This past Wednesday we started the first of hopefully many ‘Campus Treasure Hunts’. The general premise is quite simple: we ask God for clues, go out and hunt for the ‘treasure’, then seek pray for and bless whoever we find.
Despite the trepidation and spiritual attack that seemed prevalent among most of the guys planning to come, it is a testimony in itself that ten people showed up to give this thing a go. We hung out for a bit, then spent some time worshipping and ministering to each – toppi ng ourselves up with the Holy Spirit where we had leaked. Following this we spent a short time filling out the gaps in our ‘treasure maps’ with clues in the following categories: Location, Name, Appearance, Prayer, Unusual, Smell, Number, Sounnd. Then we split up into two groups and between ourselves decided where we should start the search.
Fast forward a couple of hours to when we reunited after the hunt, and the nervousness of the early afternoon had been replaced with a joy and excitement – both about what had happened while we were out and also in anticipation about how God would use this into the future. We didn’t see anyone saved on the street, but we had the opportunity to pray with and prophesy over a number of people who might never have encountered Jesus otherwise. To whet your appetite here are a few quick examples of what went on:
“Having left the house to head for uni we decided to first check out the bus stop* outside our starting point due to the clues that other people had: yew tree, tree, corner of wilbraham road. As soon as we turned the corner we saw a lady with a walking stick who had short, curly hair, gold glasses and a blue jacket. So we quickly parked up and had to literally chase after her (in a non-threatening way, of course!) before she got home. The two guys who had most of the clues approached her and asked if they could pray for anything for her. She agreed and even commented that she was suffering from back pain. So then and there the guys prayed for her and blessed her. She attends a 7th Day Adventist church and so was even keen to find out where we were from. It was so encouraging to have such an accurate find after just 30 seconds of looking – this treasure hunting is easy!!! Or so we thought… ”
“One of our groups was sat on the steps by the library when a guy with a yellow top walked past. They went and asked if his name was Tom. It was actually Dan but his friend who was standing next to his was called Tom. So the team chatted with him (Dan) and he shared that he was generally worried and was struggling with some relationship issues. He agreed to let the team pray for him. While they were praying it became obvious that he was having a real encounter with the Holy Spirit – every time something was prayed that hit the mark (e.g. exam stress) he visibly responded. He left feeling encouraged and blessed – awesome.”
“Having approached and struck out on one tall man who was wearing both blue and green, we saw another tall guy with a bright blue jacket and a beard across the street holding a sign for a club night. We approached him and asked if his name was Steve or Paul. He said no but, unpurturbed, we proceeded to ask if he was feeling well today or if he had any pain anywhere. He said that he was fine but his friend piped up and told us that he did have a headache so we asked if we could pray for him. His immediate response was “no” to which I replied it was no problem. He then instantly changed his mind and decided it would actually be ok. So I prayed a simple prayer for Jesus to heal him of his headache. Unfortunately I suddenly came over all self-conscious, not knowing where to look when praying – people don’t close their eyes like in church!! – and so ended up wrapping things up quickly and moving on. Next time we’ll do some more follow-up, but it was still ace to be able to bless him.”
Who knows what God did in those people? If He actually healed those who were sick? But what we do know is that we created a space in which He could move. In terms of stats, we found twelve “treasures” and got to pray with seven of them. We’re still complete novices at this and probably missed a number of significant opportunities on account of our inexperience/desire to avoid potentially awkward situations. But if was so encouraging to see a group of people stepping out and taking a risk and we know that if we continue to do so, God will use us in greater ways than we can possibly imagine.
Fancy a piece of the action? We’ll be heading out every Wednesday afternoon. Speak to Ralph for more info!
And if you want to know the story behind “Treasure Hunts” you’d be well worth checking this book out (or if you’re in a rush, just read Acts 9):
*Clues from Treasure Maps are in bold
