Day 9 (night 7) lost sheep & orange Wednesdays

 Wednesday is 'orange Wednesday' in the world of Ibiza 24-7 so I worked out where the nearest multiplex was and booked two tickets to see  'guardians of the galaxy' the new marvel film epic. No I didn't really... Orange Wednesday for Ibiza 24-7 is an opportunity to go down to the beach and give out free oranges to the sun bathers and provide an opportunity to talk if they what and collect any prayer requests they may have. Last week one team went to the tourist beach the other went to the workers beach. (Basically the full time workers are a bit more knowledgable about Ibiza and know where the best beaches are). Having visited the tourist beach last week we got to go to the workers beach. Me and wbcs own Michelle teamed up and we had quickly got through our bags of oranges (the workers are also more clued up about orange Wednesday ...). Some good conversations were had and I also told a couple of groups about the workers centre that Ibiza 24-7 run however my directions I described were rubbish (I got my Scottish pubs confused) so gods hand will be needed to ensure that they actually get there.... Michelle did very well talking to the groups and collected 2 prayer cards.

Our time in Ibiza however hasn't all been about working however and before heading on to the street for the 2nd to last time, we went to a gig at 'Ibiza rocks' to see rudimental . They were certainly better as a full live act than their DJ set when I last saw them, and I think a good time was had by the team. I was struck however by a line the frontman of the band said, he yelled "do you want to be set free by rudimental?" which considering how much freedom is needed in Ibiza was pertinent however the Ibiza 24-7 team through Gods help are more likely to achieve this than rudimental me thinks...

My night on the street was predominantly about one individual who was sitting on the step of the 24-7 centre after being brought there by one of the PRs. He had arrived that day in Ibiza, dropped of his bags at his hotel, fallen a sleep on the beach, woken up without his friends, couldn't remember where his hotel was, but had a perfect memory of what the hotel looked like. For the next three hours we tried every hotel we could possibly think of. Walking to the ones that were close, driving to the ones a bit further away (one of these hotels which we were sure matched the description perfectly, when we arrived the sign was falling off, the pool was locked up with a massive pad lock, the reception abandoned & trashed, the hotel shop was empty, windows were boarded up, it was obviously that it had been abandoned for a longtime...) and then doing some more walking. Around 3:30ish in the morning we felt defeated, and we decided to give another team a shot at getting him home, they would provide a fresh set of eyes & they had access to the van, which would be needed as we had covered all the hotels in acceptable walking distance. Through this whole time however I was praying very heavily and I really did get a sense that he was going to get back to his hotel. About 10 to 4 in the morning the other team who had been tasked to return the guy to his hotel returned to the prayer room, yep they had found it and he was back (to his temporary holiday) home... A massively relief and a certain answer to prayer.

With that this is Paul signing off.... One more night to go....

Bible verses 

Luke 15 1-7

The parable of the lost sheep

Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering round to hear Jesus. 2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, ‘This man welcomes sinners, and eats with them.’

3 Then Jesus told them this parable: 4 ‘Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbours together and says, “Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.” 7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who do not need to repent.

Alex’s personal musings: unconditional

Our last night.

Mixed emotions for me. In some respects I am pleased that we have reached the end – we have survived and given it our best shot. On the other hand, as Michelle said last night, it seems that we are going home just as we are getting half decent at this!

I jumped at the chance of getting out on the West End during the first hour. I had the pleasure of pairing up with Jess – a recently joined long termer from Northern Ireland.She is a beautiful, multi-lingual prayer machine!

We were walking down near Gatecrasher on the beach and noticed a chap sitting on his own who didn't look as he was enjoying himself. We decided to quickly check on him before moving on.

90 minutes later we left him overwhelmed by our God moment with James (not his real name).

James was pretty wasted and not forthcoming with any helpful information! All we got was his name and that was it. He was not going to tell us whether he was here with mates, where his hotel was and was certainly not going to accept help from us to walk him back to his room.

After about 30 minutes, he started to open up a little. We had explained that we were Christians and out here to show God’s love to everyone. He couldn't understand why we would want to help – not just help people in general but help him.

He went on to tell us that he was not worth bothering with, that there were more needy people out there, and that he had done too many awful things to deserve our kindness.

Man alive – we really felt for him. We gently explained to him that Jesus loved him, that he had a place in this life and that God had a plan for him to be whole and fulfilled.

Note to self – never turn down an opportunity to pray for someone.

Right there on the beach in the middle of the crazy West End world, James had a moment with God. As we said a short prayer for him to know God’s unconditional love,  that he could be forgiven, that he was deserving of kindness and that he was accepted just as he was, he stepped back overwhelmed by what he was hearing and was welling up.

What a privilege to speak directly into someone’s heart and see God move. 

As we parted company, we had a big hug (initiated by James) and left him walking off with a bible in his pocket and details of how he could contact us if he wanted to talk more.

Jess and I headed back to the 24/7 centre praying for James whilst walking on cloud 9.

Please pray that James would have more moments with God in the coming days. Also please continue to pray for the work out here in Ibiza. As the WBC team were decommissioned at 4am the long term team were helping a petrified young woman who had been assaulted. This is a world is serious highs and devastating lows. 

Tonight we have a meal with the whole 24/7 team – an opportunity to reflect on the last few weeks and say our goodbyes.

We will be back in the UK at 0525 tomorrow!

Thanks to all who have been following this blog.

We look forward sharing more stories on our return.

Adios.