More stories from the streets

We found a man on his hand and knees crying in the street. He was so drunk that he couldn't remember where he was, where he had been, or who he had been with - all he wanted to do was to go home! Trouble was he had only a few pounds on him and he had lost his i-phone! While giving him some water and TLC we had an offer of help from someone we knew, offering to take the man home if he could wait an hour or so. So we left him sitting on the wall with a blanket wrapped round him and went on our way. Later on we decided to go and check on him and, to our surprise, saw him walking along, looking quite a lot better but still very wobbly on his feet. He said he wanted to catch a taxi home and from somewhere produced two £20 notes to go with the £9 in change we discovered he had got earlier! So we got either side of him and helped him up to the taxi rank.

 

He kept saying he couldn't believe how kind we were and asking why were we going to all this trouble just for him! We had a bit of a problem at the taxi rank as the first 3 taxi drivers we approached all wanted more money than he had, however we persevered and the fourth taxi agreed to take him for £49 if he paid up front. We handed the money over and counted it out for the driver (our friend wasn't capable of counting yet!) and off they went. Job well done we thought!

 

We met a guy who'd been dragged out of a club by his mate, who was having a hard time stopping him in his drunken stupor from curling up to sleep on the ground! We offered water, which was eventually swigged. Once he’d thrown up he was a lot better and some sense came back to him. “I’m so sorry”, he said. “I used to ridicule you lot when I was manager of a bar in town.” We said he was lucky to have such a good friend, who at this point had gone to get the drunken lad's phone. “He’s not my mate. I hardly know him!”

 

 

“Am I going to heaven?”, asked a man in passing. What answer do you give to someone who’s still walking along past you? I asked what he thought. “I hope so”, he replied. Was it harsh to respond back and say that if he didn’t know for sure then he probably wasn’t going? He’d gone by the time I could have said that the promise of heaven is true and unchangeable for the believer.

 

We met and talked with three atheists and an agnostic. We had a truly deep and searching conversation with mutual respect for each other. I told the main talker as we left that he could hardly mind us praying for him as this was to him a meaningless exercise, so we did. That man may be closer to God and more aware of spiritual matters than some people who call themselves Christian. Father, bring him home.

 

The nightlife in Ipswich has become a sinister scene. I have seen girls drinking so much that they are not in control of their actions or movements and they wear items of clothing that I would blush to be seen in at the beach, let alone in a club. Obviously if I can spot these girls I know that there are men who can and will take advantage of them. It would seem that the result of these girls evenings would be a lot of therapy, or worse still a hospital bed. But that is not how the story ends in Ipswich and I believe that this can be attributed to the presence of the Town Pastors. I have seen them speaking with girls who have no idea where they are or where they live and they are able to get them home as safely as possible. I know of girls who have been walking down a dark alley on their own at night and heard footsteps behind them, but are relieved to find it is the Town Pastors.

 

It is an absolute tribute to its hardworking members that the public are now seeing the active work that the church can do for its community. It would seem that there are not many people who would be willing to give up their time (and sleep) in order to look after people who have inflicted these troubles on themselves. The Town Pastors do not seem to see this viewpoint, instead they see a person in need. Without them the news would be flooded with stories of nights out turned to nightmares.