Report by Stephen Tan.
It was the first time in a while that the school had kicked us out in our 5 years of tenancy. They needed to run a school event so we needed a temporary location to run church. After a comprehensive search we decided that the best option was the Frankston library. The heart of Frankston. Just the location awakened a greater sense of compassion for the city as we saw the different people passing by. I reflected on how we were reaching people at uni but not many Frankston natives.
As God would have it we were back in the library within a month and this time we had a plan. Led by me we split into three teams of two. Boy girl pairs. There was Phil-Hannah, Kien-Nicole, Sarah-yours truly. Phil was concerned that girls may get hit on as boys may ask for their number but with boy-girl pairs, the boy could offer his number instead. We split up in different directions so we would not encounter the same people.
The plan was to pray for people's needs, evangelise if given the opportunity and to let them know about Hope church. Sarah and I took the direct approach and aired people if they wanted prayer as our opening question. We met an old Italian lady who was smoking outside savers. She had come all the way from Brighton to shop at savers. She was a lapsed catholic. She asked us to pray for her son but she didn't want to stay for a chat. We were turned down by many people who didn't want prayer. Several were confused as to what we were doing and one lady looked really freaked out!
Kien and Nicole headed to the bus stop where they encountered a friendly man who knew a lot about vegetables. They took the indirect approach and started talking to the guy about food. They managed to talk to the guy for almost half an hour and kien was about to start talking about God when his bus arrived. Kien then vowed to be more direct in future.
Hannah and Phil headed for the beach and God gave hannah an image of a large African lady sitting on a bench who needed healing in her right leg. Whilst looking for said African woman they tried to pray for a man but he wasn't keen. They then saw a large dark skinned woman sitting on a bench but she wasn't african. They decided to approach her anyway and asked if she needed prayer. They found out she was South American and a Christian! She said she had osteoporosis which had affected her right leg! They proceeded to pray for the woman's leg and she started praying in spanish. The woman was overjoyed and greatly encouraged in her faith. Although hannah didn't get the race right everything else was. What an amazing word of knowledge that God showed Hannah. Everyone was encouraged by the demonstration of God's power.
Although we would have liked to do better, our first street outreach was a success and we will continue to reach out to Frankston to fulfil God's calling for us as individuals and as a congregation!
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