Faith in Newcastle

I have recently been in Newcastle with a small team working alongside YWAM (Youth With A Mission) in Newcastle. The guys in Newcastle had put together a number of different activities for us. One of these was something called a faith day. An open day on our schedule in which we ask God what he wants us to do and follow his lead. The rules are no returning for 12 hours and you are not allowed to take any money, food etc, it is all done by faith, trusting God in everything.

I really enjoy being involved with these, especially with a group who have never done it before, as it really does teach you trust in God and hearing his voice.

 

So we headed into town and after praying as a group and asking God about what our morning should look like, we went around and spoke to everyone we found who was on crutches, asking if we could pray for them. We got mixed responses, but did get to pray for more than a dozen people. My favorite lady was an older woman who was waiting for her sister; she had arthritis in her knees. After talking for a while about the city and her memories of the place we prayed with her. We also stopped to talk with quite a few homeless people and got to pray with all of them.

At lunch we asked God what we should do, and felt like we should go to a local park and enjoy the sun. So we headed there and had a nap for about an hour before we had a time of intercession for the city. This was a really powerful time, with everyone hearing the same things from God.

We felt like we should then go and do some practical gardening work, so we eventually got connected with an asylum seeker from the Ivory Coast in Africa and helped him with his garden. This was great as when we finished he gave us tea/coffee, as much as we could drink, and as many biscuits as we could eat. We were told a couple of days later that our visit had helped to lift him out of his hopeless mood and get him fired up again for life.

We also got a call from the YWAM leader in Newcastle after we left him to let us know that someone had made us a curry and brought it round, so when we got back we got to enjoy that. We had more than enough for the next day also!

We ended our day down at the station, where I sat and had a long conversation with another homeless guy. I really enjoy just chatting and giving people time and an ear to listen. He told me as I left that I had made such a difference to his day, that by just stopping and giving him some company it had really helped him.

All in all we had an amazing day. We not only got to see God touch a few lives, but also provide for us. The comment from one of the guys was it was a great day for addressing attitudes he had, and to really confirm to him both that God is real and that there is a reason for him being here.