Summer Prayer Letter 2025

Urban Impact Christian Ministries
ROCK STREET CHAPLAINS
Prayer Letter – Summer 2025
 

1. LOOKING BACK

Dear Praying Friends, When we think about how stormy our winter was and how sunny our spring was, it is a reminder of how different each season can be. With a ministry so dependent on the weather, it means the work of ROCK Street Chaplains can be so different from one season to the next. While many nights had to be postponed in the winter, come late spring it is full-on with students finishing exams and the next cohort of ‘18’-year-olds start trying out the nightclubs.
 
This spring, there have been many opportunities to share the gospel with folks on the streets during the day and at night around the bars and nightclubs in Northern Ireland and Scotland. Our teams have met and chatted to lots of people from all walks of life, some who have never been in church before and have very little time for the things of God. It’s been a blessing to share the gospel with them and show them their need of a Saviour.
 
During the winter season we distributed one thousand Gospels of John to homes in the Lurgan and Banbridge areas. We were chased out of gardens by a few family dogs but had many conversations with people at houses during this special outreach. Please pray that these gospels will be read and souls will come to the Saviour.
 
Our teams of street chaplains have been faithfully operating in Dundee, Newcastle, Lurgan and Ballymoney, and plans are in place for festivals in the coming months. Please pray that many bibles and tracts will be given out and well received. We believe God will be working in lives this summer. We should never underestimate the power of a gospel tract even if it is thrown away. I heard recently of a woman who saw a tract in a bin. The lady took the tract out of the bin and read it. After reading it she went and asked a member of a shop’s security staff who happened to be a Christian could they explain the message to her, they gladly shared the message of the gospel to her. Please pray that the lady will trust the Lord as Saviour.
 
One of our street chaplains was doing some outreach in a town during the day and called into a shop to buy some water, he was wearing the Street Chaplains t-shirt. A lady came over to him and asked him what he was doing and who Street Chaplains were. He spent twenty minutes talking to the lady about the things of God. The lady was very concerned and worried and fearful of the future. What an opportunity to share that the Lord Jesus Christ can bring peace to troubled souls.

Below are a few reports from our thee main teams:
 

1. Ballymoney

The ladies in the Ballymoney team go out earlier at the weekend and have had many opportunities to chat with shop assistants and bouncers at the doors of bars and nightclubs in the town. On one occasion a man confronted them and said they were handing out junk mail. The ladies said the tract was a message from God for the people of Ballymoney and not junk mail; they went on to explain the gospel to the man. Please remember the Ballymoney team in your prayers as they could do with more help. We hope over the winter to continue to develop our ministry in Ballymoney. Ballymoney main street has more bars and nightclubs on it than any other town in Northern Ireland!
 

1. Dundee

Dundee Street Chaplains have had a few new volunteers join them and this has helped greatly with our outreach. Please pray for ongoing ministry in the bars and nightclubs as the night club chaplains are allowed into premises to help care and share the gospel.
 
Also we hope to start daytime chaplains in the city in the near future as there is a big need and great opportunity to develop this ministry in cafes, shops, museums and also among the homeless and addicted in the city centre. There have been many conversations with bar staff on quiet evenings inside the bars, sharing the gospel and praying for this special outreach.
 
In the coming months I hope to travel over to Scotland more often to take meetings and promote and develop the work of Street Chaplains in the city. There is such a need there.
 

1. Newcastle

The work at the hot drinks Safe Zone in Newcastle continues to be a steady ministry with conversations with young and old each weekend. We have chatted to a young lad who came to our table each week without fail, however not so long ago he told us he had been called up to join the army in his country. He asked for prayer and we gave him some tracts and a New Testament to read and promised him that we would remember him in prayer. Please pray for his safety and also that he will come to a saving faith in the Lord Jesus.
 
Pray for our safety too. Last week a young man took issue with our faith and ransacked our hot drinks tables, throwing our flasks across the street. It’s the first we have been targeted for who we are and it’s a reminder of how the Lord has protected us for many years, even last week as no harm came to us. We have asked the Police just to allow him to apologise and buy a new flask and we pray he would reflect on his need for a Saviour.
 
Please remember the work in Newcastle as we need young people to join our team.
 

1. St Patrick’s Day Outreach

Many Tracts have been given out in housing estates in the Mourne area, in Annalong I had a very good conversation with a man who has gone to church all his life but sees no need to put his trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.
 
Another lady was not happy with the tract as she said she always felt guilty when she read them and gave it back to me. Please pray that God will move in the lives of these people.
 

1. LOOKING FORWARD

Prayer requests are from all the teams in Scotland and NI:

• That the tracts given out last year and conversations we had would lead to the Lord bringing Salvation to all we have talked to.
• For safety/wisdom for the teams on the streets at night.
• That the weather will be favourable. The storms over the past few months have hindered our ministry.
• As I meet weekly with the Warrenpoint footballers as their chaplain, that relationships would deepen.
• For other young people to catch the vision and join us. The majority age of our teams is 60+. Where are all the young people?? It is their generation we are reaching.

 
Please pray for our support that God will continue to supply all our needs. If you would like to support us personally, please see the link and the bottom of the page.
 
On behalf of the teams thank you for your continued prayers and interest shown in this ministry, we trust you have a blessed Easter and a summer of God’s blessings.
 
Andy & Marina Burns
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OUR BOOK: Feet on the Street: The Story of ROCK Street Chaplains
Buy in local Faith Mission shops or online here: www.ebay.co.uk/itm/325894511937
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2 Kilkeel Rd, Annalong, Down, BT34 4TH
www.dundeechaplains.org.uk | [email protected]
07914751466
 
If you would like to support our ministry, the bank details are:
RBS – Sort code: 83-50-00 | Account Number: 10308447
Or donate via our website