Week 10 - evolving and changing

On Thursday I tried something different again. Having deliberated over the success of The Station, when it seems to be very difficult for people to walk from the hall into the vestry, I tried putting some information relating to prayer on the tables in the hall. I felt that this was much more like following the principle of being incarnational, and going to where the people were, rather than expecting them to move elsewhere.

The response was subtle but still effective. I did a small heart shaped labyrinth and asked people to trace their finger around it whilst praying for a person or situation. I imagined that leaving them on the table might result in people picking them up to see what they were and then just perhaps doing it almost absent mindedly as they talked or listened to the people on their table and this is what happened. Several people I spoke to either did this themselves or told me that they had seen other people doing it.

I also made small business size cards that had little sayings on about prayer and on the back it said that people could take them away. It was just a way of encouraging people to think a little bit more about prayer and to maybe connect with it in a way that they never had previously.

In addition to the above, there were two prayer stations in the vestry; one of them asked people to roll two dice and to then move to a square on a board where they were asked to pray in a particular way eg giving thanks, saying sorry, praying for others. The idea of this is that if people are unfamiliar with prayer, they are given information on how to pray and what to pray for.The second one asked the individual to draw around their hand and then to think of anything they needed help with and to ask God for a helping hand.

Of the prayer activities in the hall and the ones in the Prayer Station in the vestry, I felt that those in the hall were the most effective. Who knows what might be taking place in someones life who engages with the labyrinth or takes away a prayer card? It meant that there was no embarrassment or anyone looking to see where a person was going when they got up out of their seat to go to The Station. I would really like to develop this further if the time was available to me and think that I could produce mini versions of some of the activities I have done before in The Station, eg Doodle Prayers.

The Psalmist says in Psalm 54, 'Hear my prayer, O God; listen to the words of my mouth.' I believe that some form of prayer in the hall could be very effective when people get used to it and realise that it can be done without embarrassment or fuss. People can make the choice not to do it but others might discover a God who cares for them and does respond to their prayers.

Week 9 - we need hands

I can't believe that I have been doing this for nine weeks. It has been challenging, thought provoking, irritating and a cause for concern all at once! In spite of the low response, I am wondering what will happen when the project stops and whether or not it will be missed. In some ways I would like it to continue, but I will have to let go of it and trust that whatever happens is the right outcome.

I have found myself wanting people to use The Prayer Station in different ways than the way they appear to be respnding, thinking that I know something of their circumstances and that it would be really helpful for them. How arrogant am I? I thank God that he meets people exactly where they are, he knows everything about them and regardless of whether or not they respond or use the prayer stations how I think they should be used, God is the one who will be with them in their need, not me. I have to just stand back and allow God to work in ways that I don't understand, to work in the lives of the children who come in with their parents, in the lives of the adults who drift in and out and to trust that he will touch their lives in a meaningful way.

This week I did only two stations. The first was very simple, there were two plastic plates on the table, one with a smiley face and one with a sad face and people had to put a stone on to the one that represented the way they were feeling at that time. They then had to thank God if they were feeling happy and if they were feeling sad they had to talk to God about it. The second station had four playing cards on the table, a heart, diamond, club and a spade. Individuals had to write or draw a picture as follows:-

Heart - to think about someone they love

Diamond - what is precious in your life?

Club - What are you struggling with at the moment?

Spade - Is there something you feel you need to try harder at?

I planned to do an additional prayer station which involved drawing around your hand and then writing/drawing on the hand the names of people you wanted to remember before God but I decided that it was too like the one using the playing cards so changed my mind at the last minute. The mum of one of the children who came into the station told me about how much the child liked to draw around her hand and I can't help wondering whether there was a God-incidence going on here and that I should have stuck to my original plan to use the third station.

I have been challenged this week to think about how I can make The Station more accessible. We have discussed the idea of having a station in the cafe area but I recognise the difficulties of walking to a table when you are surrounded by people, this is probably even harder than walking into the vestry. So, I am going to try something new on Thursday - I am going to put something on every table that people can do if they choose to, a mini Prayer Station, and possibly some prayers on cards that people can take away. If people participate at some level and begin to engage in the prayer activity on the table, it is better than not at all and may make a real difference to them. If they wish, they can then go into The Station.

As I think about the child who liked drawing around her hand, and who drew around mine as well, I am reminded of the words in Isaiah 49, 'see, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.' We all go through times when we feel that God is far away but he never forgets us, we are permanently imprinted upon his memory, in the same way that a mother will never forget their child. How amazing is that?