Street Ministry: Worcester, Massachusetts

This past weekend the interns were divided up to go to two different outreaches. One was in Maine, the other in Worcester Massachusetts. To be honest, I was disappointed at first when I was told I was going to Worcester, because I've never been to the state of Maine and I really wanted to go. However, God quickly fixed my perspective when He reminded me that I'd been to Pennsylvania last month, where half of the interns couldn't join us. As the weekend progressed, I realized it was definitely where I was supposed to go (good thing God knows best!)

We left New Hampshire Friday afternoon (later than we usually do when we leave on Fridays) to head to Worcester. Before this weekend I'd only ever heard of the city, due to the fact that the way it is pronounced is not even close to the way it is spelled (WUS-STAH). I wasn't even sure what to expect for ministry, as all I had been told was that we would be ministering in coffee shops Saturday afternoon. I was surprised to find out that we would be in the poorest area of Worcester, ministering to homeless/low income individuals. Did I ever mention we've been in almost every setting on outreaches?

After arriving at the Starbucks in Worcester, we met up with JJ, one of the guys from the Woo Church (the church in Worcester we were working with). He bought everyone coffee compliments of Luke (pastor of the church), much to the delight of the Starbucksaholics. Due to my sugar fast for the month of May, I declined. To add insult to injury, once we got to the Woo Church, there was a box of free desserts from Starbucks for all to enjoy. This wasn't going to be easy!

The Pilgrim Congregational Church building

Despite the fact that it is in the poorest part of Worcester, the church building itself is majestic! Originally for the Pilgrim Congregational Church, it was built in 1885 to meet the need for a place of worship in that region of New England. Its slogan, as inscribed over the front door, is "In This Place Will I Give Peace." In its prime the church seated a full house of over 1000 people. However, the current owners of the church get about 10 people per service, the youngest being in his early 70s! As a result, the upstairs area where the 1000+ would congregate has been locked up; they instead meet in a small room in the basement, backed by a beautiful stained-glass window. Every second Saturday evening for church services, the Woo rents one particularly large room in the basement of the church, formerly used as the dining room & games room.

On Saturday morning, Pastor Luke's wife made us an amazing breakfast of pancakes, eggs and sausage. I decided to try eating pancakes without syrup, and they actually weren't all that bad. I can't wait til I can eat sugar June 1st...After breakfast, we found out Pastor Luke only just started the Woo church back in April over Easter. We quickly realized part of the reason we were there was to encourage the church and impart life to them. Before heading out, we prayed over Pastor Luke & his wife, Assistant Pastor Bob & his wife and JJ. Off to the streets of Worcester we went!

Almost as if scripted for a movie, it was grey and raining outside. Some of us went to the PIP homeless shelter to spread the news that we would be interpreting dreams in two coffee shops, and then serving free dinner before the service at the Woo. It was awesome to see how much some of the people's faces brightened and their demeanors change when we spoke into their lives. Particularly amusing was speaking to the people that were either high or drunk, as some of them were so far gone it was almost impossible to understand anything they were saying. I did get to have one conversation in Spanish, albeit brief, with one particularly drunk man outside of the PIP shelter. Even though we weren't really able to minister to him, I was pumped that I actually carried out a conversation in Spanish. Worcester has a fair amount of Spanish-speaking people, which I was delighted to discover. Lots of practice for Mexico!

On the way to the One Love coffee shop, my group ran into a woman named Lydia, who we learned was homeless and had been drinking for 3 days. Despite her heavy drunkenness, she was not completely unreceptive to our ministry to her. At one point while we were talking to her, she looked at Rebecca Wallander (Sweden) and Kaylene Spresny (Bay City, Michigan) and said "Such pretty young girls, and you believe God can help me? No way, I'm unsavable." We eventually convinced her to come with us to the coffee shop. Unfortunately, when we got there, she went off with a man to prostitute herself for another drink. She would end up coming and going from the coffee shop while we there.

We found that we didn't really get to interpret many dreams or do many spiritual readings (we actually only did 3 in the 4 hour period), but we were instead doing more personal ministry to the street people (Lydia being one example). At the church in the evening, there were only a few street people that ended up coming, despite the initial numerous positive responses earlier in the day. Perhaps they thought we were going to try to convert them...oh well.

Stained-glass window in the church

Pastor Luke may be young, but he certainly knows the Lord. He preached a casual, yet effective sermon on the Lord's Prayer and what it means to us. Lydia had come in just before he started preaching, and several of the interns were around her to make sure she didn't get into trouble. Pastor Luke told the congregation that he was going to tell them a story, and Lydia unexpectedly heckled by saying "Can ya keep it short?" Even he laughed, and then continued to tell the story. Lydia stumbled out near the end of his sermon, but we weren't upset; we'd planted some seeds in her life.

At the end of the service, we decided to set up a "Fire Wall" (see From Silence to Intercession for an explanation on what it is) for the members of the Woo. They remarked how much they all got from it, both spiritually and emotionally. At that, we were ready to head home to New Hampshire.

Just when I thought we've done ministry almost every way possible, I get surprised. This upcoming weekend we'll be at Hampton Beach, New Hampshire, doing live dream interpretation on the beach. I can't wait!