From little acorns… Mighty oaks do grow

I had a second vision (in the same sitting) where I saw a map with lots of dots on it. I realised that these were multiple street worship groups across the globe that God was showing me. I heard the phrase ​‘Worship on every street corner.’ I knew God was speaking to me and calling me to do this. My initial reaction was to start planning immediately, but I quickly realise I needed to be in the right place emotionally and spiritually. I was in a dead-end relationship, and in my second year of university, studying Business and Psychology BSc with French, and was spending every spare second studying in the library. So, I abandoned the vision, then in 2019, after graduating I moved to China and put it on the back burner.

Then in 2020, the pandemic happened, and I was stuck in my Shenzhen apartment. I was isolated. The shelves in the supermarkets were bare and food was scarce. I was hungry and so I decided that since I didn’t have any food, I might as well fast. It was during this time of fasting that God reminded me of the vision He’d given me two years prior. I began laughing hysterically, thinking I don’t even have food, how will I be able to get back to the UK and fulfil
this vision? But I knew God was there with me because He provided me with a peace that was unexplainable and that didn’t just wash over me in that moment but lingered and stayed with me for days after. God also gave me some faces of the people that would be part of the core team – astonishingly I had only met one of them before!

Sponsored

Two years on and God has been faithful and has fulfilled His promise. Today the project has around 30 volunteers who comprise of musicians, worshippers, evangelists, creatives, and poets from all walks of life. The Christian Busking Project feels like an extended family. We meet once a week to pray for each other, for the people we meet and for boldness and clarity when proclaiming the gospel out on the streets. We also pray for favour among law enforcement and environmental officers, tube station managers and others, as we never know how people will respond to what we’re doing. We have had our fair share of persecution. On one occasion a man in a balaclava approached us and threatened to kill us. I could see the imprint of the knife in his trouser leg; however, we remained calm, we knew God was with us. We still, however, pray for protection!

In 2022, we gathered 96 times remotely to pray, and between March and December 2022, we have had 48 outings in locations across London, including Wood Green, Kings Cross, Woolwich, Camden, Tottenham Hale, and Brixton, to name a few.

Every experience evangelising on the road is memorable because each conversation is crucial to help those we encounter have a better perception of Christianity and, more importantly, a more robust understanding of who Christ is. We have seen God move so many times as we worship Him in the streets. 

Ibukun, one of our musicians, recalls, ​“As we were evangelising in Wood Green, I came across a young woman and engaged her in a Christ-centred conversation. As I talked, she expressed how grateful she was for me talking to her about God. She said she had walked past us a few minutes earlier as our volunteer, Mezie, was preaching on the mic. She said everything Mezie said on the mic made sense and that she wanted to believe it. As we talked, she expressed how she grew up in a Muslim household but has recently started attending church with her mother-in-law. We were able to share the gospel with her and pray with her. We also tookher phone number to be able to continue to reach out to her and encourage her to continue reading the Bible and seeking God.” 

We are so excited about what God has in store for the streets of London through The Christian Busking Project and we believe He will continue to water His vision and make it grow.