from Stu Christian at the Bar’N’Bus office

Grays (Tuesday)
Now that the evenings are light and that the bus parks next to a field, there is often a game of tennis, cricket or football happening until it gets dark. The bus gets about 20 regulars coming each week plus a few who come every now and again. Out of those who come every week, some are opening up and sharing some of their troubles. Problems at home and school are just some of them. It can take quite a while to build a relationship with the young people so it is important that we are there every week. Recently a couple of young people who came to the bus in the past, brought their baby to the bus because they wanted to show the team. When old faces visit the bus to share their news it is encouraging to the team because it shows that they must have had some sort of impact when they used to visit every week as they want to keep the team updated about what they have been up to. It also shows that they know where to go still if they need help and support.

West Thurrock (Wednesday)
Sadly the West Thurrock Team will have to close down over July and August as they don’t have enough team members to carry on. Over these two months, those who are left on the team, will work hard on recruiting more team in the hope that they can start up again in September. Please pray for God’s guidance.

Stanford and Corringham (Thursday)
The prayer/counselling room always fascinates the young people who come to the bus. The other day while on the bus, a group of young people came on and when they realised that we had a room upstairs on the bus for praying they wanted to go inside. On Corringham the young people have been using the prayer room for quite sometime, asking for prayer and chatting though any issues that they may have. Over a period of time, the young people have realised there is power in prayer and that prayer works. Recently there have been a number of new young people coming to the bus. Many of them enjoy playing with the Wii and often hold mini competitions as to who is the best each one boasting that it is them. Joining in with them on one occasion I didn’t want to disappoint them so I kept quiet but actually I had the best score. It is good that the bus continues to attract new young people.