CHURCH & POLICE UNITE TO TRANSFORM COMMUNITIES
DEBRA GREEN
The whole of the Bible could be described as salvation history of how a loving Creator God is redeeming the whole of His creation. The effects of sin have infiltrated all aspects of human life but God's mission is to restore and renew. Supremely in Jesus, God has acted within human history to mend our broken world and offer the way to true fullness of life. And we believe that God will complete this work.
Jon Kuhrt[i] writes: ‘The role of building community is highly relevant today where there is such concern about "community cohesion" and where relationships between groups are often contentious. As well as "binding" groups of believers, Christian community projects can be excellent "bridgers" in reaching out and bringing together a wide range of people in terms of ethnicity, age or class whether "believers" or not.' [1] ‘What does salvation mean for your local community?' by Jon Kuhrt
Redeeming Our Communities, a charity founded in 2004, has multi-agency working at the centre of all we do and it has proved to be a successful model. We bring together community groups, churches, the police, the fire service, local authorities and voluntary agencies to encourage them to work together in positive partnerships for practical change. As a result, statutory agencies have improved access to the support of Christians and church groups, and thousands of volunteers are enabled to better serve the needs of their community. This idea is proving to be even more valuable in the light of the current economic climate and the Big Society.
As a result of bringing thousands of people together in locations across the UK, we have seen many new community projects emerge, like the ROC Cafe youth club which has a proven track record in reducing crime. Young people love the ROC Cafe, one young boy from a home where his mum has to work all hours to make ends meet described it as ‘the living room I don't have at home'. The Police also love the ROC Cafe, reporting a 35% reduction in anti-social behaviour.
The idea that prayer and action combined can radically reduce crime is now a regular occurrence where we have ROC projects or initiatives. Two years ago we held a showcase large-scale event in Manchester with the aim of reducing gang violence. The event attracted many people and made the BBC website front page with the headline ‘1000s of Christians praying about gang violence'. At the event we looked at ways of working together to start projects which would help reduce crime and anti-social behaviour. One young man prayed a bold prayer ‘no more gunchester' (a nick name for Manchester). Imagine our amazement when six months later the headline news read ‘Is this the end of Gunchester?' ‘The total number of gunshots in the Metropolitan and Trafford divisions - the heart of gangland - fell from 62 in 2007 to 19 in 2008. The number that were gang-related dropped from 38 to three.‘ MEN 29-01-09.
These are examples of why we believe in redeeming our communities and the time of opportunity is now.
Debra Green is the Director and founder of Redeeming our Communities. Debra often shares from her experiences of community transformation through positive partnerships, especially through the work of Redeeming Our Communities. She has published two books, ‘Redeeming our Communities: 21st century miracles of social transformation' and ‘City changing prayer'. For more information, visit www.redeemingourcommunities.org.uk
Source: Prayer for Today
