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✚ Talking to Godfrey Birtill✚ Multiply in Kenya

✚ London Jesus Centre

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#69two/2005FREE

TALKING TOGodfrey Birtill

12-15

BWANA YESU ASEFIWE!Multiply East African visit

17-19

THIS IS THE JESUS REVOLUTIONJesus Army Firestarters in Birmingham

20-21

MOVING IN AND MOVING ONJesus Centres

22-24

Church Alive 3-4 Changed Lives 6-7 Revival Fires 8 Prison Page 9Prophetic Word 10-11 Church Growth Conference 16

Spiritual Search 26-27 Pioneers 28-29 Jesus People Shop 30

National Events 30 Electronic Postbag 31 Phones 32© 2005 Je sus Fel low ship Church, Nether Hey ford, North amp ton NN7 3LB, UK. Re-production in any form re quires writ ten per mis sion. The Jesus Fel low ship does not nec es sar i ly agree with all the views ex pressed in ar ti cles and in ter -views print ed in this mag a zine. Pho to graphs in this mag a zine are cop y right Je sus Fel low ship Church un less oth er wise not ed. The Jesus Fellowship is part of Mul ti ply Christian Net work. Both the Jesus Fellowship and Multiply Christian Network are members of the Evan gel i cal Alliance UK.

THE JESUS FEL LOW SHIP CHURCH, which is also known as the Jesus Army and in cludes the New Cre a tion Chris tian Com mu ni ty, up holds the his tor ic Chris tian faith, be ing re formed, evan gel i cal and char is mat ic. It practises believer’s bap tism and the New Tes ta ment reality of Christ’s Church; be liev ing in Al mighty God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit; in the full divinity, aton ing death and bodily res ur rec tion of the Lord Jesus Christ; in the Bible as God’s word, fully in spired by the Holy Spirit. This Church desires to wit ness to the Lord ship of Je sus Christ over and in His Church; and, by holy char ac ter, righteous society and evan gel i cal tes ti mo ny to de clare that Je sus Christ, Son of God, the only Saviour, is the way, the truth and the life, and through Him alone can we find and enter the king dom of God. This church proclaims free grace, jus ti fi ca tion by faith in Christ and the sealing and sanc ti fy ing baptism in the Holy Spir it.

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RAIN DOWN!Alive Festival Weekend

5

FIGHTING MEN!Men Alive for God

25

Comments from Noel Stanton and members of the Apostolic Team, Jesus Fellowship UK/mJa churchALIVEchurchALIVE

soldiers at night

IT’S ALMOST 1am, late on Saturday night in April, 2005 and Birmingham’s city centre is a hive of buzzing night life. Suddenly several hundred young men and women arrive and march down the main street, cheering, singing, inviting a response. Their clothing is not uniform, but almost all display a red cross, the cross of the Christians. It is evident that they are showing a fi ghting, dar-ing, “in your face” brand of Christian-ity, the kind that might appeal to UK youth looking for a revolutionary life and lifestyle with a cause worth fi ghting for. Most of today’s youth say they have little time for nominal, dull, boring, traditional Christian religion. This marching group is far from nominal and dull. Here is raw, glowing enthusiasm. These are soldiers of the modern Jesus army. The excite-ment they are show-

www.jesus.org.uk

ing stems from God. They have been baptised as believers in Jesus Christ, im-mersed in water to indicate the burial of their old life and baptised in the power of the Holy Spirit. This march-ing group believes that Jesus saves and heals today. They speak in tongues in a spiritual prayer-language. Jesus Christ has changed their lives and they are determined to tell others. As members of mJa, the modern Jesus army, their weap-ons are Holy Spirit energy, the bible, a dynamic of love for people, the telling of Jesus Christ’s power to change lives and bring spiritual new birth, and an invita-tion to pray a prayer of faith for this to happen and then be baptised. This mJa group are angered by the numbers of today’s young people caught up in an ur-ban culture of evil - crime, drugs, knives,

guns and gangs. They want to draw them to another way, to a faith that has collective life and power and is ex-citing, dramatic and life-changing, a way which brings great comradeship with a call to “carry your cross” and face chal-lenges with bravery and determination. It is a call to battle, a call to gutsy Chris-tianity, the revolu-tionary faith of the fi rst Christians. It is warfare for the souls and lives of people. Through the cen-turies this kind of outgoing Christian-ity has produced he-roes and heroines of the faith with much persecution and countless martyrs. These mJa sol-diers reject the self-satisfi ed western version of Christian-ity. For them their faith must be the self-denying, sacri-fi cial, “renouncing

all else” faith which Jesus demanded, where men and women vow to live and die for Jesus Christ, a faith which produces a “wild and dangerous” spirit and a radical lifestyle. This “modern Jesus army” opposes today’s wickedness, dares to confront today’s self-seeking culture, faces the challenges thrown up by today’s rampant sexual indulgence, battles against racial big-otry, fi ghts the drugs epidemic and takes the side of today’s poor, the deprived, abused, rejected and ill-treated. Those soldiers in Birmingham very late at night must be the vanguard of a Je-sus army force that impacts all cities in the UK.

Noel Stanton

>> see also pages 20-21

THIS WEEK brought the funeral of Mick Nicholson, the leader of one of our Multiply-related churches in Sheffi eld. Just home from work, he’d changed ready to go to a Christian Business-men’s event, then experienced a massive heart attack. Here was a larger-than-life character. The grip of Mick’s strong hand, and penetrating, “An’ are you fi lled wi’t ’Oly Ghost?” left you no doubt about the man. His two sons, Anthony (Ant) and Rob, are pretty much the same! A great compliment. Mick’s faith touched every part of his life. He started a family business to allow fl exibility for church ministry demands. (The Jesus Fellowship shares this “tent making” practice.) Ant told of a contract involving a gay pub. They piled the van with stereo players and Christian tapes, ready to “give out the Word”. The Holy Spirit chided Ant for this presumption. As they quietly got on with the job, members of staff trusted their integrity. Life stories spilled out, and warm respect replaced prejudice and suspicion. I’ve been asked whether Mick, only being 60, has gone before his time. And yes, the loss, to us, certainly seems premature. We should look after each other. I was reminded that the test of a people’s faith is how they bury their dead. I’ve been at some dreadful and dreary funerals – Christian ones, supposedly – as if we have no hope, no risen Sav-iour, no foretaste of eternal life. Around this graveside we sang, “He is the King of kings…His name is Jesus!” As Mick would say, “Amen to that, brother!”.

larger than life

Ian Callard

Jesus Life Two/2005Page 3

RECENTLY, I sat with my sister whose husband had just died. It was a very dif-fi cult time. She said she had to do something with her husband’s ashes because it

was all that she had left of him. I was close to tears as I considered that the issue of his life was just a handful of ashes. In eternal terms his life is over. He did nothing of eternal worth that I know of. This question of the signifi cance of my life is a burden to me which has caused me to stop and consider exactly what it will be. I want my life to have eternal value. People in the world – their lives are hopeless and tragic – families run around aimlessly seeking to fi nd purpose. The world is cold and hard and greedy. Our call is to fulfi l what we have heard: the eternal things alone are of lasting conse-quence. So often we can waste our lives on worldly stuff which is of no purpose. We need to reignite those things God has given us and which make us useful and of eternal value. For example, I seek to build and train leaders – to show them what I have learned and play to their strengths.We see people who are messed up by the world – I want to pour out my life to these people. Not everyone will listen but I want to pour out my life so the meaning of my life will be eternal – not just a handful of ashes or a pile of bones.

eternal valueKelly Bartholomew

Due to

Jesus Life Two/2005Page 4

we’re growing!JESUS FELLOWSHIP has a target for growth in 2005. At the recent leaders’ day, with some 250 present from many parts of the UK, we re-affi rmed our commitment to making this a year of real growth by accepting that we, as leaders, must com-municate and impact the vision, so that all our people are mo-bilised and enthused. The Holy Spirit brings to us an inspired, visionary spirit and growing the

demand, in Africa we can only supply literature to church leaders

church becomes exciting and a top priority. Vision brings life and movement. And so we will bring the good news of God’s grace in Jesus to more and more people. Many will respond with saving faith and be bap-tised. Yes, we’re committed to real growth in 2005. More members for Jesus Fellowship churches, more soldiers in this UK Jesus Army.

OUR FIRST Euro-pean Union Multiply Network Confer-ence is on Saturday 18 June. All leaders and trainee leaders are welcome (see page 30). London Day is now fi xed for Saturday 23 July with a march from Marble Arch to Trafalgar Square beginning at 11am and the festival on Trafalgar Square running from 12.30 to 3.30. It is a day when we show the

final mix

Jesus Army fl ag in London, when we proclaim our faith in Jesus Christ and in-vite others to believe and come alive in the Holy Spirit. All are welcome to join. A week later on Satur-day 30 July we have a UK Jesus Celebration Day at the Jesus Cen-tre, Northampton. So, lots of activ-ity, with our various churches constantly evangelising, baptis-ing, nurturing, dis-

cipling. Thank God for it all. And thanks to our many readers who love us, pray for us, encourage us with their letters and emails, and send gifts to us. You are all helping to show and grow the kingdom church of Jesus Christ. Bless you!

Noel Stanton

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“

I came over from Lusaka, Zambia to visit a close friend in London. I had asked that God should take me to a place where I could worship with people of different nations and I found that in the marquee. I found people sharing food, hugging, praying for each another. The love in that place was so amazing! As we were worshipping, I saw the people round me like a bunch of flowers of different colours and their prayers were like sweet-smelling incense, rising to the Lord. I’m going back to Zambia a changed person and the Lord has said to me: ‘Go back to Zambia, Rhodah, and be a servant and help to unite the people in His church there.

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A downpour of rain at the start of the Jesus Fellowship’s Alive Festival provided the backcloth of blessing to a special weekend. James Stacey reports.

THE RAIN started to pour, heavily, insist-ently. It beat with increasing volume on the canvass roof of the Jesus Fellowship’s giant golden marquee as soon as senior leader, Noel Stanton, began to pray. This followed an urgent call to repentance. Cynics may have dismissed such a “coincidence”, but there was no denying the power of the moment. An

of this sign of blessing poured out on a people prepared to humble themselves before God. “A ripple of repentance is moving through the church”, Noel had prophesied. “Remem-ber that fi ve out of seven letters addressed to the churches in the book of Revelation contain the command to ‘repent’. Are we a church of purity and holiness? How is our relationship with God? God is pleased with repentance from a dark earth. It is God’s gateway into blessing, by the blood of Jesus.” It was a wake-up call to face up to the apathy and cynicism that had crept – or even been welcomed – into the church. The rain seemed to add a heavenly “amen”. After this symbolic opening on the Saturday afternoon, the weekend carried a particular prophetic atmosphere, even be-yond what might be expected whenever the church gathers on a large scale in such a way.

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building together

Steve lost everything through his addiction - including his family. But God has brought about a remarkable reconciliation and father and son now work together to form His church.

I didn’t really know anything about God but I felt so bad I cried out “If there’s a God, come and help me out!”

JUST AFTER his fortieth birth-day, in 1989, Steve Wyke’s life hit the buffers. “My life started to go downhill after my fi rst marriage broke up. I got into drink and drugs and felt terrible for the way I wasn’t being much of a father to my children. “I remarried, but had big mon-etary problems and health prob-lems, including chronic asthma and Hepatitis B and C - which I got through injecting heroin.” One day, Steve felt so desper-ate he told his brother he was ready to do something drastic to turn his life round. His brother felt that he would do better if he could get help outside their home town of Northampton. “One of his friends had a brother who was an outreach worker in Nottingham. This guy had been a biker and an alco-holic. He’d become a Christian and was now a changed man. He was married with kids, but he was willing to take me into his own home to do a detox. I was in such a state I couldn’t imagine having the will or energy for detox. But hearing a tape of his testimony made hope fl are inside me and I gladly agreed to go. “By the third day without drink and drugs I was very poorly indeed. I knew I had two choices: to get through the rest of the pain in my body, as it went into spasms of withdrawal, or leave quickly and fi nd some drugs. I didn’t really know any-thing about God but during the third night I felt so bad I cried out ‘If there’s a God, come and help me out!’” The power of the Holy Spirit fell on Steve. His body stopped

hurting at once. Tears poured out of his eyes, with a sense of trapped emotions being released. Something - Someone - deep inside assured him that he would get through. Along with this was a sense of feeling right - joy and peace fl ooding him. “I hadn’t been feeling right for a long time. It felt wonder-ful. When my new friend came down in the morning, I told him something really strange had happened in the night: I didn’t know what it was - but I knew I was going to be OK! He explained: ‘that was the Holy Spirit!’. I was so ignorant of spiritual things that I asked him: ‘What’s that all about, then?’. So he read me Psalm 40: I waited patiently for the Lord; He inclined to me and heard my cry . He drew me from the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God...Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust. When he fi nished reading, Steve asked him ‘Is that true,

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what you’ve just read me?’ When he nodded, Steve cried out: ‘Well, I want that!’ and gave his life to Jesus. After that - and for the 16 years that have followed - Steve says everything was different. “The way I thought and acted towards other people; what I wanted to do with my future - I was a totally different man, de-termined to sort out the terrible mess that was my life”. He booked himself into a rehab in Surrey. Soon afterwards, very thin and poor in health, he moved into one of the Jesus Army com-munity houses in Northampton. “It took a year before I was fi t and that fi rst year was tough, but I felt all right in myself. As people prayed over me and sup-ported me, I regained my weight and my self-worth. “Because of my own experi-ence of God’s forgiveness and complete change of my whole life, I’ve been able to help to sort many of my mates out and I now

look after a community house in Northampton. One of the best things that’s followed is the way my relationship with my kids has come together again. I let them down so badly because of the way I was, but they’ve given me a second chance to pour my life into them.” Steve’s son Thomas was only four when his parents split up. Now Thomas is 17, has recently taken covenant as a church member and works alongside Steve as his apprentice in the church building fi rm. “My relationship with Dad is a good one. He’s genuine. He’s straight to the point and I admire him and respect him,” explains Thomas. “As a kid, I used to stay with Dad on Thursdays and Fridays. At school so many people were happy playing on their comput-ers and trying to please their friends but I could never get

into it. Drink and drugs never appealed: I’ve seen a lot of peo-ple very messed up and even the ones who seem happy in it - it doesn’t amount to much. “Deep down I always believed there was a God and I knew there was more to life than just going to work and then dy-ing. I found sitting in church meetings boring - but staying with Dad I saw people working things out together and living for a cause. Every day some-thing seemed to happen that gave me more understanding of God through my everyday experience of life. When I was 15 I decided to be baptised.” Steve looks at building the church with a bricklayer’s eye: “I’m a foundation guy. I believe we need to build our foundations well and our young people are the stones for that foundation. They need to be

trained, as we were trained, in all the ways of love, under-standing, caring, loyalty and in expressing themselves. “Because I was unfaithful, the value of faithfulness is some-thing God has worked deeply in me. Faithfulness and cause-consciousness - something worth living for - the vision to be a man that reaches the goal to achieve in God. We’ve got to know that we’re unstoppable, believe it, and get on with it. “My understanding of where we’re at and my motivation keeps me young. I enjoy work-ing with young people because they’re quick and they work things out quickly. I’m 56 but I’m a young man because I only started living at 40! I don’t look at young men and think they’re running faster than me. I’m running fast - they’ve got to run faster than me and take the church further!” JL

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Hawaii 1835-40

Hawaii’s Great Awakening

Jesus Life TwPage 8

TITUS Coan was born in Con-necticut in 1801, the child of a devotedly religious family. His cousin was Asahel Nettleton, an evangelist of the Second Great Awakening in New England, USA. He gave his life to Jesus in 1829, during a revival in his home town. In 1830 he met Charles Finney and after two years’ study at Auburn Theolog-ical Seminary had a brief stint as a missionary in Patagonia. In 1835 he married and took his bride to Hawaii, carrying a passion to bring the gospel to the native people. He would remain there for the rest of his life. As soon as he had learned the local language, he visited on foot every one of the 16,000 people of Hilo and its sur-rounds, on the island of Hawaii. Love was the driving force of his life. His kindness and generos-ity soon opened the door to the natives’ huts and hearts. “When my mouth was opened to speak of the love of God in Christ, I felt that the very cords of my heart were wrapped around my hear-ers and that some inward power was helping me to draw them in, as the fi sherman feels when drawing in his net with fi shes.” He used his medical knowl-edge to good effect, providing remedies for common diseases, and he also gave vaccinations. He effortlessly seemed to combine the roles of preacher, pastor and magistrate. In 1837 the slumbering revival fi res broke out. A tidal wave hit Hilo with the result that mas-sive damage was caused and 13 people killed. To Titus this was God speaking to the people to be ready for Him. In the following two years, there was not an hour, day or

o/2005

The little known evangelist, Titus Coan, was a key to the 19th century revival that swept Hawaii and produced the largest church in the world

night when an audience of 2,000 to 6,000 would not rally to the signal of a bell. Meetings for prayer and preaching were held daily. Almost 6,000 converts were added to Titus’s church so that it became the biggest single congregation in the world. No one was admitted to member-ship until they proved over a period of several months that their repentance was sincere. He also had a thorough fol-low up system to keep track of new believers. He noted down names of converts and informa-tion on them and he would in future tours check up on each person and update his notes. There was a tremendous emphasis on prayer. The prayer was united and verbal, each one expressing themselves individu-ally but all out loud together. This kind of praying was unique in the 1830s, at least among New England missionaries. Repentance over sin was expressed openly. On one occa-sion the sound of a man’s tears, Titus records, “was so loud and his trembling so great, that the whole congregation was moved as by common sympathy. Many wept aloud, and many com-menced praying together. The scene was such as I had never before witnessed. I stood dumb in the midst of their weeping, watching multitudes, not being able to make myself heard for about twenty minutes.” Loud crying for mercy,

“..Thieves returned stolen property and

sins of a lifetime were renounced”

shrieks, falling down and wail-ing were not unusual in the meetings. As one convert put it: “The two-edged sword is cutting me to pieces!” There was also a tremendous hunger for God’s word. What helped to encour-age this was the distributing of the Hawaiian language New Testament. Queen Kaahumanu was given the fi rst copy of this on her death bed in 1832. Quarrels were made up, drunkards reclaimed, adulter-ers converted and murderers revealed and pardoned. Thieves returned stolen property and sins of a lifetime were re-nounced. On one Sunday alone 1,705 people were baptised. The revival made a major impact on the nation. The Christian faith was established in the law code of 1846 and the native church became so strong that it sent out missionaries to other local islands. Coan’s wish was “to die in the fi eld with armour on, with weapons bright.” God gave him his wish, for in the midst of a revival, in 1882, he suffered a stroke and died praising God. He had served the Lord for 47 years in Hilo and had received 13,000 members into his church - the largest number by any pas-tor in his generation. JL

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After reading through your maga-zine I thought I would write to you. I felt the compassion in a lot of what was said and it is evident to me that God’s way is the only way. I am a thirty year old man who since the age of 17 has been in and out of prison. At first I had an alcoholic problem and progressed to drugs while in prison at the age of 23. From then on I spent very little time on the outside as alco-hol, heroin and crack cocaine had devastating effects on me. The last time I was only out for two weeks and as I was thieving again, it was going to be only a matter of time before I was returned to prison. As always I was very distressed as I do not like prison, but I cannot seem to fi nd my feet. However, now after starting to read the Bible daily and being inspired by the things like your magazine, I’m desperate for God to forgive me for all my sins and to let me accept His love and compassion so that I can go on to become a good person and an asset to society rather than a burden. Slowly and surely I am getting there!L.T. HMP Belmarsh, LONDON

ON Tfefelifl ifiill i eefffeiill eeife

r information on the Jesus Fellowship’s on Release Programme, write to Phil Ferris, s Fellowship Central Offices, Nether Heyford, hants NN7 3LB tel: 01327 344533 mail: info@jesus.org.uk

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The following extract is taken from a report by Dr Kathryn Curran, Research Fellow at the Institute for Criminal Policy at King’s College, London, on the phenomenon of Christian conversion in prison.

Entry into prison is considered to be one of the most diffi cult times for prisoners who experi-ence ‘entry shock’ when faced with the reality of prison life. Being received into custody at the start of a sentence was mentioned by 58% of converts as a triggering in their decision to seek God. Other factors men-tioned were: • Feelings of general hopelessness; • Consideration of the sentence they had been given; • The fear of an uncertain future; the need for forgiveness; • The desire to change; and/ or general disenchantment with a criminal life. Social relationships played a signifi cant role in the conver-sion process of prisoners. Out of a total sample, 32% of prison-ers attributed their conversion to a personal interaction with

another Christian prisoner who shared their faith with the seeking prisoner. A further 24% of prisoners claimed to have become Christians under the infl uence of a Christian group working in the prison. In terms of sustaining a conversion, the process of creat-ing either an oral or a written testimony and articulating the story of their conversion, proved crucial. The simple act of telling one’s story served as a power-ful means of allowing prisoners to make sense of the trauma of imprisonment, demonstrate personal change to others, and seek recognition and accept-ance from the outside Christian community. Societal acceptance rather than stigma is the only response that can help prisoners desist from crime and turn their lives around.

Reprinted from Prison Fellowship News

Characteristic General Population Prison PopulationRun away from home as child 11% 47% m and 50% fTaken into care as a child 2% 27%Regularly truanted from school 3% 30%Excluded from school 2% 49% m and 33% fNo qualifications 15% 52% m and 71% fNumeracy below Level 1 23% 65%(Level expected of an 11 yr old)Reading ability at or below Level 1 21-23% 48%Unemployed before prison 5% 67%Homeless 0.9% 32%Suffer 2 or more mental disorders 5% m and 2% f 72% m and 14% fPsychotic disorder 0.5% m and 0.6% f 7% m and 14% fDrug use in previous year 13% m and 8% f 66% m and 55% fHazardous drinking 38% m and 15% f 63% m and 39% f

Source: Social Exclusion Unit Report: ‘Reducing re-offending by ex-prisoners’

profile of prison population

Jesus LifeJesus Life Two/2005 Two/2005Page 9Page 9

credit or debt?

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Jesus Life Two/2005Page 10

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DID YOU know that residents of Great Britain now personally owe £1 trillion – that’s twelve zeros – which is more than the national debts of Africa, Asia and Latin America put together? To put that in context, last year we borrowed £11 billion extra in one month just to fi nance Christmas. That’s enough to feed 50 mil-lion people in the Third World for a year; and that’s one of the reasons why it’s so important as Christians to address issues of money, education and debt. I fi rst got into this work 20 years ago when I was a stock broker, and a friend’s wife found a years’ worth of post hidden in a cupboard by her husband. I was asked to help because it was such a nightmare – they went bankrupt, lost their home, everything. I got very interested in this area and started to help other people. I’d been a Christian about ten years at this point, and got involved with the Jubilee Centre who were doing some work in this fi eld in the late 1980s. Then there was a major manage-ment reshuffl e at work, and I felt God wanted me to take a 90 per cent pay cut and work full-time through Credit Action in money education and counselling. Now our sister organisation, the Consumer Credit Counsel-ling Service (CCCS), takes on the counselling part of the work, which it offers free, and at Credit Action we concentrate on educa-tion – teaching people how to avoid debt and use money well. The three usual causes of debt are: not budgeting so people don’t know what they are spending; using credit cards and store cards, which can be very, very costly; and the effect of a major life change such as having a baby, sickness or losing

your job, which tips the balance if people are already stretched fi nancially. CCCS is getting 200,000 calls a year, each with an average debt of £25,000 and some have 30 or 40 cards on which they owe £100,000. And Christians are no different here. The area that taxes me the most is student loans, because that says to young people that you have to borrow heavily to get on in life. CCCS has seen a ten-fold increase in calls from 18 – 21 year olds in the past two years. I think the National Lottery, is all part of the ‘take risks because life’s a gamble’ attitude – a very short-term take on life. I think 9/11 contributed too, because people feel they must have a good time today. But most people who play the Lottery regularly, and two-thirds of ticket buyers do, will have lost several thousand pounds on tickets in those ten years. The effects of serious debt include family splits – 140,000 couples who split up last year named money as the cause. Then there’s isolation because people feel they can’t afford to go to the pub any more or have friends over and feelings of failure because they no longer have the status symbols of the right car and house. So we teach the basics, and with Christians we talk about what the Bible says about money. Did you know that Jesus tells fi ve times as many parables about money as He does about prayer and faith? We also do a lot outside the Church and get support from companies like Marks & Spencer, Barclays and MBNA. Our guides go to many different groups of

Jesus tellsmoney a

people. There’s a lot going on – I’m doing more and more with the press, and write most weeks in the Saturday Times. It just shows that if you know your subject and pray like mad, you can really make a difference in society. As Christians, we tend to spell sin s-e-x, but we seem to be able to be greedy and selfi sh with money and it’s not seen as remotely sinful. Money and debt is not con-sidered a safe subject in church, apart from perhaps the occasional sermon of giving, and I’ve even been told not to talk about money because ‘this is church’. But the result is that Christians feel guilty if they have money, and feel guilty if they don’t. Money is not something to be

afraid of but if we try to sort it out in our own strength, we will make mistakes. When we’re praying about our fi nances, we see God supply our needs. And when we have a good year, we can consider if we’re going to meet our wants – or perhaps supply other peo-ple’s needs. I would love to see Christians taking this into the community. Churches can be a welcoming point for those with money prob-lems who can then be referred on to people like ourselves and CCCS. We’ve got 100 volunteers around the country, and we want to double that. You don’t need fi nancial expertise at all because there are lots of ways to help.

five times as many parables as He does about prayer and fa

As personal debt tops £1 trillion in the UK, Christians must address this growing problem, argues Keith Tondeur of Credit Action

www.jesus.org.uk

FACTFILE on DebtTotal UK personal debt broke through the £1 trillion (£1,000,000,000,000) barrier in July 2004 greater than the UK’s annual income. (Bank of England, July 2004)

Unsecured debt per person has grown over 50% since 1997. Britain’s personal debt is increasing by £1 million every four minutes.(Bank of England, July 2004)

A student on a three year course starting in 2006, who

www.jesus.org.uk

takes out maximum student loans and owes fees of £9,000, will be £20,745 in debt at the end of the degree.(The Times Feb 19, 2005)

Britons are the biggest gamblers in Europe and third in the world after USA and Japan.

Over the past five years, there has been a five fold increase in betting, with turnover rising from £7.6 billion in 2001 to a record £39.4 billion in the twelve months to September, 2004. Gambling in all forms amounted to £63.8 billion.

Citizens Advice has had a 44% increase in numbers of people with debt problems in the past six years (CAB Director of Public Policy 2004)

Total credit card debt in January 2005 was £54.1 billion.There are eight million more credit cards in the UK than people.(Datamonitor)

The biggest cause of rows within a relationship is not infidelity but money, according to Relate.

Personal debt has grown twice as fast as income since 1997 when New Labour took office.

On average, personal debt has increased by 50%, while incomes have risen by 23%.

Over six million UK households are now finding it difficult to meet their financial commitments.

A quarter of those in debt are receiving treatment for stress, depression and anxiety from their GP.

More than three million people are struggling with energy bills, nearly five million are in debt to their water company and more than a million have had their phone cut off.

Jesus Life Two/2005Page 11

talk

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to G

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rtill

Jesus Life Two/2005Page 12

Godfrey Birtill is a song writer and worship leader.Many of his songs have a prophetic edge, uniquely combining worship and intercession and are connected with ‘grass roots’ city prayer gatherings.Godfrey lives in Lincoln and is based at New Life Church and is also an associate of Pioneer. He is married to Gill and they have four children.In this interview he talks to Huw Lewis, editor of Jesus Life and member of the Apostolic Team of the Jesus Fellowship.

Huw: Can you tell us about your spiritual journey?Godfrey: I was born in Chorley, Lancashire and as a young lad went to the local Methodist church. I was also an altar boy in the Anglican church, but I didn’t actually know the Lord. In my teens I went off track and got involved with rock bands - not a particularly wholesome lifestyle.

Were you a keen musician then?Yes. I started playing guitar when I was about 14. In 1979 I’d hit rock bottom within the band scene and I was in a mess. I remember stopping to listen to a street preacher in Chorley town centre. Everything he was saying made sense. I walked away a different person! I took a booklet away and at home in my bedroom made a prayer of commitment on my own. I went along to a brethren church but no one really talked

to me and it all felt a bit strange. I’d made a commitment not really knowing what I’d done. I desperately needed disciple-ship, but it just didn’t happen. In a way I was still-born! Time went on and I married Gill, who had an eight year old son. We moved to Wales and I got a job as a press photographer.

Was she a Christian?She wasn’t at that time. My lifestyle wasn’t particularly godly - I was drinking too much whisky! We went to a local Parish church, but it was as cold as ice and we didn’t feel welcome. Afterwards, we moved to Derby and my stepson started going to a church youth club. A group of them went to Spring Harvest and he came back with some magazines and tracts. As I was looking at them when he’d gone to bed, I saw these people with hands raised and I remember saying to Gill

that they were all brainwashed and crazy. I didn’t know at this time that Gill had read one of the tracts and made a commitment to Jesus. She asked me, ‘Don’t you believe in this then?’ I said, ‘No, I don’t believe.’

What brought you back to faith in Jesus?During that night I woke up in a sweat, on my hands and knees. It was pitch black, like being cut off from any love that I’d ever known. I was in a place where there was absolutely no love and it was terrifying. I saw, in a vision, a luminous kind of rope going up and its strands were breaking. I cried out in desperation. I was so relieved when morn-ing came and thought, ‘I’ve got to go and get a Bible’. I went into Derby and got the Good News Bible. I sat in the front seat of the car, opened it up and read a Psalm - I can’t remember which

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placew

one - but it really hit me like I’d never read scripture before. As I looked up there was this traffi c warden walking towards me, and she had a really evil, mean face. She came up to me, her eyes like fi re, poked a fi nger at me and said, ‘You were just in time!’. It shot me into the stratosphere of under-standing that there’s something beyond the physical. I suddenly recognised there was another dynamic - a spiritual dynamic – and that the rope was a taste of separation from God, and that ‘just in time’ I was rescued. Years later, a friend showed me the scripture in Ecclesiastes which says, ‘Remember your Creator before the silver cord is severed.’ I believe it was the silver cord I saw in the vision. From there on it was initially very tough as there was a battle on for my mind - I thought I was losing it. But the Lord brought me to a place of stability. I got involved with a local Methodist church and I began to under-stand what Jesus had done for me on the cross - that He took all my sin, He died in my place, that I couldn’t earn salvation, no matter how good I thought I was. One of the things that came to me was that it was outrageous! He did it for me and praise God that He did! Some-thing happened in my spirit and I knew that I couldn’t turn away from Jesus.

How did you then begin to de-velop your ministry of worship/song writing It must have been around 1988. The church that I went to didn’t really involve me in worship. When I think back it was wise that they didn’t because it would have been a dangerous thing to put me too early in to leading worship. We need to mature, spiritually, and get to know who we’re worshipping

www.jesus.org.uk

I was in a where there

as no love

before we start leading people in worship. Then we moved to Preston with my job as a press photog-rapher. I was involved in the worship band a little at a church

there, and then the pastor at

this church said, ‘you’ve got a gifting

there’, and

encouraged me in it. One

day he asked me to lead the worship.

I’d never been given so much responsibility and remember the congregation feeling like a big wobbly balloon full of water as I was learning to fl ow with the corporate anointing! I’d written songs in the secular band but now I started to write Christian songs. I often felt my early songs were not ‘proper’ ones and it was a good year if I’d written two songs! I al-ways felt that they weren’t quite right and if people put their hands up it was just sympathy! I had almost ten years of that.

So it took a long while to enter into worship leading and anointed song writing?God doesn’t rush things! It’s a long, long, long journey, one step at a time of learning. Increas-ingly, people were saying to me that when I led worship, God’s presence really came. I remem-ber going through a time of just doing the songs without a sense of anointing. But then I realised I was becoming like a folk singer, just singing songs, in a routine way. I had to know the anointing and the presence of God. On one occasion, I felt really desperate on my way home from a Sunday night meeting. As I sat in my car in the drive I was in fl oods of tears, saying to the Lord ‘I’ll give up the music ministry - I’ll just hand it over to

I rea

becom

singer, ju

in a

You as I can’t do it without Your anointing’. And I remember hearing the Lord saying to me ‘Now you can have it’. It was al-most like I had to realise that to receive the anointing the gifting had to be surrendered totally to God. I’d suddenly come to a place where God had given me a gifting and I was to lay it all down before I could pick it up again, and learn to hold the anointing lightly. There’s far too much just singing songs today, whereas real worship is prophetic dec-laration in songs and scripture and being aware of the super-natural dynamic of what we’re doing. When Paul and Silas were singing in prison, the founda-tions of the prison shook and the doors burst open! The jailer asleep outside woke up. That’s New Testament dynamism! I believe that when we sing, something happens. But as well as the anointing there has also got to be charac-ter, because you can’t have the anointing and not the character. We should get as excited about the character of Jesus in our lives as we do the anointing.

After that, did you gain some-thing new in terms of the worship/song writing minis-try?Yes. I remember going to a wor-ship workshop in Preston with a very posh worship band in a church full of about 300 people. I wanted to learn and I sat on the front row. The leaders asked for some volunteers to come forward and impro-vise a song to the music. So I nervously put my hand up, but nobody else did in the whole place! I stood on a platform in front of all these people, absolutely terrifi ed and started

lised I was

ing like a folk

st singing songs

routine way

improvising words and melody. It was something like, ‘She’ll be coming round the moun-tain when she comes’ - out of tune, completely unbiblical and sounded absolute rubbish! Even my friends on the front row disowned me. The whole thing was an embarrassment and I went and sat down and they said, ‘Is there anybody else?’ Nobody else had a go - I think I frightened them all off! But amazingly, within a week after that experience, suddenly the gift was released in me. I started improvising words based on reading scriptures, and melodies would start com-ing. I imagined God thinking, ‘he hasn’t got a clue, but he’s not afraid to look daft in front of his mates and have a go!’

Did you receive any other en-couragement?In 1997, a prophetic leader from America, Dale Gentry, who is now a friend of mine, was speaking at Westminster at a place called Mar-sham Street. He was talking about breakout. I just knew I had to go. I travelled all the way from Preston. The Lord used him to unlock something that was inside me. He was speaking about that scripture: ‘With my God I can leap over a

wall’, but when we get over the wall we

go places we’ve

never gone before (write songs we’ve

never written

before!). I received

that faith breakout for

myself, feeling I could go where God said I could go and do what He said I could do. One of the key things was Dale saying that the Lord had

Jesus Life Two/2005Page 13

Songare b

of interenco

interc

spoken to him, ‘give Me the fi rst hour of your day and I’ll change your life’ and I remember think-ing I’d try that. My prayer life changed from that point. I’d get up in the morning and seek the Lord and I started to hear God like I’d never heard him before. I began to write words and promises down that I felt God was saying through me. The Lord was speaking to me about my songs going across the world and that I would be going to America and Africa and other places. But I didn’t show them to anyone because I thought they’d laugh at me, because at that time I was afraid of fl ying and I was not a traveller! I’ve still got the books now and just about all the words have been fulfi lled.

You were then beginning to fi nd a new sense of something happening?Yes, I came away from Marsham Street that night feeling I’d been blitzed. Something had shifted within me. Whereas before I’d write the odd song, suddenly creativ-ity was just pouring out. I’d go to prayer meetings and I’d be writ-ing songs while people were praying and after listening to the speaker, I’d have a song by the end of the sermon. It had gone from two songs a year to two songs a meeting! Something changed in the song writing as well. It was like the Lord had unstopped my ears. I’d be in a prayer gathering where people were crying out and I’d catch something of the heart cry of the people calling out to God and translate that sound into songs. It was like God opened my ears to the la-

Jesus Life Two/2005Page 14

s that orn out cession, urage ession

ment (grieving) of the land.

You’ve been described as a ‘min-strel.’ What does that mean?I feel my song writing has been a continuation of my job as a press photographer. The songs are almost like photographs of what I see God is doing today. Charles Wesley expressed something of what God was saying through John Wesley’s sermons. When someone is prophesying or preaching in the Spirit, my job as a minstrel is to catch that and register it. It’s about listening rather than getting good ideas.

There is quite an intercessory slant to all this. You express some of the cries, groans, and the laments of people before the Lord. How did that happen?At fi rst I didn’t have a clue what was going on! I still have to pinch myself that anyone is even interested in my songs. At one meeting, I was singing this song while people were coming

in and this person came up to me and said,

‘why don’t you sing that song

during the meeting? What you’re singing about is what

we’ve been praying

about.’ And so I brought

in one of these ‘intercessory’ songs.

I was astonished at the reac-tion. It wasn’t so much that people were singing the song, it was that the song seemed to turn people to prayer. People were groaning in response - the song was bringing intercession. Songs that are born out of inter-cession, encourage intercession.

That was a genuine surprise to you? I was bemused at all this. I was terrible at school. My spelling was

ca

atrocious - and still is - I’m not an educated person. I thought that if God’s going to choose someone to write songs, He’d choose someone who’s bright and intelligent and is good with words and spelling. I have university students who come to me and say, ‘that’s a really good song’ and I’m thinking, ‘surely they could do better than me!’ But I guess God chooses the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. When I write songs the words tend to be very raw and not well crafted, using very ordinary, everyday language.

Some of your songs are pro-phetic songs, which express the heart of God. I don’t see myself as a big prophet man. But I do believe that, by God’s grace, He speaks through the songs.

And you work with prophetic men, using your songs as a means of communicating a prophetic message - again, a bit like the Wesleys.Exactly. People like Martin Scott. I believe he’s a major prophetic voice in the nation. Whenever I get to sit under his ministry, I just suddenly start hearing God and writing. I’m not sure exactly what I’m doing always, I just know God is with me and I keep it simple.

What are you really seeking to do in all this?I’m seeking to follow the fi nger of God. I’m seeking to walk within my call, to do what I be-lieve God’s will is in my life. I’ve nearly downed tools a couple of times, but felt encouraged by the Lord saying, ‘there are good things ahead.’ I believe that part of my call is to be an agitator. I agitate the church. I irritate the church as well, which isn’t always an easy walk because I like to be liked and some of what I do disturbs people. When I was a press photographer, I used to develop

Part of my ll is to be an agitator

black and white photos. You need to ‘agitate’ the fi lm. You put the black and white fi lm in a

tank, in a spiral and then in

the de-veloper

and shake it. If you

don’t agitate

the fi lm, it gets highly

developed in places and under-developed in others. I felt the Lord saying that part of my ministry is to agitate because the church is highly developed in some places and under-developed in other places - like the area of lament and the area of fearing the Lord.

What are you particularly chal-lenging and disturbing? I guess I’m an irritant within the ‘cosy’ worship scene. I believe I had a word from the Lord about the church needing deliverance from ‘lovely times of worship’. The church has almost got ad-dicted to having a lovely time and it’s lost something of the supernatural dynamic of warfare and prophetic proclamation. Of course it’s lovely to worship the Lord, but we’ve lost something of the battle we’re engaging in when we’re worshipping. I’m sure Paul and Silas didn’t walk away from the prison after its founda-tions were shaken and the door broken, saying, ‘well, that was a lovely time of worship!’

You’ve provoked some reactions! One of my ancestors was a Moravian hymn writer, James Montgomery, and I remember sharing his hymn, ‘Lift up your heads you gates of brass,’ with a group of song writers. They said that it was too militaristic! It was an eye opener to me as to where the church is really at because these musicians were part of the mainstream. I really believe

www.jesus.org.uk

We nto cat

fear of ag

we need to be militant now, because what is happening on the earth is refl ecting what’s happening in the heavens. I’m a bit out of step with much of what is being pro-duced, musically, today. Some of the songs on my most recent album, ‘Dread God’, about the fear of the Lord and warfare, like ‘This is an emergency’, are not really in the fl ow of the main-stream. I’ve even had problems with the title, ‘Dread God.’ I also had stick about ‘Outrageous Grace’ when it fi rst came out.

You’ve obviously experimented with various things. I was reading about your ‘Night of the Thousand Drums’ and your work with ethnic groups.I’ve worked with Navaho Indians. I got an email from a Navaho reservation saying that they’d picked up the ‘Outra-geous Grace’ album off the internet and were singing it on the reservation and asked if I’d come over. So I checked them out and went over there with my wife, Gill and youngest son, Jacob. It was amazing on their reservation. Their sense of lament over the land was very powerful. I encouraged them to write their own songs and wrote one with them prophesying to the place where they live! They’d never written songs before, but now they’ve written about 20 of them. Part of what I do as I travel round is to impart song writing creativity. These are songs written by indig-enous groups for their own areas and cities, that will have more cut than a Vineyard song or a Hillsongs song - they’ll be unique for their loca-tion. I want to encourage others to write and be expressive and creative in their worship. All the places that I go to have

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eed ch the the Lord ain

been opened up by the Lord. I never request to go anywhere. God puts order in my diary, though I occasionally get it wrong. All I want to do is what God wants me to do and just continue in that. If the Lord said, ‘pull the plug on it,’ I will do. But I must admit, I do enjoy it. I love serving the Lord. The Lord’s equipped us as a family and Gill copes with it really well. She encourages me and is completely behind me in what I’m doing. She’s a great song taster as well and she’s a wild prayer warrior! Whenever I write a song I play it to her and if she says, ‘that’s a nice song,’ it means, ‘fi le it in the bin!’ She doesn’t like ‘nice’ songs.

It must have been diffi cult to keep raw and cutting, rather than becoming part of the music industry.I’ve been approached by music companies and there was one time when it was very tempting, but I felt I’d lose my call and anointing if I went down that road at that time. However, a few months ago I felt the Lord saying that the songs are going to be brought into the main-stream. This year’s Spring Har-vest song book has got eight of my songs. But I am not seeking to be a famous worship leader, I’m just staying within my call,

following Jesus.

Are there other directions your

ministry is tak-ing? You did do something in partnership with ‘Betel UK’

- how did that come about?

They are a group that help people off

the streets - mostly, heroin addicts, prostitutes and the homeless. They prefer to say they are church planters, rather than a rehab and are seeing lives radically transformed by

the power of the gospel. I have always had a heart to work with the outcasts. When I lived in Preston I used to go to the night shelter and sing and try and build relationships. I’d heard that they were singing some of my songs and they use one of my songs like an anthem – ‘If it wasn’t for the blood I’d be dead.’ They asked if I could go along and play and I found them very dynamic. It’s the same as the Jesus Army - people that carry the fi re and the passion for Jesus.

Do you do much in the local church here - New Life Church which is part of Ground Level?Once a month I lead a worship and intercession event in the city called ‘Spring up all Wells’. It is worship and intercession with a city focus. I lead the wor-ship in the church on Sunday every now and again. The local church is important. There’s a danger you can just spin off if you haven’t got a home some-where and I really value the accountability. I remember when I was young in the Lord some of the old Meth-odist brothers urging me always to make sure I had someone older than me in the Lord to follow, who I could share with deeply and bounce ideas off. I found that to be good advice. For example, at the moment I’m talking to a

theologian about my songs to make sure I’m not completely off the wall!

Who are the main influences that have shaped you, spiritually, over the years? When I discov-ered my Moravian ancestors with their prayer and interces-sion focus, some-thing fell into place. Martin Scott and Dale Gentry have been big infl uences,

spiritually. I really look up to my pastor, Stuart Bell. I see him as a man who’s fi lled with the Holy Spirit and of good charac-ter and open to whatever God wants to do.

What do you sense God is saying to the nation at the moment?There is a sense of it being a piv-otal moment in the nation. We need to catch the fear of the Lord again. I think we’re in a state of emergency as a nation. My new CD is called, ‘God Help Us’, named after a song I’ve written on our social, moral and spiritual crisis. If you stand against the tide you get ridiculed, like Mary Whitehouse. It really is wake up time for the UK.

You’re an agitator and a minstrel. What other areas of ministry do you have?Serving the Lord is fi rst in my life and then seeking to be a good husband and father. If I had a report on the latter, I feel it would say, ‘could do better.’ I am blessed with a wonderful wife and four wonderful children. I also hope to be an encourage-ment as well. I believe whatever God gives us, it’s for sharing and to edify the body of Christ and see His kingdom come and His will be done throughout the earth as it is in heaven. JL

Jesus Life Two/2005Page 15

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resh fire for growth

Find the fire of God or fail to grow was the stark message of the Jesus Fellowship’s Church Growth Conference

DON’T MISS THE NEXT ONE!Church Growth Conference Saturday 28 January 2006

, Northampton

fr

fr

C

f

“Jesus didn’t win people by making it

easy for them. He made it extraordinarily

difficult.” Laurence Cooper

“Christian Community is the nearest thing

to heaven on earth.” Mike Farrant

“We are like grapes and anything that

continues to fight God will not win

because the grapes will be squashed by

God to make the beautiful new wine.”

Edwin Jindu

“Fire burns, fire hurts and if we want to be

moving with the fire of God then we have

to accept sufferings, trials and difficulties

in the world.” Victor Shefford

“When we have been asking for the

refiner’s fire, trouble will always come

to the surface: that’s part of building the

church.” Ray Gunn

“The Holy Spirit was released on earth to

create the body of Christ – not just for us

to get saved as individuals. God loves the

body of Christ.” Michael Haines

“Jesus has anointed a new humanity.

Out with dead religion!” Len Kroon

TALK BUT no action has so often been the mark of Chris-tianity. The Jesus Fellowship’s annual Church Growth Con-ference focussed on the need to receive and obey the fi re of the Holy Spirit in ways that impacted and changed lives. Real obedience to God’s call and uncompromising following of His kingdom vision were

Jesus Centree: info@jesus.org.

the keys to spiritual life and growth. Afternoon semi-nars developed the challenging theme as more than 600 people enjoyed the setting of the recently opened Jesus Centre in Northampton. Raw interaction com-bined with passion-ate communication inspired many to

uk t: 0845 123 5550

recommit their lives afresh to Jesus during the evening Celebration. As one seminar leader expressed it: “God is wanting to connect us again to the passion we have within and to make us again a people pas-sionate for the gospel, the church and for brotherhood.” JL

BWwww.multiply.or

The East African Multiply Conference in Kenya was the highlight of an eye-opening visit for two Jesus Fellowship senior leaders. Multiply Director, Huw Lewis, was one of them and recorded his impressions.

ANA YESU ASEFIWE!Praise the Lord! (in Swahili)

Jesus Life Two/2005Page 17

g.uk

a week to remember...

The humbling generosity and hospitality of the poor touched a deep

chord

BWANA YESU ASEFIWE!

Fishermen on the shore of Lake Victoria

(above)Delegates at the East African Multiply Leaders Conference unite in prayer warfare(previous page) A Maasai warrior in Nairobi

Jesus Life Two/2005Page 18

A STEADY FLIGHT over. Breath taking views below of the Alps with the curve of the Italian coast, the strikingly clear Medi-terranean Sea and the endless stretch of the Sahara Desert.

Night time at Jomo Kenyatta Airport, Nairobi. Unexpected drizzle. Breakdown of our ‘Matatu’ (Nissan 12-seater mini-buses used universally as means of transport in Kenya). Lofty palm trees and familiar Shell and BP garages! First sights of drab, shanty style market stalls. The elegant panelled wood and tiled fl oors of our hotel a strong contrast to the surrounding poverty and a reminder of the

colonial history of this country.

Next morning: a long share with Gre-gory, our apostolic man in the region, helped establish way forward for Multiply East Africa. Regional repre-sentatives, regular gatherings. A sense

of a network being fashioned as we made preparations for Saturday’s Conference.

Nairobi Safari Park with big game in enclosures and a guided tour around the Animal Orphanage. A taste of the larger National Parks which provide so much revenue from the tour-ist trade. Cheetahs yawned, warthogs scurried to their troughs and the vicious pataw monkeys chattered in their cages.

Bright blossoms - tangerine, ver-million and lilac – colourful birds. Amazing fauna. Tropical trees and shrubs - a pervasive sense of the exotic and unfamiliar.

Battered and ageing vehicles.

Dodgem cars on the highway: demonised driving - furious acceleration and braking on crumbling roads. An equally fragile infrastructure in this city of 2 million where a sense of decay, neglect and dilapidation prevails.

The noisy cicadas at night, shrill echoes pierced the balmy dusk.

Next day, three hours on the road to Nakuru. A break as we fellowshipped with church leaders in a familiar golden striped marquee – their regular church venue! A long journey on worn out, pot holed roads and the bone-rattling ‘Matatus’ juddering through panoramic landscapes in the Great African Rift Valley. A jarring and gruel-ling way of travel. Unbelievable poverty of rural villages. Dusty dirt tracks and parched land-scape, dotted with picturesque trees. Regular ‘mobbing’ by sellers and hawkers at each stop along the way.

Extinct volcanoes framed the grinding destitution of this AIDS ravaged country, with an un-employment rate of 60%, a life

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expectancy in the mid-40s and more than half the population existing on less than £1 a day. Whole generations have been wiped out in some areas by the disease which has become sub-Saharan Africa’s ‘pandemic’. Half the population under 15 years old – few have any pros-pects for the future.

A land of stark contrasts where government corruption and mis-management were in evidence and the heavily guarded and luxurious presidential palace brooded over the shabby suburbs of Nairobi. Front page headlines showed the English High Com-missioner lambasting the govern-ment’s fraud and dishonesty.

On to Kisumu, where we stopped and met other pastors and Bible students, a ‘bishop’ and the hu-mid heat of the lowlands. We tast-ed ‘mandazi’ (a bit like dough-nuts) and Kenyan tea (milky and sweet) made in thermos fl asks. Sensed the fi re in the Spirit, the simple beauty of Swahili songs and the desperate faith in God’s provision for the most basic of

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needs. The presence of the Holy Spirit was evident in lives knitted together, united in abject poverty and a fervent vision to see the gospel of Jesus spread.

Journey back to Nairobi. Fishermen launched their boats on Lake Victoria with a dhow picturesquely squatting in the distant horizon. Round thatched huts, corrugated iron ramshackle buildings. Drifting and lost men and women sit-ting on dusty roadsides, selling mangoes, roasted sweet corn, sweet potatoes, tea and pineap-ples – or trinkets, stone carvings and cloth. Goats, merino sheep and donkeys grazed on the dirt tracks. Labourers toiled in the unrelenting sun, wielding mattocks as the sun mercilessly bored through the blue sky.

Armed police stopped us regularly, the metal spiked road blocks looking as if they had come out of a medieval torture chamber. Everywhere the marks of poverty and deprivation. The fear of car jacking and muggings in the city; the shootings and the growing violence of a people be-

trayed and frustrated, still in the infancy of a democratic process.

Street children (an estimated 60,000 in Nairobi alone) offered us groundnuts for sale and the scavenging maribou storks set-tled ominously in the baobab trees. Maasai tribesmen herded cattle through the streets, un-disturbed by the blaring horns of passing cars.

The Conference day - amaz-ing team work from Gregory and friends. Releasing worship - music group singing Swahili two-liners gripping the folk in passionate praise. Two hundred came - the furthest had made the journey from the Congo! Pastors from Uganda also arrived and others had travelled the 350 miles from Mombasa overnight on Friday on the bus and returned the Saturday night by the same route. Very convicting. Simple pure, spontaneous expressions of love for God. The humbling generosity and hospitality of the poor touched a deep chord.

Brotherhood church focus with acetates from Pete Taylor,

teaching them a couple of the Jesus Fellowship songs and talk-ing about servant hearted lead-ership. Continuous translation into Swahili. Praying in groups and making faith agreements… kneeling in consecration.

Met some of the AIDS widows from the church who survive by selling soap in bottles and look after 600 orphaned children. Troubled and worn faces, bur-dened eyes, carrying the pain of a suffering generation.

Yet in all of this, a warm and generous people, facing enor-mous challenges to survive, economically, socially and politically in the 21st century.

A truly humbling experience.

Outside baptistery of a church in Kisumu

JL

Jesus Life Two/2005Page 19

this is the Jesus

Jesus Life Two/2005Page 20

www.jesus.org.uk

s REVOLUTION!

www.jesus.org.uk

200 young Jesus Army ‘firestarters’ took Birmingham’s city centre by storm. Claire Mallon reports.

I AM A CHRISTIAN, A DISCIPLE OF JESUS CHRIST, I WILL ALWAYS TESTIFY TO MY FAITH,JESUS CHRIST IS LORD! This confession of faith was echoed by over 200 members of the J Generation on a march in Birmingham. The J Genera-tion travelled from various parts of the UK and congregated outside the Sym-phony Hall. We consecrated our night to God and then descended upon Broad Street, determined to make a noise and show the club goers of Birmingham that Je-sus is alive and loves them. Broad Street, which is the heart of the entertainment district, was pulsat-ing with life that Saturday evening. So, we joined in! We marched up the centre of the street, shouting, singing, banging drums, dancing and generally making our presence felt. It was so life-giv-ing! People laughed and made fun of us but we didn’t care. Others just stood in amazement at what

was unfolding before their eyes. The main theme of the night was fear breaking and there were a number of challenges that had to be met. These ‘fi restarter’ challenges were designed to help us push the cause of Jesus forward in our own lives but in the lives of others as well. We came together in crews and encouraged one another to meet these challenges. One girl had to sing her favourite Jesus song in a public place, so she strolled into Mc Donalds, sang the song, sent a blessing out to everyone in there and left. Challenge met in a totally outrageous fashion! The one thing that struck me was the response of the people when we spoke to them about the gospel. We chat-ted to many, prayed with them and used our spiritual gifts. It made me aware that the young people of today have a spirituality which desperately seeks

something real and on their level. We live in a consumer society where even spiritual matters are packaged and com-mercialised. After the chal-lenges we got together and knelt down to pray for the city. It was beautiful: lifting our hearts to the Lord, while the hurly burly of a Saturday night in the second biggest city in the UK, encompassed us yet could not touch us. The con-trast was striking. As we departed back to our various regions I felt that God had made it clear what He expected of us, that we had to be a gen-eration that would not compromise on what He was lead-ing us into. Many challenges would come as we walked this path and they would have to be met. We had no choice but to seek the Kingdom fi rst, no choice but to live as revolutionaries; dedicated and com-mitted to the cause of Jesus Christ. JL

Jesus Life Two/2005Page 21

Jesus Centre

JESUS CENTRES. FIRST NORTHAMPTON, THEN COVENTRY AND NOW A BIG LEAP FORWARD TO LOND

Jesus Life TwPage 22

LONDON

ON THE MOVELondon begins to develop its plans for a Jesus Centre. Emma Merry reports.

IT’S APRIL 7th 2005 and after 18 years in Acton, west London, Battlecentre church household is on the move – to near Oxford Circus, right in the heart of the capital. The London Jesus Fellowship congregation turned out in force to help. 25 people took time off work and within two days the team had moved 27 people, cleared two large three-storey Victorian houses and created the bedrooms and main community areas in the new seven-storey property. Of course, the hard graft had long started. Clearing and cleaning parties had gone on for weeks beforehand to remove thick grime and piles of junk. Such teamwork will be crucial to the success of the latest Jesus Centre project. “Impressive!” is how project manager Rob Bentley describes it. Research is already underway looking at different aspects of service provision in Westminster, and identifying the ‘Jesus Centre-shaped holes’. Different teams – the operations, fi nance and premises commit-tees, are being created – and will be formu-lating a business plan by mid-summer.

o/2005

“We’re seeking to include every sort of member in the development of the Centre,” says Rob. “This is a whole-congregation project. There’s a part for everyone to play.” Phase one of the Centre will open in late 2006. Located in the basement and ground fl oor of All Saints House, a former convent, it is likely to include a drop-in, IT facility, ESOL classes, community groups such as for asylum seekers, plus a tea room. “We have a terrifi c opportunity,” says Rob. “Our congregational strengths are our commitment, enthusiasm and spiritual life. We will do a proper job, but we will bring a lot more to it that’s personal and shot through with the gospel. “Here in central London we are in a busy, impersonal and money-driven world. The difference will lie in what we are in our Jesus Centre, rather than what we do.”

Part of the London Jesus Centre includes a chapel which is a listed building

One of the rooms in the former convent The move involved a lot of teamwork! Cleaning the new premises was a big job

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COVENTRY

Solid Rock Cafe!

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The cafe-style evening event in the Coventry Jesus Centre is very inclusive

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MOVING IN AND MOVING ON!

THE VISION for a network of Jesus Centres across the UK - where the love of Jesus could be expressed in Christian worship and in care for every type of person - first became practical reality when a small pilot scheme opened in a Northampton shop in 2001. The following year, Coventry Jesus Centre - based on a former car showroom - was ready for action. Two years later, in 2004, Northampton Jesus Centre moved its premises from the small shop to the impressive former cinema next door. The historic Grade Two listed Art Deco auditorium can hold up to 900 people. This year, the vision moves forwards with the acquisition of a former convent which is a short walk away from Oxford Circus. A Jesus Fellowship community house family of about 24 people is already in residence above the premises where, next year, Jesus Centre Number Three will open to serve London.

suscentres.org.uk

Jesus Centre manager, Piers Young, reports on the success of a new style Sunday evening event

FOR YEARS, the Jesus Fellowship church in Coven-try has celebrated our Sunday nights events as a standard church gospel serv-ice. OK, it was lively, often powerful, good band, knees-up, etc. But all too often there were hardly any new people there to share the

good news with. When we moved to the Jesus Centre and we carried on the same, some of us realised that even if we went out and brought visitors back to the meet-ing, they came into either a wall of noise – I mean music and singing - or rows of peoples’ backs and someone talking at them from the front. It was both hard to talk to them and, more important, the visitors could not talk about them-selves. And people need to talk. So, eventually, we proposed a radical change - making

Sunday nights into a cafe style event, called ‘Solid Rock Café’. This meant that people would sit around small tables and talk, free drinks and snacks would be served for much of the time, evangelists would go out, intercessors would pray, and the preach would be brief and worship at the end shorter, too. We gave it a trial period after explain-ing to the congrega-tion and it was the core members that found it hardest. It’s easier to sit in rows and sing or listen. Now we had to be more involved.

Plus we had to cater for the youngsters, manage drop-in visitors who came along… It was hard-er work all round. But now, after a year has passed we have got used to it and it really works - more visitors, more involvement, more happening. We’re not just ‘having a meeting’; we’re meeting the needs, in Jesus’ name. At the end of each month we still have a traditional-style celebration at which we baptise anyone who is ready. That’s good too. But it looks like Solid Rock Cafe is here to stay!

Jesus Life Two/2005Page 23

>>

Jesus Centre

NORTHAMPTON

Making a difference

The fully restored former cinema has become a hive of activity in Northampton’s town centre

Jesus Life Two/2005Page 24

>>

HAVING MOVED from a small shop premises to the huge Art Deco former cinema next door, the Northampton Jesus Centre has increased its profi le locally. The Centre is buzzing with activity as people come into the centre for the wide variety of groups and classes from Parent-ing Skills to IT and English for speakers of other languages. Heartcry Opendoors ex-pris-oner support group has sessions here and several other agencies CAN use the Jesus Centre for meeting their clients.

Four months after its official opening, the Northampton Jesus Centre is already having a big impact

“Our Circle Café has really taken off,” says Blanche McAl-lister, who supervises the popu-lar Information Desk service. “Shoppers, local residents and workers, students, and senior citizens are amongst its custom-ers and many say they enjoy the peaceful and friendly vibe. The comment we get most often is, ‘What a lovely atmosphere – it’s good to see people working so well together.’ We see the Café as the hub of what we do; offer-ing a place to meet and to fi nd out what else is going on at the

Jesus Centre.” “We know that the Jesus Centre is making a very worth-while difference to many people in Northampton - especially among the homeless. Recently, a young homeless drug-addict, who often visited our “Step Up”, found faith in Jesus and was baptised in one of our weekly Sunday evening worship meet-ings, here, at the Jesus Centre. We were really touched when his family came to thank us for the impact the Centre had on his life.” JL

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entreshting Men!

MEN ALIVE FOR GOD April 2005

THE MESSAGE of the day was clear cut.

Jesus Revolution. A cause to fi ght for, a kingdom to build, a nation to be won with the power of the Holy Spirit. A militant and dan-gerous Christianity which threatens the status quo and chal-lenges the forces of

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Raw Jesus Army passion mobilised 500 men gathered together for the Men Alive for God Day. Jesus Life editor, Huw Lewis, reports.

darkness. Spiritual freedom fi ghters, active and mobi-lised in the warfare. Tremendous poten-tial in men to win and achieve. The lost every-where, needing love and a call to new purpose. Hurting and broken human-ity desperately trying to fi nd a place and a purpose. In-creasing numbers of ASBOs, more violent

crime, fragmenta-tion in society. A nation ripe for the gospel yet so resist-ant to church. The heart of Jesus for the worst, the outcast and marginalised. Godfrey Birtill - gutsy songs that grip set the adrena-lin rush going. The songs of energy, intercession and conviction galvanise the men, stirring hearts and vision.

Worship as impact-ing warfare. Fear of God and awe at His presence. Men can make a difference and not waste their lives in fruitless and mean-ingless activity and entertainment. Afternoon seminars inspired, provoked and reinforced the no compromise call. Spiritual free-

dom as many came forward to receive anointed prayer and a new commission-ing to serve Jesus, the church and the people. A day to remem-ber. Men obsessed with the kingdom of God, with Jesus and the gospel. JL

hangehangegea ch rit!!f spiritpi t!ofoof s ritr !f spirit!

“Sorry, Colin,” said his next-door neighbour. “Your wife isn’t in your house - she’s in with us. She says your house is red-hot, as if it’s on fire!” It was the last straw for Colin. He felt he’d do anything, now, to lead a normal life. Little did he know that, actually, it wasn’t the last straw at all - but the first step towards him and his wife, Sue, finding Jesus and a radical Christian lifestyle!

SUE WAS seven when she fi rst started seeing ghosts. It was 1959 and her family lived in an ancient cottage down a lane in Staffordshire. “On many occasions I felt someone fol-lowing me in the shadows,” says Sue. “One day I saw a woman with long plaits, stand-ing on the staircase. When I described her to my mum she said, ‘Forget it, Susan - it’s just your grandma.’ My grandma had been dead for years. “In our next house, I would sometimes see a cloaked fi gure. I was nine by this time and the dark - even without the cloaked fi gure - was absolutely terrifying to me. I was too shy to talk about it, so I stayed stuck inside my fears.” In 1972, Sue met Colin and the following year they married and went to live in Kent. Weeks went by without anything strange happening and then the weird phenomena would start again. Although Colin never saw anything supernatural, on two occasions he witnessed the unmistakable evidence of a poltergeist. The young couple might have gone on living like this, but in 1978, their daughter Faye was born. When Colin came home and found his troubled wife had taken the baby next door, because - to her - their house was burning hot, as if on fi re, he suddenly realised he’d had enough. He went to town to buy a book about spirits. Directed to the Christian bookshop, he explained, ‘I’ve got trouble with spirits. I want to know how to get rid of them!’ He was told about a Christian Crusade, where Trevor Dearing - an Anglican vicar, who’d sparked off many churches to come alive in the Holy Spirit - was guest speaker.

www.jesus.org.uk

At the Crusade, Colin and Sue heard speaking in tongues and were amazed to see people falling down under God’s power. “We went forward for prayer and were advised to join the local charismatic house church, get grounded in a relationship with Jesus and then get Sue something called ‘deliverance’.” A leader explained there were only two types of spirit: the Holy Spirit and evil spir-its. ‘Ghosts’ were not dead people manifest-ing themselves but demons impersonating the dead in order to bring spiritual confu-sion. Once the demon had been kicked out, Sue’s ‘special powers’ would disappear. But fi rst to meet Jesus and be born again! “I reckoned if we had to go to church and receive a list of things we couldn’t do any-more, it had to be better to be miserable but free from demonic infl uence,” says Colin. “They helped us pray the sinner’s prayer and, to our amazement, we didn’t feel mis-erable at all, but left their house walking on air!” “A few days later, they prayed for my de-liverance,” says Sue. “All the demonic hap-penings stopped and have never returned. I felt slightly sick as the demons left but I was not fright-ened and, afterwards, I felt incredibly different. I hadn’t told anyone about all my other fears - like fear of the dark - but all those fears went, too.” Colin changed, too. “After becoming a Christian,” he says,” I never felt alone, even on a bad day. Never

‘I’ve got troublI want to know how

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again went along with the crowd. I now had a godly conscience and could weigh things up according to what God wanted. I must be the only person who smuggled stolen goods back into the place he stole them from - 200 fags I found in a locker at work! “We had 15 happy years in Chatham. Then we started to long for even closer fellowship. In 1993, visiting a friend in a Jesus Fellowship community house in Flore, Northampton-shire, we found it! We spent a year visiting every possible weekend and then moved in.” “My big hurdle was shyness,” says Sue. “Here we were, in a house with 25 other people. I expected to spend all my time hiding in my bedroom! I knew community was my calling from God but I didn’t feel, at fi rst, I could ever live up to it. Gradually my confi dence grew!” “Community is like a large family,” says Colin. “Like all families, it’s not a bed of roses and needs your full commitment, but feeling the buzz of the Body of Christ every day around you, is what makes community so special. “After eleven years in community, we’ve no regrets whatsoever! Actually, that’s not true - I do regret taking so long to show my

real self to God and to my broth-ers and sisters in the

close-knit circle of our church. What a relief! We can be ourselves and still be loved. In community you don’t need to force people to fl ourish. Community - where you bounce off other people of all kinds - is such good soil that you fl ourish quite naturally!”

e with spirits - to get rid of them!’

JL

Sue and Colin soon after they met. Although Sue was never a big fan of motorbikes, she and Colin met at the famous TT races in the Isle of Man.

Jesus Life Two/2005Page 27

PionnneerPIONEERS!

In 1974, the Jesus Fellowship purchased their first large Christian community house. Three of the pioneering residents reflect on the early days and how they’ve kept ground-breaking for the past thirty years.

“I GREW up with unreal Christi-anity which put me off believing in Jesus,” says John Thomason. “I saw a lot of injustice in the world, and longed for change in society. I felt revolutionary politics was the only answer and I joined the Socialist Society at university. But I became disil-lusioned with that as well.” He realized politics were incapable of creating a better society because people carried so much prejudice and bitter-ness. “I realised that change had to begin in the human heart and Jesus was the only one who could bring about such a truly radical transformation.”

He visited the chapel at Bugbrooke which was experi-encing the beginnings of a Holy Spirit revival, in 1969. There, he heard teaching about God creating an alternative culture

through people living lives of justice, holiness and equal-ity. Things began to click into place. “I saw that we must be a visible new society.” He strongly felt God calling him to become fully committed to this ‘city on a hill’. “I understood the reality of Christian community as expressed in the Acts of the Apostles as real socialism. This was the fulfi lment of my dream” A number of people in the Fellowship sold their houses, and pooled together to buy the substantial property of New Crea-tion Hall in Bugbrooke village. The early days of establishing commu-nity were rough, but exciting and

“There was a sense of awe ihelping to create a small piec

pioneering. “There was a sense of awe in being part of God’s work, helping to create a small piece of His kingdom on earth,” John adds. Dave Lantsbery and Steve Oakey were the fi rst to move in

to the Hall at 2 am one frosty morning! The house was semi-derelict and for many weeks they slept on fl oor boards. When they returned home on one oc-casion, they found thieves had stolen the lead from the toilet drainage. The contents cascad-ed down into outbuildings. It was like living in a building site for the fi rst winter as a team set about renovations. Dave recalls, “We met to-gether every night of the week in the chapel, with three meetings on Sundays. I was awestruck - people sitting next to me were full of God’s Holy Spirit. When they spoke, God spoke. There

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was a deep joy of belonging to one another and we wanted to do everything together. “We couldn’t escape the call to live together as a demonstra-tion of God’s love. We gave our all - our faith, our substance and our fi nances.” Soon others followed and the house was brimming with people. The prophetic word focussed on a call to sacrifi ce, to renounce the old self life, share possessions and be accountable to one another. Steve continues. “When the word about community was given out we immediately clothed it with fl esh and obeyed it. It was like the story of Ezekiel and the dry bones, which were being formed even as the prophetic word was being spoken over them. As we moved in full surrender to God, we found great blessings.” For all of them, pioneering community has brought with it very painful times. “Pioneer-

ing is costly as we are breaking into Satan’s territory,” says John. “Building the kingdom of God on earth always involves spiritual warfare and opposition. We knew plenty of that in those early days!” He remembers a signifi -cant time when he was going through an inward struggle. A brother encouraged him to keep going: ‘You’ve got to realize you’re one of the foundation stones which are buried deep in the ground. Without the foundation the building will eventually fall down.’ “The most painful times in community have been when people you have built close rela-tionships with, leave. It is a great challenge to stay true to the vi-sion even when others don’t. It’s your love for the brethren that

keeps you faithful at such times. You want to do them good and cause no harm. “The disillusionments you experience are just part of the learning process, helping you go forward with new wisdom and understanding, deepening you in the faith. “Every man and woman must have a purpose. It is crucial to fi nd that purpose, make a decision to work it out and then stick to it. You must set yourself in a straight line like the plough-man and say, this is where I am going, God is with me.” There have been many chang-es in the Jesus Fellowship over the years, like the launching of

the Jesus Army and the opening of Jesus Centres. John feels it is important to have a heart that is willing to go with the changes. “There have always been new leaps of faith. We need to hold fast to what we are but not be fearful of change.” His vision for the church is to see Christian community increase. We need to build a Christian community that is as radical as ever, learning from our past mistakes, pressing on and always pushing back the boundaries. This is costly but very rewarding.” JL

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Fire in our Hearts | The story of the Jesus Fel low ship £5.99When the Spirit comes | Accounts of spir it u al awakening £3.99Seven Silver Rings | Seven cel i bates from the Jesus Fellowship tell their stories £3.99The Bestseller | An informative introduction to the books of the Bible £3.99 Revival Fires | Stirring ac counts of Chris tian re viv al around the world £2.50Your Baptism | A clear, in depth teach ing book let on believer’s baptism £1.50

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LONDON JESUS DAYSaturday 23 July 11:00am March to Trafalgar Square

12:00 noon Jesus Festival

LONDON

MULTIPLY EU LEADERS CONFERENCESaturday 18 June11:00am, 2:00pm & 6:00pm

Jesus CentreAbington Square

NORTHAMPTON

n a t i o n a l e v e n t s n a t i o n a l e v e n t s

UK JESUS CELEBRATIONSaturday 30 July 1:00pm, 2:00pm, 4:30pm & 6:00pm

Jesus CentreAbington Square

NORTHAMPTON

WINNING FESTIVAL WEEKENDFriday 26 - Monday 29 AugGiant MarqueeCornhill Manor, Pattishall

NORTHAMPTON

al lal l

NORTH & SOUTH CELEBRATIONSSaturday 10 September 4:30pm & 6:30pm

Victoria Leisure Centre, Sneinton NOTTINGHAM

Selhurst High School for Boys, The Crescent CROYDON

free all welcome no prejudice f ree all welcome no prejudice

electronic postbag electronic postbag

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I give all the glory to the Lord for letting the Multiply team come to Kenya. I per-sonally had the opportunity to meet with the two pas-tors, with a friend who works for Telkom, Kenya. I am the founder of The Fellowship of Christ for All Nations (FOCAN) and was blessed in all that your reps shared about. Greetings to you all in the name of the Lord!

J.OkangoNairobi, KENYA

I can hear deep in me the call to teach the word of God. There is one thing that impresses me in the mod-ern Jesus Army and it’s the jackets. I like people around me to always identify me with Christ.

M.ChristopherBuea, CAMEROON

JA jackets

Kenyan thanks

I am involved in an intern-ship at The Wycliffe Bible Centre. I visited your Jesus Centre in Northampton with a friend who invited me. I was very excited and impressed by the dedication of the Centre. May the Lord who has inspired this great project bless it and all of you.

D.DedjiHorsley Green, UK

Impressed

I am in desperate need of prayer. I need God in my life. I feel so broken I can’t seem to fi nd my way back. I was so angry tonight because my children’s father won’t leave me alone, that I laid in bed wanting to pray but couldn’t because I was mad. I just wish I was away from all these demons and people who constantly seek after my hurt. I fi ght with my fl esh daily, just when I think I got it under control, out of the blue I fall and sin again. I lost my ability to pray and to feel when I do pray. I am often wondering if God even hears me. I need a greater relation-ship with God. I have been battling some sickness, little fi nances, a broken marriage and just the lost joy in my life. And I am empty inside. Please help me.

C.LesterBuffalo, USA

I was curious if anyone in the US has ever desired to be a part of your ministry? I did mission work in Belgium in the early 90s and ran into some of the Christians from the Jesus Army and com-pletely forgot about your work in the EU. Your website has made me hungry to see the things you are doing here in this modern day Laodi-cea. I am also excited about how your work and faith has matured in your various outreaches and publications. Keep fervent! Your web site touched me greatly.

C.CohoonMontana, USA

Desperate prayer

Europe vision

I met two of your workers in Exeter at the weekend. I am a chaplain at the University of Plymouth and looking for clothing to stand out at the University. I was struck by jackets worn by your work-ers and would like to en-quire where the jackets were bought as I looked up your shop, but clothing centred on teeshirts and fl eeces.

D.RichardsPlymouth, UK

Just exploring Christian community on the web and discovered your site. An interesting arrangement. I am studying at Regent Col-lege, Vancouver and taking a course on building Christian community. In that course we are to visit a Christian community and write a paper based on our refl ection on the visit. I am wondering if you would be open to have a visitor come to stay for a couple of days?

B.Croy Vancouver, CANADA

Student interest

Distinctive clothing

Jesus Life Two/2005Page 31

C O N TA C T U S !

BIRMINGHAM Jesus Fellowship Church ...............0845 166 8153BLACKBURN Rishton Christian Fellowship..........(01254) 887790BRIDGEND The Bridge Community Church ..........(01656) 655635BRIGHTON & HOVE Jesus Fellowship Church.....0845 166 8151CHATHAM House Of Prayer For All Nations ..........(01634) 669933CHATHAM King’s Church Medway ....................... (01634) 847477COVENTRY Hillfi elds Christian Fellowship..............07815 693690COVENTRY Jesus Fellowship Church.....................0845 166 8154DEAL Christchurch ...............................................(01304) 366512HIGH WYCOMBE Church of Shalom ..................(01494) 449408HORNCASTLE House Church .............................(01472) 859052 IPSWICH Jesus Fellowship Church ........................0845 166 8156 KETTERING Jesus Fellowship Church....................0845 166 8157LEEDS Jesus Fellowship Church.............................0845 166 8167LEICESTER Jesus Fellowship Church.................... (0116) 254 9233LIVERPOOL Jesus Fellowship Church ...................0845 166 8168LONDON N Glad Tidings Evangelical Church.........(020) 8245 9002LONDON S Bible Life Family Ministries .............. (020) 8689 2244

BELFAST ............................... 0845 123 5552BOURNEMOUTH ................... 0845 123 5558BRISTOL ............................... 0845 123 5339

CHESTER/NORTH WALEHASTINGS ...................NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYN

JESUS FELLOWSHIP GROUPS ALSO MEET REGULARLY IN:

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AT’

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A? Multiply churches and groups meet all over the UK

LONDON S Understanding Ministries ..................(020) 7064 1999LONDON SE Ephratah Int’l Gospel Praise Centre .. 020) 8469 0047LONDON SE Flaming Evangelical Ministries ........(020) 8694 2083LONDON SE Hope of Glory Int’l Ministries............(020) 8694 6738LONDON SE Mission Together for Christ .............. (020) 7401 2687LONDON SW Philip & Esther Ministries ...............(020) 7771 6059LONDON Jesus Fellowship Church .........................0845 166 8152MANCHESTER Jesus Fellowship Church ..............0845 166 8169MILTON KEYNES Jesus Fellowship Church ..........0845 166 8159NORTHAMPTON Jesus Fellowship Church .......... 0845 166 8161NORWICH Jesus Fellowship Church ......................0845 166 8162NOTTINGHAM Jesus Fellowship Church ...............0845 166 8163OXFORD Jesus Fellowship Church .........................0845 166 8164RAMSEY (Cambs) Christians United ....................(01487) 815528READING New Life Pentecostal Church ...............(01189) 590001SHEFFIELD Jesus Fellowship Church....................0845 166 8183STOKE-ON-TRENT Chenaniah Christian Fellowship....07950 221304STOKE-ON-TRENT Jesus Fellowship Church ....... 0845 123 5334WHITCHURCH Christian Fellowship ...................(01948) 665725

S ..... 0845 123 5561......... 0845 123 5551E ...... 0845 166 8187

PRESTON .............................. 0845 123 5554SWANSEA ............................. 0845 123 5556WALSALL/WOLVERHAMPTON ..0845 123 5563

(All 0845 numbers are local call rate for BT users)

Ring one of the numbers below to fi nd out what’s going on in your area!