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When I first started I was absolutely traumatised
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at the thought of going out and sharing my faith with anybody.
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I'd never done anything like that.
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My name's Sue and this is my story.
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Peterborough city chaplaincy meets every Friday,
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we go out into the Peterborough square,
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where everybody's bustling around.
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People are shopping, having their lunch-breaks
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and we just demonstrate Jesus' love to people.
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Quite often we'll do give-aways,
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we do things like free hugs,
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we'll sit on a bench with a sign saying I'll
listen.
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All sorts of different things which give people
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the opportunity, for us to enter into a conversation
with people
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and hopefully them to share a little bit about
themselves
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and we get the opportunity to offer to pray
for people.
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I think one of the things when I first started,
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I'd never done anything like that.
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If somebody had told me four years ago
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that I would be doing the sort of things
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I am now, I would laugh
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I only became a Christian ten years ago
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but never done anything out on the streets,
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I'd never prayed in public, let along prayed
for somebody in public.
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Prayer is a major part of what we do out on
the square.
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So often when we're talking to people,
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normal chit-chat conversation very quickly
for some reason
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people will start saying: "I don't know why
I'm sharing this with you but..."
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and they'll start sharing some trouble that's
on their
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hearts or a family problem or something they're
concerned about
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and you just listen, your not looking to say
anything,
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they just want somebody to listen.
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And the wonderful thing from that, is then
they've given you
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this wonderful invitation almost, to say well
may I pray for you about those things?
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One of the most amazing things I had happen
to me,
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we'd obviously been out, been giving away
copies of the New Testament
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and didn't think anything of it at all.
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And then two years later, completely out of
the blue,
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I get a text from a lady called Amy and she
said to me in this text:
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"Hi my name's Amy, I met you out on the square
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two years ago, I was having some health problems
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at the time and you prayed for me and I just
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wanted you to know you gave me a copy of the
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New Testament and I've now come to the Lord,
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I've found Jesus. My life is transformed."
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And I can just remember getting that text,
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tears coming into my eyes because for me
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I just felt liberated that actually it didn't
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matter that I'd never seen this happen.
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This happened because God wanted it to happen.
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Each time somebody comes across our path
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and we have that opportunity of just speaking
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God's word into that moment,
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just showing them God's compassion.
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It's a privilege and we can all do it.
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You know, some people are overt and some people
are quite introvert.
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I'm actually quite introvert in those things,
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but now it just feels a natural part of me
being a Christian.
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Somehow it's opened my heart to the promptings
of the Holy Spirit,
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and that's a wonderful thing to have.
