Thank God it’s Friday!
On Friday, we were able to split into the two teams. The Gilesgate team prayed together and then headed to various public spaces in order to tidy them up with some gardening (as the weather was fortunately good enough for this!) Then a few helped out the Olivers with their (thoroughly overgrown) back garden before having dinner together there.
In Chester-le-Street, a team engaged with people on the streets, about their ideas about God and faith.
Chester-le-Street Fun Day!
From 2-5 on Saturday, both teams were able to head to Chester-le-Street together to join in with the Fun Day there, serving on anything from a Giant Slide to decorating biscuits to providing barbecued food for what ended up being about 300 people. It was a great event and the rain held off until just fifteen minutes before the end (a huge answer to prayer).
Sowing the seeds of the Kingdom
We’re unsure of exactly the impact that God Loves will have had this year but we trust that we have a God who is true to his word when he says that ‘only God gives the growth’ (1 Corinthians 3:7) and that the seeds we have sown will be tended by our kind, gracious, and loving God. We’re excited to hear testimonies of the transformation and Gospel fruit that has been borne from this week, and to hear of people grasping more and more that God does, indeed, love.
Tom adds…
On the Friday afternoon, a team of us went onto the streets of Chester-le-Street to try and share Jesus with people. Three of us stood outside a local primary school encouraging people to come to the Fun Day on the following day and giving our flyers for it. Meanwhile, two of us went to the town centre armed with a whiteboard and pens. We asked passers-by to answer the question “Is there a purpose to life?” We offered them four answers: “No”, “Yes: family”, “Yes: money” and “Yes: sex”. Whilst many people didn’t want to engage, praise God that we had some responses, with the vast majority of people saying that family was the most important thing in their life. This not only enabled us to better understand the people of the town and to answer their questions about why we were out asking people about the purpose of life, but it also meant we could easily invite them to the Fun Day. Thank God for all who interacted with us, for His goodness to them in granting them a family and for those who came to the Fun Day. Please pray that more conversations would lead onto Jesus and the gospel.