Here is an excerpt from an email that Helena sent to me after a recent Treasure Hunt:
Just a quick update on the treasure hunt yesterday. Obviously you were there when we found our treasure John who matched many clues. although he clearly wasn't in the mood of talking or praying, I hope that our meeting encouraged him.
Damien and I went to St Margarets church afterwards. it turned out that the church was open because of the Heritage weekend (?). anyhow, we chatted to two people outside (who were involved in this 'open day' event - Peter and another lady, I forgot her name) explaining what we were doing. Although they were interested, we didn't get anywhere, except on the rooftop of the church. because of the open day we were invited to go up the roof and Peter went with us. while enjoying the lovely views, we chatted with Peter and he was telling us he goes to the Salvation Army and they meet on sunday evenings in Emmaus church. He invited us to come along that evening because they were going to 'send out' two cadets.
long story short, I went to Emmaus church (old church) in the evening, and really enjoyed the service. Nice people, good preach on God giving us Christians a purpose and a mission (very much NF style message). Anyhow, I was sitting next to Peter's wife Sue and she was wearing a green skirt. i thought 'that's funny'. Then, it turned out that the two cadets they were sending out was a couple in their 50s/60s with the woman with brown hair. The Salvation Army band was playing, and their choir was singing, so there was a lot of live music in the place. And then I spotted the tattoos on the left arm of the biker sitting in front of me. Believe it or not, he had planets and a small spaceship tattooed on his arm! I nearly fell of my chair! God has a great sense of humour. I didn't feel prompted to talk to or pray for anyone regarding the clues. Obviously, they're all christians and know God, but also the focus of the evening was on this couple that was sent out and people were crowding around this couple afterwards to have a last chance to say goodbye, so I left after having a few friendly chats with people. Sometimes God reveals His clues more to have fun with us (in a positive sense). I felt very blessed during the evening, as the service (with the band and the choir) reminded me of the church in my home village where I grew up, it was a privilege to hear the couple's testimony of how God had broken in when they went through a rough time, and my fear for (or rather, my prejudice of) bikers has now gone! You know these scary bikers with shaved heads, large beards, earrings and tattoos...? Two of them were sitting in front of me, and when the band was playing their last song, these two men were joyfully joining in, singing along with the band and praising God. It was hilariously funny (no disrespect here), it really made me laugh. whenever I see another sturdy biker again, i have to think of these two men and can't help myself but have to smile.
Helena
I was so encouraged to have received this email and also by the fact that on that day we had our largest team out on the streets doing a treasure hunt! We had it straight after our Sunday morning service (which was a first) and noticed an increased sense of expectancy amongst the team - More Lord!
Gordon Watson
Medway Family Church
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