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It's
Friday night, and the streets of Peckham and Camberwell are busy
with strangers loitering outside the pubs, clubs and fried chicken
shops that line the streets of one of London's most notorious neighbourhoods.
In the midst of the midnight hustle and bustle, an agitated young
man in his 20s pulls out a clear plastic bag of what appears to
be cannabis. "You see this? It's nothing but twigs and grass," he
says. "When I find the guy who sold this stuff to me, I'm gonna
slit his throat." |
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Although the situation is potentially volatile, Janice Gittens and
Michael Samuels are at hand to calm the young man down and discourage
him from trying to track down the dealer who sold him the bad goods.
They are part of a team of Street Pastors, recognisable by their
blue jackets and baseball caps, who patrol some of London's most
crime-ridden streets between the hours of 10pm and 4am on Friday
and Saturday nights. The team of volunteers are trying to build
relationships with some of the disaffected youths in Britain's inner
cities, in the hope that they can stop their drift towards the underworld
of drugs, crime and gangs. Janice and Michael eventually persuade
the young man on Peckham High Street that he is 'a good guy' who
doesn't want to go looking for revenge. He decides to throw the
bag into a nearby bin and head home. "They actually respect what
we are doing out here," Michael says. "Although these guys may have
tough exteriors, we try to look for that tender spot in each of
them." |
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 The
Street Pastors initiative was formed by churches in London who
wanted to have a direct presence on the streets blighted by crime.
It is a good example of interventionist action. It is liberating
in that it seeks to work with the 'least of these', that is the
drug dealers, gang members and sex industry workers in some of
the most deprived urban areas of Britain.
— Robert Beckford, God
and the Gangs
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This
unique brand of street outreach, with an emphasis on mentoring and
practical care, has received widespread support since it first arrived
on the streets of Brixton, south London in January 2003. It has
since spread to the most disadvantaged neighbourhoods of London,
Birmingham and Manchester. "We are hearing people say things like
'Good to see the Church out on the streets - what took you so long?'"
says Les Isaac, the Brixton-based pastor who was introduced to the
idea by a group of church leaders in Jamaica. "We are not saying
to people on the streets 'stop smoking' or 'stop dealing drugs,'"
he explains. "We are saying 'let's talk' and we are finding that
a lot of people want to do that."
After spending some time talking to the Street Pastors outside a
pub in Camberwell, three teenage boys are positive about the effect
that the blue-coated custodians are having on people their age.
"A lot of kids aren't sure what they want to do in life and these
guys can provide some guidance," 16-year old Kenneth says. His friend
Navek agrees, admitting, "we don't really have anyone else to talk
to out here." Surprisingly, the three teenagers appear undeterred
by the Street Pastors' obvious church connections. "My parents are
Christians," one of them explains. "So, it's all right that they're
from a church. I've got a strong faith too, you know." |
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Street Pastor Andy Clark is not surprised by this positive reaction
to the faith of the volunteers. "You can actually get into theological
discussions sometimes," he says. "You would also be surprised at
how many people ask for prayer." Walking back towards Peckham Baptist
Church, where the team meets to pray before each patrol, it is striking
to see the difference in the way local people respond to the Street
Pastors compared with their reaction to the police. "They're not
interested in talking to the police, but they are interested in
talking to the Church," says Les Isaac, who demonstrates this point
when a gang of tough-looking lads approach him and ask whether he
can help them find work. It is a point he is also trying to make
to Home Office Minister Fiona Mactaggart, who has joined the Street
Pastors for the evening to find out how they have been able to reduce
crime and incidents of anti-social behaviour in the area. According
to her: "They are doing good at a time of night when not many other
people are." Recent police statistics appear to confirm the view
that the Street Pastors are making a difference in Peckham and Camberwell.
The overall crime rate in the area has dropped by a staggering 70%
since the patrols began in October 2004, with similar reports from
other areas where Street Pastors are active. Although there are
a number of contributing factors to this decline, the police have
acknowledged that the Street Pastors initiative is one of them. |
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want to show these people the love of Jesus," Janice explains during
her patrol in Peckham. "Because everybody responds to love and respect."
But the Street Pastors' commitment to being a force for good in
the community has been put to the test when they have come face-to-face
with the threat of gang violence, which increasingly characterises
the nightlife of deprived urban areas like Brixton and Peckham.
The team recently intervened to try and stop a Chinese man from
being beaten by a gang of black youths, who claimed that he had
sold them some fake DVDs earlier that day. A car pulled up beside
the group and several Chinese men stepped out of the vehicle, wielding
large knives and sticks. With the gang of youths running for cover,
the Street Pastors were left to explain why the Chinese man had
been attacked and where his aggressors had disappeared to. "They
were angry and looking for revenge," Andy recalls. "Thankfully,
someone from our team spoke Chinese and he was able to calm them
down and explain the situation. The last thing we wanted was for
gang warfare to kick off." |
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Southwark has
the highest level of gun crime of all the London boroughs. Between
April 2004 and March 2005 there were 259 gun offences recorded in
the borough. |
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Despite
incidents like these, Les Isaac prefers to downplay the dangers
of being a Street Pastor, choosing instead to stress the need for
churches to be responding to the problems on Britain's inner city
streets. "We need to be asking ourselves what the Church's theology
is on issues such as gun crime and anti-social behaviour. Because
our theology will ultimately determine our response - be that spiritual,
social or practical." The fact that the Street Pastors initiative
has captured the imagination of the police, the Home Office, the
BBC and The Guardian newspaper amongst others, indicates that a
church-based response to these problems is rare in the UK.
As Les puts it: "There are those who say we have lost two generations
of young men and the only thing we can do is lock them up. I disagree.
There has always got to be hope." |
 Les
Isaac in Ghana |
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Relevant
Church: Les Isaac
This
book speaks from the heart about the Church's civic duty to impact
communities. Its pages barely contain Les Isaac's excitement that
God is challenging the Church to be a powerful catalyst for social
action. Isaac's radical nationwide initiative, Street Pastors,
is helping the Church to do just that. "Insightful, informative,
provocative, 'Relevant Church' is a must for church leaders and
believers with a heart to reach their communities with a message
of love and hope."— Joseph Boadu, Senior Minister of
Christian Life Fellowship, London. "Les Isaac is a trailblazer"—
The Voice.
Les Isaac is the Director of Ascension Trust, a para-church organisation
which seeks to empower Christians to be effective in society.
A church leader for over twenty years, Les Isaac also has oversight
of several churches in and around London.
 Available to buy
from amazon.co.uk |
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Run
Baby Run: Nicky Cruz
Tough kids and gangs are not issues of the past. Violence is alive
in our families, our schools, our communities and the media. Read
the story of Nicky Cruz, a warlord of a vicious New York City gang.
He was a thief, mugger, and vicious street criminal all before the
age of 18. Nicky Cruz's classic testimony is still a compelling
read 30 years after its first publication. A childhood overshadowed
by spiritualism in a Puerto Rican home preceded a harsh and violent
adolescence as the leader of one of New York's toughest street gangs.
Chilling scenes of knife fights, torture and murder dominated the
life of a young man proud and feared on the outside, but inwardly
running scared. His fears and loneliness were brought to the surface
through an encounter with preacher David Wilkerson, who led Cruz
to open his life to Christ — an incredible conversion that
amazed all who knew him.
Available to buy from
amazon.com
and amazon.co.uk |
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Adapted
from an article published in 