Tell-A-Tourist

Chester, 6–20 July 2012 ....TO BE CONFIRMED

Dave Bennett resigned as leader of the Chester Tell-a-Tourist team in January 2012 after leading this work for 27 years. See his report below of Chester TAT 2011

It is hoped that the committee representing Chester Churches will find a way to continue with this annual outreach.

Tell-A -Tourist (TAT) is a two-week mission in summer, held in the historic city of Chester witnessing to local and overseas tourists. It is organised by a group of twelve churches in Chester with a vision to reach the world for Christ, taking advantage of their strategic location because the world comes to them. Our National Director, Dave Bennett, led the team in Chester for 27 years, including the mission in 2011. In January 2012 he announced his decision to step down as leader. It is hoped that the Chester committee will appoint a new leader.

Report on Chester TAT 2011 Written by Dave Bennett

It was a sunny evening at the Cross in Chester.  The TAT team are inviting people into St Peter’s Church for coffee.  Two team members are busy painting the flags of the Nations in the City tonight.  As the flag of Bahrain is painted people from three other countries are chatting to team members near the sketchboard.  By the end of the evening the flags of 25 nations would adorn the board.

On the benches outside the Church some of the team are entertaining a group of Spanish language students.  After a while one of the team shares his testimony with the group.  They respond by teaching the team a worship song in Spanish.  There follows over an hour of sharing and singing.

Sitting to one side a team member is in deep in conversation with a young man from America.  At first it was playing guitar together and sharing about their lives, now the team member is answering probing questions about Christianity.  At the same time two team members were chatting with a couple from mainland China who seemed to know nothing about Jesus.

While all this was going on outside St Peter’s, inside three team members are in the side chapel praying.  Tourists are sitting with team members at two of the tables.  Among them are two men from Afghanistan who have been in conversation for over an hour.  One of them was asking very good questions about Christianity.  I explained to him the Christian Gospel and what we believe about Jesus.  Before leaving he said to me, “What you have shared makes sense and if Jesus did rise from the dead then it is all true.”

Once again TAT was privileged to have an exhibition stand and literature table in the cloisters of Chester Cathedral.  Yards from the TAT stand is the door out into the Cathedral gardens in the centre of which is Stephen Broadbent’s sculpture of the woman at the well offering Jesus a bowl of water.  Lucy had done a study of this work as part of her degree course and enjoyed sharing with the tourists the meaning behind the sculpture.  She writes, “A group of University students listened as I explained about the sculpture.  I asked them what they thought and one of the girls from Germany began asking questions such as, ‘So what did Jesus come to do?’ and ‘Did he come to reform the Jewish way of life?’  After answering these questions I asked another student what she thought of the sculpture and her reply was ‘it’s amazing, I just can’t get over the stare between them.’ As they left they accepted copies of the Gospel of John.”

A team member welcomed an English couple to the Cathedral.  Although indifferent they did accept a copy of John’s Gospel.  After a while we saw them go into the garden.  I stood by them and asked if they understood the sculpture.  I then showed them the story in the fourth chapter of John.  To my surprise the man read the passage aloud and other people stopped to listen.  He then turned to me and said that there was no way of understanding the sculpture without having read the Bible.  I explained that this is true of life and with a smile they promised to read the rest of the Gospel.

Tom Hockley, who was on the team for the second time, writes; “On Sunday afternoon Will and I took a group of four Spanish lads around the Cathedral.  I realised one of them was very open and was eager to hear about Jesus.  He was grateful for the Spanish and English Gospels we gave him.  The others seemed less interested.  During the next few days we met these boys several times and they came to the final coffee bar.  That evening the boys brought with them a group of girls.  We started playing music with them and letting them play our guitars and sing to us.  All the time I was asking the Lord to show me what to do.  I rushed into St Peter’s and told the team members who were praying about the situation.  I came out of the Church and after singing another song I found myself saying: ‘You know we’re Christians.  I know in Spain you’re very religious.  Well, we want to share with you that Jesus has changed our lives.  It is all about having Him in your heart.’  Then I fumbled, not knowing what else to add, but proceeded by telling them we would teach them a song in English.  After a while they were singing ‘Lord, I give you my heart, I give you my soul, I live for you alone.’  Dave Adam appeared with a handful of Gospels of Luke in Spanish and nearly all of the group accepted a copy.”

On the Friday evening of the Chester Races we split into two groups.  The group that went in the main street met a lot of tourists including a large group from Israel.  Meanwhile the other group walked along the City Wall and down to the racecourse.  Rachel, who was on the team for the first time, writes, “The evening we went down to the racecourse I had three great conversations.  Firstly with a local couple who accepted a John’s Gospel from me as a gift as I shared with them the power of God’s word in my life.  The second was with a girl from Canada who was travelling.  Steph and I spoke with her for two and a half hours and we made a real friendship with her and she was very encouraged by the work we were doing.  Whilst talking with her a lady started speaking to us.  She was a Muslim from Saudi Arabia who is working in the UK.  We had an amazing conversation during which I was able to share the Gospel.  She accepted literature and asked if I could keep in touch with her and continue sharing about my faith.”

Danny Freeman, who has been on the TAT committee since 1980, is now retired and was able to be with the team for the whole two weeks.  Danny has been preaching on the streets of Chester every Saturday for over 30 years.  The team find him a great encouragement and love working with him.  He was with team members by the East Gate Clock one day and stopped a group of English holidaymakers.  He was surprised to find they were from an estate in Huntingdon where Danny had lived 40 years ago and where his father-in-law had been the pastor of a mission.  To Danny’s amazement these people knew folk he remembered from the estate.  One worked in the factory where Danny worked.  Another couple lived in the next road to where Danny had lived.  Danny interspersed this dialogue of discovery with his personal testimony and encouragement to consider Jesus.  Members of the group willingly accepted Scripture booklets.

Tom Kinsey, always took a guitar on the street with him.  I must admit I wondered how God would use this.  Then on the first coffee bar evening Tom saw young man with a guitar in his hand looking up at the Church.  He was from America and only in England for a couple of months. Tom writes, “I went over to him and we hit it off immediately.  There followed a long conversation and a Jam session for about 80 minutes.  He turned up again on the Wednesday a bit late so me and Tom Hockley went out for something to eat with him and we had a good time of sharing.  I saw him again a week later, it was our last evening on the street and I felt God was pushing me to go for it.  So I shared with him again and handed him a Gospel of John, which we went through.  He encouraged me so much I invited him to an event back in Manchester.”

William and I talked with a couple from Myanmar who were Buddhists and knew very little about Christianity.  “You believe in reincarnation”, they said.  We were able to explain the unique message about Jesus being the Saviour.  Carole spoke to a Muslim man from Turkey who told her he had decided to read the Bible.  She was able to give him a Gospel in Turkish and she shared with him the story of the religious man who came to Jesus in John 4 and how Jesus explained to him about being born again.  Kim had a conversation with four Jews from Israel which lasted almost an hour.  It started with her offering to take a photo for them and ended with them accepting Scriptures in Hebrew.  Hindus from India shared with team members about the different Hindu gods. As two of the team listened another went to the literature case for a Gospel in Hindi which they gladly accepted.  As they watched the flag of India being painted on the sketchboard we shared with them our belief that the Creator intervened in human history.  

Prayer plays an enormous part in TAT.  During all the time the team is out witnessing there are at least three team members in the prayer room.  Matt writes, “ I felt prompted to read a passage from Isaiah 11, with which I was not familiar.  It spoke of God’s heart for Moab – modern day Jordan and His desire that people from that place should know Him.  I wrote a prayer on the prayer wall.  Later we discovered that at exactly the same time Dave Bennett had stopped a couple from Jordan as they walked past Browns.  They were tourists and the man was very polite.  At the end of the conversation he accepted a Gospel of John in Arabic.”

One day, near the end of the mission, I went out to try to get photos of the team in action.  I joined the team in one of our favourite places – on the walls by the East Gate Clock.  Within minutes the team members left me there with the literature bag. [I did not know at the time they were changing places with other team members.] A young man stood next to me taking photos.  I realised that I must be TAT and so asked our favourite question. “Hello, where are you from?”  He was Spanish and from Barcelona.  Having visited his home city I began to recall all I could remember from a sightseeing tour of the City.  I asked where he was going in this country and he explained they were on route to Llandudno and then on to Anglesey. “Do you know anything about that area?”, he asked.  He had two girls with him and soon one expressed surprise that I was able to share about Anglesey in such detail.  I explained I was on holiday there only two weeks before.  After answering all their questions about North Wales he asked me “So what are you doing here?”  I was able to explain all about TAT.  I showed them the contents of the literature bag and they gladly accepted a copy of several booklets in Spanish including the Gospel of Luke.  I was able to share the Gospel.  We shook hands as they moved on.  I was amazed at how easy it was to move onto the Gospel.  Later those who had been in the prayer room asked me, “What was happening at 2.40 pm?” because at that time they were praying I’d get a good conversation and that was the time when I felt I must speak with the man from Barcelona.

It was the 31st Chester Tell-a-Tourist.  There were 20 team members this year.  All but four did the whole two weeks.  Seven were new to TAT.  Most were under the age of 30.  I led the team for the 28th time and Carole Atkinson and Matt Coulson led the two groups.  Team members spoke with people from 100 countries and gave away literature in over 40 languages.  The following comments from new team members suggest that TAT is still achieving the aim of inspiring young people to a life of discipleship and involvement in mission.

Tom writes, “TAT has been…..I can’t describe it.  I have seen so many ways to evangelise, so many different responses and God working is so many ways.  Whether it was a two second rejection, a 30 minute deep questioning talk or a relationship built over two weeks, God has worked, this I know with all my heart.”

William says, “ TAT for me was a life changing experience.  I have been challenged by God every single day to seek His glory and love.”

Kim writes, “TAT has made an impact on my life’s and given me a confidence to talk with people about Jesus.”

Jason says, “ TAT is a good training ground for life grand commission to reach the world for Jesus.”

Rachel writes, “I loved every moment of TAT.  I have felt God guide me and use me and as a result I have a stronger passion to share the Gospel with everyone.  I have seen the need for mission, whether in England or abroad, and have witnessed how God can use ordinary people.”

he team had opportunities to have conversations with tourists from 94 different nationalities and gave away literature in 54 languages. The aim was to befriend visitors to Chester and where possible share your faith with them. The team ran an exhibition in the cathedral, evening coffee bars and used short questionnaires to engage people with their views. It is one of the best two-week introductions to mission available in the UK and full training is given. The cost last year was £90 which includes all meals, comfortable accommodation in churches and a contribution towards the cost of the campaign.

Many testify that their two weeks in Chester was a life changing experience. To read some of these stories, click here.

For more information go to http://www.tat.org.uk/