Night Vision

URBAN GORILLAS >>> Dave & Kate [Sheffield]

2010-01-07T21:20:00.022Z

On our first night at the Urban Gorilla club night, we spent almost the whole evening dancing and worshipping Jesus. As the night came to an end, a couple of us got chatting to some of the bouncers. They joked around with us at first, and then we asked one of them whether there was anything he wanted prayer for. The others laughed, but nonetheless he admitted that he was interested and that he wanted to talk about it some more. He asked us all sorts of questions – what is prayer? how do you pray? did we pray five times a day facing east? do you need to be quiet to pray? what kind of things do we need to pray for?

We told him about Jesus and shared some of our own experiences of prayer, then after a while this lad with a big orange cross on his t-shirt turned up and joined in the conversation. The bouncer ended up asking us to pray for his migraines (which would sometimes get so bad he couldn't work for weeks) and for his dad (who was a depressive alcoholic). Eventually we said goodbye to the bouncer, but carried on chatting to the lad with the orange cross. He explained that he was a Christian and had been coming to Urban Gorilla with his sister for months. They had been praying that they'd meet other Christians to reach the club with, and in particular that they'd get an opportunity to speak to this very bouncer, who turned out to be head of security for several local clubs!

Another night I went to sit down for a rest after a good long session worshipping on the dancefloor, when a guy came and sat next to me. To begin with I wasn't sure whether to talk to him, because I didn't want to come across as chatting him up – after all, the reason I was there was to tell people the good news and to love them. In the end I decided to get straight to the point, so I leaned over and asked him whether he believed in Jesus. He looked confused and asked me to repeat what I had just said. I asked him again, "Do you believe in Jesus?" He was naturally quite surprised by my question, but he was intrigued and we got chatting. Over the coming weeks he regularly came back and asked what God was speaking to me about. After a few weeks, it got to where he would open up to us about all sorts of situations that were occurring in his life – he said that he felt good about himself after chatting with us (we would tell him this was the Holy Spirit at work), and he just seemed so amazed that we were interested and willing to listen.

In fact, he was so amazed that he went back home and told all his friends. The following week he brought along a friend (who doesn't normally go clubbing) just so that he could talk to us. The week after this he brought along a few more friends. Week after week, we would sit and chat with them in the chill-out area of the club. It got to where we had queue of his friends waiting to talk to us about the mess and mayhem that was going on in their lives – family issues, problems with drugs and alcohol, relationships, work, anything and everything. Sometimes we would just listen, sometimes we were able to bring the conversation round to Jesus, sometimes we would pray with them, and one week the original guy asks about the Bible – so I whip out my copy and we end up reading one of the stories together and talking about what it meant. This was a real answer to prayer. The following week he told me that he'd been reading the Bible on the Internet with an online study guide. A few weeks later he told me that he'd seen a homeless man struggling with a number of heavy bags and offered to help him, and ended up chatting to him for hours. He said that he didn't normally do that kind of thing – the Holy Spirit was clearly at work in his life!

MULTI-STOREY CARPARK, 3AM >>> Jon Oliver [Cambridge]

2009-04-29T01:26:00.003+01:00

I think some of the best nights out with the street team were not just those when we had amazing conversations, or prayed with people, or helped people, or got them home safely - but those nights when we were able to reach into people's lives and offer them something far more. I remember one night in particular, it was about 3am and a couple of us were walking past a multi-storey carpark behind one of the biggest clubs in town, when we heard the sound of crying from far above us. We hurried into the building, and climbed several floors before we found the source of the deafening wails: a young woman collapsed on the floor, convulsed with tears. When this woman - Stephanie - saw us approach, she just about managed to get to her feet, and then my friend threw her arms around her in a big hug, and simply held her until the sobs subsided. It turned out that Stephanie had been in an abusive relationship, which had ended badly that night and, as we talked to her, it became apparent that Stephanie assumed she had to have a boyfriend in order to feel validated, that she needed the affirmation (however distorted and abusive) of a significant other in order to feel good about herself. She really didn't seem to think she had any other option. However, through our conversation I really feel she began to realise that her value as a human being is not dictated by how much sex (or how many partners) she has, and that she didn't actually have to sell herself short this way.

It seems to me that, if we are called to make the teachings about our Saviour attractive (check out Titus 2v10), this isn't just about fancy lighting or new technology in our church services; this has to be about presenting the good news in a light which truly reflects the fact that it is good news. To the majority of the people we meet, for example, the idea of pre-marital celibacy is not particularly attractive, and is not our number one selling point. However, to others, such as Stephanie, the possibility often simply hasn't occurred to them – and the opportunity, the permission almost, not to have to give themselves up so easily, is genuinely and deeply attractive.

[ This Bournemouth club chaplaincy story can also be found in NIGHT VISION ]

RIGHT HERE IN THIS ROOM >>> Steve Leach [Elevation Records]

2009-04-26T21:40:00.047+01:00

Here: Steve Leach's debut album 'Right Here In This Room' is an absolute stonker. It makes you want to dance and shout and praise God and then dance some more and grab other people to join in and then dance some more and praise God some more and then dance dance dance. Buy it! This is DJ-led worship at its very best.

This is what Steve says: "I am passionate about exploring new ways of worship. I got into DJing over 10 years ago because I wanted to lead worship that connected with the real world in which I live, rather than the Christian bubble in which I spent each Sunday morning." This quest led Steve to the likes of Fat Boy Slim, Basement Jaxx, Groove Armada, Daft Punk and The Chemical Brothers, and he hopes to make music which achieves a similar balance between traditional band music and electronic dance music - and being a 'proper' musician himself rather than a DJ-turned-producer has certainly helped Steve's sound stand out from the crowd. Mixing bang-up-to-date musical styles with inspiring spoken word samples, Steve has created a highly creative and musically excellent album, rather than just using a computer to churn out um-cha um-cha! Steve says: "It sounds like big bass lines, beats and general noisiness, allowing powerful messages to be emphasised musically. It's got your favourite speakers, recorded, sampled and rearranged digitally over synth-heavy jiggery-pokery and technical yet creative wizardry."

Featuring samples from Steve Chalke, Mike Pilavachi, Louis Giglio, Matt Redman and many others, 'Right Here...' ranges from the up-tempo to the chilled-out, but always with a sound that is fresh, funky, full of invention and full of faith and hunger for God. Title-track 'Right here in this room' is a slow-build stormer and 'Simon Peter' is guaranteed to get you dancing, but the stand-out track on the album has to be the bizarrely-titled 'v4'. Rammed full of unexpected musical twists and turns, rapid-fire breakbeats and infectious lyrics, 'v4' will stick in your mind and in your soul, inspiring you to move your body and worship your Lord long after the music stops.

Steve says: "God has always loved his people delighting themselves in his creation and acknowledging him. And I, for one, am glad his creation not only includes sunsets, waterfalls, mountain-top views, nice people, Yorkshire tea, waves, beaches, maple syrup, Boggle™, whistling and so on; but also that it includes synthesizers, drum machines, samplers, dance-floors, legs, flashing lights, smoke machines, and rather loudspeakers!

"I enjoy delighting myself in his presence via the gift of all these things and hope you can too whilst listening to this CD. I'm not trying to make it all cool, I'm trying to bring it down to earth. We don't have to wait until we get to heaven for worship that's so spirit-filled and truthful it's electric. This is something that could and should be happening... right here in this room!"

[ Right Here In This Room... buy it HERE today! ]

PERFECT TIMING >>>Doug Ross [Bristol]

2009-04-22T04:24:00.023+01:00

I'd say one of the biggest challenges we had while running the Rubiks Cube night in Bristol came from within, in the form of one of the club's bouncers: a five-and-a-half foot, twenty-two stone, no-necked, skin-head, hard-ass Scotsman called Ray. His past included multiple family problems, gang-related violence, regular run-ins with the police, a spell in the army, and having to deal with the memory of people he had killed. Our main goal at the Rubiks Cube was to build relationships with the people we came into contact with, and Ray was to be no exception. This wasn't easy to begin with, since the most we ever heard come out of his mouth was a few words of filth, he wouldn't look us in the eye, and at times he was threatening towards us. However, after about six months, Ray showed signs of change – conversations which lasted more than a single sentence, the occasional glimpse of eye-contact, and he even started asking questions about what we were doing and why we did it.

Over the following months our friendship grew, and then suddenly he dropped a bombshell. Before the club filled up one night, he told us that he needed prayer (we had offered almost every week) because he had just been diagnosed with skin cancer, and the doctors had given him less than three months to live. A short time later, he was admitted into hospital and was soon bedridden. For such a proud, so-called hard man, this was torture, and we really felt his pain. During one of our prayer sessions we felt God call us to focus our energies on prayer and support for Ray. We decided to visit him daily, bringing gifts of ice-lollies, DVDs, and even a Bible.

I remember one muggy summer's day, when I went to the hospital for my daily visit. It was a Friday afternoon and we were in the middle of watching a film, when Ray turned to me and said, "You know what you guys have, I want it!" I was gobsmacked. We spent a while talking about Jesus, and then we prayed together. Close to tears myself, I saw Ray's sincerity as he prayed for salvation with a tear rolling down his cheek. Later on, as I was leaving, Ray turned to me with a smile and asked whether I'd be in the next day. I had family commitments that weekend, so I told that I'd see him the following week. Three days later, on Monday afternoon, I called to let him know that I was on my way, but his mobile phone was answered by the ward nurse who told me that Ray had passed away during the night. I was devastated. But to this day I have the lasting memory of him pouring out his heart out to God, and I know that everything was in God's perfect timing.

[ Excerpt from The Rubiks Cube, Doug's chapter in NIGHT VISION ]

JESUS LOVES PORN STARS (AND DOOR SUPERVISORS) >>> Michael French [Bournemouth]

2009-04-21T00:43:00.017+01:00

Tonight was an amazing night. It started with a visit to a local cafe, where a bunch of recovering addicts were DJing to each other. There was free pizza and about nine amazingly friendly, welcoming guys. Then I went on to the Opera House in Boscombe (not to listen to opera!), for a DJ night with the legendary Carl Cox.

The last time I was at the Opera House in an official capacity as Nightclub Chaplain, one doorman in particular had been a bit funny with us. While we were there, we had helped a girl who was distraught and had wet herself. Her boyfriend was inside the club, and I asked this doorman if I could go in and find him. He said, "Mate, you'll never find him, there's 2000 people in there!" But I had a photo, so I went in and spotted him immediately, slumped in a corner. I asked him to come outside with me and, as I led him out, the doorman said, "Oh my God, that was quick. What's that, divine intervention or something?" I just said, "Might be."

That was last time. So tonight I arrived and was waiting outside for a friend to get there, as I had a spare ticket for her, and while I waited made small talk with the doorstaff. One of them found my hair hilarious. He said it was porn star hair, and told me I looked ike Ron Jeremy (a large, balding porn star, with a thick black mustache). Not a comparison I would make! Now, I don't know many porn star's names, but I had recently ordered fifty 'Jesus Loves Porn Stars' Bibles from the USA. Funnily enough, these bibles have a story in them about Ron Jeremy, and how he had found faith in God. In the end, I had to nip back to the car to get my friend's ticket, so I picked up a porn star bible too, and gave it to the doorman when I got back. He was astounded, and said, "What are the chances of that!?!?" "I know," I said, "maybe you can read it."

Then when I walked out at the end of the night, about 5am, he shook my hand and said, "Amazing, I will read it!" It was only then that I reminded him who I was from our previous encounter. He was shocked, as he hadn't put two and two together. So random; the oddity of that encounter compared to the last. But both had left the same taste in his mouth. He told me any time I wanted, I could just show up and he would let me in. Divine intervention indeed!

[ You can read more about Michael's journey here on his BLOG ]

ADDICTED TO BASS >>> Graham Robinson [Belfast]

2009-04-20T00:18:00.049+01:00

Some people love the mountains,
Some people are into golf,
Others prefer coffee and DVDs.

It's the drums that give me life,
A wall of sound puts a smile on my face.

Hundreds of people queue outside a club,
Their place of worship,
Electricity of expectancy,
Impatience and desire.

The bassline thumps,
The crowd jumps,
This my place
To be consumed by the presence of God.

In the midst of a dark dirty throbbing mass of people
I lose control in Worship,
Here I push my body to its limit in honour of our King.
Bring it on David and the heavenly angels,
For these few hours I challenge you
To a dance off.

Later on the house lights come on,
But everyone keeps on dancing,
Squeezing every last drop out of this encounter.
Mascara all down that girl's face,
Sweat in his hair,
A bright red face over there,
But no one cares.

We're all too busy grinnin'.

Well done Mr DJ,
A fine sermon of beats, rhythm and bass.

I step outside, the cold air bites,
Wrestling with burger vans,
Into a taxi,
Back home.

Sit back, relaxing into tomorrow,
Members of the congregation
Discuss how much it rocked our world.
What else is going on?
__________________

That's club culture to me. The same place where organised crime sells potentially fatal drugs to underage kids, where drinks are spiked, louts fight, and thugs are paid to control them. So I want to encourage all you Christian clubbers to keep going - and let me tell you, this encouragement is really important, because I've found it can be hard to be a Christian clubber. It's easy to doubt when you hear the lies that clubs aren't good places for Christians to be, that it's too dangerous, that I should jack it all in, keep everyone happy, repress myself. But then I listen to 'Racing Green' by High Contrast, or the Thin White Duke remix of Royksopp's 'What Else is There?' and I just can't help but thank God that he made sequencers; I just can't help wonder what the Psalmists would have done with an 808 drum machine; and I just can't fight the smile appearing on my face when I see this vision of Jesus standing there nodding his head along to the beat going "OH YEAH!"

[ Adapted from Shine Angel, Graham's chapter in NIGHT VISION ]

WELCOME TO NIGHT-VISION.ORG >>> Jon Oliver [Cambridge]

2009-04-19T22:21:00.122+01:00

Hello, and welcome to Night-Vision.org! Let me introduce myself, my name is Jon, and until last year I was chaplain to the nightclubs in Bournemouth. This was very possibly the most amazing job in the world - not only did I get paid to go clubbing, but I was also allowed to stay up long past my bed-time whenever I wanted, exploring the possibilities of church and mission among those who live, work and play in the nightlife. So a few years ago, someone came along and asked me if I'd be interested in writing a book about mission in club culture. But to be honest, I didn't really think my experiences deserved a book of their own, and I certainly didn't want to set myself up as some sort of expert who knew all the answers. The thing I thought would be really useful is if someone gathered together a whole bunch of different stories - not promoting a specific model or way of doing things, but simply inspiring us all to get on with the task of discerning the movement of God in our own area, and motivating us all to each develop our own ideas and approaches. Then someone else came along and asked me why I didn't do that instead. And, well, that's how Night Vision: mission adventures in club culture and the nightlife came into being. And that's what Night Vision is all about - all sorts of different stories, from all sorts of people, having all sorts of exciting adventures in mission, all over the place.

Now I hope I don't sound big-headed if I say I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. Not that I necessarily think that's down to me, especially as some of my favourite chapters are those written by the other contributors. (I won't say which though, because I don't want to upset anyone else!) But don't take my word for it - this is what Graham Cray (Bishop of Maidstone, and soon to be Archbishops' Missioner to Fresh Expressions) said:

"A variety of approaches are described here... examples to enrich our imaginations as we engage with our context... If you are considering engaging in club or night life ministry, here is an excellent primer. If you are called to a different missionary context, here you will find inspiration for your step by step faith and obedience."

I want to make a couple of things clear though. Firstly, Night Vision isn't some sort of 'How To' book. The idea isn't to tell people how they should get involved in mission in club culture, but simply to show how some other people have done. Secondly, Night Vision isn't meant to be the last word on the matter. Rather it's just a few different thoughts from a few different people; a small selection of the innumerable stories that could have been included. And this is where Night-Vision.org comes into play, because it's here that, over time, a much bigger selection of stories will hopefully be gathered together... So, if you've got any stories about mission adventures in club culture, or if you know anyone else that does, send them our way... If you've got a new ideas for how to become involved in God's mission in the nightlife, get in touch... If you want to contact anyone who has contributed their stories either to the book or the website, to find out more about their projects, drop us a line... If you've been inspired to prayerfully and missionally get stuck into your local club scene, and you want to get in touch with other people who might be interested too, hopefully we can help out...

You see, for ages a whole bunch of us have wanted to see some sort of online meeting space for Christians involved in club mission stuff, and our hope is that Night-Vision.org can be the stimulus for that. Maybe this blog will be enough? Maybe we'll just get something going and then transition into something else later? Maybe someone else has got a better idea for how to do this? I dunno. Let's wait and see, and in the meanwhile let's hear some of your stories!