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Sheila's Story

Sheila shares her story of how God has given her a ministry of hugs, that enables her to show God's love to the people she meets.

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Prayer | 3:22

Sheila's Story

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Sheila shares her story of how God has given her a ministry of hugs, that enables her to show God's love to the people she meets.

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00:02

And I really felt that God had given me

00:05

a ministry of hugs.

00:08

Because I had all sorts of people coming

00:10

for hugs.

00:12

My name's Sheila, and this is my story.

00:17

I've been involved with city centre chaplaincy

00:20

for about five years now.

00:22

When it started, we put tables and chairs outside.

00:25

And we sat at the table offering prayer and a hug

00:31

I was amazed at how at home I felt with it.

00:36

All sorts of people were coming for hugs.

00:40

From people who were just astonished

00:42

to see somebody standing there with a

00:45

free hug sign.

00:46

To people who hadn't had physical contact

00:49

with anybody for a long time,

00:52

to people who had real problems and

00:57

I could always tell when I hugged them

01:01

if there was more that they needed to say.

01:04

So I was able to ask if they needed prayer

01:06

for anything.

01:08

I've hugged the big issue man, I've hugged

01:13

the homeless people, it doesn't matter

01:16

who they are, they're all worthy of a hug.

01:19

Sometimes I cry with them

01:22

and I laugh with them,

01:24

and

01:27

I just love it.

01:32

In sharing my faith I think prayer

01:34

is very important

01:36

and I pray for everybody I speak too.

01:38

As you start to pray, so you become

01:43

more able to pray

01:44

and you become stronger.

01:46

Prayer becomes a matter of course.

01:49

If someone feels nervous about spreading

01:52

their faith, the message of their faith

01:54

or talking about their faith.

01:56

I try and encourage them to think beyond

02:00

how they're feeling but just think of

02:02

the message that they're giving out

02:05

to people and the chance for them to know

02:07

God's love and so to be brave, take a deep

02:11

breath and once you've done it once or twice,

02:14

it becomes much easier.

02:16

I was in the fish and chip shop the other day

02:18

and an elderly man told me, it was his

02:21

turn to do the tea,

02:22

because his wife wasn't well.

02:24

And he was very tired, so I asked him

02:27

could I pray for him. He was astonished,

02:30

but he was really glad.

02:32

And I prayed for him in the fish and chip shop.

02:35

People do say to me: "well it's ok for you,

02:37

because you find it easy". But I think

02:41

we can all find it easy if we just take

02:44

that initial step.

02:46

I'm not special in anyway, I'm just a mum

02:49

and a grandma, and I just have a conviction

02:53

of my faith.

02:59

And I always, after I've hugged them, say

03:02

that it's from the Lord. It's a gift

03:04

from God to them,

03:05

to express his love.

October 2016
From
Evangelical Alliance
Topics
Prayer
Street evangelism

This story was produced by the Evangelical Alliance with the support of