Teams of Peacemakers City Patrols were out and about in the Easton and Old Market areas of Bristol on Thursday 31st October. as part of their ‘Be Safe Nights’ Initiatives planned for Bristol 2019/20. They set off from the St. Marks Road at around 6.30 pm, it was dark, wet and cold and the atmosphere outside was charged with the smell of fireworks.
They passed clusters of adults and children dressed in horror costumes going from door to door ‘trick or treating’ along the way, and however innocently this may sound, there is always a chance of danger and ‘bad-will’ so Peacemakers hold that their visible presence as ‘light’ which will help to ensure a certain amount safety in the areas they patrol.
All Hallows Eve or All Saints Eve was first observed as a Christians remembrance and celebration of the lives of devoted loved ones including saints known as hallows, martyrs and other faithful figures of the day.
The Patrols stopped to pray and to remember the life of taxi-driver Colin Wilson, at the very spot where he was robbed and brutally stabbed and died some years earlier. At the time Prayer Patrols rallied members of the Easton Community as well people from across other parts of Bristol to join in a Respect4Life March through Easton and St. Pauls.
Some Christians abstain from eating meats on All Hallows’ Eve, a tradition reflected in the eating of vegetarians foods such as apples, potato cakes, and soul cakes.
Soulcakes are little cakes, made with allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, other sweet spices such as raisins currants with a little cross on top, these were given to the children and poor that would go from door to door begging, singing and offering to pray for the givers and their families, and some even offer to pray for their pets during the month of November. Over time it became a more commercial and seen more as a secular celebration and the soul cakes were replaced by trick or treating giving of sweets, costume parties, carving pumpkins into jack-o’- lanterns, playing pranks, telling scary stories, creating haunting attractions and bonfires.
The Patrols aims to be a beneficial visible presence and a source for good during Halloween and Bonfire Nights. Their Bright Fluorescent jackets can be seen a good distance away, cars. They do not go from door to door offering payers as per the All Hallows Eve Tradition, instead, they are ‘prayed up’ using a modality termed Pre-empt or ‘Operation Presence’.
The patrol from St.Mark’s Road, Easton to Pennywell Road, was fairly unconfrontational until they got to the Goodhind Street area. There they found a medium-sized group of boys, some standing and the others sitting on a low wall-fence. They were swearing and speaking loudly, and a member of the group ran across the road, placed something in a letterbox and shouted ‘come out you cowards.’ Another larger group of young people ran towards the direction of the Patrols. They were hurling fireworks onto the parked cars, shouting, swearing as they randomly threw more fireworks on the pavement and in the middle of the road. The Patrols then gathered in to pray, then formed themselves in a line and stood motionless in silence. Perhaps it was the light from the jackets and the effects of prayers but the older boys scampered and raced towards Pennywell Road, and a short time later the smaller group also fled the scene too. The night ended peacefully as the Teams gathered in at another crime spot along Stapleton Road where a few years ago a Solamilan youth was viciously stabbed to death.
The next ‘Be safe Night’ Patrol will be in the Broadmead area of Bristol Bonfire Night Tuesday 5th November 2019. To join the Peacemakers prayer patrol or City Patrols please telephone the Commissioner on 075 083 90298.
Peacemakers are also advising people to report any of illegal activities that they are aware of through CrimeStoppers or directly to the Police 999 in cases of real emergencies. See Crimestoppers number below or because you are already browsing our website you can find more information about this service on Our Partner Organization page or view directly on their website.
Our 1st stop was in the quiet country town of Evert. Evart is a city in Osceola County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,903 at the 2010 census. And so, this was very much a new experience for the Prayer Patrol crew that went out to pray outside the Town Hall, the smallest one we have seen so far.
There were not many people out on the streets of Evart for the Patrollers to engage with at first, but, just as they had finished praying outside the hall and was about to make their way back to base a group of young people came by. They were friendly and very inquisitive, perhaps due to the British accent. Thankfully we were able to engage them, we explained our mission to them we then asked if they would kindly help us by suggesting whatever they thought were some really important issues facing the Township and its people, especially youths, that we should include in our prayers. Immediately one youth shouted out ‘gangbanging’ then ran away. The others stayed, and they all nodded but one guy spoke up and said: “yes that’s it, it is terrible around here, us youths are terrified, and we only feel safe to walk in groups now.” They appeared quite serious and obviously passionate and vocal that something should be done to safeguard the town and its young people. Unacquainted by the term ‘gangbanging’ we asked them to explain what it meant so that we might know how best to pray.
The young people huddled in, one lad removed his cap held it in his hand and bowed his head in a sign of respect as we prayed. We prayed for them, for the missing children and their families, the politicians, for those who commit these awful crimes, that they would be caught and changed, and prayed too for the future safety of the township. Their faces lit up afterward, they thanked us and rode off as a group towards the quiet ballpark across the road, where we could see the first boy that had shouted out ‘gangbanging’ was sat on a log in the park waiting for them.
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PEACEMAKERS CITY PATROLS will be out on the street of Bristol brandishing the good news in an innovative way on Good Friday.
They are inviting everyone to come and spread the love around town. They will be setting up a stand at the front-side of Debenhams, in Broadmead Shopping Quarter, Bristol from 11 am to 1 pm. There will be balloons, stickers with ‘Life Loves You’ written on them, and of course, a free Easter Egg.
Sometimes people just need a reminder … a little love can go a long way towards healing old wounds. We hope our presence will help to Make Bristol Bett
er – Peacemakers City Patrols.
They are designed in a way that more people may become interested and choose to get involved in spreading the love, so to speak – as well as taking part in something where they see themselves making a difference and becoming a beneficial presence on the planet.
Therefore we would like to invite you to join us next Thursday 4th April 2019, at the Butlers Cafe, upstairs within the Broadmead Galleries Food Court, at 11 am, and here we will unfold our fresh new Vision for Making Bristol Better 2019-2020, over a cuppa!
