It’s front line action at the Jesus Centre!

How do we get an abusive man out of the Bridge drop-in? How can we be fair and decide if someone is guilty of using drugs in a toilet when evidence is inconclusive (and they deny it)? What do we do when someone says we’ve lost their designer clothes in the laundry? (It’s always designer.) In this case, we replace it with whatever we have in stock, no more. One guy was abusive about this but later apologised: he had found the item.

We lost a member of staff at the start of 2006 and had to run the kitchen without them for six months, often not knowing how we would cover it from day to day. Then Hazel moved to the area and applied, despite health problems. We gave her a three month trial and she flourished.

We needed to expand our services, to take existing visitors further, and to reach new people. Several local agencies started sending workers to us, and they have fitted in well. Some are Christians; others have been happy to support our ethos. Our own people have started new services’ too, such as Stephanie’s “PC skills for the blind” course and Gill’s “English Conversation” class.

Money can be a nail-biter! Having had grants previously, we suddenly realised that our cash was running out. Someone in the council whom we had worked with pointed to a source of funding which proved fruitful; we got a good grant that will help a lot. We prayed of course. Members’ giving increased, and some substantial donations came in.

We have learned to “hang on in there” and wait for God’s provision. He is faithful, and we’ve learned more about His ways. Thanks God!