Candace is a student at St Aldates in Oxford. This is the story of them reaching their community during the early hours of May Morning...
Jesus said to his disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields” (Matthew 9:37-38). When thinking about the 1st of May this year, I was reminded of Jesus’ words “The harvest is great.”
In a world where so many people are seeking for truth and exploring many different avenues to find this truth, it is wonderful to know that Jesus is the truth, the way and the life (John 14:6). However, I admit that at times I find myself in the position of a doubter, where I fall into the trap of wondering is this harvest, that Jesus is referring to, really that great? After May Morning I was in no doubt as to the answer.
As one of Oxford’s many age-old odd traditions, May Morning is an annual celebration to mark the coming of Spring. At the unwelcoming hour of 6am a choir comes to sing on Magdalen Bridge, which is then followed by a host of random festivities including; Morris Dancing, Samba Drummers and this year, a woman spinning on a circular metal wheel doing acrobatics (not too sure what this was but like many traditions in Oxford you ‘just go with it’). Naturally, this gathers massive crowds who have either been up on an all-nighter pub crawl or woke up early to see what exactly May Morning is about.
So, to reach this crowd, the student community at St. Aldates thought what could be more appetising than to hand out hot Bacon Sandwiches? Food and evangelism make for a powerful combination! When Jesus and his disciples fed the five thousand (Matthew 14:13), people's physical needs were met as well as their spiritual ones. How awesome that we serve a practical God!
So, led by Jodie, one of our Student Workers, we decided to go out on the streets and distribute free bacon sandwiches, coffees and teas to the community on May Morning. It was a blast. We ended up serving roughly 1,300 sandwiches! But, even greater than this, conversations were had in which seeds were sewn. When people asked, “Why are you doing this?” or “What is the catch?”, we had the pleasure of sharing that there was none. We just want to serve our community as Jesus did - a great conversation starter!
Not only were the truths of Jesus shared in a world that is so desperately
seeking truth but those who were part of the serving team were encouraged that the harvest is indeed plentiful! There always has been and always will be a longing in the hearts of individuals for the hope and peace that comes with Jesus. What a pleasure to be able to share this with the community starting off with a bacon sandwich in the morning!
