and considering the way ahead and we'd like your prayers for wisdom and understanding.
Alpha. We would love to run Alpha courses at the Centre again, but we need volunteers to help us with this.
THE MISSING PEACE
THE MISSING PEACE is full of people on the days we're open. This may be because the food is good, and it may also be to do with your prayers!
We have had quite a number of enquiries from people interested in volunteering with us - this is another answer to your prayers. And yet a further answer relates to our opening times: you may remember that last month I asked you to pray about extending our opening times, saying that part of the battle we are in is keeping the Centre open - we are now in a position to be able to open on Tuesday evenings in the near future. Please keep praying about this. There are still days when we are short of volunteers and it's difficult to open for the whole day.
We do think it's important for us to be involved in outreach again, and on a regular basis: this is another worker related issue, and we'd appreciate your prayers.
We are really pleased to have people from M6/8 (Bristol Christian Fellowship's year team) who are planning to be involved with us. Please pray that they'll get a lot out of the experience, that they will have opportunity to see what God is doing in the inner city (it is not always obvious and can be a case of learning to see), that they will get to know some of our clients, pick up on issues around for these clients and explore how to respond/what God's heart is.
Please continue to pray for our contact with clients:
- that we'll have the patience and understanding which God can give when people steal from us, abuse the services we provide, threaten us, lie to us. We would like our response
to honour God, to display love and justice, to keep an open door for future contact. There
are times when we ban people when their behaviour is dangerous and/or abusive to staff
and other clients - yet we try to do this in a way which the client understands and which
gives the opportunity for them to use the Centre again.
- that by God's anointing and grace and by the wisdom and skill he gives us we may be
able to introduce hope and encourage motivation to change.
- that we will increasingly know what it is to work with God
Trudie Lane
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