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Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Easter Outreach

During the month of March the Christian fellowship had an outreach program. I was desperate to do something to lift the Name of Jesus up within my work place. I suggested it to the other two leaders. Straight away they was enthused about it. One of them, Gloria, made a suggestion about its theme. She wasn't even serious about the suggestion either. "Who are you?" she suggested. Immediately I felt God speak to me that this was right. I'm one of those people that if I see an idea I want to run with it. This suggestion really captured my imagination.

So often, people at work tend to just have their head down and do their work drudgingly. We who are followers of Jesus, know of another dimension to life and how it need not be a drudge.

It was suggested we have a literature table in the foyer during the two weeks either side of the Easter break. I emailed everyone in the group for volunteers. Gloria also emailed them for finances. The response was phenomenal! People handed her lots of money; I felt they gave quite sacrificially. In the end we raised over £300! We even got donations from those who don't normally come to any of the meetings. People were also enthusiastic about being at the table to greet people as they either came to work, or were going home.

My wife Andrea is a bit of a photographer and I was keen to use a couple of her photos for the posters which I wanted to put up in the foyer of the Town Hall.

Only about two weeks before we went out to visit Green Park, in London, near Buckingham Palace, to enjoy the sunshine. The weather was warm and the Daffodils were out in force; they looked quite lovely. Andrea used her, recently bought, new camera and got snapping away. I used one of these to for the posters. The other photo was of a butterfly that Andrea had taken during our holiday in France.

The price of such posters are quite expensive and, although people were generous I felt I did not want to waste their money. I was, however, able to find a very reasonably priced place on the Internet. It was in Germany and you had to send it via the Internet. I was concerned the posters would not get back to us in time but they worked very hard and the posters looked stunning! It was so thrilling when I put the posters on the table in the foyer.

We had a prayer meeting prior to the outreach weeks and one of the members suggested a prayer point list. This, I have to say, was very useful and insightful about what we should concentrate on.

I did all I could to get enough literature and tracts to make the table look nice and full. Others too scoured their own churches for literature. We were not prepared for the success we were to experience on that first day. By the end of the day the table looked quite empty with very few leaflets left. Some people stepped into the breach and one person went on his motorbike during his lunch break to get some more from a local Christian book shop. He insisted on paying for them himself. Others also gave bags of new testaments Bibles and expensive books for people to take. They too insisting not to be reimbursed. Each day was similar with us having the problem of keeping the table stocked up.

On the table we had little mini eggs in a basket (People were very willing to take them); and Hot-Cross Buns. We wanted to show people the Grace of God and definitely not worry if they all went. We did our best to keep the basket stocked up. Again, many of the group bought some themselves, they even bought quite expensive, luxury eggs and chocolates.

A Bible was opened and each day a Bible passage was chosen for people to read. A prayer request book was also available for people to write in for us to pray for what was asked.

By the end of the two weeks we had given away lots of booklets and eggs. We had lots of people asking us questions and we had many prayer requests. It has been a very successful time!

Afterwards we had a thanksgiving meeting where all we did was praise God for what He had done.

Steve

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Steve's Testemony

Many people have asked about my story. Over the years God has shown his faithfulness to me. Enjoy.
I was born at a very early age, in 1956, North London. My mother left my father when I was 3 years old, taking me with her to Scotland. After a while she moved to Kent, though I don't remember much about that time.

We then moved to Norfolk in 1962. During that time I was starting to feel lonely and left out. It felt like my mother did not really love me and was more interested in her career as a midwife. I did not have any friends to speak of or can remember.

In 1965 we moved to Brighton when I was about nine. My mother had moved in with another woman who had children of her own: a girl and a boy. Even though I was older than the boy, the boy bullied me and I felt they got more love than I. The other woman also made it quite plain she did not like me one bit.

From Brighton we moved to Chelmsford in Essex. This was around my eleventh birthday. With all this moving I was getting quite unsettled; which came out in my behaviour.

My mother was obviously fed up with me and, after only a year at an ordinary senior school, she sent me to a boarding school; miles away in Dorchester. I could not return home at weekends because of the distance. After a year she moved me to another boarding school in Colchester. However, even though this was closer, my mother still did not want me to come home at weekends. She even complained at end of term times. I felt very lonely and rejected.

During my time at Colchester, God had started to speak to me. This took me on a journey looking for something. I did not know what this something was; but knew I wanted it. It wasn't a blinding flash just a quiet voice.

At this Boarding School it was compulsory to go to church on Sundays. I chose to go to a local Church of England. God spoke to me again. I had got into the habit of going to church but I did not have a relationship with God. I thought He was like other people I knew: uncaring and distant.

I left school after disappointing exam results. My mother and her friend were just as cold and uncaring as ever, saying things that hurt and wounded me. Eventually she kicked me out of the house shortly after my sixteenth birthday. I was working in a chicken factory at the time and a work colleague said I could stay with him for a while. Little did I know that he was a drunkard and played his music loudly at night and at weekends. I even fell into the trap and got drunk a few times myself. I just wanted this loneliness to end.


Unknown to me, my parents had got divorced when I was 14 and the Divorce Court had placed me on a supervision order. Only when I was 16 did I find out and the care officer got me a place to live with two Christians: one eccentric old woman, and one eccentric young man by the name of Eddie. During this time God was still talking to me and his voice seemed to be getting louder. Eddie invited me to his church. It was an ordinary church but God spoke to me again. During the coming weeks I went again and again, each time God spoke to me more and more.

I began to be aware I was unclean, feeling that even though people had done me wrong, I had done wrong to God. So I asked Eddie what I should do about giving my life to Jesus. He told me to think of all my sins and list them. He told me to turn away from them and say sorry to God, asking Him to forgive me. Things were different after that, but I knew there was a long journey ahead.

Later, the care officer found accommodation with house parents so I moved. There I was shown Christian love. I saw God change me and I began to grow as a Christian. God delivered me from smoking and I started going to a church where I would eventually meet my wife.

Having not known what it was to have a father, I asked God if He could show me what it meant for Him to be my Father. Nothing happened straight away so I forgot it.

When I was 17 I decided I would like to find out what had happened to my dad and asked the care officer to help me find him. She did and I was able to meet up with him. He too after a while, because of painful memories, decided not to have anything to do with me and we lost contact.

In 1974 God met me in a very special way.

I had been visiting my then landlady's son just down the road. It was getting late so I left the house and made my way in the direction of home.

Almost immediately I heard an audible voice saying "turn around".

I chatted back my agreement. "Right oh LORD", I said. "It would be nice to take the long way round on to country roads"

So off I headed for a nice pleasant walk on a lovely crisp clear night on to country roads.

Leaving the town and entering the countryside I rounded a bend. Suddenly I felt something amazing. I felt a love from God I'd never felt before. The full moon seemed to be on fire. In response I cried out. "I love you Lord!"

I didn't know what to do. I started to laugh. I wanted to cry. My legs started to buckle from under me so I fell in a ditch. I got out still laughing and crying. I fell on my knees. I was so grateful.

And so it went on. I had lost all track of time, but I think it lasted about an hour. I was dishevelled but full of joy. God had changed me; I had gained a new love for Jesus and wanted to have Him number one in my life.

Call of God
While I was in church one Sunday, a visiting speaker from the London City Mission came to speak. He spoke of all the work they did among the homeless and poor in London. Suddenly I knew God wanted me to live in London and do His work there. I did not know how I should do this and left it for a while. Later, I heard of a scheme called Voluntary Evangelism (VE) that the London City Mission ran in Bermondsey that I joined in 1977, for 7 months. Once I got to Bermondsey I knew London was where I would stay.


Meanwhile, having met my future wife, Andrea, in church and being away from her, in Bermondsey, I really missed her. So much so I went off my food! Hard to believe, I know, but there you are.

While I was a VE, people kept asking me how I became a Christian and what God had done in my life. So I told them this same story. The more I told people, the more God spoke to me saying how much of a Father He had been to me, looking after me all these years. For the first time in my life I started calling God "Father"!

By 1979 it was time for Andrea and I to get married. I had been looking for a place where we could both live. Could I find anywhere? No I could not! I knew God wanted us to live in Bermondsey, but where would we live? Many a time I felt like just giving in, but God picked me up and told me to keep looking. Eventually God showed Himself faithful, like he always does, and a week before our wedding date we found a place in Peckham. It had two rooms with a shared bathroom, toilet and Kitchen.

We were there for a little while when Andrea became pregnant. We knew the rules of the house said no children and we began wondering what would happen. Our pastor at the time (Mr Chris Brown), came to us and told us he had been approached by a local doctor who asked him if he knew of anyone who could be a live in caretaker at the surgery rent-free.

Chris thought of us and we jumped at the chance. It was lovely our own kitchen, toilet and bathroom! It even had a garden, which my wife was thrilled with. Later we were to find out that God is faithful in all our housing needs - but that's another story!

Now after many years of belonging to Jesus, I know how God is faithful. The Bible says, "Though my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will receive me." Psalm 27:10

I have three grown up children whom all believe in Jesus, as I do, and I know God has got more blessings for me in the future.