PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
Britains late-night street stories are familiar to all: binge drinking,
loneliness, gang culture, knife and gun crime, violence and fear. Barely
a week goes by without another incident breaking on the news. But that s
not the whole story. Since 2003 a new breed of help has been on hand to
dispel the tension and bring some desperately needed hope back to our
urban communities. These are the Street Pastors, and the brand new book
from Les Isaac tells their story from the man at the heart of it all. It
was back in 2003, against a background of sensational headlines and
increasing fear, that Les Isaac was part of a group of eighteen
concerned individuals who decided to do something about the chaos,
setting up the country s first street pastor s scheme in Brixton,
London.
Six years later there are over 125 Street Pastors teams at work
around the country, with more than 3,000 Christians involved. With
enquiries coming in from all over the world, the time is right to tell
the full story of this remarkable interdenominational response to the
problems which plague our towns and cities. Not that this is the first
time that the Street Pastors have been written about: the press have
been hungry for the story and articles have appeared in The Times and
several prominent local papers. Even the Scottish Parliament has praised
the scheme s simple but innovative thinking . Les Issac's story of how
he founded and developed Street Pastors is an example of faith in action
and emblematic of building up the kingdom of God. Street Pastors works
because it recognises both our common humanity and common responsibility
in bringing hope to the communities we share. This story should serve
as a source of inspiration for all who work to restore society, to raise
the fallen and to help our young people know the warmth of God s love
and welcome. Dr. John Sentamu, Archbishop of York