[IMPRESSIONS IN A PARK]
My team wanted to pull an all nighter in a local park that serves as a temporary home to the least of these in Byron Bay. The group in Byron this past month consisted of 5 teams and 31 people, and we have been 
doing this sort of thing at various times during our month of ministry in OZ. The first time, it was 24 hours of prayer and worship on the beach, the second time it was 12 hours of prayer at the park that turned into ministering to lost souls looking to get lost in alcohol/dance party/making friends with the lowly, lost, unfriendly and hostile. So this time around, we were set for anything God brought our way from 9pm-9am.
doing this sort of thing at various times during our month of ministry in OZ. The first time, it was 24 hours of prayer and worship on the beach, the second time it was 12 hours of prayer at the park that turned into ministering to lost souls looking to get lost in alcohol/dance party/making friends with the lowly, lost, unfriendly and hostile. So this time around, we were set for anything God brought our way from 9pm-9am. What God brought was Fred.
All the craziness, confusion and efforts to minister to lost souls contained in one man. He arrived around 10pm. He would come and go at times, asked us if we had a light for his cigarette at lease 132 times, would sometimes get angry and yell at us-but he always came back. And it was maybe around 6am when he sobered up a bit he started really engaging with us. We found out how he lives a life of utter bitterness, from mistreatment of his people, the aborigines, and beating up his grandson when he got drunk babysitting him one time. We don’t know all that is going on in his life and we feel we only got a taste of the troubles he’s living with. But we got an opportunity to tell him that God loves him and cares for Him. Show him that love by sticking with him all night and one person even giving him the coat off his back (read his account here). He wouldn’t let us pray for him that day, but I’m praying that God breaks that cycle of bitterness in his life.One of my team mates mentioned a few times during the evening the idea of comparing the things we end up staying up all night for in our lives and this night with Fred. How many times have the hours been wasted when lost ones are out there, right at that exact moment looking for a little bit of hope, a little bit of relief from bitterness and longing to find life. I wasn’t really even into the idea of staying there all night. In theory it was fine, but then the actual night came-it was cold, rainy, long and I was SO tired. But even in my unwillingness, God was faithful and taught me a lesson. That I can fast from sleep for moments like these-‘cuase moments like these are when I’m not selfishly wasting my time and lives can change.
