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The cats, of course, think that 4am is playtime, not bedtime. So, having spent till 3.15am Street Pastoring, I now find myself Cat Pastoring.

It's a pretty safe adventure, at least in my city, which is a fairly peaceful, wealthy, touristy, town-and-gown city and beloved by hen and stag parties. Other cities have different circumstances to cope with. We go out as a team of min 3 Street Pastors, and preferably 4 - a threesome stay together, a foursome is two pairs on opposite sides of the street. The city centre is heavily watched by CCTV and we have radios that communicate with CCTV, with all the bar security staff, with a roving band of security staff ("the heavies") who drive around with a paramedic in an ambulance, and with the police (who also have their own radios). If we think something is starting to kick off, we can ask for cameras to be put on the scene, or we can ask the heavies to come by (they arrive within minutes). We don't get involved with fights, but our very presence (and our prayers for peace) are often enough to defuse a situation. Which is not to say there aren't incidents, but they are few and far between. We have had no assaults upon us in the ten years we've been going - verbal abuse hurled at us occasionally, but rarely - mostly we get people running up to us and throwing their arms around us and exclaiming, "We're so glad you're here to take care of us!" I got involved in this from the beginning, in this city. I had been thinking how much better life was now, how healed I had become by the tenderness and kindness I'd received in my church. I wanted to contribute something into the life of this city. There was a notice up in church about a new street patrol that was proposed at weekends, and inviting interested people to a meeting. I instantly felt "smote in the heart" and knew this was something I should be doing. So I went to the initial meeting, and three months later those who'd remained interested were all trained and we hit the streets. Many of the initial intake are still part of the group. There were initial reservations from door staff and the community, who thought we were police in disguise. But now we are widely recognised for our help and non-judgmental approach. So many different doors open to us, to serve and to preach the gospel - "occasionally with words." I can only say, this would never, never, never have happened with any Wayfer project. It's a universe apart. Yep. Who needs a cultie mindset? Freedom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So. I just got in from 5 hours strolling the streets of this city. Many people came up to us and told us they loved us, loved what we do. Of course, we accept their thanks, but say we do it because we love God and want them to share in that love. Tonight also several people came up to us specifically to ask us to pray, including: one young soldier who is about to be posted to a recent war zone; another young man outside a gay pub [his eyeliner was much better than I ever managed, LOL!], who says he's a Christian and goes to church in another city, now a student in my city, and he seeks a church that will be supportive of him (able to refer him to somewhere convenient for his student accom); and another young man with some spiritual issues (able to help there too). We also talked with huddles of the "regulars" who are homeless, gave them coffee or tea and muesli bars; one of them that we usually pray with (and he sings us a hymn, to thank us) was asleep, so we didn't get to pray with him. The door security staff are always pleased to see us, greeting us with handshakes and hugs. We assisted (by request) at the railway station - the railway police now like us to be there when a particular train goes out, as the partying passengers can become very rowdy. We collected only 48 entire bottles (usually more like 80+) and swept up 3 broken bottles (usually more like 8). It was a quiet night in town, so we didn't get to help sober up any legless drunks, clean up their vomit on their clothes and the dirt on their faces, or persuade taxis to take them home. Yep. Quite a long way from being in an "evangelical cult." And an even greater distance from parsing Greek verbs. Thanks to those of you who prayed for a safe night for the team.

Awesome Twinky! Thanks for your leadership in showing by example how leaving a cult opens up doors that weren't previously there. There is a life flow to Christianity in my opinion, and you are right in the center of it. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for sharing all that Twinky ! I think you’re doing a wonderful thing - in my opinion that’s the real spirit of Christianity! I like how you’re connected to some security resources - I’ve been involved in many different aspects of security for most of my adult life and have found a very helpful thing to crime prevention and establishing a safe and secure environment is the obvious presence of concerned citizens...and it’s a definite plus when there’s folks like street pastors who really care and are not afraid to handle messy situations.

Grace, DWBH, and T-Bone, I just sent your correspondence as three attachments with my own introduction in the body of the email. It might take a while for any responses. It went to twelve couples. I just realized I didn't ask them to forward it to anyone that was missing from the list - I know of one in particular. Sorry. I also invited them here to engage with all of you directly. Like JayDee said, I'm not holding my breath.