One of my favourite parts of my job is helping to lead the citywide Gospel Sharing group for One Voice. James, the other leader, and I have coordinated Citywide Alpha as a part of that group for two years now. Last year, when we were encouraged to figure out what a citywide Alpha would look like, it was a challenge to communicate our vision and to help others to envisage how we could blanket York in Alpha courses. But this year has gone a lot more smoothly, with ten different Alpha courses starting across the city on the same week. They meet during different times of the week, so that people can choose a time and location that suits them. We all come together for the Away Day, the time on Alpha when most people make their decisions to follow Jesus.
(Alpha, for those who aren't familiar, is a 10-week course where non-Christians come together to have a meal and explore what it is to be Christian. It is most often hosted by churches, and the guests are then invited to make decisions for Christ, if they want, and to come along to church. It is international, but originated in the UK and works really well for our culture of people who love to approach things intellectually.)
It may seem obvious, what with my job being a missionary, but I love translating Christian-ese for people who are exploring the church. And on Saturday, I got to do just that! We had 118 people come together at a venue in the centre of York, and we got to listen to talks, worship, discuss and pray together.
This may not seem impressive, but considering that non-Christians rarely do any of those things, it really was! Many of them were overwhelmed at being in a room with so many people, and I realised that gathering together in large groups to listen to a talk (a British term that can range from a lecture to a sermon), discuss and sing together is pretty uniquely Christian. And once again, I had the privilege of explaining it in everyday terms to the people in the room and to leading them in worship, many for the first time!
The lead up to citywide Alpha was not without its challenges. It always is when you are working across tradition and denomination. It is also quite hard (and maybe this has been exacerbated by Covid) to get people to commit to something like an Away Day. But the day itself was amazing. We discussed getting to know God more deeply and offered times of prayer for healing and decision making. I was not with a specific church group, since I had coordinated it for everybody, but one woman still came up to ask for prayer. It turned out that she was ready to pray to give her life to Jesus! God was so kind to let me be a part of that process for her - He knows how much I enjoy getting to be a part of that moment. I think her group could easily have led that prayer with her, but God gave me the cherry on top! She then immediately began praying for her family members!
Many others were so encouraged by being all together as Alpha courses from across the city. York is pretty decidedly non-Christian, as I tend to bang on about. But on Saturday, they had the chance to look across the room and see how many other people were interested in learning about God and how to follow Him. And many of them have been taking the next steps in these weeks of Alpha.
I am so encouraged by seeing so many people exploring Christianity in our city, and by the way that they asked for prayer and for healing, even if what they were asking for would have embarrassed most of us (think UTIs, porn addictions, etc). They were open to receive and humble.
Sorry if this whole explanation and good news report is a jumble - I am still tired from the coordinating and executing of the day (especially because my usual duties haven't paused!), and the Alpha courses haven't finished yet! Please pray that those on the ten courses who haven't made decisions for Jesus yet will in the last few weeks of Alpha!
(Praying in small groups)
