Reaching the UnreachedAn annual conference for churches trying to reach out in the hard places of our land

Just a really simple post with a simple application. It’s concerning the way that we perceive and pray for the streets around us.

For some who are reading this the community that you are seeking to engage with the gospel is incredibly familiar to you. You’ve been there for years, you know the lay of the land and many of the people who you rub shoulders with are no longer nameless strangers but neighbours and friends. If this is the case, this post might not be quite as relevant to you as it to the others. The ‘others’ are those who are on the verge, or in the early stages of stepping out on a gospel adventure into uncharted territory. The community is new, the culture is alien and everywhere you turn you are surrounded by people you don’t know and who don’t know you.

Where do you start?

How do you go about reaching these streets?

For what it’s worth, I believe a good place to start is putting your daps on, stepping out of the door and starting to walk the streets with your eyes open. I’ve got a few stories to share with you, but reckon I should begin by illustrating that this was something that Jesus did all the time. In fact if you run a Bible search on “Jesus saw” you get a LOT of hits, because Jesus didn’t walk this world with His head in a holy shekinah cloud, but with his eyes peeled for opportunities to demonstrate and proclaim the gospel. Here’s a few examples:

Jesus saw disciples in sinners: After this [Jesus] went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.” (Luke 5v27)

Jesus looked with compassion on the masses: And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it (Luke 19v41)

Jesus looked with compassion on individuals: When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. (John 11v33)

Jesus saw faith and responded to it: And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.” (Matthew 9v2)

Jesus saw need and met it: And when Jesus entered Peter’s house, he saw his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever. He touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she rose and began to serve him. (Matthew 8v14-15)

Allow me to share a few stories that illustrate what walking the streets with open eyes meant for us in the early days of planting Hill City Church:

1. PLAYGROUND

For over a year before we had even moved to the estate my wife and I committed to prayer-walking the streets every Monday evening whatever the weather. We did this with our spiritual eyes open. One evening we stumbled across a derelict playground that lay right at the centre of the estate. It had clearly been abandoned for years and literally served no purpose apart from giving the residents somewhere to dump rubbish. All that remained of the playground was 2 rusty metal benches that had been shoved so far into the ground that to sit on them meant sitting at ground level. However, we did just that, and as we gazed around at shards of broken glass, the unwanted junk and the general desolation that surrounded us, we were led (by the Spirit) to pray that God would establish a place of worship here at the heart of the estate. After we’d prayed we looked over our shoulder and saw a house for sale. To cut a long story short, several months later we bought that house, moved in and did exactly what we’d been prayed about – we started a church in that house and established a place of worship there! The opportunities we’ve had to share the gospel purely by living in this part of the community are way too numerous (and sensitive) to write about here, but suffice to say – it was a God thing!

Furthermore, upon moving in we made it our aim as a fledgling church to see the ruins get rebuilt and this derelict playground restored so that the local kids could have somewhere to play again! We believe firmly that believers in broken communities should have a reputation as “the restorer of streets to dwell in.” (Isaiah 58v19) So we prayed, got in touch with the council and started the ball rolling on a 3 year, £1/4m process that eventually led to the total restoration of the play area. Hill City Church was right at the heart of the project from the start, even sponsoring the mural on the wall and our involvement has certainly opened doors for the gospel. However, NONE of this would have happened if we hadn’t walked the streets with our eyes open all those years ago!

2. RUBBISH

Another occasion where open eyes have led to opportunities to demonstrate the gospel came in the area of rubbish. I’m not exaggerating when I say that the fly-tippig and dumping of litter and general filth around where we live was one of the most annoying/dangerous/disgusting issues that we faced when we moved here (check out the photo!) This, coupled with the habit of local youths to rob wheely-bins, surf down the road on them and then burn them out at the bottom, all led to trash carnage. Sometimes my kids had to literally wade through used nappies (and worse) just to get to the car! It really wound me up.

That is until I opened my eyes!

Literally, one day God just revealed to me that I should take responsibility for this rubbish. All of it!

It suddenly made sense that I was confronted with the perfect opportunity to demonstrate grace. So I started making phone calls, getting the council to sort things out. But I also went out on my own with a litter picker and gloves, picking it all up and putting it in my own bin – never to be seen again. (I still do this!)

Why?

Because the more I thought about it – the more I saw it as a perfect platform to illustrate what Christ did for us on the cross – stepping into our mess, clearing away our filth and taking it all away – for free – never to be seen again!

That’s the gospel right there!

3. ASSAULT

One of the most harrowing stories has to be from Christmas Day a few years ago. I was still awake at around 1am on Christmas morning when I heard a noise outside. I looked out of my window to see a women getting beaten senseless by a man right outside my house. I chucked some clothes on and ran outside to intervene. By the time I got out there she was on the floor and he was kicking her in the face and stamping on her head. I shouted at him and he ran off (like most cowards do!) The woman got up, told me to f___ off and ran after him! So was it a waste of my time to get involved?

No!

Firstly, because it was the right thing to do. Secondly, because over the days that followed it became clear that there had been several other men who had witnessed the assault from their windows, yet had chosen to do nothing. (A familiar story on council estates!) I was still very new in the area and the fact that I was the only neighbour to actually step in seemed to speak volumes to them about who I am and who I worship!

I didn’t do it to be a hero! I did it because to see a woman being treated like that and then turn a blind eye is simply not an option for me, and shouldn’t be for any man that understands the heart of God!

Having open eyes can sometimes break your heart!

4. GRAFFITI

The final story I want to share is probably the most simple of all. It involves graffiti outside my mate Jim’s house. Basically a gang of around 20 youths had decided to make the bus stop in front of his house their new haunt. This involved regular drinking, a lot of noise, setting things on fire and even relieving themselves in the street (number 1 and 2!) I knew that Jim was praying about the situation, but it still bothered him.

Anyway, as I left his house one morning I saw a huge list of names (and crude drawings of body parts) scrawled all over his bus stop – and that’s when God opened my eyes.

“Jim!” I shouted.

“You got a whole list of names to pray for here!! You got your own prayer-list”

It might sound stupid, but I’ve never walked past graffiti in the same way since! All around us in these estates are lists of names that represent real young people who really are lost, broken and crying out for attention, even salvation.

Can I encourage you that if you don’t know how to start praying for your community (especially if it’s new to you) – walk your streets, thanking God for all those names that have been scribbled on walls to motivate your prayers and fuel your faith.

There are so many more stories I could share about people, places, opposition and opportunities that God has revealed to us over the years, but I think I’ll leave it there for now.

My closing encouragement is simply this – start walking your streets with your eyes open…

Who knows what God will show you?