Winter is here, and I am reminded of why I turn up on the streets every Saturday despite the weather.
As a young believer, one person who'd made an impact in my life was Eustace Wills. He was an ex Guyanian gang leader who’d had a radical conversion to Christ.
In the early 60’s Eustace used to take a team out every Saturday into London, Leicester Square, to reach out to the spiritually lost. They would travel down in an old transit van, park up and pray in the back of the van before going out. On one occasion as Eustace prayed, the floor of the van opened up and Eustace peered into the depths as God gave him a vision of hell. I won’t go into detail, but Eustace was shook up from the experience.
Years later in the 90’s, when I was living in London, I was leading a team out every Saturday into our local area. Eustace was part of this team. One Saturday morning I awoke to find snow had fallen a foot thick on the ground. I wondered who would turn up to go out. Sure enough Eustace was there, you could count on him no matter the weather. Eustace was a great example of Christ’s compelling love. He’s now gone on to receive his reward.
Recently we went out on the streets on a particularly foul day. It was a wet and bitingly cold windy day. It was too windy to put our banner up. Once we had set up we knelt on the wet ground to pray. When we had finished praying, we saw an elderly couple waiting for us.
Heather who had brought her seventy seven year old husband told us her story. She had come for prayer two weeks previously suffering with chest and back pains. God had completely healed her. She had been praying for the last nineteen years for her husband James to accept Christ. Heather said “James gave his life to Jesus last week, and I’ve brought him for prayer.”
James believed in Jesus when he saw his wife healed. I looked over and saw the team praying for James. He had suffered painful arthritis in his legs and burning in his feet for years. James stood up with a look of astonishment on his face. He stamped his feet and beckoned to Heather to come. As Heather approached, James burst into tears, completely overwhelmed with God’s love towards him. He was completely healed.
This is one of many stories of people whose lives we see changed even when it’s wet and cold. It’s the reason we’re there every Saturday.
