Epistles From England Team-1976-England

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{ton fng\ . . . . Report from a team ministry challenging I

y a post Christian nation with the claims of Christ C-^

Vo l . 3 No. 5

S t e v e & L ee Ta t e

1 Marlborough Rd.

Coventry CV2 4EM

Roger Edrington

59 Cambridge S t ,

Coventry CVl SHU

February 1976

Jan (Kil lebrew) Bowen

Top Fla t

8 Nor fo l k St

Spon End

Coventry CVl 3BX

51976

Janet Ba l n e e

Deb b i e Da v i s

Bev Mu l l l n s

202 Kingfield Rd .

Coventry CV6 5PL

American Correspondents :

Mr. & Mrs . C, L . Dav i s

1010 N . M on ro e St

Lincoln, I I . 62656 U.S.A.

F o r Us Christmas is one of the busiest times of the year. are busy because wetry to use the season to do as much evangelism as we can in a time when people might bea l i t t le more open to our message. No doubt we made plenty of mistakes this year — asusual . But we s t i l l believe tha t Christmas is for reaching out — as well as looking

in toward famil ies, f riends , churches, and all those other comfortable things. By ourstandards, Jesus would not have been very comfortable in that stable and neither are a

lot of people today. But He is comforting. For the Lord has comforted his people,( Is . 49:13). Be a big comforter th is year and bring comfort to others. We hope you are

not so t ired of Chris tmas i tems that you are not able to enjoy this Epistle and i ts wepassages

We Ca r o l e d

Away in a Manger (knock, knock),No crib for a (knock, knock) bed,

The l i t t l e Lord (knock, knock) Jesus

Lay down his sweet (click—a l ightgoes on in one of the three houses)

An Asian woman and par t of her family

come to t h e door to l i s t e n to ou r song .

When we f in i sh , she holds out her hand to

give us money, as i s th e custom he re . Butwe gracious ly decl ine . We d i dn t come to

rece ive , bu t to g ive :

Joy to th e World;

The Lo r d is come i

Let earth receive her King (knock);

Let every heart (knock, knock)Prepa r e Him r oom. . . .

On goes our caro l s inging through Cam

br idge S t r e e t , reminding Roger s c l o se s t

neighbors (both Asian s English) tha t there

i s a no th er r ea so n t h a t many people ce leb ra te

Ch r i s t m a s .

more caro lin g

Las t year th e Annual Hi l l f i e ld s Caro l Fes t

i v a l came in to being fo r tw o reasons :

(1) Over and ove r people would say to us,

The r e s no community sp i r i t , and we would

agree , unders tanding t h a t it i s a r e a l prob

lem. (2) Underlying th is problem was a need

fo r t h e wole a r e a t o h e a r o f Christ s l o v e .

The Psa lmis t wrote of prais ing Cod with

fanfares on the t rumpets, with the lute and

harp, e tc . , e tc . We praised God outs ide a l l

the apartment bui ld ings in our Second Carol

Fes t i v a l and about 150 vo ices , an accord ian ,

and a trumpet. (M ichelle Wegwert and Steve

Tate f i l l ed in f or S alv ati on Army Band We

are thinking of sending them over to audi t ion

for the Ted Mac Original Amateur Houri) Theprogram th i s year was very simple: carols

were sung by everyone; spec ia l music provid

ed; God's word was read a sermon was heard;

food was ea ten and plenty of t ime was given

for people to t a lk to one another .

Therefore , in a spec ia l way the whole area

resounded tha t n igh t with our music f i l l i ng

it to the brim, a reminder of God's love .

Bev



I

GOD STILL LOVES THE WORLD

We Displayed

I t began as a poss ib i l i ty of a bookshop in the busy shopping precinct o f Conventr y s

dovmtown, A Chris t ian magazine gave us the idea tha t a vacant shop could eas i ly be turned

in to a Chris t ian bookshop for a couple of weeks be fo re Ch ri stmas . We had hoped t ha t th i s

would put Chris t ian mate ria l in to pe ople s hands and also give us some new witness opportun i t ies to people who we would not normally meet.

We asked you to pray about in our l a s t Epis t l e and we prayed. Although the re are

quite a few empty shops in the area we wished, legal complications f ina l ly made us abandon

the idea of a bookshop. But prayers were answered and the idea modified. The City of

Coventry, which owns qui te a lo t of p roper ty , o f fe re d us a la rge , cent ra l ly loca ted shop

for display purposes. And was FREEI So. . .we decided tha t God would wish us to disp lay

the message of Christmas so tha t some might reconsider His Incarnat ion.In big bold le t te rs across the top we proclaimed God St i l l Loves th e Worldi (Thanks

to Bonnie Evarts and her early Christmas card for the idea.) We gif t wrapped a largemanger scene and tagged i t , Free g i f t . Love, God. Venturing to remove some of the mis

conceptions about Christmas, we at tacked crass commercialism and the par ty a t t i tude and

portraved Jesus asking, Have you any room for me?

Our not-so-conventional manger scene was contrasted by an elaborate ly decorated crib

with a hanging s i lver spoon. The c ap ti on , J es us wasn t born l ike a King. We hoped they

woul^ .also get the_ point of th e hanging burlap s ign beh ind, But Wise Men St i l l Adore Him.The lead a r t i c l e of our homemade copy o f The Jerusalem Sta r revealed th e good -news, King

Born in a Stable . Another one of our s ix la rge windows attempted to sha t t e r the a t t i tude

tha t Christmas i s j u s t the s tory of a n ice , cuddly baby. Rather , Jesus demands my l i f e ,

my f a i th , my a l l was the message for those who stopped to read.

And from our observation, a lo t of people looked. How many stopped to rea l ly consider

the good news in the midst of t he i r bust l ing devotion to buy the r ight g i f t s , food, and

booze, we wil l never know. But perhaps i s ju s t a b i t of pre-pre -evange li sm tha t wil l

make them a l i t t l e more ready to l i s t en to Jesus— hopeful ly before He comes again.

We have access to this display area (which has been empty for several years) for an indef in i t e period now. I t could be a lengthy display depending on whether is rented or

no t . We would welcome ideas from our readers concerning how we can more genera l ly proclaim

th e message of Chris t through display . P le as e help i f you can and become a par t of our

Roge r

hu conmg sf „

c d'arvjof o



Part t e d

I d l ike to share some s imi la r ye t

d i f f e r en t asp ec ts o f two Chris tmas par

t i e s in which we were involved dur ing the

hol iday season: the Ladies Meeting par ty(elderly ladies) and th e Sunday SchoolCh il dr en s p ar ty .

The lad ie s a te and cha t t ed t h e i r way

through a luncheon; a t t he i r par ty the

ch i ld r en gulped down sandwiches and c r i s p s

(potato chips) i n ant ic ipat ion of the funand games to come. Afte r washing the

d i she s , th e l ad i e s l a z i ly s at back and en

joyed the team and church member ' s e f fo r t sto en te r ta in them with songs, sk i t s , and

poet ry . The ch i ld ren f i l l ed the bui ld ing

with t he i r own ac t i v i t y and noise while a

few adul ts did t he i r dish washing. Fin

a l l y , the la die s q uie tly l is te ne d to a

c los ing devot ional . . . t he chi ldren managed

to s t i f l e t he i r noise fo r prayer before

charging out with the i r g i f t s .

Two pa r t i e s ce leb ra t ing Jesus b i r t h . ,s imilar ye t di f ferent . I 'm glad to be

involved in a ministry t ha t requires me

to adap t to va r i ous l eve l s and means o f

communication. But then , as Chr i s t i ans ,

aren t we alll

Deb b i e

We Programed

The Sunday evening before Christmas

we held our annual Paren t s Night Carol

Service , The program, based on the theme

A Stable For A Lamb from Everybody Can

Know by Francis and Edi th Schaeffer ,

was presented by the Sunday School chi ld

r e n and members o f th e ch u r c h . The r e

were many pa r en t s and f r i e nd s who came

and joined our service tha t evening.

Tea was s er ved fol low ing and a score

was given : Pr e s en t a t i o n 1

Co n t e n t 9

Sta r Qual i ty 0

J B

We Re t r e a t e d

After Christmas we took three days

to seek the wi l l of God evaluate , and

p lan fo r the fu tu re . We took t ime to

We Se r v ed

We b e l i e v e that b e c a u s e o f wha t God

gave, we can f ind grea t joy in giving in

His name. This year a t Chris tmas we were

determined to find useful ways to serveothers . The team found opportunity to

en te r ta in the e lde r ly luncheoners t ha t

mee t at ou r ch u rc h e a c h week and t h e o ld

age pensioners housing group where we

have weekly services. Both groups en

joyed and sang along with lo t s of the

good o le ca r o l s .

Ins tead of the usua l g i f t exchangeamong themselves, the congregation want

ed to give to those whose need was grea te r . So we co l lec ted a l l the money we

would have spent on each other , went to

Woolworths and Nimbo's Ind ian grocery,and made up some very a t t r ac t ive Chris t

mas baskets f u l l of fo od, candy, an

toiletries Af t e r ou r s h o r t s e r v i c e on

Christmas Day, we d is t r ibu ted these in

the area to people who we had found would

be overlooked by other char i t ies . We were

me t with warm smiles, and tears by manyold, lonely people who t ho ught t he y had

been forgotten once again, but found some

one who ca re d . I m su re th e Lord b l e s s e d

us in th e s harin g as much as they in the

r ece iv ing .

also gave our Parent s Night offe ring (about 70) to missions in the com

m u n is t w o rld .

And of course, the g i r l s continued the i r

_ t rad i t ion_of opening t he i r home on Chr i s t

mas fo r any and a l l who had no where else

to go . About f i f teen of us made our way

through thei r house, leaving a l i t t l e warmer and fa t te r and happier .

Steve

We C ommu n e d

In the midst of the compromising,

commercial Christmas chaos, Chris t ians

cry , Stop and t h ink it ove r i i i This our

l i t t l e body did t hr ough our outreach men

t i oned in o t h e r articles Bu t some tim es i n

the midst of outreach, we needed and found

the pause tha t refreshes . Cont inuing our

two-year old t r ad i t ion , we had a special fami ly communion service a f t e r the Par

ents Night Carol Service. T here's always

something warm about s i t t ing 'round some



We P a s s e d O u t

It was decided tha t t h i s year

we would give the people of Hi l l -

f ie lds Christmas presents . As wehave the choice of accepting God's

gi f t o f Je sus, so they were given

the choice to accept a free copy

of the gospel of Luke when we ca l l

ed a t the ir doors. The response

which we had was qui te encouraging

as nearly 400 gospels were accept

ed. 6 7o of answered doors accept

ed. Some f l a t l y were no t i n t e r

e s t ed . )

We had f u r t h e r distribution

e f fo r t of 1,000 lea f le ts to c i ty

cen te r shoppers in connec t ion with

the display there (see ar t ic le on

Page 3). Through the leaf lets v;e

wished people a Happy JesusChris t -

mas and challenged them to rea l lylook a t the t rue s igni f icance of

Christmas. A reproduction i s a t

the r i gh t .

We may never see th e e f f e c t o f

t h i s work bu t f e e l t h a t th e Lord has

used us in both of these ways to

challenge the people of our ci ty

wi th a r i s en Chr i s t who i s r e l e van t

today .

Jan

And after all these events, we

near ly d id pass out ourselves

- - e d i t o r )

WE ARE OK

Some have been wondering about

our safety during the January 2

s t rong winds and hur r i c ane which

swept over England. Although the

country s uf fe re d q u ite a l o t o f

proper ty damage — but no t in d is

a s t e r propor t i ons — and 24 l i v e s

were l o s t , everything i s f ine with

us. With 104 mph winds r ipping

through Coventry, most houses and

property stood firm — including

ours. Thank you for your prayers

and conce rn .

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{torn gttgi. . . Report from a team ministry challenging

y a post-Chrlstlan nation with the claims of Christ %-

V o l . 3 N o . 6 M a r c h 1 9 7 6

J a n e t B a i n e s

D eb bie D a vi s

Bev M u l l in s

202 Kingfield Rd,

Coventry CV6 5PL

S t e v e & L e e T a t e

1 Marlborough Rd.

Coventry CV2 EM

Roger Edrington

59 Cambridge S t .

Coventry CVl 5HU

Ja n (Kil lebrew) Bowen

Top F l a t

8 N o r f o l k S t .

Spon End

Coventry CVl 3BX


M r. & M rs , C , L . D a v i s

1010 N. Monroe S t .

L i n c o l n , I I . 62656 U.S.A.

TIME T 60

drington to Eidington Move for Mullins

One of the aspects of the philosophy of

our ministry t h a t we've never t i r e d of t a i l

ing i s , We're t rying to work ourselves outof a job. I t i s unders tandable, then , tha t

when t h e s m a l l C h u r c h o f C h r i s t i n t h e E r d -

ington (get those l e t t e r s straight l) d i s t r i c t

of Birmingham asked us to come to help them,

we considered t s e r i o u s l y .

We knew t h a t the Church in Coventry wasn ' t

p e r f e c t and h a d n t reached American Church

Growth i d e a l s o f 150 i n a t t e n d a n c e , but we

recognized t h a t t might be t ime t o c u t t h e

number of our team i n Coventry and expand

to another a r e a . A gradual move t o a s e l f -

s u f f i c i e n t Church seems the b e s t way to ge t

local Christ ians taking on more responsibili t y which i s already happening in Coventry.

1+1=1With Coventry and Erd ington only about a

30 minute drive apart , we intend to be two

p a r t s of one m i n i s t r y . Of course, we w i l l

o p e r a t e s ep a ra te ly i n o ur c hu rc he s and most

decisions must be made from local knowledge.

Yet we intend to op era te closely enough to

gether t h a t we w i l l be encouragement to one

another and perhaps work together in special

p r o j e c t s . The E p i s t l e from England w i l l r e

main b a s i c a l l y the same and w i l l perhaps be

divided into two reports to save confusion.

how m knowThe decision has not been a quick one.

The Erdington Church, averaging about 15 in

Sunday at-tend-aaee-T- looked a t nratty alTerna- '

t i v e s b efo re th ey approached u s . Their t h r e e

deacons(no elders) see our future ministryas the only al ternat ive bes ides c los ing the

church. We prayed and discussed for months

before we f i n a l l y came to a decision and

e v e n t h e n w a i t e d a few more months t o be

s u r e . We have been f irmly committed t h a t

the move i s a t the impulse of God.A week of v i s i t a t i o n l a s t summer proved

tha t there was a great deal of potent ia l inthe area. Even t h i s week, a couple from the

a r e a w i l l be t a l k i n g w i t h us about C h r i s t .

But we have not moved yet, Bev and Roger

(with the others) are striving diligently todo as much work as they can while they are

i n Coventry .

s o . . .I f you need us come October (Lord w i l l i n g ,

V7e'll be in Coventry and Erdington u n t i l t s

new members—In October , t w i l l be t ime t o go. Leav

ing a team o f four t o c on tin ue th e Coventry

work, Bev and Roger wil l be joined by two

others to begin a new work. Startingfresh in t h i s work will be Penny Creasey(28)

of Lincoln, 111. and Michelle Wegwart (22)

of Hull, Yorkshire, England. Penny i s a

graduate of Lincoln Christ ian College and

Eastern I l l i n o i s Universi ty. She has j u s t

completed f ive years as LCC's Dean of Women

and brings a var ie ty of Christ ian experience

to th e work. Michelle, the daughter of A-

merican missionaries to England, spent ayear a t LCC and in tends to receive her degree

in English L i t e r a t u r e / L i n g u i s t i c s from Hull

University t h i s year. Having l ived in England for the past 14 years, she helps to

bridge the Anglo-American b a r r i e r s .



Tour Investment n Us: prayerMany times in the work here I find myselfgoing around by my own steam. Needless tosay I usually end up empty, frustrated and

f ru i t l e s s in my work.There i s a cons t an t need fo r each o f us —

and you - - to re-evalua te what we are doing,where we are going, and ask i f we have pushed the Lord out . Instead of counting on theLord to guide me and use me where He wills ,of ten I f ind t ha t I have se t my pr io r i t i e s

on having the most way out things for my

Theophilus group, or the most visi ts to the

most d i f f i c u l t and undes i rable people, e tc .I have discovered a r e a l joy in my prayer

l i fe la tely and I wish to share this withyou. I have found th e more I lay my innerstruggles, my worries and concern for theministry, my fears , insecur i t ies , and inadequacies at the fee t of my Lord, the moreI am free to get to work. I have found i ta rea l t h r i l l s ee ing p ra ye r answered about

people for whom I have fe l t particulary burdened. There i s a r ea l comfort and a spec ia l

feel ing tha t comes when these things happen.

The future no longer worries me as I have

a Lord who i s Lord of today and tomorrow. I

must constantly keep today in His hands.Needless to say, my old self comes and

rea l ly messes things up. I find myself draw

ing to the old fami l iar ways and becoming

rea l ly upt ight and sensi t ive and withdrawn.I am ce r t a i n t h a t it i s because o f th e pray

ers of you back home that the Lord dailyconvicts , and not only me but each of us toreturn to Him ,

I bel ieve t ha t things here would not have

been what they are i f you a t home did notlove Him, us, the people here , and did notask the Lord to guide, d i r ec t and work out

His wi l l so t h a t His kingdom may grow.Keep loving and asking. You are a vi ta l

par t of th e Kingdom.

J B .

Briefly Noted:

loomingJesus sa id , I t e l l you there i s joy a-

mong the angels in heaven over one sinner

who repents. I 'm sure that there must have

b een doubl e joy when Noel and Carole Hastings

gave thei r l ives to Christ and were baptized

into H im .

Noel came on rea l ly s t rong against theChr i s t i an f a i t h in an I nves t i g a t i on Group a -

bout a year ago. But Noel found some ans

wers that he had n ev e r known b e f o r e . Ca r o l e

wasn t r ea l l y concerned; sh e th ou gh t e ve ry

one we n t t o h e a v e n , Bu t sh e started believ

ing even more quickly than Noel, After s ixweeks of special investigation, they (withothers) were involved in a weekly BibleStudy on the Book of John. Always with

plen ty o f ques t ions and discussion, theymove-

ed on to study the Book of Acts. And mean

whi le , they were becoming r egu la r in Church

attendance

Months of s t ruggle were involved and they

were somet imes up and down. But cons tantwitness and prayer from family and f r iends

have once again shown us t h a t God cont inues

to supply and use each o f us to advance His

Kingdom. Robin i s Noel s bro the r , Robin

and Noel have tw o more b ro the r s , a s i s t e r ,

a mother , and l o t s o f o ther people whom they

wou ld like to s e e do t h e s ame . Noe l and C a r

o le have two ch i ld ren — our f i r s t family

(with children) to accept Christ . Theirl i v e s have r ea l l y blossomed s ince accept ing

J e s u s . _ , _Jan and R oger

uilding igger arnsPlans for the ex tension of the t iny bui ld

ing i n which ou r church mee ts a re now we l l .

under way. They said it cou ldn t be done,

but we did receive permission to purchaset h r e e f e e t * o f extra l a n d t o t h e s i d e o f t h e

bu i ld ing . This ex t ra little b i t wi l l change

an f oo t e xte ns ion to an 11 foot one - a

much more worthwhile and workable proposit ion . We expected th e kind of o pp os it io n a -

ga in s t us having more l and which we've r e

ceived fo r y ea rs , but t h i s t ime with much

prayer ,**i t passed through the Town Planners

with no oppos i t ion .

We have been committed to th i s projec t forquite a while now and have r a is ed / 7, 000(about 14,500) of the est imated f12,000(about 25,000) needed to complete the extension and the remodeling requi red . This money

r ec ei ve d i nc lu d es some generous g i f t s from

indiv iduals in our congregation as well as

*In f ive post-Sunday evening se rv ice meet

ings , 16-20 Chris t ians have been preparingfo r OUTREACH TO ASIANS, We re no t going to

Asia, s i l ly i England (and especially Covent ry) has vast numbers of Asian Immigrants

( largely Indian and Pakistani) . The program,

Who is My Neighbor? prepared by an evangel

i c a l English mission, formed an excel lent

bas is for our preparat ion . We studied Islam,

Hinduism, and Sikhism, the major r e l ig ions ,

as well as dea l ing with prac t i ca l i ssues of



. . . Report from a team ministry challenging Z

^ a post-Chrlstlan nation with the claims o Christ

J a n e t Ba inea

Debb i e Dav i s

Bev Mu l l i n a

202 Kingfield Rd.

Coventry CV6 5PL

Vol. 3 No. 7

S t e v e & Lee Ta t e

1 Marlborough Rd .

Coventry CV2 4EN

Roger Edr ing ton

59 Cambridge S t.

Coventry CVl SHU

NOT JUST HORSING AROUNDI

What do the fo l lowing have to do with God's

l o v e ?

1 . A husband and wife a re ca l l ed S i r

and Madam (they run a rather expensive

private gir ls school);

2. Ayoung gi r l

who love s hor se s (shewants to be a riding ins t ructress) ;3. An advertisement in a magazine ( i t

offered a job and schooling in r iding);4. A young man in need of a job (He's a

Christian and God guided him there).This was a setting that brought a gir l

o f s i x t een to h er S av io ur .

Annette Peach came to Coventry because

of Bremond College ' s advertisement. Thereshe met John Seymour who began to t e l l her

o f Je sus . At f i r s t she d i d n t bother to

l isten; but once interest was sparked, shecouldn't get enough, John arranged forAnnette and I to meet, and we began a Biblestudy. Then she rearranged her workingschedule witR^'Tâdam so t h a t she cou ld a t

l eas t be able to come to the church meet

in g on Sunday evenings. A quiet revolut ion was t ak in g p la ce in her soul .

Time went by and Annette saw f i r s thand

some of the dif f icul t struggles which

Chris t ians have. There were times whenshe didn't understand what the preacher

meant, but she kept coming and growing.One Wednesday I asked her where she was in

re la t ion to God. She s ta ted t ha t she

would most probably accept Him, but sheneeded a b i t more knowledge of Him. Thenext Sunday evening sh e went to a f r iend s

Church, and God touched her heart througha sermon (Oh, the foolishness of preach-ingl) and she decided to accept Him. Shebecame a Christian on February 15.

I f Annette were writ ing this ar t ic le she

Apr i l 1976

Jan (Ki l lebrew) Bowen

Top Fla t

8 Norfolk S t .

Spon End

Coventry CVl 3BX


Mr. & Mr s . C . L . Dav i s



sh e would no doubt t e l l you tha t was the

happies t day of her l i f e . She would share

how a great burden was l i f ted from her should

ers by her Friend and Saviour. We here in

Coventry rejoice; we invite you to as well.

B ev

At least th re e o th er British Churches of

Christ have begun using the special surveyapproach and Investigation Groups, which wehave introduced. A Birmingham church (Great

Francis Street) has jus t had i t s f i r s t con

version baptism since i t s beginning of thismethod under t h e i r new mini s t e r .

Jan, Bev, and several ladies from our

Church recently attended the annual ladies

convention of the Churches of Christ. Theyreport tha t there is a great deal of roomfor Christian growth.

new~ Bl:Ure~S tudy fo r non-L;nr is t ians i s

beginning. Subject: the Gospel of John. The

four participants were very honest aboutth e ir b e li ef s and disbe l ie fs . There i s much

hope that they might believe that Jesus is

the Messiah, the Son of God, and through thatfaith have life in his name. Then the purposeof the book would be fulfilled yet again.

(John 20:31)

At the time of writing, Steve is leading a

mini-school on Christian Maturity - Growingin Christ Today. The eleven participantshave benefited from the f i r s t hal f of the sixweekly sessions, sharing about ways to improve our day to day walk with Jesus, ou r

Friend and Lord. Weekly topics include:

Living on the Growing Edge: Knowing Jesus asa Friend; The Christian View of Men t Things;

Being a Whole Person; Knowing the Will of God;



ôu êltn

He is very exci ted. His expectat ions and

hopes are high. Cl ive has j u s t become a

f o l l owe r o f J e s u s , He had l i s t e ned critic

a l ly to a l l the t a lk about n ew l i f e an d

dying to sin and se l f , but now he has accepted Jesus and is ready to t ry it out fo r

himself. But much to his surprise and frus

t r a t i o n , th e bad hab i t s and bad a t t i t ude s o f

the old Clive , which he thought were bur

ied in the bapt i s t ry , have r i sen again to

haun t and d e f e a t h im. He knows t h a t he i s

a new Crea t ion in theory, and ce r ta in ly

goals and bel i e f s are r ad ica l ly new, but in

prac t i ce the new, Chr i s t i an Cl ive th inks ,fee ls and acts a lo t l ike the old, heathen

C l i v e .

This g rea t gap between what he believes

he can be and what in dai ly l i fe he rea l ly

is makes Cl ive a prime t a rge t fo r re ve rs

ion, defeat , low self- image and depress ion.

He needs help - teaching, encouragement,

prac t i ca l advice, nur ture , personal love,

and a t t en t ion . I f Cl ive doesn t ge t e -nough of these things through the teaching

and fellowship minist r ies of the church, he

may need a period of counseling.

The theory holds t rue . Complex personal

ities who have l i v e d mos t o f their lives

governed by the dic ta t es of se lf ishness

and worldly thinking do not change overnight.

When they become bel ievers , they do have a

new Sp i r i t wi th in them which i s ab l e totransform t he i r l ives by the renewing of

t h e i r minds and he a r t s . But t h i s r enewa l

i s a process , and old ways of thinking and

feel ing must be ferreted out and exposed

fo r what they are .

In t h i s way, the s e a r ch l i gh t of the Holy

Sp i r i t can show th e be l i eve r where r e a l

change mus t take place . Then he can begin

to in teg ra te h is bel i e f s in to r ea l , pract i c a l , holy l iving. He can be guided to see

how scr iptural principles can give him newways of th inking about God, himself and

others. Right th inking l eads to healthy

feel ings and gives him the power for re

sponsible action and decision making.

Debbie, Roger , and Steve have weekly

counsel ing sess ions with s ev era l in d iv id

uals . Others in the team find the principles of counseling ju s t as b en ef ic ia l in

informal si tuat ions of l is tening and shar

ing. e are contemplating a six week coun

sel ing program for every new Christ ian who

would want i t . e hope to be used by the

Holy Spir i t to bring more healing and whole

ness to His people.

feat

The economic s i t u a t i o n i n B r i t a i n has reach*

ed a very low point. The pound has dropped

to i t s lowest in for iegn exchange. Because

of th at s it ua ti on many people have been made

redundant and f inding a job i s next to imposs ib le . Several people in our Church are

in need of jobs and we ask tha t you pray for

them and the s i tuat ion tha t is present in

ritain

A young teenage Chris t ian g i r l needs your

p r aye r s as she wi tnes ses to her f r i ends a t

school and work. Pray with us tha t we mayhave f ut ur e oppor tuni ty to witness to her

non-Christian friends, and they wil l come toknow J e su s Chr i s t as t h e i r Saviour ,

A new Bible s tudy has s t a r t ed as a r e su l t

of a contact with a young couple while ca l l

ing. e ask tha t you pray for Roger as he

leads, and for the couple and friends as

th ey be gin to study God s word. e want them

to unde r s t and how J e su s can be r e le va nt in

t h e i r l i v e s .

e ask for your prayers in preparation ofo u r Ea s t e r activities Our theme w i l l be

Resurrect ion Means Freedom , a very power

ful message for ou r non-Christian parents.

I t s 8:05 Thursday evening and I m facingeight stone-faced, elderly ladies. I t s my

turn to preach a t the weekly meeting and

I have been dreading i t for two weeks., . .When I r e a l i z ed t h a t because I was sched

uled to speak t ha t p a rt ic u la r night, I wouldmiss a mini-school session, my a t t i tude be

came one o f re se ntm e nt . Because o f t h i s att

i tude, I spent the whole week try ing in vainto wri te a sermon. I planned to expand a

brief devotional which I had once given)

without rea l ly considering x«?hether it was

sui table for the ladies and i t j u s t d idn t

wo rk ,

Wednesday night came and I was frustrated,resentful , and beginning to panic. Final lyI did what I should have done in the begin-ing - I prayed, I asked God to forgive me

for not committing the task to Him and for

the poor a t t i tude I al lowed to f e s t e r . I

asked for help and He gave it

I t s now 9:30 p.m. and I know t ha t God

used me tonight in a special way. For the

f i r s t time since I ve known these ladies, Isaw posi t ive responses to the message. Not

my message , bu t God s . I m convinced t h a t

He uses me best when I m broken of my own

self ish wil l and real ize my dependence on

Him. And I have a renewed i n t e r e s t in t h e s e





1Really In For I t .t0

I d i dn ' t r e a l i z e t h i s o f course , but

when was ove r I was s h a t t e r e d Wha t

i s she ta lking about? you may well ask.

Recent ly, s ix of us from the Church a t

tended a semin^ on Dynamic Christian

Living.'̂ 'Aêries of eight, 50 minute.e'CtuF^s were given in an evening and one

f u l l day. I j u s t wish to share with you

in pa r t . My reasons for going, smugly

en ough , w ereto

roundou t the number, en

courage the o ther s , and see what it was

ab o u t .

Bu t I b e l i e v e t h e Lo rd wan t e d me t h e r e

for o ther reasons - - l ike to say to me,

Wake up and see th ings as they r ea l ly

are I did Th e r e was s o much I learn

ed about pr ide, forgiveness, gui l t , and

Chr is t ian qual i t ies tha t I can ' t put downon paper , but I pray t ha t you would see

in my l i f e if you were here . Some th ings

I had heard before, but the Lord had been

prepar ing me not only to hear t h i s t ime,

but to apply it to the center of my hear t .

I ' sa t through the f i r s t session , God's

Design for Living thinking it was very

A Note of Sadness

His to ry : Joe was an a lc oh olic o f th e

lowest kin4, became a Chris t ian, and was

off the dr ink fo r four months. He began

dr i f t ing back t o d rin kin g. After much con

f rontat ion, help, and prayer, we f inally

had to leave him alone — caught again in

his drinking fantasy. He got in troublewith the police for s teal ing and was sent

to p r i s on .

With high hopes for his recovery, wewanted Joe to have another t ry with Chris t

when he came out; he wrote of tha t same

des i re . Unfortunately a f te r three months

drying out in prison, he s t i l l went back

to the booze the very day he got out .

A n d G l a d n e s s

Six months l a t e r , Joe came to my door - -

drunk as usual. Expecting him to beg ab i t and only talk nonsense, I was ready to

good. I saw tha t I was guil ty of not a l

ways forgiving o ther s and l ea rned t h a t I

wasn't very shy l ike I thought, but pain

ful ly proud. I regis tered uneasiness as

we looked a t th e bea t i t ude s an d a t r oo t

problems in peoples ' l i ve s . I t was humil

i a t ing and spoke r i gh t to d i f f i cu l t i e s in

my l i f e .

Do you know t h a t a f t e r it was over (and

I ' ve only mentioned th ings from the f i r s t

two sessions), I didn ' t feel depressed andworthless. I fe l t a t ightness leave myheart and my muscles re lax; I fe l t — and

s t i l l do feel - l ike pat ien t ly working out

the kinks , a l l because I know the Lord de

s i res i t . He d idn ' t want rae to be upt ight

and proud as well as feeling in fe r ior and

unful f i l l ed in areas of my l i f e and work.

He has finally got th e message through JThe Lord has a part for me to play — for

each of you to play — in His kingdom. Whatan honor, yet how humbling to have such a

pos i t ion of importance. Pra i se God fo r His

grace and the value He places on each one

o f u s .

Janet

Praye r s Pra ise

Four members o f ou r Church a t t ended th e

National Assembly of Evangelicals whilesix others went to the Dynamic Chris t ian

Li f e seminar l a s t weekend. We con t inue to

mature as a resu l t of sound teaching.

Finding jobs is a problem, so when Daveand Graham both got jobs recently, we really r ejo ic ed , Noel i s still in need

There are two young couples seriouslycons ider ing the cost of discipleship andthe grace of Jesus. Pray for our effor t s

with Anna and David and John and Maureen.

They could be a big breakthrough into fami l i e s in the community.

Thanking you fo r your prayers and praising God for honoring themi

Debb i e

STOP PRESS At l e a s t th e tw o women named



V

- Ûe {torn. . . Report from a team ministry challenging

f 8 post-Christian nation with th e c la im s o f Christ

J ane t Baines

Debbie Dav i s

Bev Mul l i n a

202 Kingfield Rd,

Coventry CV6 5PL

Vo l , 3 No. 9

S t e v e Lee Ta te

1 Marlborough Rd ,

Coventry CV2 4EN

.Roger Edrington

59 Cambridge St .

Coventry CVl SHU

June 1976

Jan (Kl l lebrew) Bowen

Top F l a t

8 Nor fo lk S t .

Spon En d

Coventry CVl 3BX


Mr. Mrs . C . L . Dav i s


Lincoln , I I . 62656 U.S.A.

riple ip

Three—neW'Christians, the most

tha t we've e ve r b ap tiz ed a t one t imei

Two o f our English Chr i s t i ans met

Anna Smith (34) doing door-to-doorca l l i ng . Anna in t roduced us to

friend, John I ls ley (30) and his

wife Maureen 27) . On Resur rec t ion

Sunday evening i t was death and res^ .

u r r e c t i o n i n t o Ch r i s t f o r all t h r e e .

Anrm^TTad been looking fo r a r e -

l ig ious answer for some t ime. She

I I had been reading the Koran, the Bib le ,

jL Chariots of the Gods, and all sorts.She r e j ec ted her Roman Cathol ic up

br inging long ago and had even been

to a s p i r i t u a l i s t church . A lready a t a lk

a t ive person, there was plenty to t a lk a-

bout and many misconceptions to clear up.

Anna b r i b e i d J n h n nr>H pinnfhp .r f-rip-nd

to come up fo r a di scuss ion by promising

beer . David, Anna's special fr iend, was

a l so t he re . I promised tha t the discussion would be f in ished by nine , but they

would n o t let me o u t until abou t e l e v e n .

Since the pubs close a t 10:30; they asked

(not too seriously) that I pray for thepubs to open.

From then on, there were plenty of

heavy discussions about Jesus every Tues.

night. We began around 7:30 and perhaps

would be able to leave by midnight, discuss ing, ques t ioning, and arguing about

J e s u s and H is life f o r th e entire t ime .

David and John had plenty of quest ions a-

bou t th e ev idence . Anna an d M au re en were

more in te re ste d in whether they could l ive

the l i f e or not - although the Christ ian

life was a sou r ce o f admi r a t i on f o r all

Maureen and Anna dec i ded first. I f

what you say is true that Jesus will give

me a new l i fe and the Holy Sp i r i t will come

in to me to help me l ive it and I ll s t a r tout as a baby, then what 's the good of wait

ing? Maureen reasoned in the style of the

Ethiopian Off ic ia l .

John still had ques t ions . He read Run-

away World (by Michael Green) in one dayand had a headache for three days thinking

about Jesus, But when Sunday evening came,

he sa id , I 'm coming, too . Dave A. and I

j o i n t l y bapt ized a l l three of them.

John and Maureen are busy establ ishing a

Chris t ian home. They are learning how to

change arguments into affect ion, disagree-

.ments in to prayer . They'r e t ea ch ing t he i r

three small chi ldren to pray a t meals and

-bedtime artd—are- enjoyrng- the^Chrxgrian sOTTg S—

tha t they br ing home from t he i r new advent

ure in Sunday School . We sa id before t h a t

our marriage would not l a s t another year ,

but now we've got something to l iv e fo r,

th ey a gre ed .

And two doors away, Terry and Dianne are

f inding out about Jesus through the witness

of th i s new Christ ian couple. And Anna?

She 's talking to friends and neighbors and

David, Maybe a bombshell wil l explode and

more people wi l l know Je sus because o f Chr i s t

in them

and us . . . and you.

Roger

•We have recently h opportunity to hearand t a lk with several important Chris t ian

speakers: Argent in ian J ua n Ca rl os Ort iz ,

famous veteran preacher Martyn Lloyd-Jones,

and young Chr i s t i an th inker Os Guiness.



We g en er al ly p la n to return to th e USA for a month every two years.

I t s a v a c a tio n - although p a r t l y a t lea st , a working one. Follow ing are

r e f l e c t i o n s of A p r il t r a v e l e r s to the USA:

T h e B o w e n s

When p re pa ri ng f or our v i s i t to th eSta tes , ne i the r P e t e nor I knew what to

e xpe c t . I ha d been told tha t I would ex

p e r i e n c e a cul tural shock an d P ete a n

Englishman) ha s grown up with th e idea of

America b e i n g BIG, Upon a r r iva l , we both

w e re amazed an d s h o c k e d a t th e b ign ess o f

every th ing

We were w el co med f ro m the b e g i n n i n g by

f a m i l y and f r i ends an d were e a g e r to s h a r ew i t h many a b o u t the work in C o v e n t r y . We

were encour aged a s many l i s tened a b o u t the

wo r k .

We t h a n k you fo r y o u r cont inued p raye r s

and g e n e r o u s f inanc ia l suppor t . We were

e x c i t e d to r e c e i v e unexpectedly a specia l

g i f t to p u rch as e a ca r . Ou r suppor t ing

c hurc h a l s o gave u s added regular income

to keep th e c a r g o i n g . Th e k i n d n e s s an d

t h o u g h t f u l n e s s wa s de monstra te d everywhere

we went t h r o u g h o u t th e whole t r i p .

We were b o t h encour aged by th e s p i r i t

u a l growth tha t is t a k i n g place among many

of you. As we re turned to C o v e n t r y , we

shared t h e j oys tha t we e xpe r i e nc e d.

God bless a l l o f you.

Pe t e 6c J a n

Resurrection Means Freedoowas th e t heme o f ou r Ea s t e r c e l e b r a t i o n s

t h i s yea r .Our w ee k- en d b eg an on Good F r i da y when

about 30 of us gathered to ge th er for ameal and communion service. The programfeatured eye-witness accounts of Jesusl i fe and death - by proxy, of course.

Very e a rly Sunday morning, 20 membersmet in the country to view th e beauty ofthe creation, remember t he C re ato r and

th e love which He expressed in J es us . Also,most obviously, to remember th e v i c t o r yo f Chris t on tha t f i r s t R e s u r r e c t i o n Morn

i ng .

All t h i s laid way for the family s e rvice t h a t evening. The Sunday School

children and various members presented

different aspects of Jesus ministry andl o v e to a f u l l h o u s e .

T h e T a t e s

Trans -con t inen ta l , t r an s - cu l tu r a l p i lgrims soon r ea l i ze t ha t home can be a re l

at ive te rm . Fa m ily , c h ild h o o d f r iends ,

possess ions , an d n e i g h b o r s def ine it one

wa y w h i l e ne w f r iends, ne w dr eams, an d

G o d s ca l l to m ini st ry d ef in e it another .

B u t it i s a gr and fe elin g to be l o v e d an d

wan t e d in o u r home s on bo t h sides o f t h e

o c e a n . We a r e r em i n d e d that l o v e is a

gi vi ng t h i n g . We pra ise Him fo r lo v ed onesin A m e r i c a wh o give o f t h e m s e l v e s to u s a n d

give th e g r ea t g i f t o f l e t t i ng u s go to

f o l l o w G o d s c a l l . t i s easy l o v e t h a t

p o s s e s s e s a nd d em an ds one s p r e s e n c e . t

is difficult but divine l o v e that knows the

bes t i s to l e t o ne go w here on e must.

We pra i se Hi m fo r guid ing a l l o f you

who m i n i s t e r e d to us and bui l t us up in

th e brief t ime we s h a r e d . T h e l e s s on s

l e a r n e d have a l r e a dy been used to h is g l o r y .

T h e tie that b i n d s u s h a s b e e n r ebound in

th e s t rength o f y ou r e n co u ra g em e n t. May we

always draw u po n H is Sp i r i t in each o t h e r

to bui ld H is Kingdom across the w o r l d .

. . . - - Th e Ta t e s a re a ls o now o w n e r s o f a f o u r -

door Ford-Cor-tina. We pray tha t c a r s , t o o ,

can be u s ed f o r H is g l o r y i

S t e v e St L e e

ontacts eed PrayerAbout a month ago with inspirat ion from

our Lord, our cal l ing work took on a f e e lîn g o f e x p e c t a n c y . We moved fa r the r o u t

and these people need following up . Please

pray fo r us and t h e m ,

Roger and Janet went c allin g to findJULIA q u ite wi l l i ng to t a lk .

Deb and Roger met: The CLEMENTS EVETTE

VERONICA, and The ASHBYS.

De b and Bev me t : IAN and PETER who a re

Investigation Group poss ibi l i t ies .Ja n and Bev met: PEGGY Mrs. WILSON

Mrs. KEARNY Mrs. EATHORNE and Mrs. COOK.

P r a i s e G o d i

And . , , l es t you wonder what happenedto Janet and Steve, i t should be explained

that during this time, Janet and a church

woman have been visiting various elderly



« m 'gng. . . Report ro a team ministry challenging J 'y

* a post-Chrlstlan nation with the claims ofChrist

Vo l . 3 No. 10 J u l y 1976

J a n e t Ba inee

Deb b i e Dav i s

Bev Mu l l in s

202 Kingfield Rd.

Coventry CV6 5PL

S t e v e Lee Ta t e

1 Marlborough Rd,

Coventry CV2 4EN

Roger Edrington

59 Cambridge St.

Coventry CVl 5HU

Jan (Ki l lebrew) Bowen

Top Fla t

8 Norfo lk S t .

Spon End

Coventry CVl 3BX


M r. M rs . C . L . Dav i s



Give Me Your Tired , Your Poo r . .

The o th er s id e o f th e B i-C en te nn la l.

Eng—land l, Eng—land l, Eng—landl

Yanks go home. Yanks get out i Wogs go

homei We are the E nglish boys I

It began innocent ly enough - twenty or

so out to the park fo r games af te r the

evening se rv ice . Seven Anglo-Americans,

one I n d i a n and t h e u s u a l mi x t u r e o f rit

i sh , All Chris t ians o r ne arly so . The

players were enjoying a good session - with

even some neighborhood boys jo in ing in .

Then I not iced them. Six o r e igh t t eens

an d pre- teens carrying a b ig Br i t i sh f l ag

marching around the f ie ld chant ing. Atf i r s t I thought it nothing unusua l - j u s t

some foo tba l l fans warming up t he i r cheers

fo r th e n ex t ma t ch . Bu t t h e n I no t i c e d

what they were saying, Yanks go homel

Wogs ge t ou t i We are th e E n g— l is hi

I am wel l aware t h a t the phrase Yanks

go homei has no t been uncommon in many

places throughout the wor ld . And many t imes

it

has been hurled with some good reasons .But su re ly never jus t ly over a gamei Yet

there it was again - these young boys were

de f in i t e ly shout ing a t me an d my Yank

friends

It a l l ended innocent ly enough with ev

e ry on e g oin g home to f ish chips - the one

s id ed s ho ut in g match only a memory. But the

memory brought some solemn r e f l e c t i on s t ome .

Those boys don ' t understand the broaderis su es o f our day. They c er ta in ly d on 't

understand why I and my Yank fr iends have

come from America to help a s t ruggl ing church

in Coventry. They p ro babl y o nl y u nd er st an d

t ha t they l ive in a bad par t of town, the

economy s bad, dad ' s out o f work, too many

immigrants , too few j obs , an d outs iders

take what they can ' t have. So to s t r ike out

aga ins t those who are d i f f e r en t , the Yanks

and th e W.O.G.S. (Western Or ien ta l Gentle

men, i . e . , Asians) - - i s the one thing t ha t

make s s e n s e .

And i s n ' t t h a t a na tu ra l th ing for people

to do? To f ind an underdog to kick — a

minority to oppress, to make yoursel f fee l

bigger an d be t t e r an d se l f - r i gh t eous , to

have a scape-goat to blame your problems on.

And here as the economy worsens so do r e l a t

ions between immigrants and ' n a t i v e ' Br i tons .

But here i s one place where Jesu s sa ys,

Fo l low me. Fo l l ow Him where He wen t i n

search o f the underdogs - the poor , the b l ind ,

the p ro s t i t u t e s and beggars , even the l eper s

- - oh, those sm elly , ug ly l eper s Jesus

stood beside them to hea l and to save , look

ing ou t fo r th e i r in te re st before His own.

This simple l ead ing of th e Lord do es no t

g*ive detai l s to the complex pol i t ica l ans

we r s n e e d e d . B u t d o e s tell me whe r e I

need to be in spec i f i c s i t u a t i on s . I re

member the ghet to where I t r i ed to stand be

s ide my black bro the r s and was cursed fo r

my skin co lo r . Now I am je ere d fo r my na t

iona l i ty fo r o ther reasons . And in the fu

ture I may be ca lled to s ta nd b es id e a Church

with many underdogs - the Asians, the immi

grants , the poor , o ld , an d s ick , the a lco

hol ics , the lonely .This i s not to my c r ed i t f or ou ts ta ndi ng ,

se l f less serv ice . This i s simply where His

s teps have gone before an d where He bids

bel ievers to fol low. He too was jeered and

mocked for things he did not do.

S t e v e



H S i n

(Holy Spir it in Sunday School)

We have recent ly given much thought to

our Sunday School program - hoping to im

prove th e ove r a l l s t r u c t u r e . We want th ec hi ld re n t o have balanced growth in know-

lege, feeling, and worship (mind, heart,and soul). As a result , we hope to begin

a two year t eaching scheme which wi l l in

volve a var ie ty o f te ac hin g methods and

learning experiences. We plan to follow

the Chris t ian calendar , celebra t ing events

and worship along with the records o f the

ear ly Church.Pentecost Sunday was a good opportuni ty

to a t t empt t eaching by exper ience , Joe l

and Jesus (two of ou r boys) told of the

coming of the Holy Spi r i t . Teachers spoke

var ious foreign languages; the ch i ld ren

made rushing wind sounds and each wore a

tongue as of f i re badge. We read t ha t

the disciples were prais ing God in the var

ious languages so we closed our time singing a pra i se chorus . Of course we cou ldn t

go in to g re at dep ths , bu t I m sure they

have a basic understanding of who the Holy

Sp i r i t i s and what He does fo r Chr i s t i an s .

Planning graded le sso ns fo r a two year

period i s a big t a sk , but I m sure of the

Sp i r i t s help and the need to help our

young people to grow. We do have wil l ing

t eachers who wil l begin to pool t he i r know

ledge and resources to help each other in

lesson preparation. The potent i a l i s l imi t

less as long as we are in God s hands.

Debb i e

From a Quest iona i re

I see most Churches as empty bui ldings

I don t rea l ly understand the word

'God* I used to pray - but tha t was

only when I needed help. Now I don t ; I

think t i s unfai r to myself and th e ideasof Jesus I believe that parts of the

Bible hold some t ruth . . . Chris t iani ty

in i t s t rue sense is always relevant . I t

i s only the way tha t t i s taught tha t has

to be changed in any period of t ime.

These answers were the response of one

o f th e te en s who i s i nvolved in a new Teen

Invest igat ion Group. Obviously, she s not

consistent in her thinking, but her impressions convey an awareness of some real depth

in Chris t ianity . In an attempt to meet the

needs of people l ike Bev Burke and two other

teens, Helen (a Coventry Christian) and Ihave modified the Investigation Group tof i t teenage needs.

The two main f a c t o r s whic h h av e made th e

s e s s i o n s e f f e c t i v e and r e l e v a n t a re th e con

tent and the general atti tude (openness).To produce openness we ve sa id , Feel free

to disagree and discuss; w e re not t ry ing

to bulldoze our way in . So, we ve become

fr iends, able to discuss and enjoy Christ

ian ideas . For content , we concentrated on

th e b a s i c s . Who i s God? Who s Je sus?

Is the Bible relevant? Who is the Holy

Spiri t?, e tc . Various ar t ic les provided

background fo r the ses s ions .

There are visible results . Bev certainly has come a long way from when she f i r s t

wrote the above answers. Dave, though quiet ,has expressed a r ea l ser iousness about Chr is t

i an i ty . Janet wants to be immersed although

sh e wishes t o wa i t unt l th e f i n a l s e s s i on - -

i s f in ished; tha t sess ion i s r eg ard in g t he

meaning and metho d of being a Chris t ian .

B ev

P l e a s ed a s P un ch

Our Chris t ian display in Coventry s busy

shopping Precinct (See February Epist le)

had one change of clothes and then f inish

ed in mid March. But the display was not

without i t s influence - locally and nation

a l l y ,

PUNCH a glossy, nat ional weekly maga

zine made mention of us in the i r February 18

i s sue . Thei r r epor t e r s were in Coventry

and other par ts of the middle of England

Well, at leas t somebody saw our display .And don t they always say, For every

person who wri tes , so many others were inf l u e n c e d .

Our l a s t attempt a t display was more

simple than the f i r s t . In Reader s Digest

contes t s ty le , we proclaimed, YOU COULD

BE A winner : see NAMES BELOW. We pr i n t

ed a long l i s t of names including Everyone

and You , to show that every man is what



^ .. . Report from a team ministry challenging -C /* a poat C hrlstlan nation with the claims ofChrist

August 1976

Jan (Killebrew) Bowen

Top Fla t

8 Norfolk S t .

Spon End

Coventry CVl 3BX

AMER ICATHE EYES OF BRITAIN ARE UPON YOUI

In the l a s t few months, Br i t a in has been

ta lk ing of America 's 200th bir thday. Many

people are qui te proud of the long f r iend

ship t h a t ex i s t s between the two coun t r i e s .

Yet I suspect t ha t they f ind the fac t t ha t

we are only celebra t ing our 200th bir thday

ra the r amusing - a f t e r a l l , they passed t ha t

centur ies ago. As fo r the news media, theyseem to have done nothing but pat us on the

back and say, J o l ly good show, o le boyi

There are those , o f c ou rse, who a r en t so

enthus ias t i c , even antagonis t ic , which i s

not su rp r i s i ng .

What do th e Br i t i s h Ch r i s t i a n s t h i n k

abou t a l l t h i s ce lebr a t ing? Many are a t

least interested. A t least two Christian

magazines ran a r t i c l e s on Amer ic a th i ssummer.

One pa r t i cu l a r a r t i c l e s t ruck me as

very wise. The wri ter was v er y d ee pl y con

c er ne d a bo ut American Chr is t i ans j o in ing

the pat r io t i sm bandwagon. He wr i t es , A

f u l l tim e group of Chris t ian young peopl^

presented a program of p a t r io t i c music '

t h a t so en tw in ed l o v e o f th e state wi th

love of the Lord ' t ha t al legiance to theAmerican f lag seemed an essent ia l par t of

salvation.

He has a pointi Our gospel needs to be

as c lea r and pure as it poss ib ly can . L iv

ing in ano th er count ry really brings tha t

home to me. I hope you take our Br i t i sh

c o u s i n s wor d s to heart.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA;*

teve nd ee have a new address aboveXJehovah J i reh i God wil l provide. And

He does . The Tates were ab le to ge t a mor t

gage a t low in teres t , which makes the monthly payments about the same as what they did

pay in ren t - and a much bigger house be

s ides . They look forward to grea t ly in

J a n e t Ba lnea

Debb ie Davi s

Bev MuH l n s

202 Klngfield Rd.

Coventry CV6 5PL

Vo l . 3 No, 11


49 Huntingdon Ed,Coventry CV5 6PT

Roger Edrington

59 Cambridge St.

Coventry CVl 5HU

SHARONSharon is a young housewife and mother

whom I ve known for over two years . Short

ly af te r I met her, Sharon and her husband,

Wally, attended an Invest iga t ion Group,

They were n't 'k ee n' on r e l ig ion , but j u s t

lone ly an d wanted to ge t ou t .

Sharon seems to l iv e in a fantasy world,

but a recent family c r i s i s shook her in tor ea l i ty . Because of th i s , sh e has devel

oped an in teres t in hearing of the love ofJesus . She i s r ea l i z ing and wanting to

face many of her problems that she pretended were t there before.

Sharon has fa r to go, bu t I r e jo ice a t

th is breakthrough and pray tha t God wil l

really touc h h er l i f e . Wally is a b i t

cynical about a l l t h i s , but doesn ' t t ry tostop her. I know tha t the Lord has muchin s to re fo r Sharon - - a lo t o f change with

some pain, but I know also that He wil l seeher through.

Janet

PRAYERJ.A.M. (êsus And Me Week, an outreach

mainly for new children ages 5-8 in ourcommunity,

The King is Coming i s our CAMP theme

th is year with B ib le lessons from the King

dom parables and the Sermon on the Mount,

The team and severa l Coventry Chris t ians

wi l l s ta f f the camp. Pray t ha t God wi l l

guide us and the ch i ld ren .

Peggy is a young married woman who i s

lone ly and needs a f r iend. Pray th a t in

ta lking with Deb, she wil l find a fr iend

and t h e F r i e n d .

Bev wi l l be going soon to Lugano, Switz

er land fo r a few days to attend a Chris t ian

conf er ence w i th o the r European miss ionar ies ,

evangel is ts , and service famil ies ,

L il and Caroline need physical s t rength

American Correspondents:

Mr. M rs. C . L . Davi s


Lincoln , I I . 62656 U.S.A.



GOD RAISES CAIN m o r e JlJane t C ain (16) had been r a i sed to new

life a s a Ch r i s t i a n abou t two weeks and

Debbie Ruddick (16) just over 24 hours

when t h i s in te rview was made. They wereintroduced to Jesus mainly through f r i ends

a t a Coventry pr ivate school , where Debbie

i s a stable gi r l and Janet l ives nearby and

v i s i t s regu la r ly . This interview l e t s them

tell t h e i r own s t o ry .

WHAT WAS YOUR ATTITUDE TOWARD CHRIST BE

FORE YOU BECAME A CHRISTIAN?

Jane t : Before I went to the Church, Ididn t b e l i e v e in J e s u s at all I had

heard about God, but I d idn ' t understand

what He meant, or who He was. I f e l t t ha t

I ought to ge t to know something about Him

to decide if He r ea l l y was th e re o r no t .

I didn t t h i n k much a b o u t Him until I wen t

to the Church and s ta r ted learning about

J e su s and it made s e n s e t h e n .

WHY DID I T MAKE SENSE?

Jane t ; Jesus became th e b rid ge across to

God . I c o u l d learn a b o u t God and s i n c e I

didn ' t know anything about Jesus before,

learning about Him, discovering what He was

l ike , how He l ived, then I knew there was

a God, so I j u s t be l ieved .

Debbie: I t ho ught J es us might have been

a man who d id live I didn t b e l i e v e i n

God. I d id n 't r ea lly bel ieve in th e Bibleor rea l ly know anything about the Bible .

WHAT REALLY IMPRESSED YOU ABOUT THE

CHRISTIAN MESSAGE?

Debbie: Somebody rea l ly being there and

somebody giving up His l i fe for me, the waythe Prophets were able to say t ha t the Mes

siah was going to come, and the way tha t

God revealed Himself in various ways.

WHAT STRUCK YOU PERS(ÂLLY ABOUT THE

MESSAGE OF JESUS?

Janet: I t struck me how good He was. I

didn't think that anyone could be that good.I think tha t real ly made me want to becomea Ch r i s t i a n .

Debbie: I f e l t the way tha t He was with

you th e whole t ime and t h a t He was more o r

less asking you to be with Him, sort of

holding His hands on you pulling you nearerand nearer to Him unti l you were actually

a lmos t wi t h Him.

Janet: Yeah, I noticed tha t when I f i r s t

came to th e Church. I t was as though Hewas pulling me towards Him because I kept

going back to that Church. In th e beg in -ning, I sa id , Oh, I don't want to go.

Janet; Well, He always seems to be with

me; I feel Him there a ll the time. I have

to keep thinking, What's right? What's

wrong? I 've go t to overcome greedinessand se lf ishness and general ly be a good

Christian

Debbie : I don ' t t h i nk t h a t I ' v e had e -

nough time to real ly understand a l l thatHe i s going to do for me. I want to change

in myself and a l i t t l e b i t in my a t t i tude

toward certain th ings . I want to learn

more about Him and help others and genera l

ly be happy as well - and make other peoplehappy.

WHAT PART WILL YOU FLAY IN THE LIFE OF

THE CHURCH?

Janet : Well , I help in the Sunday School .

I want to help a l l the o ther Chr i s t i ans

there, non-Christ ians as well - help them

to be l i eve . I want to br ing my f r iends in

t o t h e Chu r c h ,

HOW HAVE YOU REACTED TO THE SUNDAY SCHOOL?

Jane t ; They qui te shocked me to begin

with, those l i t t l e chi ldren . They were so

noisy, they don ' t do anything they are to ld ,

they don ' t l i s t en .

HOW DO YOU THINK THAT YOU CAN HELP?

Jane t : Try to make them l i s t en and t each

them about Jesus . Actual ly , I think tha t I

wi l l learn a lo t from the Sunday School.

DEBBIE, YOU WERE INTENDING TO BE BAPTIZED

A FEW WEEKS AGO, BUT YOU WERE LLED HOME

BECAUSE OF YOUR MOTHER'S SERIOUS ILLNESS

AND THEN DEATH- HOW DID ALL OF THIS MAKE

YOU FEEL?

Debbie: In a way, I th ink it made me

s t ronger , a lo t s t ronger I ' ve known my

mother to come down so badly and then come

up. So going home, I thought it might be

one of those times. When I saw her, Ireally d id pra y. But the next day, she

r ea l ly came up so much t h a t the doc to r s d id

not even understand it But to me, God was

answer ing me, t h a t He had th e power and

t ha t He rea l ly was there l i s t en ing to me.

That night she went down and carr ied on

going down. Then when she did die, I asked

why she d id . And He to ld me t h a t it was

b eca use sh e would have been bed r i dden fo r

th e rest o f h e r life She a l s o had TB and

i f she hadn't have died of the kidneys, Ithink tha t she probably would have died of

the TB , When my next door neighbor

picked me up a t the s ta t ion , he said, You

don' t seem very worried. I said, No.

Then I suddenly thought, God's with me the



. . . eport from a te m ministry ch llenging I tw

y a post-Chrlstlan nation with the claims of Christ

Vo l . 4 No. 1 September 1976

J a n e t Balnea

D eb bi e D a vi s

Bev MuH l n s

202 Kingfield Rd,

Coventry CV6 5PL

Kids


49 Huntingdon Rd .Coventry CV5 oPT

Roger Edrlngton

59 Cambridge St.

Coventry CVl SHU

He was s i t t ing on the ground, in the

middle of a cow field-cum-campground. His

dinner plate was on h is head l ike a hat ,his Japanese chopsticks ( a surpr ise gift toa l l the k ids during one of the miss ion

t a lks ) in h is hands an d he was bea t ing away

merri ly on h is 'drum' - - an old dried cow

p i l e iLit t le 7 year old Paul was one of 23

ch i ld ren from our Sunday School shar ing

with us th re e n ig hts an d four days of

camping.

Kids n ev er c ea se to amaze me. We had

many ' t ypes ' of kids and some of the be

havior problems we faced I remember from

my own former camp days. However, tha t

d idn ' t seem to help me handle themiWe ran in to some of the o ldes t pranks

in camp history. One amazing thing about

kids i s th a t t he i r camp pranks never seem

to change.) One night we had an outdoor

t o i l e t t en t dismantled wh il e o ccup ied and

a few attempted raids on the gir ls and

boys t en t s by th e o pp os ite sex. Our kids

have even reached camp romance s tage . But

since th e kids aren t f rom Christian homesand none are yet Chr is t i ans themse lves ,

they have no r ea l reason to l ive by Chris t

i a n mora l s t a n d a r d s .

The theme for our camp was 'T he K in g Is

Coming' on which our t eachings and songs

were, fo r the most pa r t , based.

Our th i rd year of camp had our f i r s t

miss ionary t a l k s t h i s year and th e k id s

loved it Some even expressed a rea l int e r e s t in miss ions and ye t have never made

a pe r s on a l commit tment to Chr i s t I

One l i t t l e g i r l , whose parents have re

cently become Crhist ians, has developed a

unique and beaut i fu l fr iendship with God.

She showed me how t o t hank Him fo r all

things from Tuck shops (the canteen) tocow

J an (K ll leb rew) Bowen

Top Fla t

8 Norfolk S t .

Spon End

Coventry CVl 3BX


Mr. M rs . C . L . Dav i s



At th e end o f th e four days we had seen

many joys and ye t t e a r s , f igh t s , and hur t s

as wel l . The th ing which impressed me

most was the importance and d i f f i cu l t y in

reaching these young people. The challenge

i s overwhelming but we have a Savior who

c an a ccomp li sh the imposs ib le and work

where we a re weakes t P r a i s e Him,An evaluat ion on th i s camp i s d if fi cu l t ,

but I pray tha t our King i s working in the

l i v e s o f thos e 23 c h i l d r e n .

Janet

rom ejection to epentanceI have known M a r io n We l t on fo r n e a r

ly th re e y ea rs and during tha t time we

have had Bible s tud ies and many di scus

s ions on being a Chr i s t i an . About two years

ago, Mar ion became very i n t e r e s t ed in ac

cept ing Jesus , When learning of the Truth

and the cos t of d i sc ip le ship. Marion chose

not to a cc ep t J es us as he r Lord and Sav io r .

Our f r iendship c on tin ue d b ut our s tud ies

and discussions stopped. She avoided thesub jec t of Chr i s t i an i t y .

While v i s i t i ng Marion one day, she to ld

me o f an experience she had had. This ex

per i ence conv i c t ed he r to make a dec i s i on

about her l i f e . On August 1 s t when Marion

was bapt ized, her comments descr ibe her

fee l ings , I t ' s great , I fee l so re l ieved,

I 'm glad it s over , It s r ea l ly j u s t be

ginning fo r Marion. The pressure is goneand she can begin to s t a r t her new l i f e

wi th Ch r i s t ,

J a n

Editor s n o t e :

Her 8 year old says, She's bet te r than



Not lone in EuropeMany thanks to God for His leading me to

Lugano (Switzerland) Christian Service CampiThe camp has been designed to bring Englishspeaking peop le in Europe together fo r ten

daysof

fel lowship and learning.

I came away with much respect for those

people who fo r the f i r s t few years see no

vis ib le r e su l t s because they must learn

the language and customs of a fore ign coun

t r y . What great pat ience and di l igence

these people developi Please keep them in

your prayers; Europe i s a very d i f f i cu l t

fiel in wh i c h to wo r k .

B ev

Added ExtrasTwo new types of meetings were success

fu l recent ly . Ful l Fellowship Sunday i s

a goal fo r every Sunday, but on t h i s day

we made a spec ia l e f fo r t to get a l l our

members and f ri end s t oget he r for the whole

day. A good crowd turned up to enjoy these rv ices , pot- luck lunch, shar ing an d re

crea t ion . Another Sunday evening was

TESTIMONY EVENING. Songs by r eques t were

mixed with testimony by e igh t di f ferent

Ch r i s t i a n s . Even a non -Ch r i s t i a n who is

current ly looking for t ru th rose and t e s t

i f i ed tha t Jesus was speaking to her

through the l i f e and witness of the people

in our body,^ We have begun new Tuesday home Bible

Studies . There are four groups with pos

s ib i l i t i e s of 30-35 in at tendance. Isa iah ,

Co ri nt hi an s, t he Prison Epis t l es , and Mat

thew are the topics. We change groups and

books about three times a year .

USA TourRoger wil l be s pe ak in g con ce rn in g our work

in England in these places. I f you wou ld

l ike to come, p le as e c on ta ct local people

fo r arrangements.

AUGUST

22 Darlington, Indiana

29 a.m. Clarence, Missouri

p.m. Colches ter , I l l ino i s

SEPTEMBER

5 a.m. Highview Chris t ian Church

Washington, I l l i no i s

6-7 Missions Emphasis Week

Cent r a l Chr i s t i an College of Bible

Moberly, Missouri

9 Milligan College Convocation

Johnson Ci ty , Tennesee

When Roger ev LeaveAs I gaze towards my Father s home.

With only a few shining s tars in the sky,

I t h i nk o f a t ime

When l ike the s ta r s .

Only a few shining hearts ,

Ra i s e d t h emse l v e s to w a rd s h ea ve n

In hopeful prayer .

These prayers were not forgotten

And to the Father s glory

Were a n swe r e d .

And from what was a few, became many,

And l ike a flower,

Opening i t s p eta ls to the morning sun,

We ra ised our heads to the l i gh t .

And now the time has come.

For a par t of tha t answered prayer,

To take t he i r spark

Of l o v e and life

And set al ight , a dying people.In Chr i s t s chosen p lace .

And as I s i t ,

I begin to wonder; What i s it to par t with a few

When we gain so many?

So l i t t l e a price to pay.

For so grea t a debt .

Kim Spencer

—Kim is 17 years o ld by bir th , 1^ years

old by New Bir th .

Facing tiie IssuesS ix Ch r i s t i a n s and one non -Chr i s t i an

have jus t finished a six week study, INTRODUCTION TO FRANCIS SCHAEFFER. Using the

three major books of the above author, the

group grappled with major i ssues confront

ing the discipl ines of theology, ar t , music,

philosophy, and general culture. They espec ia l ly emphasized the apologet ic in an

evangel is t ic se t t ing .

Many conf ron ted these i s sues fo r th e

f i r s t time and they f e l t tha t they were be

ginning to ge t down to the r ea l meat an d

depth of the gospel s impl ic at ions o f meet

ing th e a t tack t h a t th e world and th e dev i l

are putt ing on us. Roger, who led the group,

also gave them essay topics with apo loge t-ica l relevance on which they may wri te .

Among other th ings, the experience of th i s

study convinces u s tha t many ordinary

Christians real ly want to go deeper ingrowing as a Chr i s t i an . Mini s t e r s and e l

ders should t ake t h i s l es son to hea r t .

Roger



. . . Report from a team ministry challenging # WSl^ a post Chrlstlan nation with the claims of Christ

V o l . 4 No. 2 O c t o b e r 1976

J a n e t B a l n e s

D eb bie D a vi s

B e v M u l l l n s

202 Kingfleld Rd.

Coventry CV6 5PL

S t e v e 6> L e e T a t e

49 HuntingdonCoventry CV5 )P t

Roger Edrlngton

59 Cambridge S t.

Coventry CVl SHU

Jan (Killebrew) Bowen

Top F l a t

8 N o r f o l k S t .

Spon End

Coventry CVl 3BX


Mr. & Mrs . C. L . D a v i s


L i n c o l n , I I . 62656 U.S.A.

we wnms= z New mw

We r e a d i n Acts when t h e e a r l y church

began, people were witnesses in t h e i r

daily l ives. They spread the gospel ofJ e s u s C h r i s t t o t h o s e a ro un d t h em . I w a n t

t o s hare w ith you how three l i v e s havechanged because some here care enough tow i t n e s s t o t ir f r i e n d s .

Annette and J a n e t , two new C h r i s t i a n s ,

wanted t h e i r fr iend Dave Simpson t o

know a b o u t t h e l o v e o f C h r i s t . Dave

who i s 16 years old came to a group onSunday evenings and began to real ize he

needed to change. Dave i s so shy and

q u i e t , it was hard fo r us t o know whereand what he was thinking. He made his decis ion and was baptized. He commented t h a t

his family are seeing changes in , his l i f e .

He no longer argues with his Gran who l i v e s

w i t h them. He i s now c o n f i d e n t t h a t God

—hss-scccpted him. —

* Maggie a Christian of fbut^months beU gan talking to her friend, Richard Har

^ ris about her faith in God Richardage 22, listened to what she was saying. His thoughts caused him to step out

side of himself and take a good look. He

d i d n t l i k e what he saw. He real ized t h a t

his Church of England background was not

giving him the s p i r i t u a l l i f e he needed.

For the f i r s t time he was reading his Bibleand praying. He soon real ized t h a t his o-

bedience to God was incomplete. After threeweeks he made the dec is ion to be baptized.His re-bir th was September 12, 1976.

wxu

I

Maggie Campbell, a young non-Chris t ian

in the HillfielKi.s community, brought

Corrinna Rogers, age 14 to coffee bar

one evening two years ago. Upon arr i v i n g she met our Bev. Bev t a l k e d w i t h

her about the love of C h r i s t . Corrinna

s t a r t e d coming t o coffee bar and occasion-

aly to church services, but with no commitment. Then family problems prevented her

coming a l t o g e t h e r . Bev continued t o be a

friend. When calling on her a few weeks ago,sh e i n v i t e d Corrinna t o the s e r v i c e s . Cor

r inna came, but something about her was d i f

ferent . Corrinna says, God was in me want

ing me t o come t o church . The Bible was d i f

ferent - not just a load of words. Throught a l k s , s tudies , and prayers - Corrinna madeher d e c i s i o n t o follow C h r i s t as h e r Lord

and Savior . _ Since my decis ion I am mors - . —

peaceful. I can feel Gbrf working in me.When she was baptized on September 12,

she realized that her sins were gone fo rever. And she knew, too, that only Christc o u l d do t h a t f o r h e r .

Perhaps there i s someone with whom youcan s h a r e t h e Good News o f J e s u s i

J a n

MOVING 1?} J \Sm d Ut > <»ur Chotigp o Atld'vis

A new p o s t a l r c fiu ln t lon rcqu lvea t h a t

we pny 25<> fo r each Epist le vcturne<l bc -

couse 6t a wrong address, so please sendyour new address to th e Amcr5cnn Corvcs-

p o nd e nt s . ad d re ss on I ro ii t) b ef or e yo o

move. Help us t o be {ôod stewards



Faithful Finance £One par t i cu la r blessing in working in th i s team minis t ry has been the minimum of fund

ra i s ing requi red . e cont inual ly thank our benef icent Lord for supplying more than enough

to meet our needs . As we have s aid b ef or e, God knows our need and He s in c on tac t with

both you and us so we don t need to keep r a i s ing suppor t . e bel ieve t ha t i f He has the

power to c a l l us to t h i s min i s t ry an d give us the g i f t s we need t o m i ni st er , then He i s a l so

\ \able to move in the people he wants to minister to us financially.^ Inflation has affected us all - but because the dollar is doing much better than thepound, the exchange rate has helped us th is year . I t takes fewer dol l a rs to buy pounds so

we c a n make t h e f u n d s stretch a little farther

The money from th e two group fund accounts goes toward Epistle expenses, phone b i l l s ,

mimeographing, t racts, books, and special evangeli s tic projects (e.g. , Christian DisplayCen t e r ) .

The change in the exchange ra te for Bri t ish pound s ter l ing has al tered the books somewhat, but with a close approximat ion, here is ou r 3rd Annual Report of Finances:

Fisca l Year: September 1975 - August 1976

RECEIPTS:

Jane t Baines 2,945.00

V .B . S . Con t r i b u t i o n s 1 5 5 . 0 0

Debbie Davis 3,000.00

Spe ci al Con tr ib u ti o ns 350.00

Roger Edrington (including 900. backdated

ra ise from l a s t year) 5,575.00Jan (Killebrew) Bowen 5,200.00

C a r Fund 828 . 70

T r av e l Fund 400 . 00

Spec ia l Contr ibut ion 100.00Bev Mull ins 3,881.00

Spe ci al Con t ri b ut io n s 235,50

Steve Lee Tate 6,436.00

T r a v e l Fund 526 .86

GROUP FUNDS:

U , S . A . Ac c o u n t

Ba lance Sep tember 1, 1975

Receipts 1578.43

Expenses 1019.09

Balance A ugust 31, 1976

U .K . Ac c o u n t

Balance September 1, 1975

(Recorded last year 2.40 =JP1.00)

Receip ts 330.20

Expenses 734.49

Balance August 31, 1976 58,59

(Calculated (? 1.80 = JH.OO)

42.95

602.29

463.06

Bits h Pieces to PrayAbout Reflecting —Projecting

k::^ * Thirteen have joined Christ's body here

th i s year - we pra ise and thank God. e a l

so r ea l i ze our respons ib i l i t y to nurture the

b ab e s .

* A new six week Sunday School class began

t h i s month fo r th o se o f ou r k ids who a re

showing real interest i n Ch r is ti an i ty . Pleaseremember t h e s e k i d s and S t e v e a s he t e a c h e s

them the cost of disc ipleship .

* Two d ivo rcees a re i n t e r e s t e d i n Ch r i s t i

ani ty but have reserva t ions about where theystand regarding t he i r pas t l ives . Deb i s

studying the Bib le passages on this subjectwi t h t h em.

* Six from our Church are studying The Early C h ris tia n Church fo r th e na t iona l O rd

ina ry l ev e l schoo l exams in November. (This

level is similar to a h igh schoo l credi t . )

I remember when we f ive doubled th e

church attendance by our p re sence alone.Now, most services contain th i r ty - f ive tofor ty people.

I remember when th e team each put in

four to s ix hours of cal l ing a week. Now,every ednesday fourteen to sixteen peopleJJgo out tak ing surveys. ^ I remember ta lking in our weekly

team meetings about our goa ls fo r the Church

Now, God has p assed on those goals to someof the growing sp i r i tua l leaders of the

Chu r c h .

We've come a long.way.

I c an t help but look back and marvel

a t what God has done with the Church. Re

flection upon the past, automatically bringsto my mind the future . Yes, we share sp i r



i ron, ,^ . . . Report from a team ministry challenging ^ £ fw '

j a post-Christian nation with the claims o1 Christ

Jane t Balnes

Debb i e Davis

202 Klngt le ld Rd.

Coven try CV6 5 PL

ROSIE

Vo l . 4 No. 3

Steve Le e T at e

49 Huntingdon Rd.

Coventry CV5 6 PT

Ja n (Klllebrew) Bowen

8 Nor fo lk St. Top Flat

Coventry CV1 3BX

A September 26 was a very special nightU for Lil Brown one of our Christians^ here. Her daughter became her sister

in Christi

Rosie , a shy g i r l of four teen, wrote a

few days before her bapt ism:

Tiiis i s .- the way I f e e l . I f ee l happy

and yet I know, without God in my l i f e , it

i s not h appi ne ss . I want very much to know

God because He has so much l ove to give

when we have no one to tu rn to , and love

for me to give to o th ers . I want to do

this a n d I know He wan t s this for me.

In the name o f God who I love , I pray .

I need help so bad and I know only God can

give it so please God, help me.

This i s why I want to be bapized i n to

Christ.

A love ly glimpse in to a young g i r l ' s

hea r t . What joy our Lord must have f e l t

as those words flowed through her mind.

B ev

Novembe r 1976

Perny Creasey

Rober Edrington

Bev Mul ll n s

Michelle Wegwart

290 Gravelly Lane

Erdington,

Birmingham B23


Mr . Mrs . C. L. Davis

1010 N. Monroe St .

Lincoln, Illinois 62656

U. S. A.

NOTH R Y ON JESUSA Br ige t Middle i s studying eye squ in t s

W (an optology student), but there Is one^ thing that she sees clearly -- Jesus is

h e r Lo r d and S a v i o r i

Las t n ig ht B rig et shared with us t h a t a t

f i r s t she had many doubts . But as she t a lk

ed, ques t ioned, l i s t ened to-the 'Word and the—

hymns, she saw her ques t ions answered.

Months ea r l i e r she got up and gave a t e s t

imony to what she had been observing in our

l i ves and sa id she was searching. Las t

n igh t she submit ted

Last week one of the sc r ip tu re readings

was on t he Eth iopian Official (Acts 8). Asshe heard it r ead , everything c l icked —

sh e knew wha t sh e had to d o .

We t h a n k God fo r o u r new sister. She

actual ly ' s quea led ' when she came up from

th e w a te r be c au s e sh e was f r e e

Janet

FRAGMENTSAs a church, we f e l t the need to discuss s ev er al i ss ue s

th£»t were present in the NEWS. Topics such as violence , dis

c ip l ine , educa t ion, and the pro jec ted , con t rover s i a l f i lm,

The Sex Life o f Jesu s Chr i s t were d i scu s sed du r in g our Even

ing o f Curren t I s sues . S te ve T ate and Dave Arrowsmith led

our discuss ions with group par t ic ipa t ion from the r e s t of the

ch u r c h .

HARVEST THANKSGIVING i s a t r ad i t i ona l t ime of the year

when people br ing f r u i t s and vegetables to the church bu i ld

ings—foir-dxspl ay . This year we ce leb ra ted our Harves t Supper—

by invi t ing our family, f r iends , and contacts made through

ca l l ing . A del ight fu l evening was shared by a l l 65 in a t ten d

ance.

We cont inue to pa r t i c i p a t e in n at io na l and d i s t r i c t CHURCH



IMFRESSIOH— EJPI^SIilONErdington, Birmingham, England. After

seven weeks of being in the U.S.A. and

over 40 speaking s e s s i o n s .

During my whirlwind speaking and v i s i t

ing tour of the U.S.A. , I spoket o

severa lthousand people about our work here and

chal lenged them t o g r e a t e r depth o f d i s c i -

p l e s h i p . Should I have been i n one p l a c e

l o n g e r , I probably would have f e l t t h e ne

c e s s i t y t o speak to some o f the problems

in t h e A m e r i c a n c h u r c h a s a w h o l e .

In England the church might be accused

of s t e r i l i t y ; in America s u p e r f i c i a l i t y

seems more t o t h e problem.England

seems

to s u f f e r still b i r t h s , i n f a n t i c i d e ,

and baby b a t t e r i n g . In both places , a d u l t

l e v e l maturi ty i n C hr is t i s not as obvious

as would seem necessary for v i t a l , meaning

f u l B o d i e s o f C h r i s t .

English Chris t ians s t r i v e to get peoplet o come to t h e i r mainly old, cold, bui ld

ings . American Chris t ians s t r i v e t o get

people to come to t h e i r new, p lu sh , c lima tec o n t r o l l e d bui ldings . English C h r i s t i a n s

r i s k being so far behind cul ture t h a t they

do not present Christ to this generation.

American Chris t ians r i s k being so caught

up in the cul ture t h a t they f a i l to pre

sent the pure gospel of Jesus C hrist to

t h i s g e n e r a t i o n . Americans could be so

comfortable that they forget t h e i r need

f o r t h e C o m f o r t e r .

American Chris t ianity has a long way to

grow. But I s t i l l believe t h a t the posi

t ion in Brita in per capita i s even worse .

I f I were called to America I would speakto the problems t h e r e . But s ince I am

called to England, I must concentrate main

l y on how God would have us work h e r e ,

I w i l l spare you f u r t h e r comment and

l e t you get about your job, THANKYOU

FORA NICE VISIT AND GOOD FELLOWSHIP IN THE

U . S . A .

Roger

We have now begun the two m i n i s t r i e s

as planned. Keeping the Coventry impetusgoing are Steve Tate, Jan Bowen DebbieDavis, and Janet Baines. In the Erd ington

ministry, Bev Mullins and Roger Edringtonmove from Coventry to join Penny Creaseystraight from the U.S.A. and Michelle Wegwart, who has l ived in England for the

p a s t s i x t e e n years .

Upon being assigned the task of writ ing

my impressions of England, I was stumped.

How can you have a j u s t and r e a l i s t i c view

of a place a l t e r only three s h o r t weeks

and t h o s e weeks having been s p e n t i n one

place?

I wish I could r e p o r t a g r e a t d i f f e r e n c e

s p i r i t u a l l y between the average U.S. c i t i

zen and t h e comparable B r it is h c i t iz e n .

B o t h c o u n t r i e s c o n s i d e r t h e m s e l v e s t o b e

Chris t ian nations (whatever t h a t may mean).

I w i s h I c o u l d w r i t e that I h a v e s e e n

more a d u l t book s t o r e s , more young people

on d r u g s , moredrunkards ,

moret e l e v i s i o nprograms u n f i t f o r f am i ly v iew ing , o r more

people in vo lv ed w ith the o c c u l t t h a n I v e

e v e r s e e n at h o m e . I can t I n t h e t h r e e

s h o r t weeks, I have seen little d i f f e r e n c e

i n t h e s i n fu ln e s s o f t h e s e two c o u n t r i e s .

I n s t e a d , I v e found t h e d i f f e r e n c e t o

b e i n t h e C h u r c h o f C h r i s t itself P l e a s e

keep i n mind t h a t my home i s i n th e B i b l e

B e l t o f t h e U.S. I v e always been s u rrounded by a c t i v e c h u r c h e s . I came f i r s t

t o t h e Hillfields C h r u c h o f C h r i s t and

found a growing group of young C h r i s t i a n s ,

deeply i n love with J e s u s . I v e had one

occasion to v i s i t with some people from

a n o t h e r C h u r c h o f C h ri s t t h a t r e a l i z e s t h a t

it i s dying and in need of encouragement

and guidance, t h a t congregation being

Erdington to which I w i l l be going in afew days. I have a ls o had opportuni ty t o

a t t e n d a n a t i o n a l r a l l y o f th e Churches o f

Christ. There I met people talking about

union and baptism r a t h e r than o f J e s u s and

His power t o change l i v e s .

I t was somewhat fr i g ht e nin g to n ot ic e

the similar i t ies of count ri es . So manythings have influenced and changed the

people, and the people have inf luenced andchanged t h e c h u r c h .

What w i l l happen t o the C h r i s t i a n Church

e s and Churches o f C h r i s t i n t h e U.S. w i t h

i n the next 30 years? Will they be i n f l u

enced and sidetracked by i r r e l e v a n t s ide

issues or w i l l t h e i r cause always remain

to t e l l the story of God changing the l i v e s

of men and women and the destiny of nations

through Jesus? Oh that we might be one inJ e s u s , b u t f i r s t won i n J e s u s .

Penny

Caugh t b etween two c u l t u r e s - h a l f Ameri

can, half Brit ish - I find myself wondering

what course my ministry w i l l take as a p a r t

of the new Erdington team. There are manyuntapped, untouched l i v e s fo r C h r i s t who



Ia poil OtrUlian nation wil t

llcfaimi of cut W

Vol 4 No 4 Dec embe r 1 976

(}oueH(^ . peed 7 ^ Sêefi-

Many things can change in a month. The long drought which we sufferedt h i s summer has been re l i eved and with the ra in many new b less ing have

come. The team of s ix has changed to two teams of four working inErding-ton as well as Coventry. With the t ransfer of Roger and Bev to the new

work in Erdington we a t Coventry lose two very capable minis ters . But

what we are gaining i s a new sense of responsibi l i ty to to ta l minis try a-

mong the whole body here. Our prayers for a smooth t rans i t ion have been

answered as many are seeing more ful ly the vision of the whole church

minis ter ing to i t s e l f as well as witnessing to the world.

Th i s ha s mean t t h a t t h e More ma tu r e C h ri s t i a n s in ou r chu r ch have

been asking what they can do to spread the word and nurture the new babes

in Chr i s t This new sense of respons ib i l i ty i s ju s t what we need and

v;hat we have asked from the Lord ever s ince we saw the poss ib i l i t y of d iv id

ing the team. E sse nt ia l to working onese l f out o f a job i s t r a in ing fo r

and then giving up r e spons ib i l i t y

We see many i nd ica t ions t h a t the Lord has led the tim ing o f these

changes. The growth we are exper ienc ing in quant i ty and qua l i t y i s

more cons i t en t than ever before The number now s tands a t 15 baptisms in1976 with some o thers under convic t ion even now. Many o f those who have

recent ly made commitments to the Lord have come simply through th e w it

ness of the i r Chris t ian f r iends and th e p re ach in g of the Gospel a t our

s e rv i ce s This i s in c on tra st to those in th e pa s t who have needed l o t s

of ca l l ing and study through long term methods such as our Inves t iga t ion

Groups before being able to even cons ider making a dec i s ion

So we hav e needed to s h i f t gears a b i t to beable

to give these new

Christ ians the sp i r i tua l nourishment they wil l need. We are asking someof the older Christ ians to take a special shepherding responsibi l i ty

over the new Chri s t i ans This wi l l involve f i r s t j us t being a fr iend to

these new ones get t ing to know them and helping them find the i r place in

our fellowship. Also we hope these shepherds can encourage the new

Christians in their growth and watch for diff icul t times when they willneed guidance from older Chris t ians . Basical ly we hope th i s wil l mean no

one i s overlooked. We rea l ize the problems involved when so many newChrist ians come a l l at once in to a small fel lowship and we take very se r

ious ly our task to br ing each one to The fu l lness of the s t a tu r e of Chr i s t

t v



A f t e r 3h ve ry s h o r t

w e e k s in th e s t a t e s , I

f in d m yse l f back in Co v

entry try ing to c onvi nc e

myself I was rea l ly home.

I a p p r e c i a t e g r e a t l y th el o v e and e n c o u r a g e m e n t I

wa s gi ven by a l l o f you.

Coming home fo r a break an d to

repor t on th e m i n i s t r y requires a

b i t o f a d j u s t i n g . No t only did I

l eave o n e cu l tu r e an d s tep in to a n

other , b u t I found m ys el f st e ppi ngfrom th e shadows o f be ing a t e a m

minis te r in a busy l i t t l e c hur c h in

to the s p o t l i g h t o f my family an d

home church . T h a t was g rea t i B u t

th e whole pr ocess has been r ever sed

no w t h a t I m b a c k in C o v e n t r y . A f

te r a fe w days o f th e b lues , I m

making th e n ec ess ary r ea dj u stm e nt s .

Thank you a l l f o r making my v i s i t

home and my m i n i s t r y h e r e so v e r y

meaningfu l .

N o w A Chr i s t i anWhen asked ou r d o or -t o- do o r s ur ve y/ wi tn es s q ue st io ns n e a r l y 2 years ago,

P M T ORNTON commented tha t she t hought herself to be a C h r i s t i a n an dsaw no need to come to church. But she did say she would ask he r husband

about a p o s s i b l e B i bl e s t u d y .

Two years passed and Pam came to her f i rs t service on Easter. Since

that time she has come to the services regularly, started coming to aweek^ly Bible Study, and talked to her friends about what she was fin ding o uta b o u t esus

Like so many, she wanted to t ry to get th ing s s orte d out before accepting Jesus. Finally realizing that this is impossible, she decided to accept Jesus and le t Him s o r t out h er l i fe .

She was baptized in to C hrist and now rejoices that her l if e is beingchanged by Jesus. Her friends have remarked about her changes. Already

Pam ha s w i t n e s s e d an d invi ted them to f in d th e same p e r s o n a l re la t ionship

t h a t s h e i s f ind ing with Jesus .

As a mother o f four young boys, Pam i s anxious t ha t h e r family know th e

love o f Jesus too. But being divorced now an d without a job, she has manypressures which compete for her attention. She is not unlike many singleparents in our community who must face these responsibilit ies alone. e

hope as Jesus becomes r e a l in her l i fe , many others might see how the Lord

ca n help us face any situation. Jan

Bits l Pieces

Please be in p r a y e r f o r us a s th e

C hristm as s ea so n a pp ro ac he s. We

have many ideas and p l a n s to makespec i a l u se of t h i s s e a s o n and we

need to be s u r e of d o i n g t h e Lord s

will

^ s fThe extens ion o f the C o v e n t r y

Church bu i ld ing i s coming s l o w l y

b u t su re ly . In a few weeks, we

a r e hopi ng to p u t on th e roof .*^P lease b e in prayer fo r L e o n an d

J an i s . The c o u p l e are very i n t e r

es ted in b e c o m i n g Chr i s t i an s , bu t

wish to have a p e r i o d of s t u d y in

o r d e r t o u n d e r s t a n d .

R e c e n t l y , we had a soc ia l e v e n

in g fo r t h o s e who have b e e n Chr i s t

ian s fo r a year o r l e s s . The team

m e m b e r s p u rp o s e was to spend some

t i m e j u s t w i t h themi

anet



Gett ing A-HEADThe Church is the body of Christ - so says the Bible.

Work work work we must there s no one else to /

o

it. Plan plan plan — it s got to e one

or else Ait ll a l l fa l l apart . We are the body.

Year after year, we work, work, work, plan, plan, plan --we are the body.

Die, die, die —we re dying. What is wrong? What else can we possibly

d o ?

Help, we need help —to work, work, work, plan, plan, plan —it s allgot to be done or else it ll fa l l apart. W e are the body,

S T 0 P i I am the headi Come unto me a l l you who are heavy lad

en and I will give you rest . For yoke is easy and my burden is

l i gh t

I t seems tha t the Church members of Erdington need a new headship,ând

it has become our task to bring th i s body to the Head,

As wel l as evange l i ze .

m ;4cce*tti

I thought I had begun to gain i^n

e a r f o r th e B r i t i s h a c c e n t w h i l e i n

Coventry . Then I moved to Birming

ham - only 25 miles away. I have

l ea rned t h a t t he re i s no such t h ing

a s a u n i v e r s a l ritisha c c e n t .

It i s r ea l l y impossible to share

the broad Brummie (Birmingham) accent on paper, but I sha l l t ry with

these few w o r d s :

K . S . N e a l e

Bib (baby type)

Eigh t

T e a

A .

B .

Kye S. Nyle

b e e b

ahit

t u ^ y

a y e

bye

I 'm t o ld , regarding a l l the o the r

^ a c c e n t s in Grea t Br i t a i n , You a i n ' theard no th i n ' ye t .

Penny

B e v

InThe Beginning...Thu rs da y, O cto be r 28 . . . ,

Today 43 chi ldren showed up on

a co ld , r a iny af te rnoon and were

i n t r o d u c e d to J e s u s - s o m e o f t h em

fo r the f i r s t t ime . During two

packed hours , we t r i ed to share our

c o n c e r n f o r t h em a s i n d i v i d u a l s and

our knowledge o f Jesus as a l i v ing

person . Nearly a l l of them came

f rom n o n - C h r i s t i a n homes and we

sen t them away with an i nv i t a t i onto a new Sunday School , a Jesus

an d Me t i m e ,

Sunday, November 7 , , ,

This morning 17 i n t e res t ed ch i ld

ren between 5 and 12 years of age

came an d h e a r d a b o u t a real God w ho

in r e a l space and t ime c rea t ed a

r e a l world which was o r i g i na l l y per

f e c t , It was not about some myth-

(continued back page)



/

Vvfrom previous pagei c a l power who resides somewhere int h e u ni v er se o bl i v io us o f man, h i s

environment, h i s n e e d s .

t i s a small beginning, b u t it

i s a beginning, and we want t o u t

i l i z e t h i s precious one hour a weekto break down, with the t r u t h of

t h e Word, t h e i n h e r i t e d s c e p t i c i s m

of these kids

M i c h e ll e

** J a n e t Baines and B e v e r l y

j Mullins are going TO BE IN THE USA

f o r f o u r weeks immedia te ly a f t e r

NO EPISTLE NEXT MONTH

The E p i s t l e i s p ub lis he d e le ve n

times year ly . We take a break a t

Chris tmas t i m e . Well, n o t e x a c t

ly a break we're so busy witho u t r e a c h a t C h r i s t m a s t i m e t h a t we

j u s t d o n t th ink we should take

t h e t i m e .

So, we wish you a

HAPPY JESUSCHRISTMAS

VC h r i s t m a s .

a n d that J e s u s will b e t h e c e n t e r

o f your c e l e b r a t i o n .

ântt

Sowtn Htdnti

Non-Profit Bulk Rate

U.S. POSTAGE PAID

Lincoln, III. 62656

Permi t 76

EPISTLE FROM ENGLAND

Lincoln Christian Church

204 N. McLean Street

Lincoln, III. 62656

ERDIN6T N TEAM

29 Gnvilly iimeBlrmlnghim B23 5SB

ENBLAND

COVENTRY TEAM

49 Huntingdon Rd.

Coventry CV5 6PTENGLAND

AMERICAN CORRESPONOENT

M/M C. L. Divis

1010 N. Monroe Si.

Lincoln III 62656

U.S.A.Wuih

Penn^ WicUie

^Feai*^ M/e^warl

Documents

Epistles From England Team-1976-England