The journey so far…
We officially began gathering people together a couple of months ago now, but God has been gathering people to this place long before we ever thought about it. Erin, Lidia and others have been living and working on the Shankill Road for 5 years or more…
So really what we did is bring together the people who are working in this place, to support each other, encourage each other, and inspire each other to reach out more into this community. So far that looks a bit like dinner once every couple of weeks, when we share food and share what God has been doing in each of our journeys. We also try and meet up in pairs weekly to disciple and support each other in a more personal way.
Straight after Summer Madness we were lucky to have a group of people come to help us do some intentional mission for a week, which we called FWD (Faith With Deeds). Rather than follow the normal StreetReach approach of cleaning up, we decided to focus on starting relationships that could be followed up in the weeks, months and years to come… So we knocked on peoples doors and asked to chat and pray with them. To be honest at the start of the week I was dreading asking people to do it, as I felt like it would never work. At the end of the week I was amazed at how willing people had been to let us come into their homes and share with us a little of their story.
We also ran some community barbecues in the evening times, which brought along loads of people that we had never had the chance to connect with before - so hopefully we will get the opportunity to see them again.
During the week we met a teenager called Mickey, and Dave got quite friendly with him. After FWD ended Dave kept up the relationship and invited him along to some things that Dave goes to - he was pretty relentless! I got a text a week or so after FWD to say that Mickey had become a Christian - God is amazing! I’m looking forward to watching and supporting him on his journey with Jesus over the coming years…
We’ve got the keys to St. Luke’s church, which we’re using for times of 24/7 prayer. To be honest I’m not sure where that fits with this, or if indeed it might become into its own thing - only time will tell.
That brings us up to now I guess.
We’re starting to grow a little community of people who love each other and want to support each other; and who love the Shankill and want to see it transformed by Jesus. This blog is to help you be part of our journey - the highs and lows, the good times and the bad, the excitement and the boredom that will define our story in the days, weeks and months to come.
I’ll not be the only one posting, hopefully we’ll all chip in with our bit of the story.
Don’t be a stranger - check back soon,
Ryan