'Walk up'

Across this month my church has been running The Endless Summer of Love, a chance for us to get together and enjoy the summer as a Christian community. There's been something on most days - fun things like watching the cricket at someone's house or a grassroots bike race up a steep hill, as well as good deeds like clearing a property of thistles or praying for working class suburbs.

We've also been heading out to the mall each Wednesday and Friday lunchtime to talk to people about our faith. Not something I would normally do, but I can make myself rise to the occasion. I've tried to keep it pretty contained, for my sanity's sake, and it's proved a real winner. I aim to have two decent conversations each day. I only talk to women who are sitting down and by themselves, because they're more likely to be happy to talk. I don't like to take up too much of their time, so the whole thing usually goes for no more than 10 minutes. The last five times I went out there were only two people who didn't want to talk. Today I got knocked back by four people in a row, so I just called it a day before I got discouraged.

Overall it's been an encouraging experience. I'm not always happy with what I've said, but I do trust that some of it has hit the spot. I've given away a few Bibles and treated people with gentleness and respect. The people I've spoken to have been very polite and have shared sincerely, even when the conversation hasn't gone too deep. And the whole thing has gone some way to assuaging my fear of strangers - who have turned out to be perfectly nice, ordinary people not so very different to me.