Articles & Testimonies Shared by people in the Church
Pat’s Testimony
When I first came to the church you would not have believed how bad I was. Then I realised that there were people who really cared. Well, then people would use the word “authority” and well, that was like a red rag to a bull. Then certain people were praying for me and prophesying over my life, which started to change then events and prayers were answered. Then I found myself helping in the kitchen and helping with Alpha, which I found helped me an awful lot. Then I did the follow-up with the Beta course and that was really good because I found out that if you trust God and pray a bit more you see a lot of different things happening. Well! Yes! They did and I thought I was dreaming.
Then came the day when Sandy told me that Neil thought I was ready for the Friday Group and to help Sandy with the senior people. That was the start of something wonderful. I actually gave a word or two and found that on two occasions I came along side with what Neil was preaching on the Sunday. Then along came the dance group. So, by this time God had dealt with a lot of issues. Then came the 40 Days of Purpose that I actually helped to lead with my husband Ian and he actually stretched me a bit further by saying I had the ability to do so, which surprised me. Then a few weeks later we had the Leadership Training which was intense training and, which again, God gave me the ability to cope with.
Now we have the Cell Leader Training. At first I didn’t think it was for me but I found out I was ready to take this in, even if only to assist. The Cell Leaders Training, for me, is so exciting as it’s far different from the House Groups we used to have. They are more fun and you get to know everyone on a personal level. It is not a teaching place but a place to pray for each other and socialise with each other and be like a family, which is what God intended us to be. The agenda is us, family. We are taught that when people walk in, treat them as you would your family and make them feel that it is their own home. I feel a great sense of achievement with the Cell Leaders Training as I thought I would never get this far, but, with the help of my church family and also my Father God, it’s all been possible. When you put your trust in Father God then all things are possible.
Written by Pat Mcgillivery
as the end of July approaches, we find ourselves on the home stretch of our build. The youth centre walls are now being painted and a few fixtures have already been put into place. The tiling in the kitchen is now completed and the last of the flooring has been laid in the new store room and tuck shop. We look forward to using the new facility and seeing what God is going to do amongst our youth!
Neil was sharing with us on Sunday that he felt the Lord was saying that we mustn’t loose sight of THIS generation as we focus on the next one. This is something we all need to take ownership of. We can’t leave it all to the next generation; we have our part to play.
The evening of Thursday the 20th July saw the youth having a fund raising event in order to raise additional funds for their centre: car washing, serving tea/coffee and cakes, selling raffle tickets and running a tombola. Look out for photo’s of the event which will be placed on our website.
We thoroughly enjoyed having the Maidstone Year of Training students and their leaders with us for a week at the end of June. They threw themselves into every aspect of our church life; dance, worship, parents and tots group, youth work, our Saturday night curry social(contributing the yummiest chocolate mint pudding ever!) as well as running with our Sunday celebrations. We were treated to an incredibly fun evening on the Sunday. A party atmosphere was created and a game show commenced. Afterwards we were spoilt with a delicious BBQ. Karl, Ruth, Mike, Carole and their families travelled up from Camelford in Cornwall to be with us.