Prayer Letter
July 2002

Praying for Crisis Centre Ministries,
its work, staff and clients
in the context of Bristol's inner city areas.

Thanks for your prayers. It would be impossible for us to put into words how much we appreciate your support in this way. We are so often faced with situations which seem impossible to fathom and it is here that we see God at work - when we find we are saying words which make a difference to the situation and which seem to carry a wisdom and understanding beyond our own. With your encouragement and support in prayer, we are continually experiencing that sense of working with God in a way which takes us beyond our own resources. As well as being grateful to you, we feel indebted.

It is in connection with needing God's wisdom and intervention that we would like to ask for your prayers. There has been an incident in the coffee shop recently which has disturbed some of our workers. One of our 'users' is a difficult man, possibly with mental health problems which are exacerbated by the use of drugs. It does seem that an added dimension is his hostility to Christianity. Almost every time he comes into the shop there is a disturbance in which he has played a part - he is not always the one 'behaving badly' but often he has provoked someone else into unacceptable behaviour. In the recent incident he drew a knife and threatened another customer in the shop at the same time as inciting others to become involved. The police were called and he was taken away but not arrested. We have banned him from the shop for one month and this month has now expired. A recent meeting with him to consider whether the ban should be lifted proved unproductive and the ban has been extended. The situation is complicated by the fact that he has generally been unstable recently and has been involved in violence on the streets, having attacked at least three people with a knife and each of these has been hospitalised (but none have pressed charges). This person has a reputation on the streets; people are frightened of him. Banning him from our centre is necessary in the interests of the rest of our clients, staff and volunteers - understandably some of our volunteers do not want to be in the shop if he is likely to visit. Ideally, we would like to respond in the best interests of this individual as well as the ministry and we ask you, please, to pray regarding the connections we are making with the police and mental health services in the city and also for protection for our staff.

Open Day

I hope you will have received your invitation to our Open Day. It would be really good to see you if you are able to visit. The theme for the day is Transformation - in the lives of our clients and the situations which affect them. We have invited loads of people - supporters, funders, local organisations, city council, businesses, churches etc. Our aim is to raise awareness of the work, provide opportunity for supporters to see something of the work they are supporting, extend our networking and raise funds towards a new building (we don't expect much from one day, as you can tell!). Please pray that we will not be frustrated in the planning process (which involves things like a new sign for the coffee shop with our new name, putting together interesting displays of our work, redecorating our basement, repainting the outside of the shop, fitting appropriate literature displays, arranging food, musicians etc) and that appropriate connections will be made. There will be a radio interview and I understand we have a half page spread in the Bristol Evening Post. We want to honour God for the work he is doing in people's lives, to raise awareness of the significance of this in the inner city, and to celebrate this. A number of our clients have written testimonies which will be available - please pray for protection and encouragement for them, as well as for the truth of the changes which are taking place to be evident to visitors who as yet do not know God (and an encouragement to those who do).

LITE

A new LITE course starts Monday 1 July. 9 people are signed up for it. It is very easy to be encouraged by this, but the experience of previous courses can temper this. It is a good course and those who complete it have benefited greatly from the training and support. Please pray that those who have signed up for this course do actually come and that they stay the course. The most frustrating thing is people who have good intentions and seem very keen but, because of their chaotic lifestyles, get distracted and do not show up.

Funding the course continues to be an issue, yet God continues to be faithful and our income is still meeting our outgoings - without doubt this is an ongoing miracle. We are delighted that City of Bristol College has agreed to fund Andy - please pray that God honours the college for their generosity (of course, there is also the aspect that providing funding in connection with our LITE course has benefits for the college). The funding from the college is related to the number of people who participate in the course so your prayers about this would be very welcome.

Another significant aspect is the staffing of the course and we would appreciate your prayers regarding this. Volunteers become involved in various ways - as tutors, teaching assistants, general support etc. We are very grateful to those who are already involved, but also need more! In addition to this, we have said before that we need to appoint an Assistant to Andy. This is something which continues to be in the pipeline and pipelines can be frustrating!

Coffee Shop

This continues to be a tremendous encouragement, though there are sessions which are struggling to continue because of lack of volunteers. This does seem to be an ongoing issue and to some extent could well continue to be the case because the work relies so much on the generous commitment of volunteers. Please pray for more volunteers at present, and also for those who will want to be involved on a regular basis for at least 6 months.

So many times in the coffee shop there are conversations about God and the difference he can make to people's lives - it is a tremendous privilege to be in a position where people are open to hear about God. The journey for our clients from their lives towards a level of stability in God can be precarious, hard work and long. They need encouragement to keep going forward when, at times, each step they take is a struggle. Please pray for the staff and volunteers that they may have the right words and the right attitude which brings life to our clients.

Much maintenance work is needed in the shop - repairs to the shop floor (though it is bouncy we are told it is still safe!, but we will be reinforcing it), new flooring, new tables and chairs, taking appropriate action to the damp situation in the basement, making a new doorway between the shop and offices for security reasons - and also refurbishing the kitchen. All of this takes money. Our supporters and funders are being generous, God is continually faithfully - but at present we do not have the funds to cover the necessary work. Sometimes we need to take a step of faith and commit to the necessary work - we would much rather be acting in faith than presumption!

Bridgehead

We can see this beginning to fulfil the vision we have had for many years in that it is providing an accessible Christian fellowship experience to our clients. Please pray for Sam as she is involved in leading this. There is tremendous inconsistency in the clients who come and sometimes it seems they only come for the food. However, there is also evidence of changing lives, response (even if very minimal) to discipleship, and a sense of belonging to the group. Please pray that this will continue to become established, that it will not be a closed group (some of the clients would like this for their own security) but will be an open resource to people genuinely exploring who God is.

Building

Our building really is too small and limiting for the work we are presently doing and we have a vision to develop. There is one particular possibility - a building just a short distance along City Road from where we are at present. We do want to move into a property which is suitable for our purposes and our development. Please pray.

Staff

All the staff team are working really hard but often there is still work left undone. We are tremendously grateful for the involvement of volunteers in all aspects of the ministry, but at present there continues to be considerable pressure on the staff team. Please pray for us - for wisdom to be involved in what is important and to make choices about what can be left temporarily or just not attempted at all. We work well together as a team, but when we are all working to capacity and become tired we could easily react against one another. We would also appreciate your prayers for us that we will be wise in the level of work we undertake, that good relationships will be maintained, and that we will see ways in which to support and bless each other.

Finance

Praise God for continuing miracles. Over the past few weeks it has become a common experience that we have not had enough money in our bank account to cover our needs and our Treasurer has been asking whether we can pay our bills. Then, soon afterwards, a donation has arrived. At present, then, the donations are not coming before the need and it is reaching the point where cheques could be written in faith that the money will arrive. We are very happy to depend on God for our finances. At the same time, we would like to be in a position where we know we can purchase items we need for the ministry as well as cover regular outgoings and staff salaries. I think our finances are a cause for praise because of God's amazing faithfulness, but also for prayer because of the difficult of managing the lack of finance at times alongside the other pressures of the ministry.

Volunteers

Our volunteers are totally amazing, giving so much of their time to the ministry and the lives of our clients. Some are involved in face-to-face contact with clients, whilst others prefer to prepare and serve food or become immersed in administration. All of this is very significant to the ministry and it is such a privilege to work alongside these people. They bring with them a sense of God's presence which blesses the staff as well as the clients and we do thank God for them. We ask you, please, to thank God for his provision to us through these people. There is still a considerable need for more volunteers - with the LITE Course, in administration, with Bridgehead Church and in the coffee shop. It would also be tremendously helpful to have a volunteer involved in fund raising and PR. On the basis of God's amazing provision of volunteers, please pray that this will continue and grow - and also that as a staff team we will be able to support, encourage and train our volunteers appropriately and well.

Again, thank you for your interest, support and prayers. Please don't forget that you are very welcome to visit the Centre - if you'd like to join us for prayer in the coffee shop on Monday, Tuesday or Thursday morning at 10.30 am it would be a tremendous encouragement to see you. We would also appreciate feedback from you regarding this prayer sheet, communication about what you feel God may be saying to you about us.

Trudie Lane
28.6.02

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Prayer LetterJuly 2002