It is now 19 months since Street Pastors first went out on the streets of Wantage and the Prayer Support Volunteers started their vital prayer support ministry.

Over the past twelve months it has been possible to extend this ministry; every other week the early team is out in Wantage from 8 pm to 12.30 am and the late team goes into Grove for the first half of their shift (10.30 to midnight) before coming back into Wantage. Some of the six teams of four street pastors have been increased to five members as new people have joined and we look forward to the time when we will have sufficient additional Street Pastors and Prayer Support Volunteers to send out two teams each Friday and ultimately have teams on Saturday night too.

We praise the Lord for all the opportunities there have been over this last year

to establish relationships:

• meeting and talking with a wide constituency of people – seeing people week after week means they get to know us and we get to know them

• connecting with those who work in the food outlets and pubs and the door staff of the pubs

• getting to know local councillors and the police through training events

• with brothers and sisters from other churches – coming back to base mid-shift is always an encouraging time, when we can share and pray together

to assist people by:

• helping those who have had too much to drink to come back to their senses (in one or two cases we have had to wake people who've fallen asleep as a result of too much alcohol and who were liable to hypothermia)

• finding taxis to get them home, friends who will take responsibility for them or calling relatives

• offering wet wipes (which are very much appreciated in a variety of circumstances!), picking up litter and bottles (specifically to remove anything which might be used as a weapon)

• listening to stories of personal difficulties/tragedies and offering comfort

• calling for ambulances on a few occasions when this has been necessary

to share the gospel:

• when asked why we are doing this work we are able to share that we know the love of Christ and want to share that love in practical ways

• whenever appropriate we offer to pray for people, telling them that prayer is part of our everyday lives and we believe that the Lord answers (there is one young man who when he has a sports injury will look out for a Street Pastor to pray for him)

• on those occasions when we are asked specific questions we have the opportunity to share the gospel more fully and we have had some deep and challenging conversations on many occasions

• through the way we conduct ourselves and relate to colleagues in the teams – being Christ on the streets

We thank God for the vision of those who first established the Street Pastor work, for those whose vision led to the setting up of this work locally, for those who support financially, for the prayer support of all the churches involved and for the power of the Holy Spirit which we know guides us and enables us in whatever part we play in this ministry.

Yvonne Cavanagh