Walk East Sussex Coast

That was the most amazing week of mission I have ever known.

There were eight of us on the team and we saw about 20 people make decisions for Christ. We were amazed.

This is what happened:-

Friday 12 Dreadful journey down. Stuck on the M1 in a Megabus for two hours. Missed the next coach to Hastings so stayed with my sister Sheila and her husband Andrew in Thames Ditton. This worked out well as they gave me a mug they had bought in America for me and I used it the whole week.

Saturday 13 Took the train to Brighton and then another to Hastings. Got our gear - hoodie and polo shirt in pale blue with logo, songbook, Bible study, etc. Then a welcome service with the leader Daniel Cousins.
Off to meet our hosts at Ore, then to meet the rest of the Church people. We were working with the Salvation Army and Christ Church Ore for the first part of the week.
At night we went to the local pub for the first of several visits. I talked to a couple of guys from London who have caravans on the coast.

Sunday 14 Met an interesting character called Jeff who looked homeless but actually had a house in Ore. Had bacon butties at the Salvation Army and then walked prayerfully round the Downs Farm estate.
AM service at Christ church. I gave a two minute testimony and took part in a puppet sketch. Afterwards met a young man called James who had lived most of his life in Hastings, except for five years in BURNLEY!
Then we had an outside BBQ and I found that people had come down off the estate to the service. In the evening I attended my first proper Salvation Army meeting. I was impressed with the music - brass band and songsters. It was great.
Then back to the pub again.

Monday 15 We returned to the flats on the Downs Farm Estate to knock on the doors. We had a spiritual beliefs survey for the people but most were not interested in it. But the Salvation Army captain who was with me told them about a Family Focus they run each month in the community hall, and they were interested in that.
In the afternoon I went out door knocking with a man off another team we were working with and we got into a great conversation with a young lad. As we were getting to the most important part a bin wagon parked itself right next to us and made the most awful noise and smell, but I prayed and my mate kept on going.
The lad made a decision to become a Christian.
In the evening a young girl on our team and me went to a supper party. One of the Anglican ladies had invited two of her neighbours and her husband, who is not a believer, to meet us.

Tuesday 16 Out on the doors again with the same person as I went with the day before. We set off to start where I had finished. But as soon as we got into the road a lady passed us and then said "I have a survey form for you." So we walked up to her flat on the estate and picked it up. We prayed with her. She was a Christian.
We went down to the next block of flats where my mate picked up a lot of litter on the floor while watched by a couple over the fence. I did the spiritual survey with them and they prayed to receive Christ as Saviour.
As we were going along with our hearts bursting with thankfulness I decided we should visit a lady I had seen on the previous two days whose husband had died two months before. We did the survey with her and prayed for her.
Then we met a guy from the estate whom my mate had seen twice before, and finally we passed an old guy working in his garden. He lifted up his head and said "You'll wear that pavement out." Then he went on tell us about a near-death experience he had had, in which he had met his dead father, and we told him how he could have assurance of heaven.
Then we ran back to base, because we just couldn't cope with any more.

After lunch two of our team members went out on the doors - the young girl is doing a Ph D in Maths, and the older man has always been a kitchen porter. They asked for God's blessing, so I just put my hands on their shoulders and said "God will bless you." They came back rejoicing that an 87 year old woman had put her trust in the Lord.

At night we had a Hot Potato Evening. There was a supper of hot potatoes and salad followed by a panel discussion of hot spiritual topics. Richard Dawkins came up, as did the Trinity and a few other things. A young woman at the other end of my table was asking lots of questions. She was sitting near the Salvation Army folk. When the meeting was finished they spent a lot of time talking with her while I cleared the table and washed up. I felt it was better that way round as they would always be there and I was leaving next day.

Wednesday 17 A morning off, spent walking on the cliff tops near Fairlight. Then off to St. Leonards to work with Calvary Chapel. We first went to a residential home to take a meeting and talk to residents. The meeting was a bit of a disaster but one of the residents trusted the Lord.
Then we adjourned to our places of residence. I was put in a penthouse overlooking the sea on the Promenade. We really slum it on these missions.

Thursday 18 We had our first open-air outreach in downtown Hastings. Singing, acting and speaking was a lot of fun. We met some interesting people. One turned out to be a high-flying Russian diplomat. She was in favour of what we were doing. How times have changed since the Communist era.
We moved places half way through the morning and one of our team got talking to a couple and did not arrive at the second venue for sometime. When she did it was to tell us that they had accepted the Lord. She then started chatting to another woman and led her in a prayer of repentance. I've never known a time like it.

In the afternoon I went out on the doors with the pastor of the church and handed an invitation for a free BBQ on Sunday morning to a family on the street. We had some good conversations on the doors but a lot of people were out.

It was pub time again at night but I didn't find anyone to chat with except my companion. But it was a good time nevertheless.

Friday 19 We set off for Oxford Road and went down one side of the street while another couple worked the other side. "We" being me and an older Northern Irish lady who now lives in Bexhill. She has an insatiable appetite for talk. So I had to ask her to button it a bit while I was talking. She managed graciously to do this eventually.
We managed to work together well. So much so that on the way home she struck up a conversation with a man standing outside the pub smoking. I took over, went through the survey with him, and led him in a prayer of repentance. Amazing.

Later on in the evening we had an outreach event in the same pub with a guy called Roly playing his guitar, harmonica and keyboard, but not all at the same time. The pub was invaded by lots of Christian men, and a few women. Some of the locals tried to protest and cause a rumpus but it didn't work and a lot of people were challenged.

Saturday 20 saw our second downtown Hasting open-air outreach. This time one of the team did Sketchboarding and four kids prayed a prayer of commitment. There were a lot of people around and it was very exciting.
In the afternoon we strolled through Alexandra Park and came across a wedding group taking pictures. It turned out to be a couple from Ore Salvation Army, with whom we were working the first part of the week. They invited us to come and have our picture taken with the bride and groom.
At night we went to Battle to meet the church folk we had not already met. They were very middle class and I wondered how they would relate to the people who live around where they meet, who are at the other end of the social scale.

Sun 21 Last day. Sunday morning service was at a Community Centre near four huge tower blocks known as the Four Courts. At least two men were there because of our invitation. When I came out there was a family outside waiting for the BBQ. They were the family I had given the invite to on Thursday. We enjoyed hot dogs and the kids had a bouncy castle. Then we got together for our last time as a team.
We waited for some time for our leader to appear but a message came saying that he and the pastor were busy talking to the family and that we should carry on without him. So we prayed for each other and the family. When we had finished he came in and gave us the thumbs-up. All three - father, mother and son - had given their lives to the Lord.
We jumped around, clapping and hugging each other. What a fantastic end to a fantastic week!
The last event of all was the final service for all the teams at St. Leonards Parish Church on the seafront. Six people gave testimony to what had happened during the week. Incredibly, I was involved in what three of them had to say.
What an amazing week.