Faith on the Streets by Les Isaac

 

20 years ago Les Isaac started Street Pastors. I was interested in this work as they work locally to myself in Coleraine Northern Ireland. I picked up this book in a charity shop and read it for the first time 2 years ago.

So what is a Street Pastor? A volunteer who cares for, listens to and helps other people, particularly in the night time environment in busy areas where people are drinking, partying and moving between pubs and clubs.

In the opening chapter Les outlines the training and what makes a good pastor. There are real life testimonies from people who came in touch with Street Pastors throughout the book.

Les also gives his own journey into faith and the work Street Pastors does with the voluntary sector and in schools.

I loved the opening comparison to the story of the Good Samaritan in the New Testament. The Jewish traveller received help when he needed it most and it was of a practical nature. When the Good Samaritan could do no more, he handed him over to someone else who provided the necessary help. This is what Street Pastors do, they are modern day Good Samaritans.

It reminds me of Matthew 25 verse 40.

 

If there is one fault I have with this book, it is the amount of detail that each initiative goes into. Les outlines how each new project came about, what it involved, how it worked in detail and what its results were. I think I would have loved more personal testimonies from the actual street pastors and how it has impacted their lives. Yes I am interested in crime rates going down but I want to know about the faith of those who went out onto the streets night after night.’

 

I am still struggling to get through this book. When I say struggling I have to explain ...

There are some issues raised in this book that have made me question my attitude to Street Pastors.

First who are they? They are individuals from different churches. And this is where my problem arises. Les openly admits that there are problems with church acceptance. In some areas they work in as not all the churches get on board. In other areas there are so many churches involved that they can cover several nights over a week for instance.

It's this "not in my back yard" attitude or we want to do it as "our" church thing. The churches cannot work together, there are differences in their approach to gospel outreach. You cannot go out at 3 am with the intention of preaching or handing out tracts. You have to be supportive, have a listening ear. You cannot have your own agenda. For some this is not the gospel in their opinion.

I keep going back to the story of the Good Samaritan. The church men avoided the injured man in the story and you know today they are still doing the same. What a challenge!

So instead of rushing through and reading this book, then doing a nice neat little review, I have had to take time and hear what God is saying to my heart.

 

Quite often reading this book I have heard myself saying "there but for the grace of God". Meaning I couldn't imagine doing this level of work because I would be too scared of saying or judging incorrectly but you know there is another saying "the chickens have come home to roost." Sometimes what we imagine might not happen in our lives can and do happen. These people are working with those who could be my daughter or your son. Imagine the state they might get themselves in after a night of drinking alcohol. Knowing someone is there to help pick them up when they are most vulnerable ... it just does not bear thinking about. That is the reality of life unfortunately.

I have read about school pastors and this has struck a chord with me personally. How many times have we not read of suicides amongst those young people simply because they were bullied or they couldn't cope with school life.

Yes there for the grace of God go you and I. Pray for Street Pastors who give up their Friday or Saturday nights to help on the streets of our towns and cities.