Another great training event 

Saturday 9 March in Basingstoke was a great success with over 40 people attending.  Held in preparation for the mission there in September 2024, a number of both existing TFM team members came for re-training and there were also a few new people looking to be involved.  However, the bulk of the numbers comprised locals from the churches expecting to be involved in the mission later this year.

A huge thanks to Wessex Christian fellowship for hosting the event and for the help provided both in prep and on the day by Ross Healey, Colin sherlock and Peter Sammons among others.




As part of the day, a pop up cafe was set up in the road outside.  Here is a joint report by Ross and Colin.

Pop-Up Cafe Report

 
We set up the Pop-up Cafe outside the wall of Wessex Christian Fellowship which faces the road. We used the same equipment and materials as we used in the Sept 2023 mission, ie a circular table, 5 chairs, a teapot and a supply of evangelistic literature on display.
Christina and I took turns in standing on the verge on the opposite side of the road where the footpath is. We simply invited people to join us for a hot drink (tea, coffee or hot chocolate) and a Hot Cross Bun. If they accepted the invitation we would introduce the personal beliefs survey later in the conversation. If they didn't want a drink we invited them to do the survey where they stood - and a number of folk did that.


Meanwhile, Pastor Philip and his wife Evadne from Melrose Christian Fellowship (one of the participating churches) were available at or near the the table to receive the invitees and engage with them accordingly. Even though the road had fewer pedestrians than during weekdays, we had a number of good conversations, examples of which include:
 

• a lady who responded to the final survey question saying that she would be interested to know God personally. The main points of the KGP booklet were explained to her and the commitment prayer read to her - with the option of whether she would like to pray this for herself and, if so, whether that would be now or later. She said she wanted to pray it immediately and so read it aloud herself as a prayer. She was already aware of Wessex C.F. but said that her work shifts would preclude her attending Sunday services at 10.30am. We prayed that she would find a church that she could attend. Later in the day, one of the Door-to-Door teams offered her a KGP booklet in the street and she said that she already had one from us!
• a young Muslim man who was visiting from S.W. England and who has had some good discussions on spiritual matters with his Christian neighbours there. Pastor Philip and Christina had a long conversation with him, covering a wide range of relevant topics. We went through the survey and KGP booklet with him and suggested that he showed this to his Christian neighbours. We felt that this thoughtful man was already on a journey towards the Lord and that his encounter with us was a stage in that journey.
• a young man on a bike rode over to us and announced that he was an ex-addict who had recently come to faith. He asked whether he and his fiancee could get baptised "but not now" (!), so we referred him to Pastor Ebow (of Wessex C.F.) who discussed that with him.
• another young man who didn't want a hot drink, but who was happy to do the survey. In the final question he said that he would be interested to know God personally, so the main points of the KGP booklet were explained to him. He considered the commitment prayer and said that he would like some time to think about it so that he could pray it later. We suggested that he linked with Wessex C.F. and he was happy to sign a Response Card for further contact later.