Progress, not Perfection: God uses hats and poor hearing!

This year, without some of the time pressures I had last year, I’m able to experience other parts of Cardiff life. I now go along to a home group in my church and it’s quite exciting to get to know other church members better as well as diving into God’s word more deeply. Another thing I’ve started doing is called Living Water.

Living Water is basically a bunch of people (8-ish) heading out on a Wednesday or Friday night to hand out tea, hot chocolate or bottles of water, (the bottles all kindly donated by a lovely shop!) to people as they come out of the Union nightclub. We’re not there to preach but to practically serve.

Obviously we get asked why we are out there (although most people know who we are – the “Jesus water” people) and sometimes the conversations run deep. Outside conversations it’s still a great witness: we’re there loving people, certainly not judging them and the Union recognise (and the police wrote to the team saying) that incidents were lower when the team is out.

On Friday night I was out and thought it was a slow night. There were lots of us there so some went back to the chaplaincy to pray for a while, to return around 12.30am. After returning out to the not-as-cold-as-you’d-think it got busy.

I offered tea/hot chocolate/water to someone and in the sentence I said they thought I’d said their name. This started a conversation and in me simply asking if it had been a good night they poured out all this stuff from the past year of their life. The conversation ended with them saying how they’ll come along to CU (I hadn’t even mentioned CU or church) because they “need some faith in [their] life.”

At 2am the club starts to empty and among the crowd was someone who commented me on the beautiful hat Julianne lovingly made for my birthday. I thanked them and offered them hot chocolate (we’d already handed out the 600 bottles we’d brought with us that night!).

An hour later the person and I were still talking. About huge things. Depression. God. Creation (and in a real way, not a “I will hide completely behind some old argument” kind of way). How could a loving God send a parent who has lived a good life but doesn’t believe in God to Hell? Loneliness. Organised religion. Other world religions. Jesus and how he was “the best man that ever lived but whether or not He was God requires a a huge leap of faith.” Prayer and whether or not it’s answered.

I got this second person’s email address but follow-up is tricky.

And other people had amazing conversations last night. Conversations where the person asked for the Gospel to be explained in depth. Conversations in which the person (they already knew each other) wanted to go along to church on Sunday.

How much either of these people remember of our conversations, I’m not sure. But I’m praying they do and that God will continue to work in their lives and reveal Himself to Him.

It’s amazing how God can use someone mishearing their name, a gorgeous hat and free drinks to lead others to Him.

Labels: God, uni life

1 Comments:

At 1:01 PM, Julianne said...: Oh rach! Paise God!
I am so encouraged by how you love and serve others so faithfully. What an incredible testimony of the grace of our Lord in your life as you share it with others without reserve!
I wish I could give you a great big hug right now my love! Continue on in this good work and in your faith, for in you and your community the kingdom of heaven is near! :)