Just after 8.00am last Monday morning we said a somewhat emotional farewell to our fifteen guests on the Wimbledon Night Shelter, many of whom had been with us for each of the previous six Sunday nights. A total of forty volunteers from Everyday Wimbledon had shared their meals, slept in an adjacent room, played numerous games of pool and watched Bourne, Bond and various other DVDs with them. We’d told them about ourselves and heard some of their stories. Even the guests who spoke no or limited English had managed to convey the hardship of m their recent existence and the relief of their current position on the Night Shelter programme.

It seems so long ago that they arrived at the church for the first night. There were eleven of them to start with. We had expected twelve but one had been hospitalised the day before. We were never to see her.

The UK Border Agency got involved and she was deported. Most of our guests smelt strongly of alcohol, a few were decidedly ‘squiffy’. Despite already having spent six nights in various other participating churches, the aroma which built up when they removed their boots and socks in the multi-purpose hall where they were  sleeping was ripe to say the least.

Time passed and each week we looked forward to seeing them. Every time they visited us, we saw a real change in them. They became healthier, better fed, more relaxed, clearer-eyed, cleaner, happier and more positive about their future. They also seemed to become steadily less reliant on alcohol and other substances to get them through their day. Everyday Wimbledon had not participated in the Night Shelter before. I am certain everyone involved from the church got more out of it than they put in, and I am totally sure that we will be repeating it later this year. In the meantime, please pray for our  guests that they would use the Shelter as a springboard to achieving some stability in their lives and for them to allow the love of Jesus capture their hearts.