My name is Cristina, I am from the USA and I’ve been volunteering at Barnabus for the last six months as part of the Dwell team!  Prior to this I was working voluntarily for a Ministry called Hope City connected to the International house of Prayer in Kansas Missouri. When God initially called me to England for ministry, I was in a season of learning ministry in the fields of prayer and justice. This involved praying with the community for our cities, nations, and topics of justice (such as praying against addiction and trafficking), all whilst actively working in a drug rehab that put Jesus at the center of recovery. I spent two years living in-house at Hope City, alongside the people we helped, in the inner-city of Kansas City, Missouri. God used my time at Hope City to train me as I was going to continue using these experiences, new skills and understanding in the other places He would call me to: next stop, Manchester, England!

I came here under sponsorship from the Manchester House of Prayer (MHOP) who are longstanding friends of Barnabus, when they suggested working with another ministry as well as MHOP, I told them I felt called to also keep working with those struggling with homelessness and addiction and they connected me with Barnabus: upon looking into the ministry, I was thrilled to get involved! I didn’t realize how much God would stretch me through it in the best ways possible. 

Since being here, I’ve been assisting and training under Angela, the Faith-Coordinator at Barnabus. At the same time as shadowing herI have also had many opportunities to be involved in many areas of Ministry myself. These have included;  leading worship during Dwell Sessions, leading Bible studies, having one-to-one conversations with our guests around the breakfast tables. When we have been short-staffed, I have helped with the showers in the Beacon or worked in the kitchen serving up toasties and brews.. 

I have been enthralled at the lengths Barnabus go to, to help those guests they serve as a ministry it has been astounding. Barnabus have what might seem outrageous and extremely daunting.Their goal is to end Homelessness in the City of Manchester and to work themselves out of a job.I have seen firsthand by being present twice a week for 14 hours at how hard they work to make this happen. 

I see a lot of what happens behind the scenes, and how every staff member is wholeheartedly committed to seeing people get off the streets,

 rediscover their identity,their role in society, and succeed in a way that benefits them as an individual recovering from a hard life.

It starts with providing a space for their basic human needs to be met, because we all need that in order to thrive: they can come in for some respite, have a toasty and a couple brews on us, and have a shower to refresh themselves. These simple things can turn someone's day completely around as they begin to feel a bit more themselves again. It is rough to sleep out in the elements and not have access to your own personal stash of food. Having places like Barnabus and other charities and ministries who make meals helps people in the struggle at least know where they can get their next meal, to survive another day. But just helping people survive isn’t the goal, it’s the introduction to more, as engagement team workers ask if guests need any medical assistance, so they can see our in-house nurse, who can set them up with a doctor; they seek to assist guests in figuring out how to get accommodation and as they work on that, support workers assist them to help the process keep moving along until something works out. Support workers will also work with those who do finally have accommodation to make sure they are doing okay and to help them with navigating life off the streets, as that transition has many difficulties of its own: from needing to learn/re-learn life skills to more complex situations, such as navigating mental health issues, as many struggle with traumas, even if homelessness alone was the trauma. We don’t judge, we just analyze so we can help in the best ways possible.

Part of the process of helping people, and a big part of that, is what we do in Dwell. We are always praying for and with our guests to have breakthroughs: for accommodations, finances, mental and physical health struggles, favor in the judicial systems, etc., and we see God move all the time! It’s really amazing to see guest come and engage in our Bible studies, where they learn simple truths like the importance of the Bible, how life-changing forgiveness can be, and that they were made with a unique identity and purpose, and it’s never too late to step back into that, or to discover what it is for the first time.

As I read the Bible in my own time, and come across verses I’ve read time and again, I remember what an honor it is to do this sort of work. Because Jesus said that what we do unto the “least of these,” meaning people who are struggling in whatever way and need help, we’ve done it unto Him. And it’s wonderful to partner with a ministry that IS clothing people, feeding them and giving them drink, visiting them, etc. The foundational principals are Biblical and therefore make up a strong foundation for the rest of this ministry to built on. This may not be the sort of thing everyone is interested in doing, but God takes it personally when we are interested and do it. Maybe I can’t see the face of Jesus in person yet, but I see His face in every person who walks in here. They are meant to be respected and loved just as much as anyone else deserves it.

I look forward to the next six months as I continue to learn and grow from my leaders as much as I do from the people I serve. To continue letting God use me to bless others as He also uses them to bless me, with them simply being present. May we all remember to notice Jesus in the community around us and work with them in a helpful way.