Do what the Lord says and don't disobey.

In February 2007, whilst I was on my way to Ethiopia, my husband Alan phoned me with the the news that our new appointment was to be the Corps Officers at Pill Corps near Bristol. Although at that moment many miles apart we both felt a sense that God was definitely in this. I travelled on to Addis Adaba and whilst attending a Pastors Conference there God asked me a question, "Are there still slaves in Bristol?"

I know that this was connected with the Human Trafficking campaign that the Army was involved in. Visiting women in Ethiopian prisons and meeting a woman whose daughter was living in a forced labour situation meant that from now on the human trafficking issue was related to people I had met, embraced and prayed with. I knew the answer to the question that God asked was a definite yes, although I also knew that the slavery encountered in the city of Bristol would take many forms and would include lack of emotional and spiritual freedom.

Sharing something of this conviction with Rev Kingsley Armstrong I was invited to accompany him to Cote D'Ivoire to visit a church that had a special ministry to people caught up in prostitution. It was an amazing time. A never to be forgotten experience was walking to labyrinth of alleyways, in the area where many prostitutes work and live. Although it was day time and the sun was shining it was a desperate place. I thought my heart was going to break in two. Later in worship that night God spoke to me again. He said he had brought me to Abidjan and I had walked the streets in that city and my heart had filled with compassion. Did I have the same compassion for people in the slavery of sin in my own city and was I willing to walk the streets there like I had in Africa? Of course I answered yes.

I returned determined to do this but seemed to come across obstacles. Last summer I met Rev Dawnecia Palmer, who heads up Peacemakers Prayer Patrol and this initiative combined my two passions of reaching out with compassion and prayer. There were such a frustrating series of delays that I was beginning to wonder if I was ever going to be able to obey what I really felt God had laid upon my heart to do.

Anyway, hallelujah! Last Friday I went out on my first Prayer Patrol on the streets of Bristol with Dawnecia. Prayer Patrol seeks to reduce crime and build better and safer communities through changing the spiritual atmosphere with prayer. This involves walking the streets at strategic times and praying with people that you meet. The results of the intiative have been absolutley amazing so much so that the organization has won awards from the Police.

We went out on a bright afternoon, for a maximum of 30 minutes and in that time talked with about a dozen people and had significant prayer time with three of them. Dawnecia was particularly excited that we had a conversation with a Rastafarian guy, who had always refused to speak to her before. It was just amazing how open people were to receive prayer. I am going on a night shift this week, when more people will be about.

But the great thing was to feel that I was doing what God had told me to do. I do not know what it will lead to but almost a year to the day God told me to walk the streets of my city I have done it, with his help.

Doing the will of God, doing the will of God
The best thing I know in this world below
Is doing the will of God.

God bless

Carol