CELEBRATING FIVE YEARS OF GLOUCESTER CITY MISSION!

Special edition News letter Summer/Autumn 2008

‘This is the Lord’s doing: It is marvellous in our eyes.’ (Psalm 118 v 23 RSV)

Five years ago Gloucester City Mission (GCM) was started with many mixed emotions; anticipation, excitement, fear and a certain amount of trepidation. We had a burning in our hearts from God that this was the right thing to do. A small temporary steering group was set up to get the Mission going and Hillview Evangelical Church put in some ‘seed money’ which we anticipated would keep us going for a couple of months. We had no idea then if the local churches and Christians would support the venture; it was a real step of faith.

One man with a haversack, (me) containing a flask of coffee, doughnuts, Gospel tracts and Bibles was the start of GCM.

The ‘street people’; those with alcohol and substance misuse, mental health problems and homelessness, were very welcoming and appreciative of this new initiative. It involved sitting on pavements, befriending them, listening to their stories and most importantly sharing the Gospel of Christ and praying with them. On reflection it seemed a crazy thing to do, but, hey Noah built an Ark in the middle of a desert!

Then slowly, God started opening doors; invitations came in: to visit a Gypsy site and take Bible studies in a family’s home; to join the team of Gloucester College Chaplains.

We also work alongside the Gloucester Salvation Army feeding the hungry and delivering food hampers at Christmas.

Christians started contacting me, asking if they could get involved. We now have a team of fourteen volunteer Missioners and a more permanent team of Trustees and Management was set in place. The Team is made up of Christians from a rich variety of denominational backgrounds, united in taking Christ into the city, it is our greatest strength but could be a theological minefield! It is having the ability to hold fast to what the Bible says, yet being tolerant to other Christians and their views

GCM is now a registered charity and rent a small office in the city. The Rock, our name for the office, is used for prayer, administration and for storage.

The Team visit the ‘street people’ in hospital and in prison.

We reach out to shoppers and tourists using a market stall in the city centre several times a year, We have distributed thousands of Challenge Newspapers and other Christian literature through this evangelistic outreach and we hope to develop this work further.

Recently we have started a new venture called ‘Sharing Jesus’; a small team of us go onto the streets on a Thursday morning for a couple of hours and see who God leads us to, we have had many opportunities to share Christ and touch lives, we would value your prayer support for this work.

Please continue to pray for the regular work of GCM; visiting the ‘street people’; Bible Studies with the Gypsies; Gloucester College Chaplaincy; Hospital and Prison visiting; Market Stall outreach; Sharing Jesus on Thursday mornings.

Thank you to all of you who pray for us, support us with covenants and gifts, including toiletries for hospital visiting; and for the many letters and cards of encouragement you send us. Thank you all, the Mission would not exist without you.

Praise God for five years of Gloucester City Mission.

May God bless yuh all real good!

YOURS IN CHRIST JESUS

MIKE CURTIS AND TEAM