Word of Life has been involved in social work and outreach to Uppsala for many years and in many different ways. Every day church members are meeting the various needs of those around them and help is being extended through the contacts that have been created through Street Mission, Lördagskul (Saturday Funtime) and help for the homeless. The arms of Jesus reaching out to Uppsala. 

It’s late on a Friday night and the yellow jackets of Word of Life’s Street missionaries glow brightly against the dark night sky. Warming cups of coffee, tea and chocolate are being handed out to passersby, some of them a little more unsteady on their feet than others. A young man from an immigrant background hurries past the table, but suddenly stops, turns on his heel and comes back. “Are you guys from Word of Life?” he asks. And suddenly out of his mouth come words of gratitude for the church’s work and involvement. As a kid, he’d been at the Lördagskul meetings organised by Word of Life in Gottsunda, a suburb of Uppsala. “The sermons I got to hear there I still carry in my heart today and I often let them influence the decisions I make”, he says. His life has taken a different direction to that of his brothers, whose lives have been characterised by violence and brawling. He is so grateful that the church gave him Jesus, and for the love and care he received during his Lördagskul years. It’s exactly this that Word of Life’s outreach to Uppsala is all about – meeting people and having a long-term mindset. That the church is there providing love and care, like seeds falling on good soil.

And these visits, essentially inviting the children to the meetings, also have the effect of building trust and opening up the possibilities for helping, supporting and praying for families who otherwise would probably never have set foot in a church.

Almost 6½ years ago the church began reaching out its helping hand to the city’s many homeless people. Every Saturday morning, a tent can be found set up on Vaksala Square, where the homeless, the vulnerable and the lonely can come and get a cup of coffee and a sandwich. Clean clothes too, if they wish. About 20 people, both men and women, usually turn up around 7 o’clock – some more frozen colder than others, when the number of beds in Uppsala’s two dosshouses fails to meet the demand. The tents do not provide any long-term roof over their heads, but for many of those who come, these moments are worth everything. Here they feel accepted and worthwhile, and on top of that, they get a bit of food in their belly.
“We must never forget that these are real people”, says Ingemar Ahlgren when his turn comes to speak during this inspiration evening. Ingermar heads up this work amongst the homeless. “Many of them have families and children, but something has gone wrong along the way for them, and they’ve lost everything.”

The church’s social and outreach work also includes helping immigrants – amongst other things, with asylum issues. The contact with many of these people comes through both Lördagskul and Street Mission. We also plan to run Alpha Courses during the spring for those who are interested in learning more about Christianity. The outreach ministry is a great network through which the love of Jesus is being given to people in a great variety of ways.