1Jesus Lifewww.jesus.org.ukA UK JESUS PEO PLE MAGAZINE from the Multiply Network and Je sus Fel low ship / modern JESUS army (mJa)

JesusLife

www.jesus.org.uk

#82three/2009FREE

Summer of LOVE • mJa Tribes: BELFAST • On the margins: IMMIGRANTS

A CAUSE TO FIGHT FOR

INSIDE:

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Jesus Life Two/2009 Page 2

contents also...Church Alive Comment from the Jesus Fellowship Apostolic Team 3-4

Electronic Postbag Emails to the Jesus Army 8Passion from the past Elizabeth Fry: the face on every fiver 9Double blow, many blessings Trusting God when tragedy strikes 14-16

Jesus Centres Who might you meet at a Jesus Centre? 20-21

Suicide survivors A look at a support group at Coventry Jesus Centre 22

Multiply Christian Network Persecution in Orissa, India 23-24

‘Celibacy = Love’ Living single for Jesus brings availability for people 25

Radical Bites A challenge to radical living 29

Spiritual Search Simeon Morgan finds something to live for 30

5-7Fire poweredA tribute to Jesus Fellowship founder Noel Stanton

Summer of loveThe Jesus Fellowship share Jesus around the UK

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12-13mJa TribesBelfast: a safe haven in a city known for its strife

17-19On the marginsJesus Life takes a look at the experience of immigrants in the UK

26-28Changed livesHannah Asprusten left home, family and country to follow Jesus

Rant and RaveBoiling with rage and bubbling with excitement

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www.jesus.org.uk

The Jesus FellowshiP ChurCh, which is also known as the Jesus Army and includes the New Creation Christian Community, upholds the historic Christian faith, being reformed, evangelical and charismatic. it practises believer’s baptism and the New Testament reality of Christ’s Church; believing in Almighty God: Father, son and holy spirit; in the full divinity, atoning death and bodily resurrection of the lord Jesus Christ; in the Bible as God’s word, fully inspired by the holy spirit. This Church desires to witness to the lordship of Jesus Christ over and in his Church; and, by holy character, righteous society and evangelical testimony to declare that Jesus 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 kingdom of God. This church proclaims free grace, justification by faith in Christ and the sealing and sanctifying baptism in the holy spirit.

© 2009 Jesus Fellowship Church, Nether heyford, Northampton NN7 3lB, uK. editor: James stacey. reproduction in any form requires written permission. The Jesus Fellowship does not necessarily agree with all the views expressed in articles and interviews printed in this magazine. unless otherwise indicated, all scripture quotations are taken from the holY BiBle, New iNTerNATioNAl VersioN®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 international Bible society. used by permission of hodder & stoughton ltd, a member of the hodder headline Plc Group. All rights reserved. Photographs in this magazine are copyright Jesus Fellowship Church or royalty-free stock photos from www.sxc.hu. The Jesus Fellowship is part of Multiply Christian Network. Both the Jesus Fellowship and Multiply Christian Network are members of the evangelical Alliance uK. Jesus Fellowship life Trust registered Charity number 1107952.

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www.jesu

ALIVEALIVEchurch

Comments from the Jesus Fellowship UK/mJa Apostolic Team

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s A CAUSE TO FIGHT FORTHE YOUNG men on the cover of this

issue of Jesus Life have all found new life in Jesus. At one time many were lost in their independence, slaves of drugs, alcohol and other destructive forces. Now they love to belong to Jesus brotherhood and identify with the cause of Jesus – just look at their red crosses, worn with pride. Every human being has a need to belong. The newborn baby belongs to his or her mother. Children belong to a family. But what about adults? Many try to go it alone, pursuing their own interests. They end up lonely and empty. Deep in the heart of every man and woman is a desire to belong to something at a heart level. An organ severed from the physical body will shrivel and die. It can’t exist on its own – neither can we. Disconnected and cut off from the life fl ow of the local body of Christ, our spiritual life would wither and eventually cease to exist. This is why the fi rst symptom of spiritual decline is usually less frequent attendance at gatherings of believers. The word “together” appears often in the New Testament. We belong together for eternity. Let’s give the call to “come and belong” to His local body, His church.

s.org.uk

CAN THESE BONES LIVE?I’D WATCHED a prophetic dance performed at one of our main events and I felt provoked. The dance was based on Ezekiel 37 – the “valley of the dry bones”. It captivated my imagination, spoke to my spirit – and provoked me to more faith. Provoked me to believe in the God who can take what is very, very dead and make it alive. Ezekiel saw a valley full of bones that are described as “very dry”. Not just dry, not just dead: very dry – very dead. There was no marrow left. And Ezekiel was asked a ques-tion: “Can these bones live?” His reply – “O Lord – You alone know”. It is God who raises the dead. And here we are: not standing in a valley of bones like Ezekiel, but we are surrounded by the spiritually dead. And they are very dead. Caught in deathly habits, in addic-tions, in chasing empty dreams. Can they live? “You alone know, O God” – we need to look to God who raises the dead; then we will have faith for those who seem totally unreachable. I felt the Holy Spirit tell me to talk to God and hear what He says, like Ezekiel did. It has brought a new confi dence to us as we share that good news about Jesus. Since then, we’ve seen many people fi nding life, from all sorts of backgrounds – people from different religions, different cultures, people whom society has cast out. Dead people. But they’re coming to life – more and more of them. “A vast army” in fact (Ezekiel 37:10). Let’s be ready to receive them.

Stev

e C

alam

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Ian

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lard HUMAN

AGAINMY EVANGELICAL credentials are near-perfect. Bible class as a child; Billy Graham as a teenager (soundly converted); Christian Union as a stu-dent; baptised by immersion. I strug-gled with receiving the fullness of the Holy Spirit, but when it progressively came, I was won over. Joining the Jesus Fellowship ticked the last box, the one marked “commitment”. Early in my forties, now with lead-ership ministry, something strange happened. I was sitting in the back row of a celebration event, with our children strung on either side. A warm glow came over me. I felt forgiven. Not just everyday forgiven – deeply forgiven. For all my past; for all my future. Profusely forgiven; comprehensively forgiven; compel-lingly forgiven; irrevocably forgiven. I felt… converted. I found myself on a brand new track. I began to address my self-condemna-tion – like any addict, by cutting down fi rst. I could ask the children’s forgive-

ness for the times I’d been harsh. When leadership splits shattered our church household, the loyal remnant seemed paralysed. We talked openly about perfectionisms, abuse, abandon-ment, rejection, depressions. It was no narcissistic therapy-gospel stuff; we’d joined up for a life of active service. But unlikely new friends from criminal and hectic backgrounds began to love be-ing with us! We were becoming friends of sinners. For many, baptism in the Holy Spirit simply supercharged our self-righteousness. For others, previous non-believers, it was much sizzle and little sausage. We’ve needed a second conversion – from being “spiritual” into being human. How is it with you? Why does the wider church recruit record-holding celebrities to promote its courses and conferences? Because there’s a deep unease that being sim-ply human, like you, or me – or Jesus – isn’t good enough? Come on: let’s get a life.

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ON 20 MAY 2009, Noel Stanton, Apos-tolic Team Leader and founder of the Jesus Fellowship passed into glory. He spoke earlier this year of “com-pleting” 40 years of ministry since his baptism in the Holy Spirit in January 1969. A few days before he died Huw Lewis and I took bread and wine to him. We anointed him with oil and commended him to the Lord. Like the apostle Paul, he was able to say, “I have fought the good fi ght, I have fi nished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7). We had an awesome thanksgiving service at Northampton Jesus Centre with some 1,700 attending, thankful for all that the Lord achieved among us through Noel’s dynamic, anointed leadership. It was encouraging to have Roger Forster give a short tribute to Noel and pray for the future of the Jesus Fellowship. Our apostolic team are now in the driving seat. The future is exciting. Please pray for us. We value your support.

Mick Haines

NOEL STANTON PASSES TO GLORY

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11/09/2009 16:15:33

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He lived simply in community with his brothers and sisters. His was no life of privilege. He exemplified simplicity.

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Noel Stanton, founder of the Jesus Fellowship and the modern Jesus army, died on 20 May 2009. Jesus Life offers this tribute to an extraordinary life.

Fire powered

.

NOEL STANTON became the pastor of Bugbrooke Baptist Church, near

Northampton, in 1957. A dozen years later, following an overwhelming spiritual expe-rience, he revolutionised worship at the vil-lage chapel and led the small congregation into the charismatic movement. Under his leadership the church, re-named the Jesus Fellowship, grew in size and expanded across the UK. Noel and the Fellowship explored large-scale communal living and, as the Jesus Army, engaged in effective outreach. In more recent years the Jesus Fellowship initiated Multiply Interna-

tional, a network of charismatic churches, and Jesus Centres which offer spiritual and social help to many on the margins of UK society. Born on Christmas Day 1926, Noel grew up on his parents’ farm in Bedfordshire. While serving in the Royal Navy, a man approached him in Sydney, Australia and asked him a question that was to change his life: “Where do you expect to spend eternity?” The question struck home and set Noel on the path to becoming a man of God. After leaving the Navy, Noel was baptised Continued overleaf

ss

and received a call to Christian leadership. After training at All Nations Bible College, Noel was called to pastor Bugbrooke Bap-tist Church in March 1957. Noel organised Bible weeks, evangelistic drives and mis-sionary weekends, but was left frustrated; much effort went into achieving little. But this was all to change. The turning point came in 1969. Members of the church had been seeking God for the secret of the early church’s power. Noel had been praying

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on his own when he was powerfully baptised in the Holy Spirit, an experience which lit a fire in him that never dimmed in the years to come. Later he wrote of the effects of that mo-ment: “It was so intoxicating, so exhilarat-ing, and so intense that I felt I was just not going to live any more. I became filled with the intensity of God. This went on for hours and hours and I moved into speaking in tongues and praising the Lord. It was a tremendous experience of life and fullness from which I didn’t come down for a long time – and this was the changing point in my life.” As others were baptised in the Spirit, the chapel congregation began to grow apace. Interest in the church grew so much that in 1974 the church was the subject of a televi-sion documentary, The Lord Took Hold of Bugbrooke. It was at that time, in the mid-1970s, that Noel began to speak of the vision of living together in Christian community. This vision was the natural overflow of the love people were experiencing as revival gripped the chapel congregation – but it was Noel’s teaching, particularly from the book of Acts, that crystallised the vi-sion. Noel himself moved into Christian community at the newly purchased New Creation Farm in 1976. It was to remain his home for the rest of his life – and New Creation Christian Community as a whole remained the heart of the Jesus Fellowship. Noel was a visionary. His teaching ex-plored the Church as God’s new creation society of justice and committed brother-hood. He urged total consecration to God (including, for some, a life of committed singleness for Jesus). He spoke often of love for the poor and the rejected. Themes such as these propelled the Jesus Fellow-ship along her remarkable path. Yet perhaps the abiding mark of Noel’s leadership was his absolute insistence that vision mustn’t remain only vision: it must

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He urged total consecration to God... he spoke often of love for the poor and the rejected.lead to application. It must be put into practice; it must be done. One young leader in the Jesus Fellow-ship, reflecting on Noel’s life after his passing, wrote, “It is a mark of the integrity of Noel’s lifestyle that he lived simply in community with his brothers and sisters. His was no life of privilege. He exemplified simplicity. For all Noel’s fire and tenacity, he never sought to feather his own nest. Quite the opposite: the second-hand iron bedstead that was his throughout his years in community says it all.” Noel’s heart continued to long for oth-ers to find faith. In 1987, he initiated the church adopting “Jesus Army” as a new identity. It was Noel’s unstinting heart for the poor and the deprived that spear-headed the entire new movement. The Jesus Army became a visible presence in many towns and cities. Along the way Noel encountered a pe-riod of some opposition in the media and from a number of other churches, which resulted in the Jesus Fellowship leaving the mainstream Evangelical Alliance and the Baptist Union. The Fellowship rejoined the Evangelical Alliance in 1999 after Noel had made strenuous efforts over more than

a decade to allay suspicions and rebuild bridges with fellow Christian leaders. As Noel approached his eighties, his vision hadn’t dimmed in the least. As the new millennium dawned, Noel initiated another faith vision: Jesus Centres – places where the love of Jesus would be “ex-pressed daily in worship, friendship and help for every kind of person”. And Noel continued to lead the Sunday night seekers event, called “Heart”, at the Northampton Jesus Centre into his 83rd year. Now, the Jesus Fellowship has won widespread acceptance and commenda-tion for its work through its Jesus Centres. In particular it has gained awards for re-housing homeless people, supporting former prisoners, and helping new arrivals to speak and read English. A large part of Noel’s gift was that he was able, in faith, to take risks – and not just with large projects like the Jesus Centres; he risked placing enormous trust in other people, too. Noel often showed unwaver-ing commitment to those that few others would believe in, particularly damaged young men. He was determined to see some of “the worst” becoming the best that they could be, determined that the “lost genera-tion” should be believed in and champi-oned. He took risks to see it happen. Some of the young men and women Noel “fathered” are leading movers and shakers in the Jesus Army today. An anonymous comment in a memorial book to Noel’s memory says it all: “He told me he had al-ways believed in me. That meant so much. He inspired confidence in me each time we spoke.” In his last message to the Jesus Fellow-ship, in a memo written from his hospital bed, Noel wrote movingly of the call to be characterised by “more living humanity”, with “passion of love for every kind of per-son”. He wrote, “You will believe in people; churches will be true families; you will be relevant to society and will find you have

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favour with them. You will be characterised as those who meet the needs of people.” And Noel added the exhortation which had been his keynote for so many years: “You will love the poor.” Sir Christopher Wren lies buried in the cathedral he designed, St Paul’s in London. His memorial stone says, “If you seek his monument, look around you”. Noel would have as his memorial not a building, but the many, many lives he impacted with the love and power of Jesus. If you seek his memorial – look at them.

Noel Stanton continued to head the leadership team of the Jesus Fellowship into his eighties, before handing over to Mick Haines in 2009 due to failing health. He died peacefully on 20 May 2009 after an illness of some months. Noel lived simply in Christian community, in the same manner as those he sought to lead. He never married, viewing his life as dedicated to Jesus Christ as a committed celibate.

JL

Clockwise from top: Noel in the midst of an mJa demo; a young Noel in his naval uniform; a keen motorcyclist in his youth; Noel’s induction at Bugbrooke Baptist Church.

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IF YOU’D LIKE TO SEND YOUR PRAYER REQUESTS, OR LET US KNOW WHAT GOD HAS BEEN DOING IN YOUR LIFE OR YOU’D LIKE TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT HIM EMAIL: info@jesus.org.uk WRITE: JESUS FELLOWSHIP, NETHER HEYFORD, NORTHAMPTON NN7 3LB

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Subscribe to the new modern Jesus army e-mailing list and get a monthly mJa e-Streetpaper, full of inspiration, challenge and stories of lives changed by Jesus. Visit: www.jesus.org.uk/epaper

INDIAN PASSIONDEAR BROTHERS and sisters in Christ, Greetings from India, I have been on your website and I am really inspired by your work and what the Lord has been doing through you. We also are serving the Lord like you and have a passion for the youth and children. If you have any networks in India please let me know so I can fellowship with them. Bless you,

Martin LutherBETHEL, INDIA

For more on Multiply International visit www.multiply.org.uk

STUDENT SEARCHI AM interested in visiting one of your community houses as the Christian community lifestyle is something I am considering. I became a Christian in 1984 and I’m now a graduate from theological college. In my third year I studied baptism in the Holy Spirit and spent some time working for Gilead Foundations through which I heard some good things about the church. I look forward to hearing from you,

Ian FaulknerOKEHAMPTON, DEVON, UK

For more on the Jesus Fellowship’s residential Christian community visit www.newcreation.org.uk

BRIGHT BURSTI JUST thought I’d drop you a line to say how much I appreciate you all. You are like a fiery beacon of hope, life and vitality in what could so easily be a “grey” world. All the doom and gloom of the world could dampen one’s spirit if it was not for the burst of truth, joy and spiritual reality that comes from ministries like yours. Long may it continue! God bless,

Irene CleggLEDBURY, HEREFORDSHIRE, UK

To receive New D@wn, a weekly email from the website featuring the latest prophetic word, upcoming events and a brief survey of mJa activity around the UK, visit www.jesus.org.uk/lists

IMMIGRATION HOPEDEAR Jesus Fellowship, I am the senior chaplain in an immigration removal centre in the UK. There are around 250 detainees here, from all parts of the world. Around half are Muslim and a third Christian. We work to give them hope and, if they are open, share with them the gospel message. I was wondering if you would be willing to supply us with a subscription of your magazine and newspaper so we can make it available to the people here. Many of them enjoyed reading your literature in the past, in particular the stories of lives changed by God’s power and love. God bless,

Patrick WrightHARMONDSWORTH, UK

To receive a free mailing of Jesus Life and Streetpaper fill in the card between pages 24 and 25 and send it freepost to the Jesus Fellowship.

R.E. QUESTI’VE BEEN watching a Jesus Army video at school in my religious education class and it’s very interesting. I was wondering what you actually do and what it involves? Also is there a Jesus Army church in Bristol where I live?

Emma BRISTOL, UK

For information on Jesus Army activities in different areas around the UK visit www.jesus.org.uk/uk

UNCONDITIONAL LOVEHI, I recently came to your event in Cocks Moor Leisure Centre and really enjoyed the message I heard there. I also experienced something amazing I haven’t felt in a number of years despite attending a God-filled church: unconditional love – the love we received from everyone was amazing. Thank you all,

Sharon DasBIRMINGHAM, UK

For information on forthcoming Jesus Fellowship events visit www.jesus.org.uk/dates JL

www.jesus.org.uk

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ELIZABETH FRY was born into a banking family in Norwich, England, in 1780. When she was 18, she

heard a Quaker preacher speaking and she was con-verted. She joined a Quaker assembly, where a woman had a prophecy for her: “You are born to be a light to the blind, speech to the dumb and feet to the lame.” She married and moved to London. Motherhood kept her so busy that after 12 years she lamented: “I fear my life is slipping away to little purpose.” How wrong she was! Another Quaker minister told her of the horrify-ing conditions in the capital’s prisons. Fry went to the infamous Newgate jail to see for herself. She found hun-

The face of Elizabeth Fry is on every Bank of England £5 note – but who was Elizabeth Fry to deserve such an honour? Article by Trevor Saxby.

children and suffering from what today would be called post-natal depression, she established a night shelter for the homeless in London, campaigned for more hu-mane treatment of orphans, began an outreach ministry to sailors and founded a school for nurses. It was nurses trained at Fry’s school who went with Florence Nightin-gale to the Crimea. She was incensed at the transportation of women prisoners to Australia. The night before they left, there were always riots in the prisons. The women would reach Australia penniless and with dependent chil-dren, leaving prostitution as the only option for many.

dreds of women and their children living violent lives in unsanitary conditions and sleeping on the fl oor without bedding. Fry sprang into action. She enlisted local women to make clothes for the children. She got permission to start a school for prison children. She founded an organisation of women who would visit prisoners, pray and read scriptures with them, and provide them with materials to sew and knit goods which could be sold to give them some income. The atmosphere at Newgate changed so noticeably that Fry’s model was followed in other towns and even abroad. She became well known. She was the fi rst woman ever to give evidence to a parliamentary select committee, leading to a series of prison reforms in the 1820s. Queen Victoria admired her and made donations. Fry’s work didn’t stop there. Even while raising 11

Elizabeth lobbied parliament and personally visited all deportees, giving them materials for making clothes on the voyage which they could sell on arrival. Quakers allowed anointed women to preach, and Elizabeth did so. It is said that her voice carried such emotion that hard hearts would weep. “Let us cleave to God in spirit,” she exhorted, “and make it the fi rst business of our lives to be conformed to His will and live to His glory, whether prosperity or adversity be our portion, and though our years pass away like a brief tale. Through His unbounded love, the blessings of the Most High will rest upon us.” Elizabeth proved it. The prophecy was fulfi lled absolutely. Called “the Angel of Mercy” in her lifetime, when she died in 1845 over a thousand people lined the way to her grave, to honour the passing of a truly great woman. JL

She found hundreds of women and their children living violent lives in unsanitary conditions and sleeping

on the floor without bedding

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11/09/2009 16:13:15

Jesus Life10

Summer

Jesus Life10

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The modern Jesus army takes the good

news of Jesus out and about in the UK.

Here are some snapshots of the action.

of Love

tter’: praying with people

‘Listen’: talking God with all who will listen

‘I love the opportunity to get to know new people and share what God has done in my life’

Amy, 18

‘You ma

‘Out and about’: friendship in Jesus in a local park‘Out and about’: friendship in Jesus in a local park‘Out and about’: friendship in Jesus in a local park

‘Free’: showing what we have

‘Play it again’: part of an mJa event on a green

‘Soulful’: music on the streets

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11/09/2009 16:11:35

Summer of Love of Love of Love of Love of Love

11 Life

www.jesus.org.uk‘Up in the blue’: balloons with prayers let loose

‘St

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‘It’s not about anything down

‘BBQ summer’: sharing food

making frsharing li

reet colour’: a mural

Jesus

shoving

people’s throats, but iends and fe. I love it!’

James, 33

‘Love is all you need’: drama at Trafalgar Square

JL

‘Peace man’: an art display used on the streets

‘Eye eye’: face-painting for free

11/09/2009 16:12:28

BELFASTTRIBES

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BRANDON’S childhood was full of pain. His early memories of his parents consist mainly of arguments. One day his father turned on his mother and shot her and then turned the gun on himself. Their deaths left Brandon with only his brother. He spent the rest of his childhood in children’s homes. On top of all that, young Brandon had heart problems which meant he had to undergo multiple heart operations. As a young child, before the deaths of his parents, Brandon used to attend “Bible Club”. But, perhaps not surprisingly, given all the pain and suffering he had known, Brandon had lost faith in God. But, some time after his parents died, he did go to a Christian camp. “It was just a holiday for me,” Brandon explains, but during one of the meetings he heard one of the camp leaders refer to God as her “Father”. This struck Brandon. God as “Father”? Could God father him in a way he’d so lacked as a small child? Was there a way out

Belfast boy finds familyOne member of Jesus Fellowship Belfast, Brandon Cooper, told Jesus Life his story.

of the desperate aloneness he felt? By the end of the camp Brandon had become a Christian. Brandon met the Jesus Army six years ago, when he was selling The Big Issue in Belfast. During one of the outreach campaigns in Belfast, two members of the team talked to him. Brandon told them he was a Christian and they invited him back to the Jesus Army double-decker bus. He said he might come by if he sold The Big Issues he was trying to sell in time – which was unlikely). But they sold – “in miraculous record-time” – and Brandon visited the bus and recognised an old friend from a church he’d been to in the past. That was the beginning. Brandon has stuck around. “I have truly found a home and new family,” he says. Brandon knows God as his everlasting loving Father – and with his brothers and sisters at Safe Haven he’s found the family of the loving Father all around him.

Brandon: fathered in the family

...his father turned on his mother and shot her and then turned the gun on himself.

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Safe Haven in a city of strifeJesus Life tells the story of how the Jesus Fellowship in Belfast all came about.

THE IDEA of the Jesus Army evangelising in Belfast first came about when Terry

Scullion, originally from Belfast, planned an outreach campaign there “for the craick” (for the fun of it). He invited a few people to

Belfast and a bunch of kids started to throw stones at it. However, as a Jesus Fellow-ship member put it, “the Lord’s protection was upon His people” – most of the stones missed the targets; the bus and all its pas-

www.jesus.org.uk

Founding father (and mother):

Ray and Ruth

Happy family: some of the Safe Haven crew

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go with him in 1997 on a campaign which became the first of many. Terry sadly lost his life to cancer a few years later – but his vision and inspiration lived on until the first Jesus Fellowship community house in

Ireland was born: “Safe Haven”. Ray Gunn was a friend of Terry who went on that first campaign. When he returned, Ray was commissioned as the Jesus Fel-lowship’s “man in Belfast”. From then on the vision in Belfast moved fast. The first campaign was followed by yearly campaigns in 1998-2001 and in 2002 and 2003 there were two campaigns each. These campaigns caused a real vision to grow for Belfast’s youth. The team met a lot of younger people down near the waterfront and, finding them open to Jesus, often prayed with them. Dur-ing one of these prayer sessions the team sat and wept for them, praying that God would truly move among them, healing their hurts and divisions. With the blessing, however, came battles. On one of the trips the Jesus Army double-decker bus drove through a deprived area of

sengers remained unscathed. Despite the battles, the vision to plant a Jesus Fellowship church in Belfast went from strength to strength. And at the same time as pushing the vision in Ireland for-ward, Ray was also inputting a new Jesus movement that had birthed in Japan! Whoever said “behind every great man is a great woman” was right when it comes to Ray: his wife Ruth was with him every step of the way – she’d never been on a plane when she jumped in one to fly halfway round the world to Japan to help with the work there. And she was at the heart of what was happening in Ireland, too. In 2003 Ray and Ruth moved to Belfast. It was a leap of faith from a well-estab-lished Jesus Fellowship congregation in Birmingham to the small group in Belfast. Initially growth blossomed and the Belfast group more than doubled in size. But disappointment followed: some of the initial members drifted away, and the lit-tle church passed through a difficult and testing time. At this time, Ray and Ruth were trying to start a Christian community house. But being based in rented accommodation, they often had to move house which didn’t help the new church to have a settled hub. So, in 2008, the Jesus Fellowship purchased a house. Safe Haven now have a “home” – and the fig tree is beginning to bud. A brother, Eddie, has moved in with Ray and Ruth, with another looking to move in soon. Christian community – a key facet of the Jesus Fellowship – is being established in Belfast. Belfast is a city with a painful history of conflict and violence. For a Christian com-munity – where people live together and share together, demonstrating reconciliation in the daily nitty-gritty of their lives – to take root there is a sign of hope: a safe haven.

They sat and wept for them, praying that God would heal their hurts and divisions.

JL

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When tragedy strikes a Christian couple – twice – how can they go on believing in the goodness of God?

GORDON AND JENNY Martin lost both their children to a rare disease before they were three. Yet, though

neither would say they had special qualities to weather such storms, their story emerges as a remarkable testi-mony to the comforting power of God. Gordon as a student in the 60s, had found himself ask-ing what life was all about when his parents separated. An encounter with some Christians on the streets of Worthing proved life-changing. “As I chatted with one of them a voice in my head sud-denly said ‘I want you’.” Gordon found faith and became part of a group of young Christians. It was here that he met Jenny and they married in 1976 and moved to Horsham. “I’d trained to be an occupational therapist” says Jen-ny. “But my sheltered childhood totally unprepared me for the realities of work in a psychiatric hospital.” Jenny had had a breakdown which left her prone to depression. In 1979, an old friend of Gordon’s, Roger, came to visit. He told Gordon he’d found “this little group of Christians – the Jesus Fellowship – living together in a Christian community near Coventry”. “We went to see for ourselves” says Gordon. “I lapped it up and Jenny loved it from the start, too. But Roger’s challenge to ‘come and join’ scared me. There was too much to lose – the home we were just setting up, my job. I decided we weren’t ready yet.” By their second visit, their first baby was on the way; in 1980 Stevie was born.

“We thought we had a normal, healthy little boy – perhaps a bit slow developing but nothing obviously wrong,” explains Jenny. “In1982, just days before I was due to give birth to our second child, I woke in the night, hearing Stevie make a sobbing sound. He was having a massive, prolonged series of fits. A few hours later, while Stevie was in hospital with doctors trying to puzzle out what was the matter, I went into labour and our daughter Rachel was born.” Earlier that year, Jenny had read Power in Praise by Merlin Carothers, a Christian book which recommended praising God in all circumstances. “It grabbed me that people were praising God for awful things and how He transformed the people and those awful things in the process. We made an agreement to learn to praise God for every trial.” That discipline rescued them now. As Gordon sat in hospital with Stevie, he felt able to give him to God. Back home, Jenny wrote a prayer: “God – it’s all in Your hands.” That prayer was their anchor over the next three months, as Stevie’s condition deteriorated. “Stevie was a gentle, sensitive, little boy,” says Gordon. “We hoped the whole while for his healing. When we prayed for him he’d repeat ‘Jesus is Lord’ after us. At some stage in his illness, I realised Stevie could no longer see. His condition worsened and in January 1983 he died. The post-mortem revealed Alpers Syndrome. We were told it was so rare only eight cases were recorded and it wasn’t likely to affect other children we might have

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Gordon and Jenny: “their story emerges as a remarkable testimony to the comforting power of God”

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“It blew me away that hundreds in the community were supporting us with prayer, daily visits, loving messages – and flapjack!”

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cementing relationships. We were wisely advised not to rush straight into community, so we planned to move into our own house nearby.” On their last visit before moving, the unthinkable hap-pened – Rachel in the cot beside them started to have fits and the whole horrific process began a second time. “It was a huge blow – but we were carried through,” says Jenny. “It blew me away that hundreds in the com-munity were supporting us with prayer, daily visits, loving messages – and flapjack! In the middle of it all, Gordon had to pack up our Horsham home, finish his job and move to Coventry. We yo-yo’d between hospital and home for five months. “Rachel was a happy, welcoming little person – beam-ing at everyone she met. But she knew her need. If we

– information that, sadly, later research disproved.” “After Stevie died,” says Jenny, “I felt living in Christian community was how I’d get healed of chronic depres-sion. I’d always been desperately shy and lonely deep inside. I didn’t easily make friends. I felt community would be my answer. But I wanted to wait till Gordon was ready.” Meanwhile, Gordon was sensing God telling him, “Go and see Roger”. Roger and others from the Jesus Fellow-ship had been coming to Horsham regularly to support them. “I was that bit more hungry now,” says Gordon, “so when Roger suggested ‘Why don’t you come and join us?’ I was in tears, realising God was still holding His offer open. We started visiting the community in earnest,

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Gordon and Jenny relax at Promise House where they live with a large “family” of Christian brothers and sisters

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“We did lots of crying together and came through to do lots of laughing, determined not to look inward at ourselves but to look outward and see a bigger picture.”

said ‘prayer’ she’d immediately say ‘Head! Head!’ mean-ing we should lay hands on her for healing.” “One Sunday, as I held up a toy, I realised – just like Stevie’s last months – she couldn’t see. Her last weeks she spent more or less asleep. In the early hours of St Patrick’s Day, 17 March 1985, she died.” After Rachel’s death, Gordon and Jenny describe the “mix of things” they went through. “At first I descended into self-pity,” says Jenny. “A visitor innocently asked if we had children. I answered sharply ‘Well, I did have.’ They were terribly upset, devastated that unwittingly she’d touched such a raw nerve. Later, after I’d put it right, we struck up quite a friendship. I learnt the hard way that self-pity is never an option, however justified it seems.” “Yes, we grieved terribly for our children,” says Gor-don. “But it was our faith to see God in it all. We’d just moved to be involved with the community; we were both starting to realise that God had a much bigger purpose than we’d first reckoned. We refused to blame God. Instead, we said to Him: ‘You’ve chosen to take these little ones to Yourself early. Nothing in Your purposes is wasted or lost. You’ve given us this pain and grief to carry but what are You going to do with it? “Life is often hard and God wants to be alongside us in it all. Father God knew the pain of deliberately send-ing His Son to die for us. Jenny and I, through our own

loss, got to know something of that pain. We did lots of crying together and came through to do lots of laughing, determined not to look inward at ourselves but to look outward and see a bigger picture.” Gordon and Jenny now began to explore that “bigger picture”: they moved into community in 1986, later moving to a larger house in Coventry. There they have been “mum and dad” for the last 15 years to a house-hold of around 20 people – and a constant stream of visitors. “Life has so much going for us here, “says Jenny. “We’d otherwise have lived very small, isolated lives to-gether, especially after the death of our children. I’d have been rigid and strict, not able to think on my feet and adjust accordingly. Instead, we’re involved with so many people! Community has mellowed me and – most of the time! – I love it. Losing Stevie and Rachel has given us, not exactly a specific ministry, but vulnerability before God and sensitivity to reach out to other families when they’re in trouble.” “When our children died, finding God was difficult,” says Gordon. “There was no escaping it, but we were in it together and the church was in it with us. I’ve learned how to praise God through hard times and I’ve known real victory over difficulties that would have crushed me otherwise. “I believe God’s shaped our lives through it all.”

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As oneborn among you?

Jesus Life looks at the situation faced by immigrants in UK society and asks ‘What should Christians be doing?’

FRANCES IS from Zimbabwe. Her hus-band was poisoned by Mugabe’s regime

in the 1990s. Feeling under threat herself, she fl ed to the UK, entirely legally, with two small children. But Frances stayed beyond the terms of her visa and earlier this year she was told she would no longer be allowed to work. She has now claimed asylum and applied for asylum support – things which take time to be resolved. In the meantime she has no money. Bills pile up; she has no permission to work and two teenage chil-dren to feed. Then there is Merdem, a Kurd from Iraq. He was refused asylum some years ago – but as he himself says, “I have been in the UK for seven years and not once has anyone tried to murder me”. It is safer for Merdem to live in the shadows in this country, scraping by on occasional illegal jobs and borrowing from friends, than to

“If a stranger dwells with you in your land, you shall not mistreat him. The stranger who dwells among you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself.” (Leviticus 19:33-34, New King James Version)

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contemplate going home: his city is one regularly in the news for its bombings. Rahim is also from Iraq, but has been allowed to settle in the UK, and is now a British citizen. He is married to a wife back in Iraq, and to bring her to the UK he has to show he can support her without benefi ts. But Rahim has tried and tried to get work, with little success – just occasional tempo-rary jobs. The lack of work affects his self-image, and his mental health. It has been said that the way in which a country treats its criminals is an unfailing test of civilisation. If so, is it not more the case that how a country treats its immi-grants is a test of its humanity – or lack of it? Some will be escaping from situations of appalling danger or privation. The attitude they face in a nation may indeed say more about that nation than it does about the immigrants themselves. Is it open, human, caring – or bound by “fear of the other” and mistrust?

How has the UK responded to the arrival of Frances, and of Merdem, and Rahim and the many like them? Without denying the moral, legal and social complexities surrounding immigration, there is worry-ing evidence to suggest that attitudes are hardening and racism is growing. On top of recent polling successes for the extreme right-wing British National Party and the high-profi le rampages of the English Defence League, there are growing reports of racism at the grass roots. Abade Ahmed, an adviser to the Somali commu-nity in the UK, told Jesus Life that though Somalis have been welcomed to become part of UK society, some still face verbal abuse on UK streets and in the workplace. And Belinda Guadagnino, a London-based immigration lawyer spoke of an increasing reluctance to employ non-Europeans at all: “Some employers are too afraid to employ them,” she said, due to “fears of breaching the immigration rules and facing penalties

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“If you are not white, people are often more suspicious of you.”

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or imprisonment” – fears that were, in fact, based on ignorance. But Guadagnino is aware of a more sinister side to this: “If you are not white, people are often more suspi-cious of you.” Dr. Matthew Feldman of Northampton University, an expert in fascism and fascist ideology, spoke to Jesus Life about what he sees as an insidious new form that racism is taking in 21st century Britain. Compar-ing it to the blunt “rivers of blood” speech by Enoch Powell in a previous generation, Feldman identifi es the current racism as saying, in effect, “It’s nothing against other races; we love other races. In fact we want them to thrive – and they’ll do that best in their countries of origin.” Such racism tar-gets multiculturalism and argues that races do better when they are kept apart. Feldman himself strenuously opposes such views, yet warns they are proving trou-blingly effective: “It is a clever way of making yourself not look like a racist when you’re saying just the kind of racial garbage that’s been said for hundreds of years. But it’s been hugely successful – for people who don’t see themselves as ‘racist’, but don’t like the idea of a multicultural society.” Feldman identifi es the current economic downturn as being a factor in the kind of dis-satisfaction that could provoke rising levels of racism – a point he underlined later on the same day as his interview with Jesus Life when he appeared on BBC Radio Four’s PM programme. “In times of economic crisis and stress there really are people that are against the establishment and the liberal system, that are really going to try to knock it over… I think that’s something that we have to be especially vigilant about.” The UK government attempts a some-what strained balance in its approach to such issues. A Home Offi ce spokesperson told Jesus Life , “The government abhors hate crime of any form and we have made incitement to religious or racial hatred spe-cifi c offences,” but added: “the Home Offi ce aims to ensure that the UK border is one of the toughest in the world.” But perhaps it is not just the border that is tough. Certainly for the Romanians in Belfast who recently had their homes vandalised, life in the UK became so tough that many were compelled to consider the possibility of

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returning to Romania (as the BNP would pre-sumably argue would be “good for them”). More than a hundred Romanians includ-ing a fi ve-day-old baby were forced to take shelter in the premises of Belfast City Church after they were hounded out of their homes. Malcolm Morgan, the church’s pastor com-mented: “It’s a sad state of affairs [but] I’m thrilled the church was asked to help and that we were able to help. I think that it’s the responsibility of church to get involved.” “The responsibility of the church...”? Referring to great examples of the Church’s impact on society in the past, such as in the abolition of the slave trade, Dr. Feldman commented, “Socially speaking, the Church should be a headlight for people, not a tail light – it should be leading the way.” Andy Shefford is a leader in the Jesus Fel-lowship in Leicester where the church has embraced into its membership a number of immigrants and asylum seekers. He told Jesus Life, of the fi ght he and others have engaged in on their behalf: “Letters to the Home Offi ce, online petitions, fund-rais-ing, faxes sent to air lines…” Shefford is not unaware of the political complexities of “the bigger picture” when it comes to immigration and asylum. But he energeti-cally maintains that Christians are called to care for individual people in friendship and heartfelt support, “to love them and not to ‘walk on the other side’”. Shefford insists that this is the outlook of Christ which the Church must mirror. He cites the Gospel story of the woman caught in adultery, “The law of the day was very clear: she must die – but she lived a free woman. Jesus is interested in the person; He is not interest-ed in bowing to social pressures or pleasing the masses.” James Davies from ECSR (Enabling Christians in Serving Refugees) agrees: “The Bible is full of commands to welcome the stranger.” In particular, Davies identi-fi es those who have been refused asylum as facing “enormous hardship. Whether their refusal is right and just or not, few are deported – but all then lose any right to sup-port, or to work, so they fall into destitution, with all rights removed from them except emergency healthcare. It is telling that so many would rather live in destitution here than face the dangers of their home coun-

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“They are not ‘asylum seekers’ to me; they are my friends.”

Some names have been changed. The stories of “Frances”, “Merdem” and “Rahim” were supplied by ECSR

ries – dangers they know are real, though hey could not persuade the asylum system f that.”But Davies adds, “Throughout the country

here are Christians helping and serving eople in this position.”Huw Lewis, a member of the Jesus Fel-

owship’s Apostolic Team said, “The Church ust refl ect the justice of God’s kingdom –

specially for those in need, like refugees and he rejected. We must offer godly compas-ion and practical support – everything from ospitality and providing material needs, to peaking out for justice, even appearing in ourt to speak on the behalf of the voiceless.”

As Andy Shefford put it, “They are not asylum seekers’ to me; they are my friends.” JL

Photos: Romanians in Belfast took shelter in a church when their homes were vandalised. Used with permission from presseye.com

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Who’s at theJesus Centres?

Keith volunteer at Coventry Jesus CentreKeith volunteers to run a workshop on bicycle repair called “Re-cycle” every other week. The idea is to train visitors in basic bicycle repair, while also making and repairing bicycles that are donated to the Jesus Centre. The bikes are either sold to raise money for the Jesus Centre or in some cases given completely free to people who cannot afford to buy one. The workshop was initially the idea of a visitor to “The Bridge” (Coventry Jesus Centre’s drop-in).

Francis volunteer at London Jesus CentreFrancis graduated from university with many plans for his life, but as a Christian, he wanted to know what God wanted for his life. Someone had prayed for him in a Christian meeting and told him that “he would do the Lord’s work”. Soon after this he kept seeing a Jesus Army minibus near his work. Deciding to fi nd out more about who they were, Francis discovered they were based just next door to where he worked. He popped round to visit and was inspired – it was exactly what he was looking for. Francis now volunteers at the Centre, cooking for homeless people and building friendships with the people he serves.

Vicky admin assistant at Northampton Jesus CentreVicky fi rst got involved with the Jesus Centre when it was just a small pilot project running from a shop. Off work due to sickness, she started volunteering at the centre in the café and info desk while also doing some administration work. She did this for almost four years and became more involved until one day she applied for a part-time administration job at the Centre – she was almost already completely trained for this, thanks to her experience of voluntary work. Vicky says working at the Centre has helped her overcome her sickness and fi nd more faith as she is working among other Christians and seeing Jesus work through the Jesus Centre to help people.

“an unmissable opportunity to show the love of Jesus Christ to people every day in my work life”

WHAT ARE JESUS CENTRES?Places where the love of Jesus is expressed daily in worship, care and friendship for every type of person.

WHAT DO THEY OFFER?All sorts, including showers, friendship, a listening ear, IT classes and food. They also act as a ‘gateway’ to other services and agencies.

WHO RUNS THEM?The Jesus Army Charitable Trust (JACT). Staff and volunteers come from Jesus Fellowship Church.

WHERE ARE THEY?Coventry, Northampton and Central London. Plans are afoot for further Jesus Centres, in Sheffield (2010) and then Birmingham. Eventually Jesus Centres will be found in other places around the UK.

HOW CAN I HELP?We always need money, old clothes, food and lots more! Check out the website for details.

MORE INFO:www.jesuscentre.org.uk

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Jesus Life meets some of the people you might bump into at London, Coventry and Northampton Jesus Centres.

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Pete visitor who became a volunteerat Coventry Jesus Centre

Pete fi rst came to the Jesus Centre in Coventry over seven years ago with problems with alcoholism. People at the Jesus Centre helped him, and in 2008 he was baptised and became a member of the Jesus Fellowship. Pete now volunteers in the kitchen and the drop-in, helping people with problems like those he once had. Pete and his daughter love coming to the church’s meetings in the week and at weekends.

Jesus Fellowship. Pete now volunteers in the kitchen and the drop-in, helping people with problems like those he once had. Pete and his daughter love coming to the church’s his daughter love coming to the church’s meetings in the week and at weekends.meetings in the week and at weekends.

Didier visitor who became a volunteer at London Jesus Centre

Didier had been homeless for two months when a friend introduced him to the Jesus Centre. He visited, hoping for a wash and some food. He found a whole lot more: friendship and love. Didier started volunteering “to give something back”. Although initially he felt sceptical about Christianity, when he realised that he didn’t need to be “perfect” to be Christian, he found a faith of his own and was baptised. Now he runs ICT and web design courses at the Jesus Centre.

Didier had been homeless for two months when a friend introduced him to the Jesus Centre. He visited, hoping for a wash and some food. He found a whole lot more: friendship and love. Didier started volunteering “to give something back”. Although initially he felt sceptical about Christianity, when he realised that he didn’t need to be “perfect” to be Christian, he found a faith of his own and was baptised. Now he runs ICT and web design courses at the Jesus Centre.

Gillian volunteer at Coventry Jesus CentreMany over-65’s may feel the time has come to put theirfeet up and enjoy their retirement. But Gillian spends her Wednesday mornings volunteering on the Jesus Centre reception, welcoming and helping visitors to “The Bridge” drop-in. And on top of this she is also the volunteer coordinator for the centre, a vital administrative role.

GillianMany over-65’s may feel the time has come to put theirfeet up and enjoy their retirement. But Gillian spends her Wednesday mornings volunteering on the Jesus Centre reception, welcoming and helping visitors to “The Bridge” drop-in. And on top of this she is also the volunteer coordinator for the centre, a vital administrative role.

Curd tea room manager at London Jesus CentreCurd, a leader in Jesus Fellowship London, decided he wanted to work at the Jesus Centre as soon as the property was purchased. He saw it as “an unmissable opportunity to show the love of Jesus Christ to people every day in his work life”.

Curd tea room manager at London Jesus Centre

Tony support worker at Coventry Jesus CentreBefore Tony started at the Jesus Centre he was a coach driver, a job which often meant he had to work late into the evenings and had to miss church meetings. This made Tony lonely – and also meant that he didn’t push himself forward – in life or as a Christian. Attracted to the prospect of meeting new people, which he loves, Tony applied for a full-time post at the Jesus Centre as a support worker. He now helps homeless people fi nd accommodation, as well as running support groups on IT skills for beginners, money management, weight loss, and a social group giving space to build friendships. As well as helping other people, the job has inspired Tony, fi lling him with confi dence and rejuvenating his life. He has lost over eight stone since starting the job – a feat Tony feels he could never have managed in another job.

s well as helping other people the job has inspired Tony, filling him with confidence

and rejuvenating his life.

JL

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Surviving suicide

Piers Young, a senior leader in the Jesus Fellowship reports on “Survivors”, a support group at Coventry Jesus Centre for those who have lost a loved one through suicide.

SUICIDE... now accounts for 1.5 per cent of all deaths worldwide. Suicide is

the second leading cause of death among people aged 15 to 24, after vehicle accidents. “Most people who commit suicide have a mental disorder – anorexia, major depres-sive disorder, bipolar disorder, schizophre-nia and borderline personality disorder are the most common...” (New Scientist, 25 February 2009). My sister ran out of a psychiatric hospital in 1981 and straight into the path of a van. She was heard to say that morning “some-one is going to die today”. I have never been so devastated before or since. My friend Mike took his life four years ago. I had known his wife, Jo, since the 70s, and Mike mainly since they were married. Mike went through huge amounts of psychi-atric treatment, but remained a friend and great character throughout. Jo, of course, went through agonies over Mike’s death, and invited friends to come and remember Mike one evening. She showed us a video called Fierce Goodbye, which is a real eye-opener on this difficult subject. Some of us who shared a suicide bereavement experience decided to keep

“ meeting. So “Survivors” was born. It has proved to be a lifeline to a number of “survivors” who badly needed to be able to share about their experiences with others who have been there too, and to process the issues and emotions. Suicide can affect deeply many of those who were close to the person who has died: parents, children, siblings, partners, close relatives, friends, colleagues and so on. People need to talk, and to be understood. We recognised the need to ensure that people had a safety net in case they could not handle their “lid coming off”. I have recommended counselling to some, and talked to people who are supporting them, pastorally or simply as friends. Some keep in touch between meetings to support each other – particularly around anniversaries, inquests and other sensitive dates. We are mainly Christians so far, and that means we meet various views on suicide

need to talk, be understood.

– from the “suicide takes you straight to hell” line to “God would never damn some-one who suffered like that”. It has helped to look this issue straight in the eye as well, and while there are no easy answers, there are possible answers – and talking them over does help. Nevertheless, looking at the subject in the Bible we found nothing condemning – and our church strongly emphasises God’s compassion in this traumatic experience. The very word suicide is loaded. Being akin to homicide it immediately makes it sound like a crime. We believe that God can be very closely alongside those who reach that extremity, and we have witnessed it. Not only do people need to be healed of the trauma of bereavement of a loved one by suicide, but they have an elevated risk of taking their own lives too. So we are truly helping one another to be survivors. JL

FIND OUT MORE: www.jesuscentre.org.uk/heartcry/help_advice.shtml

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WHAT IS MULTIPLY?Multiply Christian Network is a worldwide apostolic stream of churches, initiated by Jesus Fellowship Church. It is a member of the Evangelical Alliance UK. Multiply now has 18 UK groups and 105 worldwide.

WHO’S IT FOR?Any fellowship, of any size, from any culture or race, as long as it is basically evangelical. The latest partner to join was Living Water Church, a Congolese French-speaking church based in Gloucester, UK.

WHAT DOES IT OFFER?Relationships between leaders are central and are fostered through regular conferences, celebration gatherings and fellowship. Leadership and evangelism training plus a variety of resources, including free literature, are also available.

MORE INFORMATIONContact Multiply Director: Huw Lewis Tel: +44 1327 344533Email: huw.lewis@jesus.org.uk or write to: Jesus Fellowship/ Multiply Central Offices, Nether Heyford, Northampton, UK, NN7 3LB

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Suffering for their faith is a daily reality for Colney Lal Rodinga and his brothers and sisters in Orissa, north-east India.

MULTIPLY APOSTOLIC MANNAME: Lal Rodinga ColneyBORN: India, 1963CHURCH: Restoration India Mission COORDINATOR FOR: North IndiaCONTACT: Tel: 00 91 671 243 3631 Email: revcolney@yahoo.com

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FOR A “simple evangelist,” Colney Lal Rod-inga’s achievements are impressive.

Since 1988, Restoration India Mission has planted more than 300 churches where none existed before in north-east India. On average, their indigenous missionaries now establish two churches every week among the un-reached villages. And Colney personally has been blessed with a big family: more than 100 orphans who have been rescued by evange-lists officially call him their bapa (daddy). Colney puts the missionaries’ fruitfulness down to three things: waiting on the Holy Spirit for power; a willingness to sacrifice; and a fearlessness in proclaiming the gospel mes-sage no matter what the cost. The price that missionaries in Orissa have

“No matter what the cost”

to pay is high. In 1999 Dr Graham Staines and his two sons, aged eight and 10, were burnt alive in their car by Hindu fanatics. The anti-conversion law makes it a criminal offence for one person to change their religion on the basis of anyone else’s words. To be baptised you need permission from the High Court, which is impossible to obtain. Colney’s par-ents’ wedding – the first Christian marriage in the area – was disrupted by militants throwing cow-dung at the happy couple. More recently, on 23 August 2008, a Maoist guerilla group in Orissa killed a leading Hindu activist who had directed persecution against Christians. Despite the Maoists publicly claiming responsibility, Hindu extremists falsely accused Christians of the killing,

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Clockwise from top left: Colney with other Multiply leaders; Genesis children’s home; victims of HIV & drugs addiction working at the cane workshop in Aizawl often found healing; water baptism; prostitutes restored.

approximately 0.25 hectares.

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unleashing a wave of violence against Chris-tians living in the state. Since then, over 50,000 Christians have been displaced, more than 4,000 homes de-stroyed and about 120 Christians murdered. Over 300 villages and at least 600 churches were destroyed. Colney has himself been beaten and imprisoned. “Currently, 350 families in our church have lost all their belongings, houses, land and properties just because they are Christians,” he says. “I myself have been jailed on two separate occasions, faced stoning and even been dragged along like a dead dog in the street.” But he single-mindedly carries on. “I want to see India saved,” he says, simply. “Five hundred thousand villages in India have never heard the gospel. I want nothing for myself, just the extension of God’s kingdom.” It was for this reason that he left his home in 1983. A missionary from Assam had told the youth meeting of places where new believers did not have anyone even to teach them one song. Colney could not sleep, and eventu-ally he prayed to God: “I don’t have money to offer you, I don’t have talents, I don’t have gift for ministry. All I have is this frail body and weak person. But if You want to use me, I’ll go anywhere if You are with me.” So some months later he left, with just fi ve rupees and two robes. In 1989 he was given an old UK Christian Handbook. Out of thousands of entries, one hit his eye: the Jesus Army. But he did not make contact until years later. Jesus Army is also the name given to Res-toration Ministry’s outreach in Mizoram. Six-teen young people work day and night among the drug addicts, HIV patients, the homeless and street girls. This movement sprung out of a powerful experience of the Holy Spirit in 1995 which changed Colney’s view of God forever: “I be-gan to have a big God whereas I used to have a small God. I discovered that He is the God of the whole earth, the never-despising God, the all-loving God – even drug addicts and drunkards are welcomed in Him. And the God

Continued from previous page

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*Bigha is a local unit of land area; one bigha equals

Jesus Life24

4.indd 24

who gave me such a great vision has, I believe, also ordained Multiply. “To me, Multiply is the role model in this sinful, self-centred world. Helping each other out of love, no racial and colour distinction, no high and low position, are its most attrac-tive features.” Colney is not one ever to be satisfi ed by theory. “Christianity depends not on religion but on the life of Jesus,” he says. “Just know-ing is not enough, I have to see.” What he has seen here in Jesus Army UK is beyond his expectations: “I have learnt many things. We have been given 22 bigha* on the outskirts of Aizawi. I want to have handicraft training for healed addicts there. I need to know how to start, so your businesses were a great inspiration.” Multiply revolves around relationships, and Colney has appreciated the love and under-standing he has found here: “In Multiply, ministers from different countries share brotherhood and vision. God has given me good friends now. “When I suffered persecution, I used to be in great thirst for my spiritual brothers. But now, I am happy to know that other Multiply members are praying for me. My thirst is quenched.”

DON’T MISS OUT!MULTIPLY INTERNATIONALLEADERS CONFERENCEA rainbow movement making change!

TWO-WEEK CONFERENCE:Wed 26 May - Wed 9 June 2010

MAIN CONFERENCE DAY: Saturday 5 June 2010Northampton Jesus CentreNorthampton, UK, NN1 4AE

Helping each other out of love, no racial and colour distinction, no high and low position...

INFO: www.multiply.org.uk/milcEmail: info@multiply.org.ukJL

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When Lesley Cutts made a vow of life-long celibacy for Jesus in 1984, she knew that one of her main reasons for choosing such a lifestyle was availability.

AS A CELIBATE, I can be available not only to God, but to people around me,” explains Lesley. “Because I can be

completely committed to people, I am more willing to love beyond limitations.” Although celibacy isn’t always “plain sailing”, Lesley sees it as an adventure – one that she’s exploring not on her own, but alongside many different people.

“

Lesley

“Lesley is always willing to learn, willing to try new things; she’s deep in the Lord and has her heart in His kingdom. And she’s a very good artist: creative, imaginative.”

Victor (who is 70 and a Senior leader in the Jesus Fellowship)

imaginative.”

“She is always available when your head is in a mess. It’s great to share happy times with her. Lesley can make people feel like they matter.”

Karen (who has just got married)

“Lesley is fun. She’s good to be with. We’ve gone through things together and so it’s a deep relationship.”

Hilary (who is the same age as Lesley, but married)

“Lesley was my boss – and quickly became my great buddy. We both love Jesus, nature, art and people so there’s a lot to talk about. We enjoy getting inspired together and having a good laugh.”

Jenny (A younger celibate)

“Lesley has seen me through many crazy times in my life and is always so confident and reassuring. She also has amazing amounts of wisdom.”

Grace (who is 19)

“I’ve found Lesley an incredibly loyal friend: she’s always giving to other people. I also admire the way she lives her life so completely for the church and for God.”

Amanda (who Lesley has known since her teens)

“I’ve known Lesley all my life and she has encouraged me so much in my walk with God. I really admire her!”

Joy (who is 17)

“When I was a new Christian, I went to university at the same time as Lesley and she really helped me through all the pitfalls there.”

Helen (who is married)Helen

“Lesley helps me understand things. She always is a listening ear.”

Andrew (who is 24)

JL

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11/09/2009 16:05:06

Jesus Life26 Jesus Life26 Jesus Life26

26-28.indd 26

LONDONcalling

God called Norwegian country girl,Hannah Asprusten, to the UK’s Big Smoke.

GOD, PLEASE open the door for me!” prayed fi ve-year-old Hannah, struggling with the locked door.

Click. Open door. Hannah’s childhood seemed as full of God as some are full of teddy bears. Hannah was born and grew up in a Christian community in rural Brandeu, in Norway. It was a fairly idyllic existence. “We had a little farm,” says Hannah – “well, a few pigs, a few hens, a dog and a cat.” There were 30 other people living with her and her family in the Christian community at the time. The children within the community were home-schooled together. “There weren’t many of us in the ‘school.’ In fact at one point I was the only one in my class,” says Han-

“ nah, “but it must have been good for us: we got the best marks in the county.” Nestled in this secure environment, Hannah grew in her simple faith. As a 10-year-old she was powerfully fi lled with the Holy Spirit, an experience which gave her an overwhelming desire to be baptised in water. “My parents felt I was too young, so I nagged them for a whole year,” she laughs. “They fi nally agreed, so when I was 11, I was baptised. It was an amazing moment; I remember feeling so happy afterwards.” Over the next few years Hannah “waxed strong in spirit”, throwing out secular CDs, and telling her whole family that they needed to be more holy. The original angel child. But all that was to change.

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11/09/2009 16:03:32

From Norway to UK: Hannah feels called by God

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ued overleaf

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“I had felt so far away from God, and now my eyes were opened to how I could live if I wanted to live totally sold out for God.”

“When I became a teenager, it all went downhill,” says Hannah. “I started drinking with a few of my friends and got more into boys.” This may sound normal enough for a teenage girl, but it led to Hannah’s faith sliding away. A year or so later Hannah’s family moved away from their community and Hannah had to start from scratch in a new place. She struggled to adapt, especially starting a new school. Her unusual upbringing meant she was dismissed by her new peers as “weird”. “I began to hate my life, and hate myself,” says Han-nah. “I actually wanted to die – I couldn’t see the point anymore.” Hannah never actually attempted suicide, but as she puts it, she “gave up on life”. She couldn’t see a way out, Contin

27Jesus Lifewww.jesus.org.ukwww.jesus.org.uk 27Jesus Lifewww.jesus.org.uk

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Hannah decided to leave her home, her country and her family...

diversity of le” attracted

nah to London

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26-28.

JL

a point beyond her hopelessness. So when one of her few friends started smoking and drinking, she joined in too. But Hannah knew it wasn’t who she truly was. She would think to herself “Is this going to be the rest of my life?” She knew that deep down, it wasn’t what she wanted, or what she’d dreamt of in her childhood. “I knew there must have been a purpose for my life,” recalls Hannah. “I wanted to find out that purpose.” Her breakthrough happened in 2005 when her older sister, also a Christian, had completed a “Training Year” at a Jesus Fellowship Christian community house in the UK. She invited Hannah over for a Jesus Fellowship festival weekend. “Wow. I was blown away!” enthuses Hannah. “I had felt so far away from God, and now my eyes were opened to how I could live if I wanted to live totally sold out for God.” Hannah was impressed by the easy friendliness of other people at that weekend. She had become used to people shunning her or staying in their own friend-ship circles. But now she was greeted and made to feel welcome. The warmth touched Hannah, and she decided to stay in a Jesus Fellowship community house in London for her summer holiday. At the time she was 17. Why London? “Initially, because it was the capital,” says Hannah. “It’s the centre of England: there are over seven million people living there; that’s a lot of people to reach!” She wanted to meet a variety of people from different backgrounds, races and cultures. The diversity of people attracted her immediately. In the short month that Hannah stayed in London,

she formed close relationships with the people liv-ing there and started to really grow spiritually. But her month in England was soon up and Hannah returned to Norway to start her college course. After only a few months, she grew restless. “I was fed up of college,” recalls Hannah. “I didn’t fit in. I just wanted to chuck it all in and go back to England.” So, in January 2006, in a leap of faith, Hannah de-cided to leave her home, her country and her family and embark upon a Jesus Army Training Year at “Spreading Flame”, a Jesus Fellowship community house in London. “My view of church was quite selfish really,” admits Hannah, “in that I saw it as basically just for me. Now I can see how wrong that is! Being here has opened my eyes to the power of love – for each other and for those we meet – wherever they’re from.” As her Training Year drew to its end, Hannah began to pray urgently about the decision that she needed to make: what now? The answer came when she was reading her Bible – a verse leapt out at her: “In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be My disciple... Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?” (Luke 14:33-34) Hannah saw this as an answer to her prayers and made the brave step of giving up everything she knew in Norway to move into Christian community in London. She has since started co-leading a group for teenage girls and longs for it to increase. “I think it’s important to make sacrifices to show God that you’re serious,” says Hannah: “something this good is worth paying a high price for.”

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RADICALBITES #11

29.ind

Vow do you do?Are you a commitment-phobe or are you gonna get real?

WwiI acto pfwyet

Cs

d

HAVE YOUR SAY: email: info@jesus.org.ukRead the ebook at: www.jesus.org.uk/kingdommanifesto.pdf

HEN DID you last attend a wedding? People say some scary things at

eddings. Take “till death do us part,” for nstance. (Phew – I mean, for good? What if change my mind?)

Perhaps that’s why marriage, like ny commitment, is increasingly off the ontemporary agenda. Just move in ogether. And when the feeling fades, move n apart. People even speak of “commitment-

hobia”. One pained blogger wrote: “I suffer rom commitment phobia. I have been ith my girlfriend for nearly six months, et this condition is doing its best to ruin verything. As a commitment-phobe, I feel hat I must run away. But commitment-

ommitment-phobia is just elfishness in disguise.

phobia means that I cannot commit to running away either.” Somewhere in our marrow we know that this is ridiculous. “Commitment-phobia” is just selfishness in disguise. (“It’s my life – mine! Hands off!”) But do we – as followers of the God who was committed enough to give us His Son – do we model something different enough for anyone to notice? Put bluntly – are we commitment-addicts? We should be. Marriage is sealed by vows, and some still do take the plunge even in a commitment-phobic society. How much more ought followers of Jesus to embody costly dedication in the church of

Jesus? Dedication to Him – and to each other? The Holy Spirit makes us one, unites us. Not many Christians would deny that this is meant to be the theory. But what is often missed is this: we have to follow through from this Holy-Spirit-oneness; we have to back up its reality through real commitments and kept promises and – let’s use the “v word” – vows. “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit,” writes Paul. He’s made you one – keep it that way! How? “Through the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3). The bond: the promise, the pledge, the vow. We live total loyalty to each other. Covenant to stay together always. Lay down our lives for each other. It’ll stand out – as Jesus said it would: “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.” JL

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£10

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10

to live and die forSimeon finds a cause

THERE ARE two remarkable things about Simeon Alexander Michael Dexter Clive

Derrick Logan Morgan. One is that he has a very long name. (He’s just Simeon to his friends). The other is that he’s risen out of what some may see as an unpromising back-ground (wrong end of town, never knew his dad, poor results at school) to live sold out for a positive cause. Simeon, along with about 30 others, lives at New Creation Farm, one of the Christian Community houses that are part of the Jesus Fellowship. Money and possessions are shared and members of the community live a life of committed Christian brotherhood, loving and serving others – including many who are in need. Simeon is no directionless drifter. But how did this 18-year-old lad come to be so given to such a constructive lifestyle? Simeon fi rst met the Jesus Fellowship one day in his summer holidays when he’d been drinking with his friends in town. Two young people from the Jesus Fellowship approached him and invited him to RAW, a Christian youth event the Jesus Fellowship were run-ning that weekend. The next day he turned up and chatted with a few people. This wasn’t Simeon’s fi rst encounter with God. Simeon was brought up by just his mum, but his grandma, a Christian, was also a big infl uence on his life. “My grandma instilled a belief in me,” he explains. When Simeon was just 13, he tore the work from an old school exercise book, wrote “Dear

God” on the front and fi lled the book with letters and prayers to God. Despite this spiritual side, God was very much a “background fi gure” in Simeon’s life – which revolved around computer games more than anything else. Simeon got his fi rst games console at just four years old and gaming became his major preoccupation.

When Simeon turned 17 he decided to move out of home “to fi nd some freedom” – but with nowhere to go he found himself sleeping on his school steps. It didn’t take long for the staff at the school to fi nd out about this. They were concerned and helped Simeon to get into a hostel. It was around about this time that he popped into RAW. But it was some time later that Simeon went to a “parkour” (free running) night at Northampton Jesus Centre. Here he met a youth leader from the Jesus Fellowship, who listened to Simeon’s story. At the end of the night they exchanged numbers. Simeon thought little of it and didn’t expect to hear from him again.

he found himself sleeping on his school steps

The next week Simeon received a call from the youth leader inviting him to a “cell group”: a little gathering of some of his Christian friends. Simeon went along and enjoyed it – so decided to keep going. The next week the dam burst. During the cell group Simeon burst into tears. It was completely unexpected as far as he was concerned. But years of uncertainty were bursting out. “I saw a real friendship there,” explains Simeon: “friendship that asked for nothing in return.” This was something Simeon had longed for, for years. After that night Simeon couldn’t keep away, he started coming to more and more that the church was doing. “I fell in love with it,” he enthuses. Simeon says: “I realised I didn’t want to be a part of today’s society with its alcohol-ism and its love of money. I realised ‘There has to be more’.” The more Simeon came to things around the church, the more he felt the “buzz”, the life of it all. “I knew it was God,” he says. A few months later, when Simeon had to move out of his hostel, it was obvious to him what he should do: he dived in, moving into New Creation Farm. “The rest is history,” says Simeon, and it is indeed his story. “It can be hard work, giving up all the negative things from my past,” he concludes, “but I know it’s worth it because I’ve found a friendship not just with the people in the church – but with God.” JL

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31.indd

Boiling with rage and bubbling with excitement - Jesus Life hears from mJa members,

Ian Hunt and Lizbeth Johnson.

Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant &&&&&&&&&&&&Boiling with rage and bubbling with excitement - &Boiling with rage and bubbling with excitement - &Boiling with rage and bubbling with excitement - &Boiling with rage and bubbling with excitement - &&&&&&&&&Rant &Rant Rant Rant &Rant &Rant &Rant Rant Rant &Rant Rant &Rant Rant Rant &Rant &Rant &Rant Rant Rant &Rant Rant &Rant Rant Rant &Rant &Rant &Rant Rant Rant &Rant Rant &Rant Rant Rant &Rant &Rant &Rant Rant Rant &Rant Rant &Rant Rant Rant &Rant &Rant &Rant Rant Rant &Rant RaveRaveRaveRaveRaveRaveRaveRaveRaveRaveRaveRaveRaveRaveRaveRaveRaveRaveBoiling with rage and bubbling with excitement -

Jesus Life hears from mJa members, Ian Hunt and Lizbeth Johnson

Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant Rant

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31

DON’T JUST BE A STUPID SHEEP! DON’T JUST BE DON’T JUST BE

A STUPID SHEEP!

Ian HuntIan Hunt

SO WHAT do sheep do? They follow. They see what others do – and do it as well. And face it, some people are more like sheep than sheep – and that is what this is about. One of the most amazing things about Christian faith is the fact that you can have a personal relationship with God. Yep, that’s right: 1-to-1 with the Maker. Amazing, huh? But some people completely miss this and live their lives trying to be someone else. Why? They see someone else, and what that person has with God seems better than what they have – so they try to have someone else’s relationship with God. They live the Christian life “second hand”. They try to become that other person. Don’t get me wrong: it’s important to have good Christian role models. Let’s have those who we can imitate and who can disciple us. Let’s

want to be like them; but we don’t want to actually be them. However hard you try, you’re never going to be someone else; you can never have someone else’s relationship with God. What’s more, sometimes a role model might lose the plot. I’ve seen it happen and it’s always difficult, always painful. But for people who are trying to be that person it usually marks the end of the road for them, too. They fall, all too often, with the one they idolised. The people who were simply learning from the role model may find it painful – but, more often than not, they learn another lesson through the whole thing, making them stronger in God! Listen up - God loves you for who you are and wants a relationship with you!Imitate others, sure. But don’t try and be someone else. Just be you – and love God.

g.ukg.uk

LIVE YOUNG, FREE AND SINGLE

LIVE YOUNG, FREE AND SINGLE

FOR THE past 12 years – since

the break-up of a relationship

– I have been single.

Has being single meant I’ve

been “sitting on the shelf” for

the past 12 years? Not at all

– more like extreme bungee-

jumping into God’s heart,

I’d say! Through being single, God

has caused me to go on a

journey with Him; to dig

deep, face fears and get to the

bottom of who Liz really is,

without running and hiding in

a relationship to give me an

identity or to verify who I am.

It has been scary, sometimes

painful – but it’s causing me to

find a wholeness, stability and

freedom to love and serve God

and people more easily.

This freedom is something

that I long for others to find,

instead of falling into the

trap of worrying about why

they haven’t found Mr/Mrs

Right yet. I hate to see people

intimidated and pressurised

by fear of what others may

deem to be success or failure,

being forced to follow a certain

pattern of behaviour. It’s good

to have the freedom and guts to

listen to God and let Him lead.

Some of us – in that freedom

to listen – may be to receive

the gift of celibacy, to make a

commitment to stay single as

a lifelong choice. For others,

marriage may be the way. But

ultimately God will be leading

us to know who we are in Him

(whatever way He may lead

us) – and to know His love for

us. Singleness – not marriage

though that may come, not

lifelong celibacy though that

may come – singleness can

provide the space we need to

hear God and allow Him to

shape our lives. I’ve learnt to live for today, in

its fullness – not for the cares

and maybes of the future.

HAVE YOUR OWN RANT OR RAVE: www.jesus.org.uk/forum

Lizbeth Johnson

JL

31Jesus Life 31Jesus Life

11/09/2009 14:07:59

32.in

INFO MAGAZINEJESUS ARMYJESUS CENTRESMULTIPLY NETWORKCHRISTIAN COMMUNITYJESUS PEOPLE SHOPDOWNLOAD VAULT COMING EVENTSUK CHURCHESJ GENERATIONFORUM

THE MODERN JESUS ARMY

ONLINE WWW.JESUS.ORG.UK

INFO MAGAZINEJESUS ARMYJESUS CENTRESMULTIPLY NETWORKCHRISTIAN COMMUNITYJESUS PEOPLE SHOPDOWNLOAD VAULT COMING EVENTSUK CHURCHESJ GENERATIONFORUM

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SATURDAY 20 FEB 2010

UK JESUS CELEBRATION2.00pm & 6.00pm The New Bingley Hall, 1 Hockley Circus, BIRMINGHAMB18 5BE

MORE INFO? www.jesus.org.uk/dates Tel: 0845 123 5550 Email: info@jesus.org.uk Write: Jesus Fellowship, FREEPOST, Nether Heyford, Northampton NN7 3BR

ALL FREE ALL WELCOME NO PREJUDICE

modern Jesus army

EVENTSSATURDAY 24 OCT 09

UK JESUSPRAISE DAY2.00pm & 6.00pmPonds Forge Sports Centre, Sheaf Street, SHEFFIELD S1 2BG

SATURDAY 21 NOV 09

MEN ALIVE FOR GODFrom 11.15amJesus Centre, Abington Square, NORTHAMPTON NN1 4AE

SATURDAY 2 JAN 2010

NEW YEAR UK JESUS CELEBRATION2.00pm & 6.00pmJesus Centre, Abington Square, NORTHAMPTON NN1 4AE

SATURDAY 30 JAN 2010

CHURCH GROWTHCONFERENCEFrom 11.30am Jesus Centre, Abington Square, NORTHAMPTON NN1 4AE

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keep in touch!BELFAST Jesus Fellowship Church ............................................. 0845 123 5552BIRMINGHAM Jesus Fellowship Church .................................... 0845 166 8153BLACKBURN Hyndburn Christian Fellowship.............................0170 622 2401BLACKBURN Rishton Christian Fellowship ............................... 0125 488 7790BRIDGEND The Bridge Community Church ...............................0165 665 5635BRIGHTON Jesus Fellowship Church ...........................................0845 166 8151BRISTOL Jesus Fellowship Church ............................................ 0845 123 5339CHATHAM House Of Prayer For All Nations ...............................0163 466 9933CHATHAM King’s Church Medway ............................................... 0163 484 7477CHESTER/NORTH WALES Jesus Fellowship Church................ 0845 123 5561 CORNWALL Jesus Fellowship Church .........................................0845 166 8191 COVENTRY Jesus Fellowship Church.......................................... 0845 166 8154GLOUCESTER Living Word Fellowship ........................................0145 253 2138HASTINGS Jesus Fellowship Church .......................................... 0845 123 5551HIGH WYCOMBE Church of Shalom ........................................... 0149 444 9408IPSWICH Jesus Fellowship Church ............................................. 0845 166 8156 KETTERING Jesus Fellowship Church .........................................0845 166 8157LEEDS Jesus Fellowship Church ..................................................0845 166 8167LEICESTER Jesus Fellowship Church ......................................... 0845 644 9705LIVERPOOL Jesus Fellowship Church .........................................0845 166 8168LONDON Jesus Fellowship Church ............................................. 0845 166 8152

LONDON N Glad Tidings Evangelical Church ............................ 0208 245 9002LONDON S Bible Life Family Ministries ..................................... 0208 689 2244LONDON SE Ephratah Int’l Gospel Praise Centre .....................0208 469 0047LONDON SE Flaming Evangelical Ministries .............................0163 420 1170LONDON SE Glorious Revival Eagle Ministries ......................... 0208 855 3087LONDON SE Life For The World Christian Centre ......................0163 431 1507LONDON SE Mission Together for Christ ....................................0207 401 2687MANCHESTER 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 8164PRESTON Jesus Fellowship Church ........................................... 0845 123 5554RAMSEY HOLLOW (HUNTS) Christians United ...........................0148 781 5528SHEFFIELD Jesus Fellowship Church ......................................... 0845 166 8183STOKE-ON-TRENT Jesus Fellowship Church .............................. 0845 123 5334SWANSEA Jesus Fellowship Church .......................................... 0845 123 5556WOLVERHAMPTON Jesus Fellowship Church ........................... 0845 123 5564WORCESTER Jesus Fellowship Church ...................................... 0845 833 5601

MULTIPLY CHURCHES AND GROUPS MEET ALL OVER THE UK. RING UP AND FIND OUT WHAT’S GOING ON IN YOUR AREA!keep in touch!

32 11/09/2009 16:00:48