Street Pastors

WHY I BECAME A STREET PASTOR - Derek Fraser (Senior Street Pastor)

There is a wall-hanging on the left-hand side at the front of our church building. It states that: “Our purpose is to Serve God, to Serve Each Other, to Serve The Community and to Serve The Wider Church.”

In particular, the phrase “To Serve The Community” bothered me. I have lost count of the number of times that I have looked at that hanging and thought to myself: how can I engage with our local community, how can I serve our community? This question has bothered me ever since this “mission statement” was hung there. ...how?...HOW?...HOW?

Then one Sunday in early 2007, Martin Seymour came to lead one of our services and told us about this new initiative, called Street Pastors. What a fantastic idea. Small groups of Christians simply walking the streets of our local community, talking with people, showing that we really care, staying with them if they are fearful, helping them if they can. Isn’t that what Jesus would do?

However, there was just one problem. It’s not me; I can’t just go up to a stranger and start talking to them! I struggled with this problem for several weeks. But I also thought that if this was God’s will, then even though I have problems talking to strangers, God could change me. As Frank our senior pastor, later challenged us, I decided to “step out of the boat” and I enrolled for the training course.

I have been patrolling twice a month on a Friday night since completing the training course….and do you know something? Yes, God has been changing me. Although I still don’t necessarily find it easy, I can walk up to someone, or even a group of people and start to talk to them. As time goes by, I am finding that this is not only when I am “on duty” on a Friday night. Wherever I am, I am now beginning to find that I am becoming more aware of the people around me and can “connect” with them and show them that we really care about them – just like Jesus would do. Yes, this is how I can start to serve our community.

Something we always find very encouraging; it is very rewarding when somebody that we have spoken to in the past, hails us and walks over to us to talk, perhaps to tell us what is happening in his or her life now. Occasionally, this can develop and a relationship can be built up between us. When this occurs, we have a real opportunity to be a help to someone, or to tell them about Jesus.

So why patrol Belvedere?

We belong to a group of Street Pastors in the borough of Bexley. The majority of our street Pastors patrol in areas that have an active night-life, with a number of night-clubs which are open until the early hours of the morning and our Street Pastors tend to patrol until about 1.30 am. during which time they will routinely meet and talk with people of various ages.

However in our corner of the borough, the situation is somewhat different, but no less important. Belvedere does not boast a nightlife other than having its fair share of pubs, a social club, a couple of restaurants and several takeaways. The majority of adults that we meet will be going to or leaving these establishments.

However, we still have a deep concern for Belvedere because of the youth that we meet in the area. We will often meet young people who will tell us that they have not got anything to do or anywhere to go in the evenings. Indeed, the majority of the “social establishments” around the borough seem to cater only for people aged 18 or over. The youngsters we meet will often just be “hanging around”. Having nothing to do often results in some of them becoming intoxicated quite early in the evening, despite efforts by our local police to enforce the under-age drinking laws. Besides alcohol, Belvedere also has a problem with the distribution and use of a range of illegal drugs. Instead of instantly condemning such people, it is our desire to come alongside them, talk with them, show that we care and, with God’s help, make a difference in their lives.

I recently heard a prospective parliamentarian say that we have a great deal of poverty in this area - not only financial poverty, but also a poverty of hope, a poverty of ambition as well as a spiritual poverty. We certainly witness this whilst talking to people, particularly the young people of the community who have recently left school. Some of them will have left with few or no qualifications and cannot find a job. Such youngsters quickly become depressed and disillusioned with life. We have met with youths who have decided that there is no alternative other than a life of crime, or are asking themselves, what is the point of life? Again, it is our desire to come alongside them, talk with them, show that we care and, with God’s help, make a difference in their lives.

WHY I BECAME A STREET PASTOR - Freda Ratcliffe (Senior Street Pastor)

I suppose it all started about 30 years ago when I lived in Bexleyheath and used to run into a large group of youngsters in an area between my home and the church where I worshipped. They were typical youngsters, getting up to mischief and doing a lot of silly things, which led to some of them getting into trouble with the police! We, as a church, tried to befriend them and did start a youth club, which was pretty successful, but which had to close when the leaders moved away and no-one felt they could step into their shoes.

Over the years I heard how some of the youngsters had got involved with drugs, were in prison and a couple of lads had even died as a result of street fights. I always felt so sad that I could not have done something to help them.

When I moved to Belvedere around 10 years ago I used to see youngsters hanging around the streets and I used to hope and pray that they would not end up ruining their lives – it brought back memories of the situation in Bexleyheath! So, you can imagine how I jumped at the opportunity to train to become a Street Pastor when I heard about this initiative just over three years ago! Was this a way in which I could make a difference in our community and in the lives of youngsters?

Because I live in the village I prefer to patrol in Belvedere. We go out in the evening on the first and third Fridays of the month, and it is good for me because I often run into folk and young people when I am in the village during the day. This works well and I find that I have had some really successful chats with some of the youngsters during this time, trying to encourage them not to screw up their lives, by listening to them and showing that I love them and care about them. If I can be the instrument in just one young person’s life to stop them ending up into drugs, in prison, or dead I will be happy. Of course, I would like to be a good influence in all their lives but know this will not be! But I can pray for them and trust that the Lord will keep them safe.

To find out more about Street Pastors, go to the main Street Pastor Website