Friday 18th May 2012
Three of us (Charlotte - for the first time, Toni and Allan) set off from the Fraser's house, armed with the following clues that met with direct matches: near the Railway Museum, short blonde hair, age 31-41, steel (all for one person!)
We gave out many invites to King's Church (http://www.kingschurchdarlington.org/) and to Ignite (http://www.igniteyouthevent.co.uk/) before heading off to the railway museum area. We waited there for a few minutes before a piece of treasure came along who fitted all the clues above, which is either an incredible coincidence or God at work - we know what we believe!
We approached the young man (aged 31-41 approx) with short blonde hair, as he passed the railway museum, and struck up a conversation. We showed him the clue card and he said he worked in the steel industry, which was under the 'Unusual' heading.
After sharing our faith and that we firmly believed that God had sent us to meet him, his attitude changed from 'I don't think there is a God' to 'This is really weird, I'm not going to be able to get this out of my head', which we said is exactly what God wants! He asked more questions about God and Church, to which we were more than happy to provide answers.
We finished off by asking him if there was anything we could pray for. He said that all was well in life but that he and his partner are expecting a baby in two weeks and that could we pray for a healthy baby.
I don't think God has finished with him yet. In fact, I don't think he is going to be able to get Him out of his head!
Ultimate Treasure Hunting
Tuesday 22 May 2012
Saturday 7 April 2012
Jesus is a Legend!
Friday
7th April
8 of us set off from the Fraser’s house
on a Friday night: Toni, Allan, Richard, James and four first-time Ultimate Treasure
Hunters: Ruth, Sean, little Richard and Sami (and Riley the dog)!
We found the following clues tonight: Victoria
Embankment; a daisy up high; M (name); a natural beard; west-end of town near
the ‘balloon shop’; pray for something emotional and that God is with him and
knows about it; shadowy figure possibly wearing
a dark jacket walking down the path on the ramp up to the train station, seen
from between the blue bridges; white jumper; white stripes on an anorak
That is ten clues matched in total.
·
We
started by giving invites to Church to many people: including one who had a daisy in her hair and another wearing a
white jumper.
·
In
the west-end of town, just near a balloon shop we noticed a man
with a natural beard but he headed
to a cash machine so we waited, as we didn’t want to spook him out. As he
turned around we introduced the treasure hunt and went straight in to the clues.
He met the first three clues which included his name. We asked him if he had any emotional issues. He said he had
some mild emotional issues: that his
brother had just come back from Afghanistan. He suggested that was a fourth
match. We asked him if we could pray with him. He said ‘No’ at first but later
changed his mind when offered again. We prayed for peace and for God to make
Himself known in his life and wished him the best for his future.
·
After
a few good conversations and invites to Church with people who didn’t specifically
match clues we split in to two groups to head off to location clues: one group
going to Victoria Embankment and another group to the blue bridges near the railway
station.
·
At
Victoria Embankment we found a group
of youths. We approached them and had a number of interesting, fun and
challenging conversations! We found ourselves naturally split in to groups with
different Hunters discussing with different youths. It started with one of them
taking the mick, to us gaining their attention, to ending up with lots of
respect between us all. They seemed to realise that we were just everyday
people but with God in our lives. We talked a fair bit about Jesus and what He
has done for us. We talked about suffering, that God can sort us out, and things
like that. We had a lot of fun in with the serious stuff. The most noisy lad at the start was a little bit mocking, saying 'Jesus is a legend', but by the end of the conversation, when he heard about one person that filled a clue card he said 'Jesus is a legend' and he seemed to mean it this time!
·
We bumped
into a load of young people on the edge of the Market place. One had some white stripes on his anorak. We chatted
to him and he said he would appreciate being prayed for - to settle in to his new house and
generally for his future. We had quite a bit of chat with a girl in the group and
then we prayed for her.
·
We went
down to station and as we cornered the road up to the station, we saw a
shadowy figure wearing a dark jacket walking
down the path on the ramp up to the train station, seen from between the blue
bridges. He was
quite affable, stopped and talked to us but did not want to be prayed for.
·
While we
were waiting to meet the other group at the top of Victoria Rd we bumped
into a couple and got talking. They asked us to pray for their relationship as
they had only been together for a year and had nowhere to live. We prayed for
them and gave them an invite to Church.
·
We
gave out lots and lots more Church invites and had many other conversations
about God and the Church (including with the young lady in the chip shop as we
bought some chips on the way home).
·
Two
birds killed with one stone: a brilliant Treasure Hunt and a really long walk
for Riley!
Tuesday 24 January 2012
The Lady in Red... Hair
Paul H, Richard S, Toni and I set out on a cold - and I mean COLD - Friday night (13th January 2012). There were very few people around but we still met one treasure, a lady with distinctive bright red hair near Greek-style pillars (red hair and Greek-style pillars being the clue). Richard and Toni shared a little with her about God and Jesus and she agreed for us to pray for her, although she did not want to be prayed for there and then.
We also found several doors with triangular structures above them, and with yellow stars stuck on the windows of some of them (triangles and stars being the clues). The doors were locked and there were clearly no people in side. We felt it right to leave Alpha invites through each of the doors.
We also handed out several Alpha invites and King's church information cards.
Seeds sown...
We also found several doors with triangular structures above them, and with yellow stars stuck on the windows of some of them (triangles and stars being the clues). The doors were locked and there were clearly no people in side. We felt it right to leave Alpha invites through each of the doors.
We also handed out several Alpha invites and King's church information cards.
Seeds sown...
Monday 12 December 2011
Black and yellow, black and yellow!
8 people split into 2 groups of 4, including Paul D for the first time. Welcome Paul!
The following clues were directly ticked off tonight (including some more than once): curved metal window bars, black and yellow, leg pain, Union Street, sporty, tennis, Diane, jet black, Tavern, blue, struggle, blonde-haired man
- Stan virtually literally bumped in to some curved metal window bars (his own clue!) as we walked along the dark street. After we had stopped laughing, we noticed on the other side an older man with a young girl. He was wearing black and yellow clothing, the yellow being a very noticeable high-visibility jacket. We approached him and struck up a good conversation. He was very open to what we had to say. It turns out he suffers from a lot of leg pain from years of cycling (sporty), although he wasn’t in any pain at the time. We prayed for him that his pain would not re-occur and left him with an invitation to the King’s Carol Concert and lots to think about!
- On the way to Union Street we started talking to a man dressed in black. We gave him a carol concert invitation and it turned out he picked up a lot of his furniture from the King’s Church Furniture Scheme. After a brief chat we said our goodbyes. As we waited briefly in Union Street the same guy came our way. We sensed that God had more He wanted to say to him. We shared about Jesus and we also had a word right then that he had a ‘struggle’ in his life, to which he responded that he had many. After a good conversation we again left him with plenty to think about as he went to catch his bus.
- Outside the Dolphin Centre we started chatting to a man dressed in sporty clothing. It turns out he is already a Christian. He asked us to pray for his farming family business to be more successful as it was struggling, which we did.
- We approached a lady dressed very noticeably in jet black. We chatted about what we were doing but all she would say is that we would not be able to convert her. She said she used to have a faith but was now an atheist. We asked if she happened to be called Diane, and she said she wasn't but she then reluctantly said that actually she was called Dianne and which of us knew her! Obviously she realised that we didn't know her. She didn’t want it to be God but knew that it couldn't be us. It was a real challenge to her. We had a very interesting conversation and our final words were ‘You may have given up on God but He clearly hasn't given up on you’. Later, when praying, God gave us a picture that it is like she is in a tennis match with God; that He hits the truth to her and she hits it back. Keep praying for God to win that match!
- We chatted to three men who were stood outside the Railway Tavern, which was surrounded on all sides by blue shops and lights. One of the guys was a blonde-haired man. We found out that he already knows several people at King’s and said that he might come along to the Carol Concert. One of the other men, who happened to be the bar manager/owner, said that his wife has been looking for a carol concert to go to that wasn't in a traditional church and said that they would come along. He also said he would put several of the invitations on his bar and at the tables!
- Many more Carol Concert invitations given out.
Saturday 26 November 2011
I want my sins forgiven!
Tonight's Team: Paul, Stan, Shelley, Kath and Allan (and a clue from a friend: Stewart from King's Church Eden, Penrith)
Clues we found: Pease monument, older man with glasses, 3 girls, possibly young - teens, green window / door frame, old man, age 16, white van, pray for wrists, initially resilient to us before becoming more interested
Not bad for a wet, cold Thursday night in Darlington!
Clues we found: Pease monument, older man with glasses, 3 girls, possibly young - teens, green window / door frame, old man, age 16, white van, pray for wrists, initially resilient to us before becoming more interested
- We were led to a young man stood in the middle of a road next to a white van. He had suffered on-and-off with painful wrists, which we prayed about. He was already a follower of Jesus and quite intrigued at the whole Ultimate Treasure Hunt concept.
- We were led to an older man with glasses (bizarrely known as Mr Dead-legs!) outside a shop with green window and door frames. He was initially resilient to us before becoming more interested in what we had to say about Jesus and God.
- We were led to three girls (around the age of 16 to 18) as they walked past Pease monument. They were Muslims and delighted that we took the time to speak to them and pray with them. We asked what they wanted prayer for. The first said that she wanted to be happy and for other people to be happy. As we were praying we felt God telling her that as she got to know God more so her happiness would increase! The second wanted prayer for a place at university to study forensic science. We prayed that this would happen but also that she would find out more about God and tell others about God.
- The conversation with the third girl was quite amazing. She asked us that we would pray for her to be forgiven of her sins! We asked her if she knew Jesus. She said she knew He was a prophet. We told her that we believe He is a prophet but also the Son of God and the only way to have your sins forgiven. At the same time, one of the team had a prophetic word for her that she also needed to forgive herself, which seemed to have quite an impact on her as she became quite emotional at this point. We prayed for her to know Jesus as he fully is.
- As the girls were Muslims we decided not to take this further out of respect for their beliefs and felt that the conversation had covered enough ground anyway.
- As we left the three girls they were very thankful that we had spent time with them and we continued to pray later for Jesus to reveal Himself fully to this girl in particular.
- We also gave out lots of invitations to Ignite, the big youth event at King's Church.
Not bad for a wet, cold Thursday night in Darlington!
Sunday 13 November 2011
IMPACT! details
James, Richard, Allan and I set off
for our treasure we went into town because 2 of the clues were for post house
Wind and the other was H Samuels, so… off we went…. We soon encountered a
group of Young people; we engaged with them and started to throw around
questions around our clues.
We talked around our clue cards
seeing if we could find matches.
A Young Man Matched Name, Location,
Hot of arms, horse riding, visits Darlington, Uni or College.
How: His name was J. he met up
with his friends near H Samuels today, Hot of arms turns out to be painful
growing pains, horse riding = He used to go horse riding around a year ago and
misses it, visits Darlington = He is in and out of Darlington every week day
because his school is outside of Darlington, Uni or college = He is planning to
go to Uni or College after this school yr. (he is 15) We prayed with this young
man and thanked God for him and asked God to make himself known in his life.
Meanwhile, the rest of the
youngsters were fascinated and asking lots of questions. We (J, R A and
T) offered all pray and all took prayer. A young lady had a 10 month old
baby and was emotional with motherhood, another young lady talked to me about
her family being of ill health, Allan prayed with a young man saying he felt he
would do well in life but he would only find what he is looking for in
God. We departed from the group feeling well worked!! J
Walking on, Allan felt drawn to a
couple of lads fast approaching us. I offered them an Explorer card to
which the Cider lad said He was not interested. We struck a conversation
with the lads mostly Cider Man who explained that there was far too much going
on in the world to think about to be bothered with God. Allan felt that
one of his clues ‘Pray for’ was directly for Cider man. Allan let Cider
man know that the Devil is in the detail and he knows that God wants to set him
free. Meanwhile James and Richard are meeting and greeting people in the
town introducing themselves and offering help and support and checking if they
fit clues.
Cider man and his friend did not
want any prayer but chatted quite openly around the specific details he needed
to know before he could entertain the thought of God. We left wishing
them well and shook hands thanking them for their time.
Passing a burger van that was a clue
on a previous treasure hunt we popped our heads round to say hello and give the
guy an Explorer Card.
We walked slowly towards Post House
Wind passing Escapades we started to chat to 3 bouncer lads who worked
there. We sat on the wall chatting to them. They asked us what we
were doing so…. we told them! (Door opened thank you God you are
greaaat!J) James asked about the bouncer lads church back ground.
One confessed to being a left footer (lol he quickly told me that meant
Catholic ;) the other used to be a Youth leader at St. Andrews and the other is
a family man. James prayed for Family man’s painful knee to be healed (J)
Allan, Richard and I prayed for the other 2 guys thanking god for them and
asking God to reveal himself to them and to bless them.
Moving on to Post House Wind Allan
and I encountered some jealously! Passers-by were merrily tipsy with
slurred speech. We gave out Explorer cards and laughed along with them
realising it probably wasn’t a good idea to start deep conversations with them
at that point.
Walking up to high row and around
towards an amusement arcade we spotted various people J. Giving out Explorer cards and
inviting them to jump into our treasure hunt cards! We stopped to briefly
re-cap what had already happened that night. All 4 of us were feeling
very lifted and full of beans at how fruitful the night had been.
Gazing over we spotted 3 young
ladies sat on a bench chatting. Richard felt the pull to go over I
accompanied him we started a conversation relating to T.Hunt. One of the
girls was loud and intrigued by what she was hearing. Saying that her
friend next to her was who we were looking for (she wasn’t like!). We talked
with the girls and they told us they had gone to a catholic school prior to the
one they were at. They all confessed to being Christians already having
attended a Catholic school already.
A young lady ‘Miss Bubbly’ was
asking a lot of questions around God and wanted to know the ins and outs of all
things we were doing and have ever done. The other 2 girls were starting
to get interested by the answers to Miss Bubbly questions also when we
explained how the treasure hunt worked and our first encounter of the
night. They offered information about each other and wanted to see if
they fit any clues. Miss Bubby said that she was a Gypsy which shocked me
because after the town Allan and I were going to a sight in Darlo where Gypsy’s
were based as that was one of my clues! As time went on the girls and us
realised that they were fitting my clues:
Location = gypsy – miss bubbly
Name = no match
Appearance = casual checked shirts
and shiny earrings – all 3 girls looked at each other at this point
realising they all had casual checked girly shirts on! J Ha
ha God you are good!
Unusual – broken down car/ broken
down spiritually = one of the girls mum had a faith but lost is and the other
girls brother’s car had broken down the day before. The atmosphere got
more and more celebrationary as we were realising the extent of the night.
Pray for- gossip is untrue – the
girls in amazement said they had all been arguing because of rumour that had
been going around and tonight was the night they decided to lay it to rest and
get on with their friendship.
As this was going on Richard had an
encountered a match to his clue and started a conversation off with that guy.
One of Richards’s clues was Twin
Towers which matched for Miss bubbly and the 2 girls as they had been studying
the twin towers at school. (wow wee!!!!!!)
We prayed for the girls individually
telling them truths about how God sees them that they are beautiful young
ladies and are children of God’, I asked God to relight beliefs/faiths they had
before and asked God to reveal himself to them in a special way. All 3
girls said they would come to Explorer Sunday.
WHAT A NIGHT! TOTALLY BLESSED AND
INSPRIED BY GOD AS USUAL – HE IS GOOD!
Friday 11 November 2011
IMPACT DARLINGTON!
Allan, Toni, Richard, James
and Kath
Tonight while praying I
felt the word of the night was ‘Impact’, now at the end of the night I am left
feeling well…… soooooooooooooo chuffed at the privilege God has let us and the
team be a part of. It is a huge blessing
and honour to have God use us to bring his lost into a place where He is known.
Ok, here are the facts, 21
out of 25 clues were matched tonight!! WOW WEE J God has touched many of his lost tonight and called back a few that
have drifted from him.
All in all we had conversations
with at least 8 people who fitted multiple direct clues and chatted to at least
40 more!
To find out more ask us about
it or….. you could join us next time!?
Toni and Allan
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