CHURCH ON THE STREET
As Christians, God expects us to make a difference in our communities to His Glory. However, we are often
stereotyped in the way we do ‘church’. We hardly see the many opportunities around us to be an extension of Christ to a hurting world.
Having spent time together in prayers for a while, a group of ladies with a passion to restore hope to the hopeless took a step of faith to reach out in love and care to street beggars in one corner of Port Harcourt City, Nigeria. The Happy Bite shopping complex strategically located on the Port Harcourt Air-force base junction, was a good area to pitch tent because of its busy nature and the attraction to street beggars and hawkers of goods.
Sunday 12th July 2009 at 10am was the first outing. Once the tent was set up, the beggars and hawkers were invited for a time of fellowship with God. The invitation was greeted with some misgivings from the beggars since they saw it as a distraction to their ‘trade’ – alms begging. At the end of the meeting which lasted for about an hour, the provisions brought along were distributed amongst our new ‘friends’. An attendance of 18 persons: 7 adults and 11 children, was recorded.
Since its inception, the meeting has held every Sunday. The journey so far has been sometimes laborious, yet encouraging. About three months down the road, through the help of God, we have put the children (six of school age) back in school, provided cash for one of the women to start a petty trade, provided employment to a young man as a sales attendant, and in the process of rehabilitating another woman.
Our overall mission is to get them off the streets, help them find a means of livelihood and above all, bring the gospel of God’s kingdom to them. This we hope to see actualized by the help of God.
We also encourage you to look for ministry opportunities around you, and be Christ to the hurting world in your community.
As Christians, God expects us to make a difference in our communities to His Glory. However, we are often
stereotyped in the way we do ‘church’. We hardly see the many opportunities around us to be an extension of Christ to a hurting world.Having spent time together in prayers for a while, a group of ladies with a passion to restore hope to the hopeless took a step of faith to reach out in love and care to street beggars in one corner of Port Harcourt City, Nigeria. The Happy Bite shopping complex strategically located on the Port Harcourt Air-force base junction, was a good area to pitch tent because of its busy nature and the attraction to street beggars and hawkers of goods.
Sunday 12th July 2009 at 10am was the first outing. Once the tent was set up, the beggars and hawkers were invited for a time of fellowship with God. The invitation was greeted with some misgivings from the beggars since they saw it as a distraction to their ‘trade’ – alms begging. At the end of the meeting which lasted for about an hour, the provisions brought along were distributed amongst our new ‘friends’. An attendance of 18 persons: 7 adults and 11 children, was recorded.
Since its inception, the meeting has held every Sunday. The journey so far has been sometimes laborious, yet encouraging. About three months down the road, through the help of God, we have put the children (six of school age) back in school, provided cash for one of the women to start a petty trade, provided employment to a young man as a sales attendant, and in the process of rehabilitating another woman.
Our overall mission is to get them off the streets, help them find a means of livelihood and above all, bring the gospel of God’s kingdom to them. This we hope to see actualized by the help of God.
We also encourage you to look for ministry opportunities around you, and be Christ to the hurting world in your community.