Angels watching over you

I was out with Woking Street Angels again on Saturday night – part of the Jubilee Celebration weekend.  We were 8 angels and a visitor in our 'cohort'.

Our team of 3 included Caroline, who had met the angels when she was out partying a couple of years ago. She is a mother of two and was thinking about joining SAs, so she walked the streets with us til midnight. She found it fascinating to be on the 'other side' as she put it.

The Woking Angel sits on top of the memorial and keeps watch 

The first shift of 2 hours went very slowly. We talked together and greeted one and all. I chatted with Haroon/Harry, the Pakistani bouncer at Subway.  A bright, well-spoken young man,  he holds down 3 jobs to build a better future for himself.  A not-quite-sober man came up to him as we were talking. Tom asked to use the loo and Haroon explained it was out of action. ‘No problem’ he quickly retorted ‘I’m a plumber and earn £140 a day. I’ll fix it.  ‘But, you’re not authorised  to work here… Haroon insisted politely. Tom was not happy and swerved off to relieve himself elsewhere. Haroon commented that it is hard to be polite all the time. 

We spent the evening chatting to people, picking up bottles at one point sent off on a couple of wild goose chases. One after hearing of trouble in the town square. But the town centre is a building site with extensive renovations. The new Café Rouge is now open, and on this night it was the only source of activity, though very quiet.   

And the other time a passerby near Weatherspoons told us that there were some very drunk teenagers near the bandstand (by Toys’R’us).  When we got there … nothing. 

It felt like an 'almost and nearly' evening, we 'almost' got there on time, we 'nearly' saw a fight. We never seemed in the right place at the right time. Bu we did walk a lot – good exercise! 

There were lots of police around, and they seemed to turn up in places on time.  An arrest under the station canopy, we heard on the radio and from the bouncer at Yates about a man who had pulled a knife and had been taken off by the police.  And of a double arrest at the Chameleon. 

One Angel team spent a lot of time with a very drunk Italian girl and her Swedish friend who had been thrown out of BEd Bar. Their ID and keys were in their bags in the lockers inside. But they had lost the cloakroom tickets.  Eventually after lots of time and sympathy and negotiation, the team were able to negotiate with door staff and the bags were retrieved. And then put in a taxi home. That is, after all the ultimate aim. that people get home safely.     

A mysterious hand

Walking down street a girl stuck a hand out of her car and thrust a postcard sized leaflet towards us: 'Hell awaits a sinner ….. but Jesus died for your sins'

She asked ‘Are you saved?’  I must admit it is years, since that has happened.

There was a heaviness and intensity about her, a wistfulness and distance, as she sat in the driver’s seat of the car and handed over the tract. She had a passion for the lost and said she was from a church in Ottershaw. She wanted to know, if the church we went to was: ‘born again’. I responded  ‘Yes, again and again and again…!’  Her two friends returned with some coffee and they drove off.

The leaflet implied that being out on the street at night, drinking, partying … was being on a path to hell. I felt uneasy about it. There was a picture of two escalators one going up and the other going down… with a sign saying “it’s your choice' <=>  There were bible verses on the back talking of everlasting life (John 3:16) and being born again (John 3:3) and a picture of three crosses. It finished with: ‘if you confess….  Jesus is Lord…you will be saved’ (Rom 10:9)  

I was left wondering if it really communicated to the partying community in Chertsey Road. The encounter left us reflecting on how do you reach the ‘least, the last and the lost’. Does a leaflet really do it?

For me. I prefer a more gentle approach, summed up by prayer we prayed at the beginning of the evening before we went out. I’d found the book of prayers from Iona in the Horsell Hospice bookshop only that morning. (‘Each Day & Each Night: Celtic prayers from Iona’ J. Philip Newell, Wild Goose Publication, 2002)  It seemed to express the spirit of ‘Street Angels’

Watch now O Christ,

with those who are weary

or wandering

or weeping this night.

Guide them to a house

of your peace

and lead me to be caring

for their tears.

 

Watching out for people and simple caring (out of a motivation of love) and guiding them safely home, does itself speaks volumes…     Sometimes it feels like a 'mysterious hand' is with us, guiding, watching, supporting. 

at the end of the day, to use the title of another (controversial) book by Rob Bell:  ‘Love Wins’    

I wrote about that earlier  in two parts: The Prodigal's Return and Between Heaven and Hell 

Lighten our Darkness....

LIGHTEN our darkness, we beseech thee, O Lord; and by thy great mercy defend us from all Perils and dangers of this night; for the love of thy only Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.

The 'Collect for Aid against Perils' from the Book of Common Prayer seems a good prayer for Street Angels. We started with it on Friday night.  The language maybe a bit ancient, but the sentiment is real. In fact it seemed strangely appropriate as we went out and encountered  Vampires and Witches, the Living Dead, Zombies, frightened teenagers dripping blood, Cruella Deville, and men with capes and sinister 'Scream' masks. It was of course the Halloween  Party at Schism Rock Club  at the Quake Nightclub.   We were told that 650 people were inside.  As I said the language of the BCP seems to fit the Gothic nature of the night.
What was particularly entertaining was seeing the 'smoking cage' outside the night club on the pavement,  opposite the car park full of such characters  It looked like they had all been captured in some sort of a police round up.    


You can watch a video of the Foam Party at Schism (featured on the Schism Rock Club website) to get an idea of the electric atmosphere, Or click the YouTube link below

If you go to their Twitter page there is a link to a Facebook photo album with 169 pictures from Friday night's Halloween Party. 


In fact there were no problems from the Rocky Horror Show itself.  Everyone seemed happy enough inside and made their way home afterwards  At least we didn't see any trouble. I don't know if the police had to deal with anything.


Otherwise it was  a fairly 'normal night'  Outside Lights were on duty under the Station Canopy from 10-12 giving out tea and coffee and an opportunity to chat.  There were just 5 angels on duty, so we went around in 2 groups.  There were drunks vomiting near NatWest.  One a soldier looked after by two mates and a younger man who was eventually picked up by his parents (I can just imagine breakfast conversation the next day!) The other team stayed with them until it all settled down.   We spend time with 'Bruce Forsyth' as we called him, wobbling his way home after  a night out at O'Neils where there had been a live band. He could hardly walk straight  but we had  a good long chat (at times quite philosophical) with an nice, if somewhat lonely 75 year old.   He was very local, so no problem getting himself home. 


And there was noise and verbal abuse. a lady trowing punches at people.  Everything is watched carefully on CCTV and communicated by Radios. I don't think punters always realise that.   We spend a lot of time keeping an eye on a young woman in a tight black skirt and orange high heels  who was having a raging argument with an abusive boyfriend. It started in BED Bar and seemed to encompass most of Chertsey Road and the parallel street where the buses and taxis are.  Standing by and keeping watch isn't always appreciated  ("Who the %*@* do you think you are!  %*@* off! ") but there is little more that you can do. We stayed around until they went their separate ways in Taxis.


I am full of admiration for the Taxi Drivers who exhibit so much patience and politeness in the face of some very mixed behaviour to say the least.  Sure, they get paid for it, but they also put up with an aweful lot. 


Do Street Angels actually have any effect by their presence on the streets at night?  That was a question we asked ourselves.  I have absolutely no idea of the actual effect, but we do have some significant conversations and sometime we even seem to be in the right place at the right time.  
   
And there again you get to see the urban foxes on the streets of Woking in the darkness of the night. And I don't mean the ones in fancy dress costumes...  We spotted a pair by Christchurch when we were going out at 10pm.  And as we were leaving, by the Y-Pod at 4am.   






Other Blogs about Street Angels: 

February 2011 Good Samaritan 
March 2011 Friday night in Woking  
April 2011 Out with the Angels 
June 2011 Angels in the Town Square 
July 2011 Putting Angels into Ev-angel-ical 
August 2011 Worn to be wild