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The day in the life of a Street Pastor or should it be a night in the life as our work doesn’t start until the late evening. But, again, perhaps it is a day in the life of….. as we all come from either a busy working day or an equally busy domestic day.

So our ‘day’ starts at 9.30 in the evening when we meet up at our base which is currently Princes Street United Reform Church. The shift starts with us playing that old parlour game ‘I pack my bag and in it I put’. In the bag goes a flask of coffee, bottles of water, chocolates, flip flops, tissues, gloves, information, bibles, tracts etc, etc. This exercise is followed by a chat and an update on the previous week’s patrols before the serious part of our preparation happens – no it’s not a Methodist cup of tea, its prayer.

Prayer is integral to all that we do. Whilst we walk and talk another group prays. They are our life line and have, in my opinion, the harder job. Being on the streets all night has its own buzz, but sitting in a Church Hall constantly praying is a challenge that takes a particularly dedicated person. Our job is to stay constantly in touch by mobile phone giving them things and people to pray for. So they send us on our way at 10.00 with their prayers and blessings ringing in our ears.

You may be wondering at this point as to what I’m going on about. Perhaps you’ve never heard of Street Pastors so maybe some background is called for. Street Pastors were pioneered in London in January 2003 by Revd. Les Isaac, Director of the Ascension Trust, and has seen some remarkable results, including drops in crime in areas where teams have been working. Projects are also working in other parts of London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leicester and Southend among other places with over 400 pastors on the streets.

The Norwich Evening News put it like this "Sporting beanies and baseball caps they hit Norwich’s club land armed with chocolates, flip flops and prayer". One of the doorman put it this way "It’s a good idea and should have been done long ago. They help to bring a bit of peace sense to the street."

The Police Inspector responsible for keeping the streets quiet put it this way "Street Pastors can provide maturity, experience, understanding and patience to the sometimes troubled individuals and difficult circumstances they encounter. They have made a difference and we are very fortunate in Norwich to have these dedicated volunteers".

And the final word must go to our stalwart co-ordinator, Val Dodsworth – "they are now a regular part of the clubbing scene and have met with a warm reception from everyone else on the streets, from police and paramedics to the SOS bus staff and the thousands of clubbers who can’t quite believe that anyone would want to give up a night’s sleep to help to ensure the comfort and safety of others – and without being paid for it!"

And so the patrol beings – our main objective is to patrol the Prince of Wales Road and Riverside. Some of us start the evening with a walk up to the soup kitchen where we meet some of our ‘regulars’. The homeless in Norwich are a community in their own right and are beginning to know us as much as we know them. This is great as we can often continue the discussion from the previous week and check on progress with housing, injuries, hospital appointments etc. There is also a down side in that they now know that we’ve played the ‘in my bag’ game and will clear us of chocolates and coffee before we’ve really got going if we let them – but God doesn’t ask us to question their motives, but to care and generally they seem to look forward to our attention, as long as we don’t get in the way of their begging! They are also always good for some heavy theological debate.

When we first started back in March 2007 we were warned that the night time economy can comprise in excess of 10,000 young people congregating in this part of Norwich. As you come down Prince of Wales Road the noise really hits you – recently I had a rookie in my team and as us hardened folks hit the streets my rookie took a physical step backwards as we hit the wall of sound. But this noise is about people enjoying themselves and our job is not to prevent that but to ensure they can do it in a safe manner.

The challenge issued by the Revd Les Isaac, the founder of Street Pastors, is not to preach and not to judge but to be there for people where they are at and however they behave. He put it like this "This is not about heaven and hell and preaching to people on the street. We go out because we have a heart and compassion for our communities. It is about caring, listening and helping people".

We’ve talked with many homeless, SOS teams, drunks, addicts, police & paramedics, some trying for work, others trying for shelter, witches, Poles, Chinese, Australians, sceptics, believers, tottering girls, arguing couples, ex cons, potential suicides, blokes annoying females, females annoying blokes, doormen & door women, lost visitors, taxi organisers, separations, those grieving, the soup kitchen, students on hard times and so many, many more who either just want to talk and others who are so pleased with what we do and just want to shake our hands. We can spend anytime between two minutes and an hour listening to a problem.

It’s impossible here to give you any more than a mere snapshot of what happens week in and week out and we all have our favourite stories, one such story does stick in my mind, not so much for what we did but more for what we didn’t do – or to put it correctly, rather what God did.

We were walking up Prince of Wales Road from Riverside and came across a young lady screaming her head off and banging her head against a shop window. Her boyfriend was sitting in the bus shelter with his head in his hands. Two of my team went to help the girl, rang in for prayer and I sat with the bloke. I invited him to talk about the problem for which I received total silence. After a few moments I tried again, and again the same result. This went on for some time with us sharing mostly silence. In the end he said "this has been a sh***y week". That’s all he ever did say and I was beginning to accept failure when he reached out to his girlfriend and they started to walk off down the road. I breathed a sigh of relief and then was totally shocked when he turned, looked over his shoulder and gave me the thumbs up. It was just as well that it was dark otherwise everyone would have seen the tears in my eyes.

In conclusion, Street Pastors has enabled me to fulfil a ministry desire that is both awesome and beautiful. There is no doubt in my mind that God is at work in Norwich and when we give God a chance by doing our small bit then it’s amazing what He can achieve through us. Many of you will have heard my favourite quotation attributed to the Dali Lama – "if you ever think that you are too small to make a difference, you’ve never been in bed with a mosquito". Making a small difference is part of our calling in Christ and I am just thankful that the Church has enabled me to be part of this fantastic ministry.

As we approach our first birthday, our Friday night has become Saturday as well. Other teams are being trained here for other parts of Norwich, Yarmouth, Derehem and Harleston. Its no longer Norwich Street Pastors but now Norfolk Street Pastors - who knows what is next on His agenda!

Martin Nisbett