An anarchist group in Cardiff was turned away from any acts of protest by being persuaded to spend more time down the pub. What a gem of a story! But it’s true apparently. An undercover policeman (they turn up everywhere these days) infiltrated the group and instead of acting like some agent provocateur and getting them to break the law he dragged them to the pub and got them drinking. He made friends with them; cared for them; and in the process turned them from being an anti-capitalist protest group into a ‘friendship group’.

I love this story. It has a ring of Kingdom to it. (Not the drinking down the pub part – as a Welsh chapel goer I think drinking is bad. Very, very bad.) Here’s a group that could have been involved in violent protest (though they might never have been violent in their life – but it’s possible), a group that may have had some angry people within it and yet one person through the act of friendship managed to turn the whole thing around.

Of course, now the group have found that their drinking pal was actually an undercover cop they’re none too pleased and feel somewhat betrayed – so we can’t take the analogy too far. But imagine what’s possible when the motivation is godly and the friendship is real!

What could you change through the act of friendship?