At the end of July I was in Glasgow for the Commonwealth Games. Not for the games themselves but to serve as a Street Pastor in the city for the week.

Tens of thousands of people visited Glasgow over the week. The atmosphere in the city was really buzzing.

Serving as a Street Pastor I was really moved watching and chatting with the people in the city…

We chatted with a woman Glasgow born and bred, who spoke passionately about the love she had for the city and it’s people, and how her heart lifted seeing how the city had responded to the games. The thought “You’re not far from the Kingdom” went through my mind… her compassion for the people of her city was evident…

It reminded me of two passages of scripture…

1) “³⁵ Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness. ³⁶ When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. ³⁷ He said to his disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few.”” Matthew 9:35-37

As we walked the city we saw a huge cross section of humanity – we met people happy and rejoicing, we also met people who were broken, sick and poor..  lost confused and helpfuless… and echo’s of Jesus compassion pour into us.

We had the privilege of praying, feeding and caring for many different people… praying for health, listening to stories, speaking life, bring people to places of refuge and practical help… responding to the gentle nudges of the Shepherd.

This was a time for demonstrating God’s love in practical ways…

2) “The Lord now chose seventy-two other disciples and sent them ahead in pairs to all the towns and places he planned to visit. ² These were his instructions to them: “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields. ³ Now go, and remember that I am sending you out as lambs among wolves.” Luke 10:1-3

The overwhelming feeling I had during the week was one of harvest – and how few we were on the streets, 50 to 60 Street Pastors in fields of thousands of souls… we needed more workers…

I was left with the feeling that for us, the church, to be surrendered to Christ, to remain fully in Him, in constant eternal communion with Him… we are to go… go to the fields.. go to the Harvest… to have compassion on all we meet… to heal the sick… love the lonely… to care for one and all… to be part of the revelation of the Kingdom of God on our streets.