Epistles From England Team-1978-England

8/13/2019 Epistles From England Team-1978-England

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y^0tf Kfpom from a duai ifam mino/i*y ^ ^ M ^ r^ ckaiitn^iny a poil llriillan n iion wil i llir i aimi of Chriil

Vol. 5 No, 5 February 1978Notable ReversalsWhere does a r e a l movement for Chr i s t begin? Is it a t the grass roo t swith ordinary people, hopefully beginning l ike a wild grass f ire? Or i s i t

a t the top w ith the conversion of in f luen t ia l people who speak the messageof Chri s t from respectable - though rad ica l ly changed - voices? John wasth e f o rme r wh i l e P a u l was t h e l tter

I t appears tha t the American Chr is t i an scene has had a good number of inf luen t ia l people in high places both become Christ ians and remain Chris t ian .For ins tance , Pres iden t Car te r - whether or no t one agrees with h is po l i t i c a lo r doct r ina l stance - has surely stood up for some strongly Ch ris tia n i ss u es .And d ramat ic conve rs ions have been in the news in very prominent ways. Whowould have bel ieved a born aga in Cha rl es Colson or an Eldridge Cleaver witha soul fu l l of Sp i r i t Fire? And the most shocking to me was when I read a-bout ch ie f of pornographers Larry Flyn t . Time magazine bi l l ed the new manas a Hus t l e r fo r th e Lord . As ton ish ing

Later Time (my only touch with the American press) published a cover art i c l e on The Evange l i ca l s , inc luding f u l l co lour p ic tu r e s of bap t i sms .Whether one a gre es w ith a l l the theology i s not the po in t , a t l e a s t re al ,meaningful Chr is t ian i ty i s in people ' s l ives and the news. The Bri t i sh pressonly dea l s with r e l i g ion when there i s something scandalous, sensa t iona l , o rboringly i n t e l l ec tua l . (This i s probably only sl ight ly overs ta ted. )

And the re a re a lmost no big name people in Bri t a in who make r ad i ca lchanges in t he i r l i ve s and speak to the world about it Chr i s t j u s t i s n ' t ana t iona l issu e h ere . He s a r e l i g i ou s i s s ue . The Church i s mainly kno;-m fo rdea th and dying and very few people in the news are known Chr i s t i ans . Toppop s inger Cl i f f Richard and eccent r ic , aging j ou rna l i s t Malcolm Muggeridgeare welcome except ions .

But howwil l a mass movement fo r Chr i s t begin? Wil l some high ly i n f luent i a l people be won for Chr i s t here? Or wi l l some ordinary people ca l l ed byGod to be h is people become i n f luen t i a l , l i s t en ing to h is wi l l , fol lowing h iss t ep s , becoming a l i gh t to th e nat ions?

Not many men in th e New Testament were g rea t men e i t h e r , bu t God t akesordinary people and does grea t th ings with them. However, a few notable reve r sa l s might give new credence to God s power in England .

Roger


2/44

Chris tmas Review* * Each Ch r i s tma s we makea spec ia l e f f o r t to reachpeople in our communityw ith th e Good News o f Jesus Ch r i s t . Once again wek n o c k e d on d o o r s an d hande d o u t Ch r i s tm a s tracts

Many p eople a cc ep te d them and we praytha t people wil l respond to the message** Our Sunday School chi ldren presented a play about a r ehe r sa l of aChristmas play showing the re levanceof Jesus today. Many of the i r parents and friends we r e in attendanceSteve ended the program with a shor tm e s s a g e .

Ano t h e r Ch r i s tm a s e v e n t w as t h eFou r t h Annua l Hillfields Ca r o l F e st i va l held a t our loca l play center .A spec ia l a t t r ac t i on was a CoventryCity p ro fe ss io n al soccer player , whos h a r e d his faith and life w i t h J e s u sChr i s t . It was a powerful witness ,espec ia l ly to the many t eenagers whowe r e there** Christmas i s a t ime of giving andr ece iv ing . Severa l b ro the r s ands i s t e r s pooled t he i r money and madeup s ix food parce l s . After a b i tof decora t ing , these parce l s weregiven to fam il ie s and e lde r l y members o f th e Ch u r c h .** Severa l weeks before Chris tmas,everyone in our Church r ece ived aletter w i t h a name o f a b r o t h e r o rs i s t e r for whom we were to be praying sec re t l y . Many people gaveand received encouraging notes ,cards , and g i f t s . We revealed ourhidden iden t i t i e s a t our spec ia lCh r i s tm a s commun ion service

J a n

On GroundA t e am o f Christians w en t o u t to

sow seeds th e Word o f God . .Some seed f e l l by the wayside .Many people have l i s t ened to our

message bu t have not appl ied it tot he i r l ives . They are hardened bythe i r own se l f i shness and apathy.

Some seed f e l l on rocky ground.Fred , Chr i s to and o ther s seemed toh e a r th e t r u t h and r e c e i v ed it wi t hjoy . But a f t e r a few weeks, theyt u r n ed their attention t o o t h e rth ings . They lacked roo t s ; the i r swas a s h a l l ow faith

O ther seeds have fa l len amongweeds and thorns . John be l ieves ,but goes on l iv ing among peopleand t empta t ions t ha t are chokinghim drugs, drink, etc . . Robin,who at one t ime was so e n t h u s i a st i c tha t he put me to shame, hasdisregarded what he knows to betruth I can t b e l i e v e that he sro ck y g ro un d, a person who wi l leven tua l ly d i e . Rathe r I see himin a weed patch and c l ing to th ehope t ha t one day he wi l l allovr himself to be f r e e d o f th e weed s .

Seeds have fa l l en on good ground.Small plants have grown into strongf ru i t -bea r ing p lan t s . Dave has become a church l eader and lay preache r ; Steve B. i s soon to be workingin Zambia and help ing a miss ionarythere ; Helen i s studying a t LincolnChri s t i an College in the U.S.A.;Pete s c l o s e wa lk w i t h God is e v ident to a l l ; and others are morequ ie t in t h e i r ex pressio n o f b earin gfruit f o r God .

What kind of ground are you? Remembe r that God c a n soften h a r dground, break up rocks and pu l l outw e e d s . D e b b ie


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E RR ED P

eet a Sister |Lynda was f i r s t met |by two m m rs au rt e a m . S h e a n s w e r e d o u rs u r v e y and i n d i c a t e d t h a ts h e was i n t e r e s t e d i n knowing God p e r s o n a l l y .When v/e a r r i v e d i n O c t .7 6 we v i s i t e d h e r and found t h a tshe w anted h e r c h i l d r e n t o have ab e l i e f in God tha t would get themt h r o u g h t h i s l i f e . She f e l t t h a tshe had some r e l a t i o n s h i p with God.

Lyn began reading her New Tes tament and t h a t s when things s t a r t e dchanging. The more she read andtalked the more she began to real izet h a t J e s u s had been w i t h h e r b u t n o ti n h e r . Here a r e h e r own words :My Friend

I v e known my friend for a verylong t i m e s i n c e chi ldhood i n f a c t .I grew up with Him, and confideda l l my secrets in Him. He gave memany comforts, and I gave Him verylittl except an o c c a s i o n a l t h a n k s .I asked Him for many things and Hegave them unconditionally. I shunnedHim b u t He l o v e d me still

Recently I opened my door to aloud, p e r s i s t e n t knocking and foundmy f r i e n d o u t s i d e . I welcomed Himin . He came. I begged His forgiven e s s . He gave it I asked Him t ostay forever. He agreed, I love myf r i e n d J e s u s C h r i s t .

Lynda LongbottomLyn l e t J e s u s i n t o h e r lif on

December 1 1977. PennyBev M u l l i n s w i l l be i n t h e U . S . A .for three weeks beginning 28 Jan.She can be reached at RFD Ingra-ham, IL 62434, Tel . 618-752-2460.

Q Jenny Harris w s recently^ baptized into Jesus She didn tf i t the f a i r l y regular pat ternof witness which has usually takenp l a c e h e r e . We were n e i t h e r h e r i ni t i a l contact with His saving message,n o r w i l l we be h e r home c h u r c h . Sheand her family l i v e over 100 miles a-way and are aw aitin g a probable movet o Montreal fol lowing her husband sj o b .

Jenny i s a c lo se frie nd of Monica,who has recently joined our body ofbelievers a f t e r becoming a Chris t ianin Zambia. Jenny had been followingChrist in many ways for a long time,but, in her words, No one would bapt i z e me. During a l a t e - h o u r s - o f -the-morning discussion, our God worked through a l l the team and Monicato move Jenny to a place where bapt ism was the exact place in which t of o l l o w C h r i s t .She did and met Him there. Bap-t i s m i s a g i f t from God i n which Heg i v e s H i m s e l f . RogerCHRIST AND CHRISTMAS have so litt l e in common to many t h a t Christmasi s o f t e n a painful time for me. Whenfor the tenth t ime, someone says,Christmas i s for children anyway,r e a l w e a r i n e s s comes on me.

A c o u p l e o f weeks b e f o r e C h r i s tmas, we had a n o t h e r b o o k s t a l l - t h i stime on the main s t ree t in ErdingtonIBesides s e l l i n g C h r i s t i a n l i t e r a t u r ewith a special emphasis on c h i l d r e n sgifts , we passed out leaflets to passers-by. The written word i s very powe r f u l and people went home with t r a c t sabout God s l i g h t .Perhaps few cared enough to askmore, b u t o n l y God knows what seedsv e r e p l a n t e d

B e v


4/44

Personal EpistleDear F r i e n d s ,

G r e e t i n g s in t h e New Year . Onec a n t h e l p r e f l e c t i n g on the p a s t a tt h i s t ime o f t h e year and rememberi n g many i n c i d e n t s a f f e c t i n g our l i v e s

Things i n England can be f a i r l y dep r e s s i n g when one t h i n k s o f t h e pol i t i c a l , economic and s o c i a l problemsh e a r d o n t h e n e w s . Y e t t m a k e s memore aware o f a b i g d if f e re nc e i nthe l i f e of a C h r i s t i a n compared witho t h e r s . I can have hope. I know t h a tno m a t t e r what t h e f u tu re b ri n gs , Iam assured o f t h e L o r d s knowledge o fit and the .promises he has given. Iknow t h a t C h r i s t i s coming again andt h a t br ings a r e a l peace for today.Should I die before His r e t u r n , Iknow where I m going because th eB i b l e tells me sol

The Lord has o f f e r e d us many c h a l -enges f o r t h e new y e a r and I m looking forward t o some o f them. I mustadmit t h a t ll have t o work on myattitude a b o u t others 1

I thank t h e Lord f o r the b l e s s i n gt h e t e a m s a n d I h a v e r e c e i v e d f r o myou i n many ways. The Lord i s t r u l ygood and l o v i n g and p e r s o n a l . Ithank the Lord f o r you a l l .

I n Him,J a n e t J B )The r su t of th r nt vot

on the proposed union o f theC h u r c h e s o f C h r i s t w i t h t h e

U n i t e d R e f o r m e d C h u r c h is that t h erequired 757c major i ty was not reached,587o for , 427o against . Please prayt h a t people w i l l l i s t e n to God NOWas s a t a n t r i e s t o d i g , d i v i d e , andd e v o u r .

ER IH6T N TEAM144 Gravelly Lane

Birmingham B23 6LTENGLAND

tnt

Non-Pro f i t Bull< R a t eU.S. P O S T A G E PAIDLincoln. III 62656

P ermi t 7 6

EPI STLE FROM ENGLANDLincoln C h r i s t i a n C h u r c h

2 0 4 N M c L e a n S t r e e tLincoln. III 62656

I COVENTRY TEAM49 Huntington Rd.Coventry CV5 6PTENGLAND

AMERICAN CORRESPONDENTM/M C. L Davis

1 0 1 0 N M o nr o e S t.Lincoln, iii 62656U.S.A. feeder nu/ins

Pann^ fh fteffeJrinflon

K t s s i o n s s e r v i c e sBox 177Kempton^ IM 46 49

Address C o r r e c t i o n Requested


5/44

. . . Import from a dual team ministry ^^ cltafftnginf a poit Cliriiiian nation w l lite rfaimi of Ckrisl ^Vol. 5 No 6 March 978[nfung J^eroEfS ^ Cribute

Burlng th e pas t 4^ y e a r s , th e most unsung he roe s o f o ur m i n i s t r yhave been E a rl e ne and *Bus Davis. They a re th e ones who a r e in chargeo f o ur m in is try to U.S.A. people l ike you, our E p i s t l e r e a d e r s . As ourAmerican Correspondents, they have gone fa r and beyond the cal l of dutywith much to i l , t ears , sweat, sore f i nge r s , droopy e ye l i ds , and more.E a rl e ne and Bus came w ith th e e x a ct qual if ic a ti on s t ha t we neededand q ui ck ly v o lu nt ee re d fo r th e work, Earlene i s an executive s e c r e t a r yand has access to a l l th e n ee de d e qu ip me nt as w e l l as h e r e x c e l l e n t ski l l s ,Bus i s a m a i l carr ie r in the i r hometown, Lincoln, I l l ino i s , so his knowledge of the p os ta l system has saved \is many heartaches as well as tripsto the post o f f i c e . Their personal i n t e r e s t is obvious. Their daughter,Debbie is one of the Coventry team which gives them inside informationquickly and easily. And most of al l , their commitment to Christ and HisChurch has been essent ia l to taking on th e task as a m i n i s t r y . They haveworked out of lo ve, willingly sa c ri fi c i ng much of t h e i r spare time, something not many people in our s elf centered age would do. Many times theyhave dipped into their own pockets when our ailing U.S.A. fund totalledze ro o r b e l ow .But now i t is time for them to move on to other things. Sendingout 1500 copies of the Epistle each month keeping the address labelsup to date, answering l e t t e r s for us, and a l l the m is ce ll aneous j obstake up a lo t of time. They have done i t a l l for m inistry to you andt u s r Him.So, as S ha ke sp ea re h as s a i d , what e l se can we say but THANKS NDTHANKS AND EVER THANKS Or in th e words o f th e Apostle Paul, I thankmy God for you every time I think of you; and every time I pray for youa l l , I pray with joy because of the way in which you have helped me inthe work of the gospel from the very f i rs t day until now. Philippians1:3-5

-are we without American Correspondents? No the Davises wouldn tallow that. Although they had given us a year s notice of their decisionto give up the position, they kept going for six months longer to makesu re our Ep i s t l e came ou t .Our new correspondents are Nancy and Tim Barber of Council Bluffs,Iowa. We w i l l introduce them to yo u properly next month.


6/44

o u say afternoon while cal l ing,Unlike many people , sheinvited JB a n d an intoher home, answered the survey ques t ions , and even a -greed to a re turn v i s i t .

That was last June . Byautumn th e th ree o f them were meet ingregular ly to s tudy. After severa lmonths of t a lk ing , reading , and v isi t i ng se rv i ces , Sylvia made her dec is ion to accept Jesus as her S av io r .

Sylv ia s confession of fa i thand baptism were witnessed by brothe r s and sisters f rom s e v e r a l chu r ches who had come together fo r themonthly Teach-In in Erdington,Our bapt is t ry is being remodeled. )

Life in the Spi r i t was thesubjec t of the Teach-In and Sylviahas plunged in to a l l aspects o f tha tl i f e as she seeks ways to use herg i f t s to serve in our Body. Her enthusiasm has encou raged many in ourfel lowship, and also affected Jimher husband. He sees the change inher l i f e and i s himself open to inves t iga t ing Chr is t ian i ty . Pray forSylvia: fo r her w itness to Jim, fo rwisdom in ra i s ing t h e i r t h ree yea r -o ld daugh te r, and for s te ady p rogre ssin h e r new life

Recently we witnessed CHRISTIANM RRI GE vows being exchanged by twoo f ou r members . Dave Ar r owsmi t hprayed fo r God to f ind him a wife acouple of years ago. But it wasn'tun t i l he accepted h is s ing l e s t a tust ha t God did provide a wife in PamTho r n t o n .Dave joyful ly gives the fami l iarwarning, Be careful what you ask Godf o r . Pam h as f ou r son s so Dave hasbeen blessed to overflowing DE

P T V RS comes from astrongCathol ic background. In asearch fo r a deeper understanding of God's wi l l for h is l i f e ,Pete began at tending our Bible^ studies. That was two yearsago and dur ing t h a t t ime Pe t eh s seen are l need to live outh is be l i e f . One way he has beenTR able to minis te r i s by helpingthe l oca l Cyrennians, who givehelp to alcohol ics and drug ] users.Afte r some study and discuss ion

P e t e saw a n e ed t o make a fullercommitment persona l ly and publ ica l ly .He began to a t t end our morning s e rvices bu t re aliz ed th at wasn ' t enough.He was bapt ized a t the Great FrancisS t r e e t Church in Birmingham dur ingone o f ou r T each - i n s .

P e t e feels a real b u r d e n to witness where he works and a t home, toh is wife . We cont inue to pray fo ro u r b ro th e r P e t e .

In middle February , the Coventryteam begins a new phase in th e irtask of equipping the Coventry churchfo r indigenous mini s t ry . With t h i sin mind, we have eager ly watched PeteBowen's Chris t ian growth. We haveseen de f in i t e g i f t s o f sp i r i t u a ll eadersh ip , preaching, and out reachemerge in him in th e l a s t few yea r s .

With the bless ing o f church leade r s here and th e e ld e rsh ip o f th e Bowen's supporting church in Muskogee,Oklahoma, Pete w il l jo in the team asa min is te ri al in te rn . He hopes toga in both p rac t i c a l and academic exper ience . Watch for news of Pe te sdeveloping ministry and pray for theSp i r it s guidance.


7/44

f e ujS at ^rljoolLast month, I was in

v i t e d to t e a ch a L i b e r a lStudies lesson a t a highs c h o o l w he re o n e of o u rmembers teaches . Theywan ted me to t a c k l e th e

problem of showing what evidence fo rCh r i s t i a n belief t h e r e is.The 17-18 year olds showed keeni n t e r e s t . There w ere a couple ofAsian Muslim f e l l ows who were veryvocal in t he i r opposi t ion to theposs ib i l i ty tha t God could real lycome in th e f l e s h . How can God whoi s Spir i t be a man? they expressedit. They needed to know what t h i sstrange Chris t ian conception of theTrini ty i s . The only other Asian,a Sikh by re l ig ion, wanted to knowhow God cou l d s a c r i f i c e h imse l f onth e cross.All of th e que stio ns were goodo n e s an d s e emed that t h e 20 -2 5s tudents took the answers ser ious ly .The quest ion of openness , however,came out sha rp ly , I openly s t a t ed , I f Chr is t ian i ty i s not t rue , I llgive it a l l upmy f a i t h , j ob , everyth ing . I asked a Muslin pupi l ifhe would be wi l l i ng to do th e samewith h is r e l i g ion . Without hes i t at ion , he answered, No.With j u s t three minutes of ourtwo hours together l e f t , one obviously interested young lady asked, Youkeep talking about becoming a Christian, what do you mean? I wishedtha t there was more t ime, but quicklygave herand the restthe basics ofbecoming a Chris t ian . I was j u s tglad that I had been given the opportunity to present Jesus in school .They 've inv i t ed me back . Roger

Coffee Cljcnins?(Laughter) You remember what happened at , the l a s t one. No one came,

Yeh, but th i s time we've gott h ree l ad ies who have sa id theywould def in i te ly come.

Tha t s what th e o the r s s a i d .Well, we can only t ry . Willyou be hostess? I ll help you,Alright , but i f no one comest h i s t ime It shakes your confidence whenyou make big plans and i nv i t e manyand no one comes. That s how Audrey(see Oct . 77) f e l t . But she sa id , yes and God blessed her f a i th fu ln e s s to Him .

The three non-Christians c ameand Lyn (see Feb. 78) asked i f shecould also share in o ur ev en in g.

Two o f t h e women h av e c h i l d r e ni n ou r J .A .M. Time and after a b ou tha l f an hour o f t a lk ing about ch i ldren, Lyn s ta r ted the ba l l ro l l ing byasking i f the i r children talked withthem about what they learned inJ.A.M. Do they ta lk to you aboutJ e su s ?Do they? They never stop wasthe answer, and so th e evening cont i n u ed f o r th e n e x t hou r and a half.Solid conversat ion about God, Hisexis tence , c r ea t i on , who Jesus isand (the joy for Audrey), Wha t'sit been l ike for you since you'vebecome a Ch r i s t i a n ?Two of the la dies a re very int e r e s t e d . I w i l l cont inue shar ingwith them. Pray for them and prayfo r more evening of opportuni ty forna tu r a l shar ing about Jesus .

Penny


8/44

^triSonal CpistltDear Friends ,I t s nice to have a small spaceto express something of my personall i f e as well as of my minis t ry . Oneo f the most i n t e r e s t i ng , or maybe Ishould say catas tropic , events forme during the l a s t year has been mymarriage to Roger.

We s ta r ted o ff with a highly unconvent ional wedding and the r e s tseems to be fol lowing in the samepa t t e rn . Having spen t the f i r s t twomonths s leeping in a t in y, s in gleroom and l i v i ng the r e s t of th e t imein the church bui ld ing , we were supremely g ra te fu l f in a ll y to move into our own house . Roger had grea tfun s lapping up a poste r w all in ourkitchen, and I had great fun watching , and a l l the people who v i s i t

have great fun t ry ing to think ofsomething to say about t

I have exper ienced such human andd iv ine gener os ity in the l a s t fewmonthsit rea l ly i s qui te di f f i cu l tto know how to say, Thank you. I msure you know t ha t fee l ing . God hasgiven to me l i be ra l ly in many areas ,some of which I don t even recognize.Our marriage i s one area where Hehas shown me something new of Hisna ture . His es sen t i a l uni ty i s beginning to f ind a smal l expressionin usand for me, tha t s exci t ingl

Love,M i c h e l le

CURT LINDA NORDHEILM of Lincoln,I l l i no i s a re planning to j o i n theErdington team in mid-March, providing the i r support i s promised.After nine months, they wi l l moveto a f resh team minis t ry .

t^s Howtn

ERDtNGTON TEAM ^44 Gravelly Lane vBirmingham B23 6LT f

ENGLAND

L COVENTRY TEAM^ 9 Huntingdon RdT Coventry CV5 6PTENGLAND

AMERICAN CORRESPONDENTM/M Tim Barber6 05 A r no ld

Gounc ii B lu f fs , la 51501U.S.A.

jrinflon nufinsP nn^ WicUf

dJirin^lon

Non-profi t Bulk RateU .S . POSTAGE PAID

Counc il B lu f fs , la 51501Permi t 26

EPISTLE FROM ENGLANDEas t S ide Chris t ian Church

1714 Mad i s onCouncil Bluffs, la 51501


9/44

r ckaifenyin^ a poll C ltriilian n tion with llir ifuimi of Cirist Vol. 5, No, 7 Apri l 1978

Who Needs Your Gospel ?After our t ruly edifying, i f br ie f furlough, I am reminded again

how to ta l ly di f fe ren t i s the Chris t ian ized cul ture of mid-Americafrom the secular-agnostic-humanistic view of l i fe in mid-England.Our Hillfields working class society sees the church mainly as a middleclass phenomenon. So we carry on to redefine the church in hopeswe can make it work for these people. Only when the body of Christi s receptive to rea l needs of i t s community can it serve and witness .Only when the church can express i t s worship and testimony in theforms of the p eop le, wil l the people eve r l i s ten to her message.What does a working class church look like? I don t know, but Ithink I m seeing i t materialize before my eyes.

Also, I m reminded tha t preaching the gospel i s never enough.To know the plan of salvat ion i s only the most bas ic elementarything Heb. 6:1-3). e must also l ive the good news. Here is thecrucial question s t i l l : Is the qual i ty of our l ives any bet te r thanthat of the non-believers in the community around us? If i t is not,then our gospel i s only p ie in the sky by and by. I t has notchanged our l iv ing in the now and our witness power i s des t royed.Can not our neighbo rs then honestly say, You re no dif fe ren t than Iso who needs your gospel? And the staggering incidence of Chris t iand ivo rce d i s un i t y and world ly va lues i s evidence t h a t all too of t enwe re not prac t ic ing what we preach.

However, pra i se God t ha t there are many notable except ions whereI have seen rad ica l b ib l i ca l Chris t iani ty indeed change the qual i tyof individual and group l i f e f rom the roots up .

As one Americ an f r iend so r i gh t l y reminded me, how can wee f f e c t ive ly witness to groups l i ke the Mormons about t he i r fau l tyd oc tr in es o f the family when our t rue doc t r ine has not ye t producede f f e c t ive lov ing fami ly un i t s o f C h ris tia ns? Or as ano the r modernsage has put it We ve got to out think, out love, and out l ivethose l os t in the world i f our witness is to have any r ea l impact .

I have observed some o f the r i c h v ar ie ty o f Chr i s t i an exper ienceon both s ides o f the At lan t i c . It i s the same gospel in d i f f e r ingforms of express ion . But wherever the good news o f Jesus i s r ea l l yheard and l ived ou t the e f f e c t on the world must be the same as itwas when H is life was first lived

STEVE


10/44

R e - N e w Go a l sA fe w we e k s a g o we

t o o k a d a y o u t t o e x a m i n eo u r m i n i s t r y b e f o r e t h eL o r d a n d a s k H im t o dir e c t u s i n s p e c if i c a r e a so f o u r w o r k . A s a result

we a r e p l a c i n g g r e a t e r e m p h a s i s one v a n g e l i s m , p a r t i c u l a r l y d o o r - t o -door c a l l i n g .

A l s o , we r e s t a t e d w h a t a r e maybeobvi ous b u t i m p o r t a n t g o a l s :1 To bring th e g o sp e l o f Je su s toa s many a s p o s s i b l e . 2 To leadt hose i n C h r i s t to m a t u r i t y . 3) Tob r i n g th e Coventry f e l l o w s h i p tos t a n d , i n C h r i s t , , o n its own f e e t .4 To t r a i n an d equip t h o s e c a l l e dby God t o l e a d i n B ri t i s h C h u r c h e s .We n e e d c o n s t a n t l y t o s e t God bef o r e u s a n d l o o k t o Him f o r ways t oadvance H is Kingdom and b r i n g g l o r yt o H i m .

PETE OW N m i n is te ri al i nt er n)

Lost Y outhMany p e o p l e h e r e a r e f a r from God,Young p e o p l e , i n p a r t i c u l a r , seeml o s t . I want t o d e s c r i b e two groupsand t h e i r s t r a n g e s e a r c h f o r i d e n t i t y

One g r o u p b r i n g s a r e v i v a l o f th eT ed dy -B oy f ad w hi ch goes b ack to5 0 s . You can i d e n t i f y the T e d sby t h e i r appearance: l ong d r a p ec o a t s , d r a i n p i p e t r o u s e r s , g r e a s e db ack h a i r , and s h o e - s t r i n g t i e s .R o c k N R o l l m u s i c s e e m s a m a t t e ro f life a n d d e a t h t o a Ted

Th e l a t e s t group to emerge i s th e P u n k R o c k e r s . T h e i r s c e n e is tor e p u l s e o t h e r s . You c a n u s u a l l yi d e n t i f y them by t h e i r a pp eara nc e a sw e l l . T h e i r h a i r , w h i c h i s o f t e nd y e d b i z a r r e c o l o r s , s t i c k s u p .

F a n a t i c a l punks have s a f e t y p i n st hr ough t h e i r l i p s , e a r s , o r c he e ks.They, t o o , have t h e i r own m us i c,Pu n k R o c k , which r e fl e c t s t h ei rn o t i o n t h a t l i f e i s v o i d o f m e a n i n g .O u r t a s k is t o relate J e s u s t ot h e s e p e o p l e . We must remind o u rs el ve s c on tin u al ly t h a t C h r i s t l o v e s T e d s * a n d P u n k e r s w i t h t h e s a m eu n co n di t i o n al l o ve He h a s g i v e n u s .

J A N

. . . A n d Then Came NickL a s t month we r e p o r t e d th e con

v e r s i o n s o f P e t e a n d S y l v i a . T h i smonth b r i n g s good news d i r e c t l y r elated t o t h e s e n e w Christians

Pete s h a r e d his faith w i t h hism a t e s a t work, where t h i s sma l ls eed o f w i t n e s s b e g a n t o grow i nNICK LONG a 20 y e a r - o l d f a c t o r ya p p r e n t i c e . W i t h no C h r i s t i a n t r a i ni n g o r even ex p o s u re t o th e C h u r c h ,Nick had n e v e r r e a l l y co n sid er edb e l i e f i n C h r i s t a s a p e r s o n a lc h o i c e . B ut a f t e r s e e in g th e changei n P e t e , he began to a s k q u e s t i o n sa n d c a m e t o s e e w h a t this Christianf e l l o w s h i p was a l l a b o u t . H isq ue st i o n s l e d him t o s e e t h e r e a s o na b l e n a t u r e o f C h r i s t i a n belief

We w a t c h e d h i m m o v e t o w a r d faitha s t h e S p i r i t c o n v i c t e d h i m . A mo n tha f t e r h i s f r i e n d P e t e , N i c k w as b aptized into Christ at o u r districtT e a c h - I n . Th e f i r s t baptism he l da t t h i s Birmingham c h u r c h i n 5 y e a r s . )

A f t e r s e e i n g t h e c h a n g e s i n newC h ri s ti an S y lv ia , h e r husband JI Mh a s come r e g u l a r l y t o o u r m e e t i n g st o s e e f o r h i m s e l f . Now, h e to ow a n t s t h e l i f e - c h a n g i n g power o fJ e s u s . A f t e r m o r e c o u n s e l l i n g t h i sw e e k , h e p l a n s t o b e b a p t i z e d .

S T E V E


11/44

For Your PrayersROD LESLIE a re a youngcourt ing couple who haveheard the Gospel for thefirst t ime . No one eve rto ld us before , they sa id . I f others heard, they d

be i n t e r e s t e d t oo .ROGER KING was in an I nves t i ga t i onGroup and now in a Bible Study. Afte r the group, studying TheMessiahread I sa i ah 53, he thought it wasgood. When he found out it waswr i t t en a t l e a s t 700 years beforeJesus , h is face reg i s t e red shockan d am a z emen t .

I t IV S Good. - -I came back from my three weeks

in the U. S. A. very much encouragedand re f reshed . Thank you a l l somuch fo r the encouragement and love.

Love , Bev

LYNDA VIPOND i s amazed t h a t anyonewould ca r e abou t h e r . J e su s r e surrect ion seems pre t ty remote andsh e can t s e e th e r e l e v a n c e .J.A.M. TIME is our Sunday chi ldren smeeting. Pray for continued expans ion even though our l i t t l e building i s no t very su i t ed fo r itBIBLE STUDIES. We wan t t o live wha twe l ea rn in them. Pray t ha t we wi l lget down to rea l needs tha t Godwan t s t o fillEDDIE now wants to study the Biblewi t h others He lives w i t h JEANwho has become qui te in te res ted inJesus . Pray fo r p erson al acceptanceof Jesus and ge t t ing t he i r l iv ingsituation s o r t e d o u t .YOUTH GROUP i s growing rap id lyf rom s ix to f i f t e en young t e en s .P r a i s e God and pray fo r u s .

BEV

IntroducingWe want to pinch a few l ines from Erdington to keep our promiseof introducing our new American correspondents. TIM NANCY BARBER l ivein Council Bluffs, Iowa with their two young men, John Paul (3) and

Michael (1). All four are lea rn in g together how to give and receivediscipline (not always sure which is which). Tim is the minister ofEast Side Chris t ian Church in Council Bluffs , and Nancy works as asec re ta ry fo r a l oca l gas company.In working with us, they are learning what i t is to work fornothing with 1 pay increases each year. Yet their continued generosi ty is seen in a recent statement about their Datsun which is a lemon,Looking for some nice missionaries to England who could use one.Their l ives are not as boring as th is in t roduct ion , which I haveproved in several never-a-dull-moment years w ith them a t LincolnChristian College. I introduce you to Nancy and Tim as personal friends,who are very interested in following God s way for their l ives . Theyhave a great commitment to Christ s work wherever i t i s .

ROGER


12/44

Personal EpistleDear Friends ,

La s t month M i ch el le sh ar ed some o fher f i r s t year o f marriage in th i ssect ion. ow I m taking us back as tep and sharing my engagement per iod with you. For a t the presen t ,my personal l i fe i s wrapped up withRichard Harris as we are busy planning our Ju ly wedding.

Richard and I met when he beganto come to se rv ice s , search ing fo rT ru t h . He found J e s u s and becamea Chris t ian in August 1976. Ourdating relat ionship began in January 1977. Being convinced t ha t Godcan use us as a team, we announcedour engagement i n October 1977.Since then we have spent our sparet ime get t ing to know each othe r

E PIS TL E FROM ENGLANDE as t S id e Ch r is ti an Chu rc h

1714 Mad i sonCouncil Bluffs, la 51501

bet te r through sharing with his fami ly and working on the old house weare buying.I ve discovered that being inlove brings many joys as well asdi f f i cu l t i es . I t s not easy for meto make the adjustments necessary inchanging from a ra ther se l f i sh , independent person to an equal par tner I m grateful for a long engagement per iod to work on t h i s II plan to continue my ministrywith the team in Coventry for then e a r f u t u r e . Richa rd and I a r e bo t hopen to l iv ing and serving whereverGod leadsbe tha t England, America,o r e l s ewh e r e

I m looking forward to a l l tha tGod wi l l be teaching me as I becomea hristi n w i f e .

In His l ove ,DEBBIE

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13/44

ptU

. f^rnoti from a Jua/ Iram minlilrutpoA from a Jua/ Iraman naUofi wi Ike c/aimi cj CkrUUf,e n ^ i n ^ a p o

V o l 5 No. 8 May 1978On Rejecting The WordAs I was relaxing before gett ing ready to go to a Bible Study/Investigation group, our doorbell rangnot a rarity' . When I opened the door,I was surprised to see Ray, one of the men in the study group. He gave

me his New Testament and said that Ralph (the other fellow) had decidedthat he d i d n t want to study any more. Ralph had his own bel iefs andd id n't re ally want to discuss any more.I suspected that i t was really Ray who had been put off of thestudy of the Bible. He had read John 1 and couldn ' t understand who theWord wasunderstandable And he and his wife had thumbed through theBible and read a few isolated passages, like Paul's advice about marriage(I Cor. 7) and his word about the obligation to work even though Christmight come any day (II Thess.3). Ralph was out of work, and Ray thoughtthat anyone who would say, Whoever refuses to work i s not allowed toeat was no Christian. Why should there have to be an interpreter likeyou i f this is a modern Bible? I t seemed more a rhetorical questionthan one for which he was will ing to l i s t e n to an answer.

But then ag ain , Ralph c e r t a i n l y did have his own views. He had donealdt of serious (not just Von Daniken) study of astronomy and extrat e r r e s t r i a l c r e a t u r e s He c e r t a i n l y believed tha t there were close encounters of the third kind, and maybe even Jesus was a spaceman.For the moment at least , the Good News of Jesus was rejected formyths and vain speculationshowever serious. But my task is to t e l leven though their minds are dull , ears stopped up , and eyes closed.Otherwise, they would see, hear, understand, turn to God, and He wouldheal (Acts 28:26-27). ROGER* Two months overdue in England,

Cur t and Lynda Nordhielm have decidedto leave for England during ear ly Mayeven though they do not yet have thenecessary f i n a n c i a l support promised.They a r e c o n f i d e n t t h a t God wantsthem i n England and a r e making t h i smove in r e l i a n c e o n God. We commendt h i s lesson i n f a i t h and ask yourp r a y e r on t h e i r b e h a l f

COULD YOU PLEASE PAUSE FOR A^^OUR EVANGELISM AND NURTURE.

k During Easter the Archbishop ofCanterbury s po ns ore d s ev en 15 minuteTV programs c a l l e d Simple Fai th?One f l u s t e r e d young lady was i n l i n efo r Jesus Chris t Superstar when asked,Who i s Jesus? she blurted out ,Oh God' .* A n n u a l infl tion in rit in h a sbeen reduced to 9.1% during Aprilthe lowest i n four years I

MOMENT RIGHT NOW AND PRAY FOR US I NWE NEED GOD'S SPECIAL POWER FOR THIS


14/44

47 MUMS D DS GR NDPARENTS FRIENDS NDKIDS CELEBRATE JESUSRESURRECTION ASone big family

Our normal pattern of Easter ce le b r a t i o n and wi t n e s s h as b een t ohave evening chi ldren s programs.This year we ventured to invi te parents and f r iends to jo in the chi ldren in the ir morning Sunday Schoolc l a s se s . Between c l a s s and a speci a l Family Communion Service, everyone had oppor tu nity to v i s i t overcups of tea and coffee and scones.

Two ba r r i e r s were broken: 1)adu l t s don t usual ly go to SundaySchool in England, and 2 childrend o n t o f t e n a t t e n d communion s e rvices . Because of th i s , spec ia lcare was taken to explain why we dothe th ings we do in our services .Perhaps th is can be the beginningof in tegrat ing the whole family int h e who l e o f Chu r ch life

DEBBIEI And NowJimLa s t mon th S tev e w ro te o f one whowas considering baptism. This monthI wri te tha t JIM BURNS a 24 yearold coal miner, i s your new brother .J im witnessed th e life of h is wi fe ,Sylvia (see March, 1978) change whensh e became f i l l e d w ith th e l ove andSpi r i t of God. Now h is l i f e i schanging too, and they a re buildin ga Chr i s t i an hometogether .

Because our bapt is t ry i s s t i l lbeing remodel led, we were able tospread Jim s witness to the localBapt i s t church. DEBBIE

Pot te r ies For J e su sTwo couples on the br ink of com

mit t ing th eir l iv es to Chri s t , ye tthey he s i t a t e . Could they ac tua l lyl i ve th e Chr i s t i an l i f e from day today? Could they share th eir fa ithwith family , f r i ends , and workm ate s ? T h is was t h e situ tion amonth ago when severa l o f our youngCh r i s t i a n men t r a v e l l e d t o Bur s l em(an area of Stoke-on-Trent termedThe Po t t e r i e s becau se o f its i ndustry) . Harold Merr i t t , a formerLincoln Chris t ian College profes so rand min i s t e r w ith the church t h e r e ,had i nv i t ed us to come. They hadbeen conduct ing a s e r i e s of Inve s t igat ion Sess ions with seve ra l non-Chr is t i ans . Sadly fee l ing the exi s t ing congregation there could nothelp in th is a rea , he asked us tos h a r e how Ch r i s t i a n s in n o rma l works i t ua t ions are helped by the Sp i r i to f Ch r i s t t o live o u t H is life

A r ea l l y good evening was sharedw i t h t h em in o ne o f their h ome s . Wewe r e ble t o t lk a b o u t t h e re litieso f t h e Ch r i s t i a n l if ehow isindeed d i f f i c u l t , but through theLord we can l i v e l i f e t h a t i s plea sing to Him. They were very open andhon est w ith us and f r ee ly sharedt he i r worr ies and doubts , ye t throughit a l l I know t ha t God was working.They are now more convinced t ha t Hei s able to car ry them through.

The l a t e s t r epo r t rece ived fromthem i s t ha t they are a l l still verymuch o n t h e brink o f c omm i tme n t .Please pray fo r the Merr i t t s as theyminister in Bu r s l em and th t Godwi l l work in a power fu l way to b r ingnew life and vision to th t Chu r c h .And pray fo r our m inis try o f sh ar in g.

PETE


15/44

Faith LiftOur c h u r c h h a s b e e n e xperiencing God s blessings

in many ways. As wel l aswitnessing Chris t ians added to the i r number by theLord, there have been sev

e r a l phys ica l improvements to thebu i ld ing . The f i r s t was to ge t newcha i r s to replace our very old benches, which were hand-me-downs whenthe bu i ld ing was opened in 1930.

But as a church, we were very a -ware o f t h e f a c t t h a t Mich e l l e wou ldnever have the o pp ortu nity to be aplump marr ied woman. Not as l ong asshe had to work so hard every Sundaypumping the organ (another cast-off) .A d e a c o n noticed an electricchape l organ fo r sa le a t an auc t ion .Afte r some b arg ain in g th e p r i c e waslowered, but still it was a ra therlarge amount for our church. e hadmade some major and necessary purc h a s e s and ou r funds l ooked r a t h e rsmal l . The purchase of an organ nowbecame a matter o f t r u s t i ng in Godt o direct u s a s to wh a t we s h ou l d doand a ma t t e r o f f ith th t He wou l dprovide the money. But why would Godlead us to such a barga in , nothingmore and nothing less than we needed,if He d id n o t in t e n d f o r u s t o h a v eit

The mat t e r was pu t before thechurch. Immediately people beganvolunteer ing va r ious f i nanc i a l g i f t s .Someone said, Roger preached onfai th this morning, l e t s do i t .Before the meet ing was over, theorgan was pa id fo r and l a t e r , wehad money to spare ,A good lesson in fa ith . When Godsays, Yes, he says it in s ty le .

PENNY

Wlio l sThis IMant ha t even the winds and waves obeyhim? Since January we have beenteaching through Mark s gospel , answering th i s quest ionRoger in Hiss e rmon s and ll o f u s in o u r J .A .M .l e s sons . e have progress ively uncovered Jesus iden t i ty as Teacher,Healer , Miracle-Worker, Prophet;his power over nature , Satan, andcircumstances. He gives hope wherethere i s no hope, l i f e where therei s no l i f e , and wholeness where therei s only pa r t i a l hea l th .We climaxed on Palm Sunday with

an a ttem pt to demonstrate the profou nd answ er of J e su s God/Man ident i t y . To a packed little church(about 100 peopleperhaps the mostever there) , we showed the facts ofCh r i s t s Pass ion from the TriumphalEntry to the Resurrec t ion .

Our young teens gave a spec ia lin te rv iew type play based on our TVNews a t Ten , where witnesses ofthe re sur rec t ion were quest ioneda b o u t t h e life and d e a t h o f J e s u s(panic behind scenes as X f ran t ica l lygot one teenager out of a HighP r i e s t s robe and i n t o a f i sh e rman sou t f i t . ) . We had the usua l h i t ches .People had to s i t in the a i s l e , soou r k id s were unab l e to roll ou t th eca rp e t fo r Je sus to e n t e r onmos tdisconcert ing ILater , to witness the rea l i ty ofCh r i s t s l i fe-changing power today,we had four Bri t i sh Chris t ians (aged23 to 70) give test imonies about whot h i s man was and how He r e l a t e d tot h em .

Our answer to a l l people: Trulythis an was and ^ the Son of God.. MICHELLE


16/44

Personal EpistleDear F r i e n d s

Give me a very good and loving God a cup of t e a i n the morning,a t r i p home to see my s i s t e r ge t married, and you have a very g r a t e f u land happy young woman27 i s young i s n t i t ? ?

Whether 27 i s young or n o t my good and loving God i s c o n t i n u a l l yl e a d i n g me to follow Him as a c h i l d . 1 am f i n d i n g t h a t I am most happywhen He s walking r i g h t next to me, able to be talked to and l i s t e n e d to .

That cup o f t e a I mentioned? t r e a l l y i s a r e f l e c t i o n o f t h econtentment I have l i v i n g i n the r i g h t place a t the r i g h t t ime with myG o d . How good t was for me to be home My regrets are that I d i d n tget a chance to see c e r t a i n people or even phone some of my f r i e n d s .Time escaped me and my good in tent ions f e l l f l a t . Thank you everyonefo r l e t t i n g me share a p a r t of your l i f e .

Oh by t h e way. Skip , Cathy, and C a r l t h e gazebo i n Howarth i s gone.Remember the saga of the l o s t peni Howarth i s s t i l l as beautiful as ever,Lots o f Love,BEV

E PIST LE FROM ENGLANDEast S i d e Christ ian Ctiurcti

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17/44

. . . l^tpoM from a Juaf team minij ry II ckaUtn^in^ a poit CkriiUan nation w tk tk t aims of Ckrist ^V o l . 5 No. 9 J u n e 1 9 7 8Images

Do not make for yourselves images of anything Exodus20:4) . Whenever we read t h i s v e r s e we tend t o th in k of i d o l s o rthings carved out of wood or s tone, which people worship. There i sanother kind of image t h a t often hinders t rue worship - the image weoften make of other people. We a l l have an image of th e people weknow which we keep tucked away i n our m inds. Whenever someone mentions his name, our minds compute, John Doe; click, click, click,and out comes the image we have of that person which makes him JohnDoe to us. We a l l do t even with ourselves.The problem comes when we l e t that image keep John from beingthe person God i s making him to be or when John perceives how we seehim and thinks^ Now I must not l e t them know what I*m real ly likeor they won t l i k e me. So John keeps l iving i n our image of him

r a t h e r t h a n G od s v i e w o f him.This i s very easy to do and as equally d i f f i c u l t to s top. I t

can be especially disastrous in evangelism and the nurture of a newChrist ian. Often a fa lse or incomplete image of a person keeps himfrom being what God wants him to be. We keep him from being ableto admit his weaknesses, because we have an image of him which doesn tinclude t h a t weakness. Sometimes we view the person as not beingas strong or mature as he i s and so his growth is stunted. Thequestion that person is struggling with is , Will you and Gods t i l l l ike me i f you really know me?PENNY

P R A Y A B O U T ITI am not asking you j u s t to givehelp* i n prayer as a s o r t of side

l i n e but I am t rying to r o l l themain r e s p o n s i b i l i t y o f t h i s prayerwarfare on you. I want you to taket h e BURDEN o f t h e s e people upon yourshoulders. I want you to wrest lew i t h God f o r t h e m .- J.O. E r a s e r Eraser and Prayer .

What t h e Church needs today i s n o tmore machinery o r b e t t e r n o t new o rganizat ions or more and novel methods,b u t men whom th e Holy Ghost can usemen o f p r a y e r men mighty i n prayer .The Holy Ghost does not flow throughmethods, but through men. He doesnot come on machinery, b u t on men.He does not anoint p l a n s but menmen o f p r a y e r .- E.M. Bounds, Power Through Prayer.


18/44

Silver Jubilee8

Grand OpeningAlmost 150 Chr i s t i a n s and f r i e nds

from all ac ro ss th e Midlands sha redwith us in a day of celebration,pra ise and dedication on Apri l 29th.Not only did the day denote the 25thanniversary of the Queen Stree tChurch of Christ , but it also markedthe completion of our two year extension and remodeling project .

Every par t of our building hasbeen expanded, modernized, and redecoratedand almost a l l done throughvo lun t ee r la bo r . A l l i n all th e e ff o r t has doubled th e s i z e o f ourbuilding, providing much neededclassroom space and fellowship areas,a new bapt i s t ry , enlarged kitchenf ac i l i t i e s , and an off ice .

We were very encouraged by a l l ourfriends who shared with us throughout the day. We spoke together ofthe lessons and blessings from thepas t , what the Lord i s doing with usnow, and th e v i s ion we have fo r th efuture . The evening sermon remindedus t h a t ou r faith wa lk is i n d eed amission of no re turn . Cer ta in ly wecan t e s t i fy to our own s t ruggles offa i th as we sought to fu l f i l l thevis ion which God had given to us concerning the bui ld ing extens ion.

The pro jec t cost was around $35 ,000 .The Lord provided t h i s sum througho u r own member s and d o n a t i o n s f romf r i ends in England and America.

STEVE

GROWTHTwo young Chr i s t i an mothers recently shared some encouraging thoughts

in our monthly Church paper.SYLVIA, a Christ ian for j u s t threemonths, has discovered somethingthat I m afraid takes years to sink

i n t o some o f u s . She wr i t e s : I ambeginning to understand how much Godwil l help and guide us even in thesmallest of things. . . Recently Iwas surrounded by people with illhealth. Only when I held them up tothe Lord did things fa l l into place.How much easier i s my l i fe now that Iacknowledge God s workings, and It rus t that we a l l have enough fa i thto le t the Lord work through us andnot t r y to work without IUjii.

A poem cal led Be in Love withLife by Patience Strong promptedMarion, a shy and quie t woman to express herself . The poem expressesthe feeling of oneness, of peaceful-ness I get when I walk along quie tcountry lanes , l i s ten ing to the birdsong, and looking a t the t r ee s . Itmakes me say, Thank you. Lord, forthe beauty of it al lfor being a l iveand for being able to apprecia te i t .

DEB

NOT Since May 3 , Jan and Pete havebeen enjoying a s ix week furlough inCanada and the U.S.A. They wi l l bet rave l l ing with family in the weste rns t a t e s , and then working fo r a fewweeks wi t h th e irst Ch r i s t i a n Churchin Muskogee, Oklahoma.Happy holidays J P


19/44

ooking Perfect i eing ightM ichelle, I ve decidedI wan t t o become a Ch r i s

t i a n .Oh Karen. . . but whydo you want to?

Because I know I m not complete . . becau se I wan t to be made complete . . . because I know I m ames s . . . b e c a u s e I know He canforgive me, . . becaiise - what i fHe came tomorrow?

Well. What can you say to that?A few weeks ago, 14 year-old

KAREN PILLSBURY made t h e s e a s t o unding self-observations to me withoutinvi ta t ion or prompting. She hasbeen coming to J.A.M. for about 16months and has been s teadi ly convicted about herself by the simplet r u th o f the Word. One o f th e hardes t things for her to understand i swhy and how other people cannot bel i e v e God. It seems much ha rd e rnot to believe, she says. Yet shecomes from a non-Chris t ian familywhe re mo ther t e l l s her to keep herb eli ef s p riv at e, fa ther i s not inte res ted, and one older s i s t e r ins i s t s she wi l l grow out of it.I have been exci ted again and a -gain during my studies with her byher comprehension of Scr ipturenotj u s t in te l lec tua l ly^ but for her ownl i f e . I l is tened, amazed, as sheexplained righteou snes s to her 13year old f r iend , You don t getr ight with God by keeping a l l therules . . . but if you ve got Jesus ,it s l i k e he s tands in f r on t o f you ,so t ha t when God looks a t you hejus t sees Jesus . And that makes youlook perfect to God.

Karen h as little o r no Ch r i s t i a n

support outs ide the church. Sheknows already some of the s t ruggleit means a t home and school , so sheneeds your prayers as much as ours .But as we see God t o t a l ly remakingpeople , we have that assured hopet ha t he i s making something beau t iful out o f Ka r e n .

MICHELLE

No onely ightOn March 16^ JEAN WHITE a d i

vorcee and unwed mother wro te ; Imust be bap t i zed . I know Jesus .He h a s shown Hims e l f t o me thismorning in His s t reng th and Hisreal l o v e . H is trust and faith isso strong t ha t He held me th i smorning and quie ted my hear t . If e l t His calmness l i k e noth ing Ihave known o r f e l t fo r a long t ime.He i s close to me, I fee l h is pres e n c e an d I c a n talk t o Him . Heis much bigger than I ever thoughtHim t o b e .On Apr i l 1 , she took a stepc loser to baptism when she movedou t o f th e house she was sha r ingw ith her ch i l d s f a the r , Eddie.Once tha t step was taken, she couldclearly obey God s wishes, and herhea r t s des i re . On Apr i l 23, shewas bapt ized i n to Chr i s t .And God i s a t work, put t ing herfam ily back toge ther aga in ; forEddie has o f f i c i a l l y asked her tomarry him, and he i s perhaps nearto committing himself to C hr is t .All i s not always rosey - old problems ra ise the i r ugly heads, bu tshe doesn t f igh t alone any more.

BEV


20/44

Personal EpistleDear American Fr iends

I never wanted to be Bri t i sh . Nor did I necessari ly want to stay inAmerica. I don t feel l ike a fore igner j us t because I l ive in a di f ferentland than the one of my bir th. (After al l I can remember you teachingme to sing, This world is not my home I m just a-passing through.Nor did I choose to live in the style of the o rk ing-class , yet that sthe group I m called to serve. Come to think of i t I didn t really choosethe other worlds I ve passed throughIllinois, New York, Nashvilleyet each has had its claim on me o I ask you, where are my roots ?And in your absence I imagine you to say, Where and how you l ive and whatyou have don t matter because home is where the heart is . I ve learnedhere that my heart needs to be only with the Master and wit h my brothers.And because they are everywhere, home can be any whe re .o I miss you in America? Yes. Will I miss England? Yes. Prayfor me here. I pray for you far away and wonder where we really feel t home

Love,STEVE

P.S. Nathan has his f i r s t tooth and is crawling into and through everything.

EPISTLE FROM ENGLANDEas t S ide Ch ri st ia n Chu rc h1714 Mad i sonCouncil Bluffs, la 51501

JanrfSainti

ERDINGTON TEAM144 Gravelly LaneBirmingham 823 6LT

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AMERICAN CORRESPONDENTM/M Tim Barber

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U.S.A.nuiins

Penn^ WuUiCreait^ ^Jrin^toHo riz on s M i ss io n s Serv ices Assoc .Ed i t o r i a l Depar tmentBox 177Kempton 1^ 46049 . ^


21/44

.,tU from. . . f^tpori from a dual Uam miniilr^ ^ ^J


22/44

As a g rowing Church we arebecoming more and more a -ware of the power o f praye r . We ask. you as brothe rs and s i s t e r s to j o i nus in prayer fo r the fo llowing concerns :

* Our CHILDREN S MP held August14-25. We a re busy recru i t ing campe rs and prepar ing mate r i a l s ands t a f f . This i s our f i f th year ofcamp, and we an t i c ipa t e youtha t t end ing from f i v e d i f f e r e n tChurches o f Ch r i s t .* Our NEWER CHRISTIANS, and our not-so-new ones , who a re s tru gg lin g asthey give up more of th eir l iv es tothe Lord. Remember especially Jim Sylvia, Pete I . , and Nick.* ROB JUDY, two new faces a t ourserv ices , are deeply searching andcounting the cos t of disc ip lesh ip .Also, FRANCIS, the mother of one ofour Christ ian teens , has seen achange in some of her f r i ends whohave become Ch r i s t i a n s and now i sopen to look .* The preparat ions involved in beginning a LADIES COFFEE MORNING, se rving two purposes : to give womenth e o ppor tu ni ty to meet others , andto p re sen t C hris t in a re laxed a tmosphere ,* The FATHERS of Pam and Sylvia arevery ill and do no t know th e Lord .

They are seeking ways of minis t ry .* Mr. Mrs. Withnall , our elder andh i s wi f e who have b e e n f ithful memb e r s o f t h e Church h e r e f rom its b eginning 25 years ago, are ce lebra t ingt he i r Ruby (40th) Wedding Anniversary,We pray fo r God s bless ing on themas they cont inue t he i r se rv ice fo rthe Lord toge ther .

JANET

Healing cont.Through a very t imely se r ie s of

even ts , the Coventry Church has movedin fa i th to a new understanding andpract ice of Chris t s ministry ofheal ing . We claim no spec ia l reve lat ion nor do we wish to s p ec i a l i z ei n th e spec t acu l a r . A l l we know i swhat God has done among us.

F i r s t , over the y ears we have seenMrs. Withnal l f ind s t reng th and conf idence a f t e r 20 years o f p hy sica land emotional handicap. Now she i sable to do the shopping and housekeeping, impos sib le a few years ago.During these long years , Mr. Withna l l s constant prayer has been forhis wife s recovery and the church sgrowth.Recent ly , new Chr i s t i an Sylvia hasrecovered completely af t e r suffer ingfor years with bleeding. Her doct o r s words, a t her examination a weekaf ter special prayer for her heal th ,were, l don t know what s happened.All I can say i s you re h ea lin g . I twas her heal ing tha t convinced herhusband, Jim, of God s power. Thefollowing week he was bapt ized.

We have now begun praying for thes ick one evening each month. Wehave a unique sense th a t th is i s awork God has given us to do.

Workmates ask our members to prayf o r them and th ir s ic k f ri e nd s . Wehave a new sense of Chr i s t s compass ion fo r a l l those w ith p ain and su ffer ing who do not know His wholeness .We have come to f e e l t h a t even a sJesus preach ed th e good news of theKingdom, helped the poor and healedthe s ick - so , too, the proper placefo r a minis t ry of heal ing i s withinth e t o t a l mini s t ry o f the Church -Chris t s body in the world today.

STEVE


23/44

The Whole cont.)He describes h im s e l f a s

The man a l l of Erdingtoni s ta lking about . But heknows we l l that is n o tb e c a u s e o f wha t h e h a sdone b u t b e c a u s e o f wh a tGod h as done .

Bi l l Muller (57) was an unbel i evertwo years ago, and you would have neve r found him t a lk ing to Chr i s t i ans a tthe door. Yet when Penny and Michel lewere t ry ing to look up a l apsed churchmember next door, they met Bi l l andh is wife , Winnie. Soon a Bible s tudybegan. In t he i r year of s tudy , theyhave l ooked at Mark and Ac t s .

Bill and Winn i e a b s o r b e d Biblicalt ru th v ery slowly, yet it did r ingt r u e in some a r ea s . They thought a -bout becoming disc ip les , but delayed.

For one t h ing . Bi l l had a hea r tcondit ion (angina) with f ive hear tattacks and hadn t work ed f o r fiveyears . He had unexpected black out sand moved very slowly. I t took hima couple of hours j us t to ge t dressedin the morning. Baptism was a physical b l o ck fo r him.

Bev and W innie persuaded Bi l l togo to a Chr i s t i an crusade orre evening . After a thoroughly Chr is t i anevangel is t ic message, the evange l i s tprayed for the s ick to r ec eiv e J es uscare . Bi l l s tood with many o thers fo rprayer . He f e l t a warming sensa t ionbut did not bel ieve anything happened.

The next morning he got up and wasin the l iv ing room dressed by 9 a.m.He never appeared be fo re 11 a .m. Hewas fit a s a fiddle and h a s b e e n e v e rs ince . He mows lawns, skips ropewith ch i ld ren , and runs h is wife ragged with h is new s t eam. God hashealed h is bodyI (Re cares tha tmuch, you knowI)

Many were skept ica l of th i s hea ling - inc luding h is wife and myself -but no one can deny what has happene d . The d o c t o r h a s r e l e a s e d h imand says he can go back to work.

Afte r h is h ea lin g. Bi l l beganputtin g B ib lic al t ru th together veryqu i ck ly . He reads h is Bib le everyday - and o the r Chr i s t i an books.Bill de t e rmined to f o l l ow God s willfor h im an d receive H is salvationThe grea t e s t pa r t of h is baptism fo rBil l was to bring his next doorneighbor back to th e church .God h a s done much f o r h im - Billwill s h a r e wi t h others

ROGER

Join Our PrayerRest is not a hallowed feelingt ha t comes over us in the Church;it i s th e repose o f a hea r t s e t deepin God. Henry Drunimond

There a re some people who weart h e name Christian and come to o u rs e r v i c e s b u t don t seem to h av e thatr e s t . Please pray t h a t th e fo llowing people wi l l be compelled by thel o v e o f God to have their h e a r t ss e t deep in Him;

I r ene Goode Oliver HodgesJ o h n Ha z e l W i ls o n

I f any man comes to the claimso f Chr is t wanting to know if theya re t r u e , wil l ing to follow Histeachings i f they are t r ue . He wi l lknow. But one cannot come unwi l l ingto accept and expect to find out .Josh McDowell, compare John 7:17

Pray t ha t these people who a reasking quest ions wil l see the t ru tho f Jesus:

Edd i e Orcha r d J o hn HurdmanBetty Stanyer S teve Humphries

J im Do t T i n k l e rBEV

Personal Epistle


24/44

Dear Chr i s t i an Fr i endsI thought I might give you some of my impressions of England. Theseare not my f i r s t impressions, as I have spent four summers doing in ternships within the Churches of Christ h ere . The l a s t summer was 1975.In those three years a number of things have changed . The inf lat ion thatwas present in the U.S. plagued England. Two years ago, it was 25 .That has been cu t to 9 . But as a r e su l t both wages and pr i ces rosedrast ical ly . Three years ago, the average wage was about 80 per week.Today i t is 140 with a t leas t one industry wanting $190.However, there i s one thing that has not seemed to change - the quali tyof church l i fe . England has been desc rib ed as a t i red country with at i r ed church and in my l imi ted exper ience t ha t i s t rue . That i s not tosay tha t there are not br igh t spots in the church l i f e scene. For instance, r ight in the middle of London i s a growing, l iving church. Thatt e l l s me t ha t there can be a growing, l iv ing church even i f the countrya n d t h e c hu r c h are tired

My f i r s t impressions of Br i t a in a re n ot c en te re d on the in f l at io n r ateor the r i se in af f luency of the people here . t i s on the sp i r i t ua l pover ty of the Bri t i sh c i t i zens . They are gasping for he lp but the churchi s of ten too t i red to respond. Will you jo in me in prayer fo r rev iva l .

CURT

E PIS TLE FROM ENGLANDEas t Side Chr is ti an Chu rch

1714 MadisonCouncil Bluf fs , la 51501

ERDINGTON TEAM144 Gravelly LaneBirmingham B23 6LT

ENGLAND

COVENTRY TEAM49 Huntingdon Rd .Coventry CV5 6PT

ENGLANDi

Non-prof i t Bulk RateU.S. POSTAGE PAID

Council Bluffs, la 51501Permi t 26

AMERICAN CORRESPONDENTM /M T im Barber

605 ArnoldCouncil Bluffs, la 51501

U.S .A .^ rin^lon yijuffins penn^ ftkclitifertaie^ ^ rtn^lontnes

Ho ri zo n s t tL s si on s Se r v i c e s Assoc .Ed i t o r i a l DepartmentBox 177Kempton, IN 46049


25/44

. ,Utfrom a dual tram miniilr^ I^ cka fenfinf a posl C^firislian nalion wilk llir t/aimi of .liriil

Vol . 5 No. 11 August 1978

Starting AgainMy f i r s t impre ssio ns o f Bri t a in and Erdington are hard to exp la in . I

had been in Bri ta in in the suinmer of 1974, so the cul ture was not to ta l lynew to me. But v i s i t i ng fo r a summer i s no t l i ke l e a rn ing to l i ve i n anew l a n d .

I am a b i t l i ke a chi ld in a grown up world . Things t ha t one t akesfo r granted, tha t one does without th inking, I have to l ea rn . Beingl ike a chi ld but still being an adul t makes doing things even more f rust r a t i ng .

In i t i a l l y I had to learn where I was in re la tio n to everything e lse .I had to l ea rn where shops and s t r ee t s were, how to ge t the re withoutget t ing l o s t in th e p ro ce ss . We take language and conversat ion fo rgranted. Now I have to th ink more about what I am saying, I have touse di f fe ren t words to d es cr ib e th in gs I used every day in the U.S.A.For ins tance one day with some English f r i ends I said tha t I was goingto get the keys out of Curt s dress pants. Since pants are onlyunderwear and dress i s only a garment for women, you can imagine whatt he i r minds conj ured up.

As I think about it it i s something l ike being a Chris t ian. Jesusasks us to become l ike little chi ldren . The hard thing i s tha t wecome to Chr i s t as an adu l t ch i ld . We want to t r u s t the Holy Sp i r i t toguide our l i ves and teach us how to l ive . The problem i s tha t we havebeen adul ts too long, so we t ry to do everything ourse lves and we f a l lo n o u r facesIn our ordinary l i f e here and in my Chris t ian l i f e I have fa l len onmy f ace and made mis t akes . I must t r u s t o ther s to t each and guide meso t h a t I make l e s s mi s t a k e s a s I live h e r e . So a l so I mus t trust th eHoly Sp i r i t He knows what i s bes t fo r me.

LINDA NORDHIELMCoventry Club tags in the shape of a spy s magnifying glass with I vE POUND IT .Over thir ty children from five printed on them. Through this theme,to thi r teen years old attended our Steve taught about finding the t rearecent three-day youth club. sure of God s Kingdom (Matt, 13:44).We packed our four hours a day I t was a good, in te res t arousingwith songs, lessons cra f t s spec- approach; the club was a success ,ia l ac t iv i t i es and lunch and games Now comes the task of following upin a nearby park . on new contacts . . .

The children wore spec ia l name DEBBIE


26/44

E.E.C. DayE 0N R Kerens an idea that has worked in our situation that m y helpin yours. e cal l t E.E.C. Day, The i n i t i a l s stand for EconomicExchange Collection. On this day, usually a Saturday, we urgeeveryone in our Church to sor t through a l l their possessionslooking for items which they aren t wearing or using. The assumption is that i f you re not using something, perhaps you don tneed i t and someone else might. So we all bring in our surplus possessionsto make one big collection. Then anyone is welcome to look through andfind what they can put to good use. In this way we hope to make betteruse of God s resources and rid ourselves of useless possessions. I t sa real freedom to know that you don t have to accumulate any more thingsthan what you need r ight now. And i t s freedom to be able to share withothers to meet their need, STEVEHere There

For nearly f i v e years we ve beenlearning about the many culturaldifferences between England and theU.S.A. Planning a wedding that wills a t i s f y my dream (based on Americant r a d i t i o n and one t h a t w i l l t i nwith what our English family andfr iends expect i s an i n t e r e s t i n gchal lenge.

I w i l l h a v e a c h i e f b r i d e s m a i d(maid of honor i n US and Richard

w i l l have groomsmen ra ther than j u s ta b e s t man a s i s t h e custom h e r e .We w i l l have s p e c i a l music (American) as well as two congregationalhymns (Engliash), Another Englishp a r t of the cremony i s signing theoff icial registera state req^uireddocument. The wedding cake, a tr adit ional English f r u i t cake, willbe served after a buffet receptionin Richard s family s English garden(weather permit t ing ) .I m sure this wedding w i l l be ani n t e r e s t i n g experience fo r a l l o fusto say the l e a s t I

D E B B I E

B a c k In The U.S.A.Jan and I enjoyed a h e c t i c but

grea t time on our t r i p s t a t e s i d er e c e n t l y . The Lord b l e s s e d us i nbeing able to travel through manys t a t e s and see some of His t r u l y incredible handiwork. The Grand Canyonmade a l a s t i n g impression on us o fthe might and splendor of our God,

We w e r e a b l e t o s h a r e i n somewonderful Christ ian fel lowship andwere encouraged by what the Lord i sdoing in many l i v e s .Through the whole tr ip we had areal sense that the Lord was leadingus and working out His w i l l i n ourown l i v e s . There were many blessingsand s u r p r i s e s , not l e a s t of whichwas my ordinat ion to the minist ry .This took place a t the BoulevardChristian Church j u s t the nightb e f o r e we r e t u r n e d .Please pray t h a t the Lord w i l lcontinue to guide and equip us int h e work He has c a l l e d us t o do .Thank you for your love shown to us.May He strengthen you for s e r v i c e .

P E T E BOWEN


27/44

The N e w Seeke r sT e n were i n v i t e d S ix c a m e . We a re in th e midd l e o f a new

invest igat ion group where a l l th e par t i c ipant s a re v e r y d i f fe re n t from one a n o t h e r . One young man had been in an i n v e s t i g at i o n group bef or e and in te l lec tual ly knows tha t the claims o fChrist a re true . He often argues for the C h r is t ia n p e r sp e c ti v e .For him t i s a m a t t e r o f th e wi l l

Another member o f the group an o l d e r gentleman came w ith n otesp lo ttin g h is case a g a i n s t C hr i s t i a ni t y. He said t ha t he had been plaguedby Mormons and Jehovah s Witnesses so he studies those cults to arguewith them. That has le d hi m to a study o f C hr i s t i a ni t y. He accepts aSupreme B e i ng b u t t i s n o t th e God whom we w o r s h i p . No r does h e bel ievetha t Je sus i s th e So n o f God P l e a s e pray tha t he wi l l a t t e n d th e remainin g s e s s i o n s with an open mind.

Another par t ic ipan t s a i d that he accepted e v o l u t i o n i n s t e a d o f c r e a t i o nI loaned him a book on th e s u b j e c t . He r e t u r n e d th e n ex t week and s a i dt h a t he was beginning to question a l l tha t he was taught in school.The res t are I b eliev e honest s e e k e r s . Whether they accept or re jec tC h r i s t is y e t to be seen. But whatever they do t wil l be af te r theyhave looked a t the claims o f C h r i s t h o n e s t l y . Pray t h a t God s t r u t hw be m a d e man i f e s t to them

CURT N O R D H I E L M

willbe done ^^^^ea r t n a s it i s i n heaven

We a re g l a d tha t th e Holy Sp i r i t in tercedes f o r us to th e F a t h e r int e rpre t ing o u r n e e d s a n d des i res when we c a n n o t a r t i cu l a t e them. B ut wea s k t ha t you ser ious ly t a k e t h es e th in gs y ou rse lf to th e F a t h e r in p r a y e ro n o u r beha l f a s pa r t of y o u r minis t ry to us

BRIAN h u s b a n d o f a Chr i s t i an lady he re who can accept Chr i s t i an i tyin te l lec tual ly b u t whose ne rve h as n o t y e t b ee n tou ch ed by th e rea l i tyo f G o d .WINNIE m i ddl e - a ge d l a d y whose husband h a s ju s t become a Chr is t i anand i s cons ider ing commitment to J e s u s fo r herse l f

THE HUR H S OF CHRIST IN BRITAIN wh o a re in t h e p roces s o f ma k in gserious decisions regarding their future. tll H LL


28/44

Personal EpistleDear Friends ,

I t s so good to be a Christian,and a l i v e i n a country t h a t has t h efreedom to worship God and t o openly s t a t e without f e a r that I'm af o l l o w e r o f hristIn s tudying the book of Acts ,I 'm reminded once again of the pers e c u t i o n among the e a rl y C h ri st ia ns .A few weeks ago I heard of the t h i rt e e n m i s s i o n a r i e s who w e r e killed inR h o d e s i a . T h e i r faith h a s b e e n awitnefiS t o many throughout th e world.I t h i n k o f t h e C h r i s t i a n s in fascista n d c o m m u n i s t c o u n t r i e s who a r e tortured and i n p r i s o n and of famil ieswhich a re s epar at ed . Why Becausethey a r e fol lowing J e s u s .

It has made me aware o f t h e p r e c

EPISTLE FROM ENGLANDEast Side Chri st ian Church

1714 MadisonCouncil Bluffs, la 51501

i o u s f r e e d o m that I o f t e n t a k e f o rgranted . Don' t f o r g e t about thosei n p r i s o n . S u f f e r w i t h them a sthough you were t h e r e y o u r s e l f .Share t h e sorrow of those be ing mist r e a t e d f o r you know what they a r egoing through. Hebrews 13:3

Love,JAN

Such a a s IEight year o l d Vanda from Erding-

t o n seemed to l e a r n her Sunday Schooll e s s o n s f r o m t h e O ld T e s t a m e n t s a crifices w e l l . A f t e r a l e s s o n o nAbraham and I s a a c Vanda was seenmaking h e r own dramatic s a c r i f i c e s .The o b j e c t s o f s a c r i f i c e worms '.

CURT

Non-Profil Bulk RateU.S. POSTAGE PAID

Council Bluffs, la 51501Permit #2 6


ENGLAND

COVENTRY TEAM49 Huntingdon Rd.Coventry CV5 6PT

ENGLAND

atnes

iAMERICAN CORRESPONDENT

M /M Tim Barber6 05 A r no ld

Counci l Bluf fs, la 51501U.S.A.

^ rin^lon wjfLH o r i z o n s l i i s s i o n s S e r v i c e s A s s o c .Ed. Depatm.Box 177Kempton, IN 46049

aie^rtiuUie^ ringlon


29/44

. . . f^ipoM from a Juaf team miBj/ry ^^ tlia//tnfinf a poil ^liriiUan nalion if ikt Ifaimi o/ Ckrht ^Vol. 5 No. 12 September 1978

A unny Thing Happened On the Way to the oorOur ministry involves much door-to-door survey work. Our survey i sin teres ted in people s beliefs and opinions. We feel tha t we should give

the people a chance to explain how they think and feel before we have saidanything. The survey method helps to accomplish this goal, but we alsohave a number of strange and funny answers to our questions. At t imes, wefind that these experiences help ease the pain of doors being slammed inour face s . Here a re a few examples :

One man said tha t he was a prac t ic ing Roman Cathol ic , but he had notbeen to church in 18 years .*Another, when asked who Jesus was, said, He certainly wasn t PontiusPi l a t e , was he?*Another strange response came from an elderly man who said, i f i tdoes not exis t now, it never has .

*Perhaps the most d i f f i cu l t to accept i s the response tha t we get aboutevery twenty doors, I m sorry, I don t have any beliefs.*Not a l l of the funny experiences are from the other side of the door.One cal le r in his early days introduced his topic this way, You wouldn twant to take a re l igious survey, would you?

However, most of the responses are not funny, but sad. They are rejectingth e hrist

CURT NORDHIELM

Saturday FellowshipRecently some of the ladies in the Coventry Church f e l t a need fo rmore soc ia l fe l lowship. So various ac t iv i t i e s have been organized monthly

during th e summer.Last month we had a BAR-B-Q a t the Tate s . A few games of charadeshad a l l of us laughing. This month s event took us on a bus t r ip toBill ing Aquadrome, an amusement park for the whole family. One feature

was th e As tr og li de (a huge s l ide) . Nearly a l l of us had to t ry th is andth ink of daring ways to get to the bottom of it a l l .Although these t imes of fel lowship are soc ia l , they give us opportuni ty

t o know each o t h e r b e t t e r . We a re ab le to sh a r e wi t h one ano t h e r on alll e v e l s . N ext m onth we w i l l sh a r e i n an a l l - c h u r c h weekend camp ou t .

JAN


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WE ASK YOUR PRAYERS FORGOD S WORKING IN THEFOLLOWING THREE AREAS:

Recently we rece ivednotification o f a b r o t h e r

in Hungary, P STOR NOS ERES whohas been f ined approximately 7,500f or pos se ssing i ll eg a l l it er at u re ,i e B i b l e s and hristianbook s .There i s a l so a t h r e a t o f impr i sonment. We were encouraged to wri tel e t t e r s and pray so tha t the s i tua t ionmight be changed, par t icu la r ly asHungary i s supposed to have re l ig iousf r e e dom unlike s ome o f their EasternEuropean counterpar ts . Several peoplefrom our c hu rc h r es po nd ed in wri t ingl e t t e r s expressing concern fo r Janosand the mainta in ing of freedom tofo l low and share Chr i s t in Hungary.Please jo in us in holding th is s i tuat i on up to God.

Two th ings for thcoming on ourca l enda r fo r which we a re fee l ingGod s d i r ec t i on and b le s s ing . Wea re soon to have a f ive week emphasiso n hristianSTEWARDSHIP. Themeetings wi l l cover stewardship ona l l leve ls and we want our people tobe challenged and led on in more andmore Chr is t - l ike l iving as a re su l t .We a l so have s eve r a l people i n t e rested in looking a t the claims ofChris t and in September we plan tostart an INVESTIGATION GROUP. P l e a s epray tha t these people may be shownJe su s th ro ug h th is group and bebrought to see t he i r need to come*toHim. Thank you fo r sha r i ng i n ourminis t ry by your p raye r s .

PETE BOWEN

Deb WedsThere i s something moving and

spec i a l a bout watc hin g a re la t ionship between two people grow. Havingroomed wi t h Debbie fo r f ou r y e a r s ,I ve watched her grow close and f a l ldeeply in love with Richard. I twas a b les s ing to me.Another ble ss ing was to see thempledge the i r love to one another andto God a t the church bui ld ing inJuly. I had seen plenty of theirups and downs, , their times of smoothing off the rough edges, the g ivingup of self This wedding ceremonywas th e c ulm in atio n of t ha t process .

For a l l who a t tended , the day wasvery spec i a l . There were manyf r iends and family including some whohad t r a v e l l e d from Amer i c a .So many people , so much excitement ,a n d u r i d e r ne^h it all i^hatbetter way to s t a r t a marriage thanby using your wedding as an opportuni ty to express the love o f God. Manypeople come to weddings who otherwisewould no t come nea r a church bu i l d i ng .Steve was ab le to explain God s loveand purposes in Christ ian marriage ashe conduc ted th e ceremony.The recept ion was a time for fe llowship and chat t ing in the garden ofRichard s paren t s 18th c en tu ry farmhouse. The day was beau t i fu l , and itwas sad t o se e it end . We waved andc h e e r e d an d s h e d o n e mo r e tear a s wewa t ched Deb and Richa rd d r i v e off i nthe i r little orange, special ly decora ted Renaul t to t h e i r honeymoon inW a l e s.

Thank th e Lord fo r t h i s new t e amo f R i c h a r d and Debb i e Harris

JANET

Supposing Be anywhere.


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I wasn t supposed tobe there, I had no thoughtsof getting involved, ant^I m still amazed a t howGod works. This s to ry i ssimple not unique , but I

can t get over how God guides us,almost d e sp it e o u rs el ve s.I was supposed to be a t the Kes-

wick Convention, but the n igh t before we were to leave, it was impressed upon me t ha t someone shoulds t a y . Tha t someone seemed to be me.Wondering what the week held, Is t ayed .On Friday evening I usual ly go tothe Jesus C enter to help out . tfyjob a t the Center that nigh t was towelcome people . I d i s t i nc t l y remember Ph i l coming in ,because he sa idhe h a d n t been th e r e b e fo re . We expla ined how th ings worked, and up thestairs he wen t . Little d id we knowwhat was going on in h is mind,or tha twithin an hour I d be in deep conversation w i t h h im a b o u t God .

A g i r l brought coffee to me withthe repor t t ha t t he re was a youngguy ups t a i r s ask ing some p re t t ytough quest ions . He seems to be aunivers i ty s tudent , she said . Igave it little thought , f in ished myduty on th e door and went ups t a i r s .I s a t down and surveyed the busycente r . I guessed tha t over in thecorner was the poo r fellow who wasasking questions. I thought poorbecause he was v i r tua l ly surroundedby people t a lk ing to him. I had noi n t en t ion o f going over one moreperson was ce r t a in ly one too many.Then one of the g i r l s who was t a l king to him go t up and ment ioned tome tha t they ju s t weren t ge t t ing

Well, I wondered, Do I crashthe par ty , or don t I? Rathert imidly I went ove r , and in a mat te ro f s e conds I was i n conve r s a t i onwith a poten t ia l univers i ty s tudentwho had ser ious and honest questions,I shared with him what I knew of myGod and f ree ly admit ted what I didno t know, mainta in ing t ha t God i sa b le to be known. I i n v i t e d him toour i nves t iga t ion group, and he hasbeen coming ever s ince . He spen tfour hours re se ar ch in g th e impl icat ions of the high p r i e s t t ear ing h isrobes . Did it mean blasphemy?Does t h a t mean t h a t J e s u s cla im wasto be God? He s t i l l struggles withJesus as God,because it would mean abig change in h is l i f e .The wond e r o f t all is st ll t h efa c t th a t I wasn t supposed to bethere th at night. I finding i ta grea t joy to l i s t e n to Godl e t t i ng Him o rde r my life

BEV

Pray In The SpiritMany t imes we have people with

deep needs which we a re no t ab le toshare in de t a i l . I t i s t r u ly wonderful . to have a God whose Sp i r i t knowsth e hea r t s of a l l men. Therefore ,we c an l t e a c h other s n e ed s toHim knowing t ha t it i s enough t ha to u r hearts a c h e w i t h theirs fo r H ispeace to permeate t h e i r l i v e s .

Please be in p raye r f o r :***Lucy and Steve Shaw***Ph i l Be l l (above a r t i c l e )***Roger King ***Lynda Vipond***Steve G., a 16-year-old looking

for a c h u r c h and true faith.***E a c h of u s in t h e t e am .Thanks, and thanks, and ever thanks.

PENNY


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DE R FRI N S IN TH E L O R D PEPSOndl EpfSflThere are qu ite a number of things in mypersonal l ife that I would like to share. I suppose the main thing is thatsometimes I wish that I had more time to do the things that I really enjoy -like playing tennis and squash, travelling, and learning to do more thingswith my hands. But God is faithful to give me contentment in what I do.A lot of my spare time - at least in thought - has been in a new educationalventure. I am attempting to do research for a thesis th at may eventuallyr e s u l t in a Ph.D. a t the Univers i ty o f Birmingham. The pro j e c t i s a verypract ical one for our work here - I am not interested in jus t getting a degreefor i t s own sake. I am working on Varieties of Popular Unbelief in Erdington,which I hope will give us an even more sure foundation in our evangelism. thinking is that we must know for sure who we are talking to so thatwe will reach his thinking and acting where he is There has been very l i t t leserious work on this subject, so this pioneer venture is a bit tough. ndjust when I should have had more time to work on this project, i t seems thatthe demands of the ministry have become stronger. But I am sure that sinceGod got me in this project, He will get me through i t u c I wish you God s joy and love in your own personal lives, and may the Spiritof the Living God write a personal epis t le on your heart.Love in J e s u s

ROGER

EPISTLE FROM ENGLANDEast Side Chris t ian Church

1714 M a d i s o nCouncii Bluffs, la 51501

h nrj


ENGLAND

COVENTRY TEAM49 Huntingdon Rd.Coventry CV5 6PT

E N G L A N D

AMERICAN CORRESPONDENTM/M Tim Barber

605 ArnoldCounc il B lu ff s, la 51501

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M i s s i o n s S e r v i c e sBox 1 7 7Kempton IN 46049

Non-Prof i t Bulk RateU S POSTAGE PAID

Council Bluffs, la 51501Permi t 26

nutin.WlcUfeCrtau^ ^Jrinfton

a I


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. . . ^pqdilfKom a: c wa ham miniitrfxkaf liiti inf a nation wtlh tke i aim of CkriitVol . 5 No. 13

t - i tYiamsQuoh Unquote

ms? i n t e r e s t i ng enîw ma^ reaspxts. I&rt le^tiheire ^ r e t te ^ ic iMt i^k i i t easi say. Spi^ sM^le^riig^êarôiM SMttiâpiâîng me saya, **Will yottê^ sl^^ if I tiBll jm ti^jjolii for ea^ sitoerHt^t^ i^-^ ld Mary fr^Gc^l^ into the l ^ ch ra t en t ^ tt iê her nightie ^bnher^'idfethes, It% &bid tohight--3M-n our te^lJason t ry ing tp= fsâ t e l lUtê wet spbt^ 0%

hag^ It 'a sweaty i tMi it iîghtl*'itod f inali^ IftPm p^cr i t i te t t i remurse^ Jax^t, ^'pieseaê iike seij^'^rbnî^fatphcisv ê t t iînbw arptmd,, the t igh te r

STEVE

Octoter , 1978

WIttt does it meto tp he M0n i l ^ ' sSquad ? thd t ' a Itb hel|^ pur ybung Idisô^^ ê f i r s t ieaai^ ^^ aM Ôreatbif, Defender, ;^ ^ng,.4 secphd leaaptt ia i^ |^ ipn niniracpujoirpn ledd^^ J^sus. ^ pixri^^her^ iifaiite$av|br.A f inal leaspjdL pn laiPiTiii^^ Iheapd how to f igh t him led âpn^ cpmâl; d^crîic^^ ^xe'^|i|dre%Pf vlAtli]^: '%e's gpt hp|^ taily'ê'a gpt a red clpiflfe,,: ittihiâ^ like a vitit# ai^ ^sEleila hprj^^hiei*' We aair aps^ i a c^when th e Mda r ea l i z ed t h a t whentes ted tp dp wrpnî, ^ dpn*t aptiit^^^ e ai^pne* a t^ itaa a^r i tw^pa ;we Itight with the hel^^Pf the Hol^ îrit^ i|(r*ji it

hat t ie : 'we ''fitfee'.heav^ iej|ispâ^nted in s in^ le .âyi^s aêdaplanted i n ypy^ tP pu ttp^ther at the it^^ftievDiSBlE

i lMl i i i

LovefDiscipime^cPuih the icamp thia year 1 ahpwn Phce ag^^ a glisâe gicÎp^îa. Ifieu^ P0 tM ph^ attended tlê ep^ #iêvfi^hpm^:^ i t waa x>fti^ iiecesas^ to diaci^lj^ th^ gg thiy Ifeid | | a t

e l i t t le tcMen^tp ^tin diac^lixdstg th ^ 1 >vM weelf atill lonÛig UMidw^ i^ to aSbi^ th^ that dPîte t h ^ fnrpnjî^ th^^ i^ aliM liKvit.led pi Pur fiitl^r |Q|d ^lê fov ua > ao mitt lreai


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11 -16Years


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Head> we threw the w ater bcmbs intothe granary window where the boyswere standing and smi l ing . Well ,you could hardly ca l l th i s a case oflove and friendship, could you? I twas more l i k e a ba t t le IBesides making the boys wringingwet, th is year s camp was a greate3q>erience fo r me, especia l ly see ingfour people get t ing baptized in ar i v e rDecisions

Karen h i t the pr io r i t i e s r igh t onth e head . As th e st saw th e movement of God in the young people , wetalked gbout having a decision time.But we wanted to safeguard agains tdecision t h a t might iw t lead to

^ Younfg peop l e and s t a f f were t a lking about Jesus and praying a l l overth e campsi te dur ing f ree t ime. Oneyoung g i r l confessed her s in to anothe r , and was af ra id t ha t no one wouldl ove he r . But she fo l lowed th e ad -Vice that was given, and found to herjoy tha t she was forgiven. When shesaw t ha t th e person to whom she confessed her s in still loved her , sherea l i zed what God was l i k e . And shewent away re jo ic ing , ready to giveher l i f e to t ha t forg iv ing God,TEtSE, f 17 year o ld helper fromGermany, said in a s t a f f meeting, Ifth ere a re any bapt isms, I want to bebapt ized. (Her story next month)The ba l l was r o l l i ng .Michelle s s i s t e r , ABIGAIL (11)had been t a lk ing about acceptingJesus fo r some t ime. Without knowingabou ti fe lse , she decided to become aGhristian, Because I love Jesus.

During the dec is ions t ime a t Thurs

day evening campfire, eleven c^ eforward to be individually epunseled.A few d i d n ' t seem to st members to be ready. Others tteeded towork things out with paren t s , e tc .

M N Y (11) from Erdlngton wouldno t be pu t o f f . Besides the cos t o fdiscipleship , she was reminded ofthe very cold r iver water. I don tcare, Handy replied, I jus t wantto be a Chris t ian, Afte r SUSiP 12) phoned her mother in Erdington,she a l so wanted to become a f i rmf o l l owe r o f Je s u s .

At th e l a t e af temopn baptismsi n t h a t co l d Welsh r i v e r even th eteenage fel lows were crying^ Wesang , prayed with the four in groups,a:nd went on our way knowing t ha tSod was moving among us .And They Came Running

At evening campfire, S teve a sk edfo r those who were rea l ly serip^isabout making a commitment to J ^ u swhen they returned home to s tep


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Epistles From England Team-1978-England

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