the outside people ...

The high-end street vendors.

We call ourselves "outsiders" because we try to go with Jesus to where people are outside church.  We pray; we are present; we listen; we connect.  But on our beat are many people who are not just outside of church (though many of them belong to churches), they are literally outside in the weather every day.
There are others, but I am thinking of the street vendors: people making a go of life, making a living by selling goods and services 'in the weather'.

In our urban hub there are upmarket, middle-market and downmarket vendor spots.  Some have quite sophisticated permanent shelters (sanitised for the rich, you know); some have created their own very clever shelters to erect where they hire a spot on the pavement; some just squat next to the passing people with their wares on a cloth on the ground.

Street vendors with permanent stalls.

But all of them share several things that challenge me as I pray for them.

1. They create and pack up their entire shop every single day.  I admire them for this alone, especially as the displays are often so beautifully arranged and the display methods so innovative.
2. They are out there in the heat and cold and the dry and wet.  A few stay at home when it is cold and wet, but most are there whatever the weather.  Their sales are deeply affected by the weather, but every possible sale is so important.
3. There is a mobility among them.  On Sundays many don't open, and those that do often move into a better spot for the day.  New stalls open and close frequently.  (Though this is so true inside the centres at the moment too!)  What exactly a stall sells is very variable as the vendor tries to follow their market and adapt to the moment.  Sunglasses in summer, beanies in winter, and team caps when there is a sports event!

We ask God to give these hard-working men and women strength for the task that they face each day.

We ask that their wares will sell well so that they have enough to cover their needs.

We pray for God's protection over them as they sell in such vulnerable places.

We long for God to touch their lives so that they know Jesus and walk with him.  We pray that those who already have a vibrant faith are able to live godly lives and reach out to their neighbouring vendors with the good news.  

It is too easy to walk past without praying.  It is difficult to make the effort to engage with the people who run the stalls.  I don't naturally buy on the street, but if I care about these people I must.

Our church (Claremont Methodist) has a current project to pray for the businesses of the Claremont Urban Hub.  We include the informal traders in this and every couple of weeks we write up one of the stalls for prayer.