Hello Hunters!
Sorry that there haven't been many updates over the last season.
During the last few months we've come into a season as a local church where we felt that God had told us to do the following:
Isaiah 54:2-3
‘Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes. For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities’
Part of this we felt was in not spreading ourselves too thinly as a church but prioritising ourselves in particular areas, making them our main focus for the coming season and doing those things well rather than doing lots of things but not effectively.
Obviously there is of course the God factor! - It's not about the effort we put in but there are underlying principles relating to practical stewardship of resources, both with people and time.
With this all taken into account we felt that as we had 2 street outreach ministries in operation (Treasure Hunts & Prayer on the Square) and that both had the same means to an end (praying for people) that we would be best served to really put our weight behind one for the next season, to develop a team and do it effectively.
We decided to emphasise the Prayer on the Square model. It is much like the Healing on the Streets model that the Vineyard churches are using, but with a few adjustments.
We felt it was both visible and targeted, also allowing for use of the prophetic in the same way as a treasure hunt, so as to get clues for people you may meet in the morning.
We've found in previous times we are seeing the same people walk past week after week and are starting to build up some relationships with local people through the regularity and location of it.
I am happy that for this season we have made a good decision and that in the future we will be able to re-engage with the treasure hunt model in some shape or form, but the tools and skills we have learnt as a church, the confidence in moving in the prophetic and approaching strangers has been invaluable.
I long for myself and others not just in our own church but in others to really grasp the fact that God wants to speak to us, to have us living supernaturally, not just on church organised outreach vehicles but in the day to day of everyday life, at the school gates, in the supermarket, at work, in the home, in the park, the tennis courts, gym, wherever - God wants you to reach out and impact the world around you with His mighty power displayed through your compassion and obedience.
I will try and keep the blog updated with testimonies over this coming season and can only apologise for my rather long delay in posting anything up here!
Happy hunting!
Gordon Watson
Medway Family Church
