Worship on the streets

New trainee evangelist Aaron Shah from Newcastle aims to share God’s love with people out on the streets through the power of worship. Passers-by have been drawn to the songs, with one man moved to tears saying the music was ‘healing his heart’.

Aaron and wife Rachel currently belong to a Fresh Expressions Church called Beachcombers FX, which is a part of the local Methodist circuit and meets (or did before Covid-19) in various pubs around the North Tyneside coast. Counties meets Aaron to find out more.

Tell us more about worship outreaches…

These are when Christians go out into public places to worship and to allow their worship to be a witness to people who don’t know Jesus. It could be through the people passing by experiencing something of God’s love, presence and peace that often accompanies the worship or it could be through the words of the songs, conversations with team members or opportunities to be prayed for – all things that happen because the worship draws passers by to engage with what we are doing.

However it happens, we have seen time and time again, when we go out to worship, people seem drawn to what we are doing and in doing so, we can point them to Jesus.

Where did the idea for ‘Worship on the Street’ come from?

 I sensed God was calling me into this area for many months. Although I had led worship in churches for years, the idea of leading worship out in public was a totally new idea to me and I didn’t really have a framework or theology for it! And so I told God that if this is really where He was leading me with my ministry, then I needed to see it in the Bible. After a few months of studying the Scriptures and praying about it, I finally came across Psalm 40:3 which says,

“He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.

Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord.”

There it was - I had finally found a biblical example of where worship and evangelism went together! It was then that I knew it was what God was calling me to start Worship On The Streets.

What’s the response from the public?

Some people are curious as it’s quite unusual to hear worship songs out in public, some people come over and as they know we are Christians they want to be prayed for, some people simply listen from afar. It has been a massive gift watching God grow the team so that we can now have people who worship alongside us who can also chat to passers by and offer prayer and Gospels to those that want them.

Any particular stories of individuals who have responded?

There are two stories that come to mind that illustrate the heart of what we are aiming to do when we worship God in public. We led street worship in a small quiet village in Northumberland. Nevertheless, we found a spot to worship in a small patch of grass a couple of minutes’ walk from the nearby cul-de-sac. As it was such a small village, hardly anyone was out walking around. Towards the end of our time however, a young man in his 20’s came over to where we were worshipping - he had heard the music from his house and decided to come out. He wasn’t a Christian but we got chatting and were able to share the Gospel with him and pray for him. He left with a copy of John’s Gospel in hand, saying he would read it. Sometimes we worship in places where there are loads of people walking by, but sometimes, like on this occasion, we are reminded about the parable of the shepherd who left the 99 sheep to find the one (Luke 15:3-6). On occasions like this, it really feels like God sends us to worship in places where He is reaching out to just the one.

Music which heals hearts

 Last year we were worshipping in Newcastle city centre when a man walked by and stood about 10 metres from where we were worshipping. He had been listening to us for a while when suddenly I realised he was crying. As we finished the song we had just been singing, he came over to us and the first words he said to us were, “Your music is healing my heart.” He began to open up to us about some of the struggles he was facing and explained how when he was walking by, there was something about the music that he was drawn to and that was bringing a sense of healing from the pain he had been feeling. We explained that we were worshipping God and that He was using the worship to bring the healing he was looking for. We shared about God’s love for him and were able to pray for more of God’s healing in his life.

Why did you decide to join Counties? 

I was at a point in the ministry where I felt I had done everything I could without extra help. I have a local team who are amazing and who faithfully come out onto the streets with me, pray for me and provide pastoral care and accountability for me and the ministry. However, the vision for Worship On The Streets was always to lead street worship locally and encourage it nationally and so I felt that there was more to do at a national level.

When I came across Counties, I couldn’t believe what a perfect fit it was – I’d never come across a Christian organisation that supported self-employed pioneer evangelists before! It was a massive gift to be accepted onto the Evangelist Training Programme and I’m looking forward to all that God will do through the year. 

Find out more about this ministry: worshiponthestreets.co.uk

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