To Bristol with Love

     Bristol; a city once a gateway for slavery to the world but today a haven for artists. It’s an open and inviting city housing a university, John Wesley’s chapel, Christmas markets and amazing art with people who are passionate about what they are doing. As our team has a calling to the arts and ministry, Bristol was a perfect place to step into for a week.

      Amongst the worshiping, praying over the city and performing covers in the street, we wanted to get to know the people of Bristol and share God’s love and truth with them. The amazing thing about stepping out in faith is sometimes God can surprise you when you let him lead. One of the days as our team went out, we found God brought people to us rather than us approaching them. In the course of twenty minutes, we had three different people ask us for directions, one of which was older gentleman who needed help to walk up the road which we did. God was teaching us the truth of 1 John 3:18: “Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.”

     In that week, we saw how truth and deed can transform a place. Food and coffee was given to people on the streets, churches were cleaned, places we walked were transformed as we brought God’s presence with us.  God gave us his truth to speak into the lives of musicians, dancers, and visual artists we met. I don’t deny there are strongholds of rejection, inferiority, and depression residing over the city but we felt the atmosphere change and people come alive with God’s truth in practical ways. Sometimes, simply smiling seemed to change their demeanor. Only with God and by his grace can these things happen.  When we fix our eyes on him, he will direct us to those people who need to hear his words of love.

     Bristol was an amazing time of evangelism and worship. Meeting people in the city and seeing the heritage in Christ they have been graced with was incredible. God has big plans for Bristol and I’m very thankful our team got to join God in what he’s doing, planting seeds and pursuing the people of the city to draw closer to him.