1. James
Eddie, Ray and I had three location clues between us - spice (which we took to mean an Indian or similar restaurant), station and flower beds - which took us eventually to the area between the Cinnamon Lounge and the pub opposite, near the station and bordered by raised flower beds. We had previously tried some other locations along the High St with a few contacts but no obvious treasure.
We felt it was right to stay in that area and trust God to bring the treasure past us. Again, several contacts but no definite hits. After a while Eddie started talking to one of the people who came out of the pub for a cigarette. He was a young man who was amazed to find that Eddie had his name, James, written down as a name clue. He also felt that Eddie's reference to someone with a heavy burden applied to him. Eddie said afterwards that he'd started talking to James as he felt prompted to do so, having caught his eye a few times (this was following a word that Dale had passed on to the TH team earlier in the week, about following the Holy Spirit's prompting). Ray and I joined them and James explained that he felt very much as though his life was empty, despite being outwardly successful at work and in his wider life (though he'd broken up with his girlfriend a little time ago). We gave him some testimonies - including Eddie's and Ray's - and encouraged him to see God's hand upon him that day, to find abundant new life in Jesus. He said he was really interested to talk more and this was what he needed to hear, and if we could wait he would go inside and finish his breakfast (!) and come out again. We agreed and he duly came back a few minutes later, ready to carry on. We talked more and asked if we could pray for him to feel his Father's love in a new way from that day on, with which he was happy - so we did. We gave him the church contact details and the "Knowing God" leaflet and he agreed to come to church at the first opportunity, this coming Sunday (he lives in Oxted but couldn't come yesterday because of his pub manager work in East Grinstead). We advised him to expect obstacles to that coming up during the week, but he seemed determined to be there next Sunday. It will be great if we can pray him into (a) King's church next week and (b) the Kingdom! We left on very good terms, having told him that it really blessed and encouraged us to talk to him too and we looked forwards to seeing him again, at church.
We all felt greatly encouraged by that encounter. Often we've said that there seems a natural time limit even to a good conversation, but in this case we each felt that he was ready to drink in everything we were telling him about God, and that from his face he seemed very open and ready to move forwards. As a team we had a word as we set out that chains would be broken and we prayed afterwards for James that that would apply in his life, shown by his coming to church and getting saved.
2. Brian
He was a man with a walking stick near the station, who said he didn't think God could help with his "hole in his spine" but we said we'd pray anyway
3. Brazilian family Eddie knew who were reluctant to commit to coming to church but the husband Nelson asked us to pray for their financial/business situation.
4. Alison- her father had died a couple of years ago and her mum lives 400 miles away. Her mother, Kathleen, can be lonely and so we prayed for Kathleen, and also for Alison and her family. She was very open and it was a very positive first encounter of the morning.
5. Caroline- her husband has just got the job as deputy head of a local secondary school and she is looking for a lively Church for her and the family. Pippa gave her the King's Church card.
6. Janice- she is recovering from a hip replacement and asked that we pray later rather than on the street.
7. Harvey- he is a Christian but doesn't go to a Church. Charleigh told him about youth and has invited him along.
9. Emily- looking for a job. Told her about job club and gave her the information about it.
10. Shann - with her mother and brother, had a sprained ankle, was about a 7or8 on pain scale, we prayed for it and she said it was feeling a bit better.
11. Dawn- Had shoulder and neck pain, we prayed for her and chatted to her, she was very open about things such as her beliefs. Said her shoulder/neck was feeling a bit better, and would have had more prayer but she had to go and meet a friend.
12. We were outside Oxted Electrical, and saw a woman with a blue top and red scarf. She said that she was a German Catholic and a Scientologist… one of our clues was confused and this could refer to her spiritual state! She had a bad hip and so we offered to pray for her and ask Jesus to heal her. We laid hands on her and prayed and she said that the pain had gone down and the hip felt better. We also prayed for a young lad who was with her who had a broken arm. We gave them both tracks about the gospel and asked them to take some time to read about Jesus.
Happy Hunting!
Dale Barlow
Kings Church Oxted
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