Prayer Letter
May 2001
Praying for Crisis Centre Ministries,
its work, staff and
clients
in the context of Bristol's inner city
areas.
BRINGING HOPE TO THE HOPELESS
This is part of our reason for being here and it is encouraging for us to hear of times when God and us together really do make a difference in someone’s life:
It was a month or so ago that we received a telephone call from one of our supporters referring to us a young man she had met on the streets - homeless and nearly giving up on his life. Several weeks later, she phoned again and she was really excited. This same young man had seen her across the road and shouted out to her. He told her that he had been in to our coffee shop, as she suggested, and that as a result his life was now changing for the better. He said that his contact with CCM had been a major influence in him not taking his own life. Not only that, but we had been able to help him find accommodation and also to make contact with his sister in Oxford with whom he had lost touch. For him, these were definitely life-changing experiences. Praise God!
BRIDGEHEAD CHURCH
We continue to meet weekly, on a Wednesday evening, in the coffee shop and appreciate loads the support we have had from various churches with speakers and worship leaders.
It did seem that a group of ‘clients’ was forming, but these people are not now coming regularly - and that does tend to be the nature of those we are working with. Please continue to pray that a nucleus will form and also that, as well as providing a welcoming environment where people can feel relaxed and begin to ‘own’ the group themselves, we may see God’s salvation and redemption touching people’s lives.
A few weeks ago a few of us from CCM had the opportunity to visit a Christian Centre in Birmingham to which we refer people for drug rehabilitation. We met a young man we had referred there about two years ago. His contact with us had been through our weekly church meeting. He has done so well during his time at this Centre that he is due to become a leader at another of the Centres run by this organisation! This is just one example of the difference God makes in someone’s life.
COFFEE SHOP
Thank you for your prayers for this very crucial aspect of the ministry. Jayne is Catering Co-ordinator and is doing a brilliant job. Please continue to pray for her as she is carrying a great deal of responsibility at present. You may be aware that Jayne has come through the ministry herself and it is so exciting and such a privilege to see her developing her skills in this role.
We still have a vacancy in the coffee shop for a Pastoral Coffee Shop Manager. Our income would need to increase to enable us to appoint a paid worker to this position - and this is what we would like to do. We are thinking of appointing a fund raiser as well as implementing a proactive approach to our funding, and we would very much value your prayers regarding all of this.
At the beginning of May we introduced a food policy in the shop - for a main meal, a pudding and a tea or coffee we charge £1 or a meal voucher (not bad, hey! and the food is really good!). Where clients have no money or don’t want to pay, they are offered a nourishing bowl of soup and some bread (and also one hot drink) and asked for a donation. However, some clients being they way they are, they much prefer to be well fed without paying and seem to have very strong views that it is their right and that if we really are Christians we will give them what they want!
We feel it is important to maintain a consistent food policy throughout the times we are open (as one way to increase a sense of stability) and our clients are now becoming more used to this. Food is not straightforward in our work, and we do ask you to please pray about this. We are obviously wanting to communicate a positive message to our clients - that we care and want to offer support and encouragement, and also that we would like to help them move forward in their lives rather than simply support them where they are at present. This whole thing does seem to be something to do with our identity as a organisation, and the ‘cutting edge’ towards change which God has given us.
Thank you for praying for more volunteers - keep praying please. Yes, the prayers are being answered and new volunteers are continually becoming involved with us. We still feel it’s really important to open more often and are planning towards a Friday evening - so we need people who can work then and also those who would be prepared to take on some responsibility.
LITE
Andy is presently reviewing the LITE programme and would appreciate lots of prayer! He is putting together some snazzy questionnaires for customers of the coffee shop, previous students on LITE and also for other organisations - and he’ll be doing a lot of chatting (actually, we are hoping volunteers will help with the review). We are hoping that we’ll be able to use the information gained from this to start courses that are relevant and attractive to the clients coming into the coffee shop and to needy people in the area generally. The possibilities are really exciting and we’d really like you to be part of this process through your prayers.
GENERAL
We mentioned last month the limits of the property and this is something we are continuing to explore. There are a couple of possibilities - we could consider extending into the property next door, or moving to another building completely. In the meantime, we are looking at how best to use the property we have.
In addition to this we are faced with the requirements of Environmental Health and also an organisation called Grocery Aid which provides food to organisations such as ourselves. These include appropriate maintenance, care and cleanliness of the property and equipment we have. With change of staff, we are in the process of assimilating these requirements into our policies and practices - not always a straightforward procedure when so much of what we do depends on the involvement of volunteers. Basic needs, but again we’d value your prayer support on this.
Finance is doing pretty good - thank you for your prayers. Our income last month exceeded our outgoings, but I have mentioned already that our income will need to increase considerably to allow us to appoint the staff we would like to (this would include Pastoral Coffee Shop Manager, and also at some point an assistant for Andy). It may be a case of CCM stepping out in faith of God’s provision!
Please get back to me with any comments, scriptures, prophecies. It would be really good to hear from you. If you can make it to the prayer meeting on Monday (21 May) that would be brilliant.
Trudie Lane
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