Flow Magazine – Issue 21 by The Message Trust

MESS AGE | 16 ISSUE 21 WINTER 20

The story of one of Britain’s most generous philanthropists FEATURING ADVENTURES WITH THE MESSAGE

’S NEW BO Y D

THE MAGAZINE OF THE

EXCLUS

P IV E

FROM A SPARE BEDROOM TO A

GLOBAL MOVEMENT Meet Dave and Shaina, part of our accelerating worldwide tribe

ANDY’S RANT

‘Go and make disciples...’ Dear friends, This year I’ve had the privilege of speaking at Exponential, the world’s largest church planting conference, both in the US and the UK. Alongside so many inspirational communicators and visionaries, the message that spoke to me the most came from a quiet Taiwanese missionary called Ying Kai. He and his wife Grace were planting churches among China’s unreached people and seeing some real success, planting three new churches a year, each filled with up to 200 new converts. However, in 2000, he and Grace went on a retreat and were gripped again by the great commission. Could it be that the key to mission was not a ‘come’ model – ‘come to my church, my meeting, invite your friends to hear the gospel…’ – but instead a ‘go’ model, taking unschooled, ordinary men and women, filling them with the Holy Spirit and sending them into all nations to make disciples who make disciples? When they returned from their retreat they completely changed their approach and focused all their efforts on training ordinary people to share their faith and to train others to do the same. They started with just a handful of rural farmers, but within months thousands had been won for Christ and hundreds of churches had been planted. Sixteen years later, they have seen over 2 million people baptised and tens of thousands of churches planted – wow! Here at The Message we are focusing even more of our efforts on training people through Message Academy (our year out course), ADVANCE (our viral evangelists’ network) and the follow-up discipleship groups that form such a crucial part of the Higher Tour. Join with us in praying that God will allow our work to continue to be multiplied for his glory, so that we too can touch the lives of millions. What a thought that is! Thanks for all your support.

Founder & CEO The Message Trust

Read more from Ying Kai on page 20 The Message Trust is a registered data user and only uses personal data in connection with its charitable purposes. Registered Office: Lancaster House, Lancaster Campus, Harper Road, Sharston, Manchester, M22 4RG. The Message Trust is a company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales No. 3961183 Registered Charity No. 1081467 VAT Registration No. GB 727 177616

IN THIS ISSUE

06 A global movement

Dave and Shaina Morgan are leading our first team in Canada. We update you on Message ministries around the globe

Editor Simon Baker Associate Editor Ian Rowbottom

14 Seek Me

An exclusive extract from Andy’s new book and how to get it

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Design & Illustration Simon Baker Hannah Beatrice Prittie Matthew Varah Wilson

Picture Editor Hannah Beatrice Prittie Additional Photography Rachael Silvester Contributors Peter Wooding Andy Hawthorne

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22 Transforming Hope

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prefer, we can send you a copy of Rosemary Lancaster’s book Give The Best Away, which includes her adventures with The Message Trust. Just tick the relevant box on the giving form.

OUR COMMITMENT TO THE ENVIRONMENT The paper used for Flow is manufactured using pulp sourced from sustainable sources from within Europe. It is 100% TCF (Totally Chlorine Free) and is manufactured to ISO14001 standards.

John Williams shares his story

Begin a new regular gift to The Message, Ying Kai or raise your existing20 monthly gift and we’ll A fresh as a special thank you sendlook youatathe great Me commission and what copy of Here I Am, Seek absolutely free 24 20 fill in the it means us today of charge. Simply givingfor form overleaf and we’ll send your copy out to you once we’ve processed your gift.

Giving E: giving@message.org.uk T: Tom Kinsey 0161 946 2328

Flow Magazine The Message Trust Lancaster House Harper Road Sharston Manchester M22 4RG Or, if you would www.message.org.uk/flow

18 Enable

Ruth’s incredible story of transformation

24 Clinging On

Andy Hawthorne on life’s rollercoaster RRP

26 25 Year Appeal £14.99

How your regular gift could change lives

BIG PICTURE

The scene from a new midweek evening service run by our Eden team in Easterside, Middlesbrough, which features a free meal, worship, a talk, group discussions and prayer ministry. It’s been well attended by the local community, including many who don’t yet know Jesus. What’s more is that every week we’re seeing people come to Christ – a beautiful example of disciples making disciples.

BIG PICTURE

‘Nothing else like it in Middlesbrough’

NEWS

AS WE APPROACH OUR 25TH YEAR, OUR WORK IS ACCELERATING LIKE NEVER BEFORE. CATCH UP WITH THE LATEST NEWS AND STORIES FROM THE UK AND BEYOND.

FROM A

SPARE BEDROOM GLOBAL MOVEMENT TO A

NEWS

n 2016 we have doubled our number of creative missions teams from four to eight. We’ve already seen DJ Galactus Jack join our existing line-up of bands BrightLine and Vital Signs, and now we’re about to launch two brand-new bands. Both will be trained and developed at our HQ in Manchester, before being sent to work in South Wales and the Midlands. After the amazing response to the gospel at the Higher Tour and the continuing discipleship work still happening throughout Manchester, we’re already making plans for three more in the next three years – in the Midlands, in South Wales and in Yorkshire. We’re also excited to launch a new issuesbased team which will work in schools in a similar way to Respect ME. Enable will reach out to young people with complex needs and serve to train and educate churches in ministry for disabled people.

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT ENABLE ON PAGE 18 Eden is accelerating too. We’re now launching teams at a rate of one per month, seeing even more underprivileged communities transformed through faithful demonstration and proclamation of the gospel. As we expand across the UK and beyond, it’s our Eden teams that lay the foundations for the expansion of the rest of our ministry. And our Enterprise Centre in Manchester is going from strength to strength, now supporting six small businesses with plans for more. We’re busy planning how we can use this model of Christ-centred enterprise providing hope for the unemployable in other locations across the UK and beyond. 7

NEWS

SINCE THE LAST EDITION OF FLOW WE’VE LAUNCHED TWO NEW MESSAGE UK HUBS IN THE MIDLANDS AND WEST LONDON, AND SEEN OUR EXISTING HUBS GROW BEYOND WHAT WE COULD HAVE IMAGINED.

SCOTLAND Our brand new Eden Bus arrived in Scotland in June, seeing nearly 2,000 young people visit in its first few weeks. Our second Eden team north of the border is due to lauch in Drumchapel, with a third planned for 2017. Plus, regular schools outreach is now taking place.

WALES In its first year, Message Wales has seen God do immeasurably more than could have been expected. With two Eden teams, an Eden Bus, vibrant schools ministry and burgeoning prisons work, our targets for the first year have been smashed. Message Wales Director Gary Smith comments, ‘We are delighted and excited by all we have seen, but in reality all it’s done has given us an appetite to see more. There really is much more to come!’

KEEP UP TO DATE WITH OUR WORK IN WALES BY VISITING MESSAGEWALES.ORG

NEWS

NORTH WEST Our HQ in Manchester continues to expand. This year’s Academy students arrived in September ready to be trained, equipped and released into mission. We’re busy developing two new bands, starting work on the conversion of a fourth Eden Bus and planning to launch three new Eden teams – in Rochdale, St Helens and Birkenhead. Our Eden teams have been impacting communities in the capital for years. But in September 2016, we launched our first hub in the south of England to develop the full Message package. Our West London hub is led by Jamie Sewell, who was leading our Eden team in Ladbroke Grove before sensing God was calling him to play a part in seeing Message ministries impact the whole region.

WEST LONDON Jamie reflects, ‘Mentoring, youth clubs and education each have a vital role to play. But we would be arrogant to think that it’s the strength of our programmes that changes lives. Only the transforming power of Jesus Christ can bring healing, restoration and grace to broken lives and communities in our city.’

MIDLANDS We’ve just opened our first office in the centre of Birmingham, with our efforts primarily focused on working with local churches to plan Higher Midlands, coming in Spring 2018. Off the back of Higher, we plan to see the full dynamic Message package released across the Midlands.

ARE YOU IN THE MIDLANDS? SAY HI TO OUR TEAM BY EMAILING MIDLANDS@MESSAGE.ORG.UK

NEWS

CANADA In October we launched Message Canada with a vision for schools and prisons ministry, enterprise and much more. Eden is as ever foundational to every Message hub, so we’ve already launched our first team in the suburb of Whalley in Greater Vancouver, led by Dave and Shaina Morgan.

DAVE & SHAINA’S STORY Carrying the wounds of hurt from his relationship with his father Dave found himself unable to kick a 22-year addiction to cocaine and alcohol and twice came close to killing someone. ‘There was so much anger in my life that I hired someone to kill my former motherin-law and I almost stabbed to death my ex-wife’s husband in a cocaine rage. Even

JOINING OUR WORK IN SOUTH AFRICA ARE TWO NEW INTERNATIONAL HUBS – MESSAGE CANADA AND MESSAGE KENYA

though I didn’t know it at the time, the Lord miraculously intervened on both occasions.’ The turning point in Dave’s life came when he was asked by a local church to help construct a wooden cross for their Easter service. ‘As I was hitting the cross with a hammer Jesus said to me, “You did this to me, but I did this for you.” I began to weep and at that moment I was healed of all those years of addiction and God called me to reach the lost who are on the margins of society. ‘I believe God wants to heal the people of Whalley and bring spiritual restoration. I’m a testament to that and I know Jesus can bring hope to anyone who is going through what I experienced.’ With a population of around 80,000 Whalley is the poorest suburb of Surrey, BC, with significantly high rates of prostitution, gang violence, drug addiction and homelessness.

FIND OUT MORE AT MESSAGECANADA.ORG

NEWS

SOUTH AFRICA We’re hearing story after story of transformation from our team in South Africa as they deliver creative ministry, Christcentred enterprise and community transformation projects. Here’s just one of the stories of a life transformed by Jesus.

MKHULULI’S STORY Mkhululi (MK for short) gave his life to Christ while in prison. Even before he was released, he had a vision to run a football project in his community, recognising that it was the lack of a father figure in his life that led to his involvement with gangs and crime. Seven years later, his vision has become a reality as part of Eden Nyanga. Through the new football project, MK is mentoring 16 boys, sharing his faith with them and planning to start regular Bible studies and life skills training.

FIND OUT MORE MESSAGE.ORG.ZA

KENYA Martha and Boaz Shidogo had planned to move to Cape Town to join Message South Africa. But God had other ideas for them, calling them to remain in their home city of Nairobi, Kenya, where they’ve been busy building relationships with local churches and mission organisations. They’re full of faith that The Message could bring hope to their city and their nation, so in partnership with Message South Africa, we plan to establish a new Message hub in Kenya in 2017.

NEWS

WE’RE NOT STOPPING THERE. NEXT YEAR IS OUR 25TH YEAR AND TO CELEBRATE WE’RE PLANNING SOME EXCITING EVENTS WHERE YOU CAN CELEBRATE WITH US.

MESSAGE 25 FUN RUN On 10 June 2017 we’ll be gathering for our biggest fun run ever in Buile Hill Park, Salford. There will be a 10k and a 5k route available on the day to suit your own running style.

MESSAGE CONFERENCE Join us on 17-18 November 2017 in Manchester for our first ever Message Conference – exploring evangelism, community transformation, creative mission, Christ-centred enterprise and more. We’ll be joined by Luis Palau and Danielle Strickland with more speakers, practitioners and guest worship leaders to be announced. What’s more, if you book before 1 January 2017, you’ll get the best price for tickets – just £40 for both days.

FIND OUT MORE AT MESSAGE.ORG.UK/25-FUN-RUN

Give The Best Away

FIND OUT MORE AND BOOK YOUR PLACE: MESSAGE.ORG.UK/CONFERENCE Tu rn Get to y pa our ge co 26 py to for fin fre d o e! ut mo

The story of one of Britain’s most generous philanthropists The inspiring rags-to-riches story of Rosemary Lancaster featuring her adventures with The Message Trust

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'Truly inspirational' ANDY HAWTHORNE

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LEAD FEATURE

HERE I AM, SEEK ME In this exclusive extract from his new book Here I Am, Seek Me, Andy reflects on how our journey through Isaiah has shaped our priorities

Introduction t The Message we make no apology for the amount of work time we spend in worship and prayer. It’s not just our monthly Prayer Days – every day starts with at least half an hour set aside to sing and pray. It’s part, I believe, of what makes The Message what it is. On Tuesdays, we gather the whole team for worship and prayer and one of the Message leadership team usually shares from the Bible. Over the last threeand-a-half years, whenever I’ve spoken on a Tuesday morning, I’ve been chugging my way through the amazing book of Isaiah. And it’s stunning to look back over what God has done in and through us in that time. Among other things, we’ve launched 12 new Eden teams; put together two new bands; stepped up our prisons work and launched the Message Enterprise Centre to provide work, homes and supportive community to some of our region’s most troubled young men and women who have come to Christ. We’ve stepped out with new Message ministries in the Midlands, Wales and Scotland. We’ve launched the Higher Tour, the most ambitious youth mission in the UK for a generation. And we’ve opened our first international hub in South Africa which is now delivering the full transformational ‘Message package’ in prisons, schools and tough communities around Cape Town. You can read more about all these things in the following pages. About a couple of years into our Isaiah journey, I got a phone call from my friend John Bunjo who, as well as pastoring

his own church in Uganda, oversees a major prayer movement and network of churches bringing transformation amongst the poorest of the poor. He is also a guy who, I know from my own experience, really hears the Lord. The phone call was to let me know that he was coming to the UK – he had been fasting and praying and really believed that he had a word from the Lord for us. So, full of expectancy, a few days later I gathered the team and John let loose on us.

‘He said that Isaiah 60 would be very important – saying, “Get ready to arise and shine for the glory of the Lord is upon you!”’ His words stopped me in my tracks. In short, he said that everything was about to go to the next level for The Message. He prophesied that we were about to enter a tremendous ‘season of open doors’ (and over the next few weeks, I received exactly the same word from other people I respect four more times). He also said that Isaiah 60 would be very important – saying, ‘Get ready to arise and shine for the glory of the Lord is upon you!’ Finally, he said, ‘You, Andy, need to get away and seek the Lord over all of this’. I have to confess that my heart sank a little on hearing this, knowing that John was probably thinking about a full 21 days of fasting and prayer in the desert, and that when I looked at my diary I would probably struggle to find a spare day in 15

LEAD FEATURE

THE SEQUEL TO HERE I AM, SEND ME

LEAD FEATURE

the following few weeks. But with some juggling, I managed to find a couple of days and set off for a short retreat in the Lake District. On the way up the motorway I listened to a talk called ‘Keeping Your Vision Hot’ in the car, from my friend Paul Hallam, the irrepressible leader of Lighthouse Church in Manchester. I was so encouraged that his whole talk was based on – guess what? – Isaiah 60 and so much of it seemed immensely relevant to where we were at with The Message.

‘In the time it took me to teach through Isaiah week-by-week so much happened in the life of The Message’ During the day I walked in the hills, talking to the Lord, then came back to my hotel room and knelt down by my bed to read the Bible. I was planning to read from the book of Romans as this was where I had been studying, but as I placed my Bible on the bed it fell open to – guess where? – Isaiah 60! In the following few hours I had what can only be described as an extraordinary time with the Lord in his Word. It was as if the past 26 years of The Message was unfolding before me… ‘Arise, shine, for your light has come…’ as John Bunjo had already said. ‘The righteousness of your cause will shine like the noonday sun…’ – This was one of our touchstone scriptures since the beginning of The Message.

‘The least will become a thousand, the smallest a mighty nation...’ – Our heartbeat as a movement from the very beginning. ‘They are the shoot I have planted, the work of my hands for the display of my splendour…’ – again, right at the start of The Message, God spoke to me through Isaiah 43 in particular promising that the wild animals (a good description for some of the young people we were working with) would come to honour him. ‘Those I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise…’ – it was all brilliantly encouraging stuff. As I prayed these words back to the Lord, I was particularly drawn to Isaiah 60 verse 4 – ‘Lift your eyes and look about you, all assemble…’ I felt like the Lord was saying it was time to ‘go big again’ – in other words, to book some big venues, put the lamp on a stand and preach the gospel loud and clear. Of course it’s not like that’s anything new for us. The Message has always been well known for bold, ‘big stage’ evangelism, right back to the days of The World Wide Message Tribe and even before that. But I wonder if it’s fair to say that for the last few years we’d been concentrating our attention mostly on grassroots work, reaching the hardest to reach young people with Eden and our incarnational work with prisoners and ex-offenders. I clearly felt God saying it was time to shift the balance back, and it was on the back of this that the vision for the Higher Tour was developed. We plan to travel the length and breadth of the country, praying hard and preaching the good news, believing for a culture-changing number of new disciples – you can read all about it in Chapter 7. The other thing

‘The only hope we have of serving the Lord is because he invited us to change the world for good on his behalf ’ This is the second book I’ve written on Isaiah. The first one which also included many ‘only God’ testimonies was called Here I Am, Send Me. As I prepared the material for this book, it hit me afresh that the only hope we have of serving the Lord and saying ‘here I am, send me’ is because he took the initiative in the first place and invited us to change the world for good on his behalf. Hence the title of this new book, Here I Am, Seek Me. I love Isaiah 58, particularly as the Lord promises that if we will get off our own agenda and be concerned with the things that are on his heart – the least, last and

Get your copy for free! As a special thank you, we’re giving away a free copy of the book to everyone who signs up as a new regular supporter of The Message. Turn to page 26 to find out more about setting up a regular gift. Or it’s available now for £7.99 (FREE P&P) from our website: message.org.uk/shop

lost – then ‘our light really will break forth’ and our ‘healing will quickly come’ (v.8). The Lord himself will say ‘Here I am’ when that happens in and through ordinary people like us, and the world won’t know what hit it. In the time it took me to teach through Isaiah week-by-week so much happened in the life of The Message. God has been so good. We began working in Scotland, Wales and the Midlands – and South Africa! We got four new Eden buses on the road. We launched Edens in Latchford, Parkhead, Partington, Shoreditch, Southwick, Tremorfa, Walsall, Weoley Castle and Wyrley Birch – not to mention Salt River, Pelican Park and Nyanga in South Africa. We trained and commissioned two new bands BrightLine and Vital Signs, both of whom have already won loads of souls for Jesus. Four years ago we hadn’t even thought about The Message Enterprise Centre. And we certainly hadn’t dreamt we’d be doing The Higher Tour. I hope this book encourages you to seek the Lord for the things that are on his heart, and to expect greater things as you go in his name.

LEAD FEATURE

I sensed the Lord saying during this time away was that as much as I would love to, I wasn’t to be the main preacher at any of these large events. The best thing I could do was to train and mentor a bunch of multiplying, younger evangelists – hence the ADVANCE evangelists network.

TESTIMONY

was born eight weeks premature with cerebral palsy. My mother was told that I wouldn’t be able to walk or talk, that I would be wheelchair bound and looked after by the state for the rest of my life – basically, that I wouldn’t amount to much. Thankfully my mum didn’t accept those recommendations. She had just become a Christian and felt God say not to agree with this and that I would grow up living a full life. When I was three, I had a number of operations to stretch and correct the tendons in my right foot. I took my first steps at the age of five. I also had difficulty with my speech – I could only say the words ‘mama’ or ‘papa’ – and I had a stutter that meant I struggled to string sentences together until I was six. As a result of this I needed years of physiotherapy and speech therapy. I remember getting my first bike for my birthday and not being able to hold the handlebars because I couldn’t straighten my right arm (something I didn’t manage until I was nine, thanks to years of therapy, encouragement and prayers). I was the only pupil with a physical disability at my high school and I soon became a target of persistent and hurtful verbal abuse. I always attended church with my mum during my childhood, but didn’t really have a relationship with Jesus. However, before I went to college, I prayed to God: ‘Do I believe what people have spoken over my life? Are you real, God? ’ I felt God show me a Bible passage for the first time: ‘“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”’ – Jeremiah 29:11 From that day on I started to believe in myself and no longer accepted the 18

John Williams shares the remarkable story that led him to launch Enable, our latest creative mission team, which will empower children and young people with complex needs

Overco

Enab oth

negative words people spoke over me. When I experienced discrimination at college, I didn’t give up. At 18 my dream was to get married, have kids and get a job that helped me to support them. By the age of 33, all that had become a reality. I was married with a child and part of a management team for a wholesale company. But I started to think – is this it for my life? I was working long hours and involved in ministry at my church in Wigan, but I began to wonder, ‘could I help people with disabilities find God for themselves?’

TESTIMONY

Over the next few months I plan to start sharing my story in special needs schools. Some teachers have already invited me into their schools to do this. I’ll also work practically with churches, enabling them to provide for people with complex needs by using braille Bibles and sign language, for example. There’s also a need to train staff and volunteers in churches to be more aware of people with mental health issues or unseen physical disabilities and to know the right way to support them.

oming

able hers

In the midst of a busy life, I didn’t have time to develop my thinking – until two years later when I joined The Message Trust as part of the fundraising team. I had no fundraising experience, but it felt like a door that God had opened for me. I remember Andy Hawthorne talking about his desire to allow people the space to think and dream big. One day I was on a prayer walk and God gave me the word enable. I felt like those quiet thoughts from across the years all pointed to one thing: I wanted to enable people with complex needs to encounter Jesus. And so Enable was born!

‘I began to wonder, could I help people with disabilities find God for themselves?’ I want to help people understand the challenges faced by disabled people and address the stigma around the word ‘disability’. It’s so important to encourage young people to reject negative words spoken over them, and instead know that God says no-one is a mistake. Everyone is born for a purpose. I’m praying for many to stand with us and support Enable, so that with God’s help we can see a culture shift in the way young people feel about themselves. I know that God has his hands on this. I am able to spend more quality time with my beautiful family, more time at my home church and work towards a vision that truly makes me come alive.

DISCOVER HOW YOU COULD PARTNER WITH ENABLE AT

message.org.uk/enable 19

TEACHING

Multiplying disciples With his wife Grace, Ying Kai was seeing success planting churches in Hong Kong. However, he shares how taking the Great Commission seriously completely transformed their approach to sharing the gospel.

t might sound obvious, but I’ve come to realise that the best strategy for sharing the gospel is Jesus’ Great Commission. We all know the words – I memorised it as a child. But are we actually taking those words seriously? Here are five key points that radically changed how I share the gospel.

Jesus says, ‘Go’

As the church, we often just say, ‘come’. When I pastored a Chinese church, every week I would tell our congregation, ‘Bring your friends! Tell people to come to our services!’ But how difficult it can be to invite people to church. Jesus didn’t say, ‘Tell people to come’, he said ‘go’! If someone doesn’t realise they’re lost, 20

they’ll never look for a way home. We have to be the ones to go to the lost and meet them where they are.

Jesus sends us to all nations

Do you choose who to share the gospel with? We used to go out to share the gospel and think, ‘He looks friendly, I’ll give this to him’. But how many people might we have passed over because we didn’t like the look of them? Jesus tells us to share with everybody, don’t pick and choose.

It’s all about making disciples

Jesus doesn’t ask us to make followers, church members or people who just call themselves a Christian. What does it

‘When we started allowing the Great Commission to define our ministry back in the year 2000, we never imagined how powerfully God would use us’ Baptising them

TEACHING

mean to be a disciple? Disciples learn from their master, until they in turn are able to teach other people. Jesus tells us to train trainers – disciples who make disciples. True discipleship doesn’t just involve sharing knowledge, but seeing disciples multiply into even more disciples as they share the gospel too.

are too many people to share the good news with and we worry that we don’t know what to share. Let’s make it simple: Make a list of people you know who don’t know Jesus. Pray for each of them every day and commit to sharing the gospel with them when you see them. Work out your story. Keep it simple – talk about your life before you met Jesus, how you met him, and what your life is like now. It doesn’t need to be any more complicated than that! Practise sharing your story with a friend. It will make all the difference. When we started allowing the Great Commission to define our ministry back in the year 2000, we never imagined how powerfully God would use us. He wants to use you powerfully too. Don’t let anything hold you back – he promises to be with you, always.

Baptism is a way of publicly sharing your own story of God’s love. In so many places – even in some hospitals and universities – we are not allowed to share the good news about Jesus. But it is always possible to share your own story. The Great Commission teaches us that sharing stories goes hand-in-hand with making disciples.

Obedience makes all the difference

This part is very simple. We must obey what Jesus tells us to do and teach others to obey him too. But we don’t obey blindly or without reassurance – his great promise to us is that ‘surely I am with you always’. So what next? I’ve come to realise that it’s all too easy for us to overcomplicate sharing the gospel. We worry that there

Ying and Grace with Andy and Carl

Listen to the full Talk online: Message.org.uk 21

TESTIMONY

Transforming

hope

Ruth works in the Mess CafĂŠ at the Message Enterprise Centre. She first came to work with us while still serving a prison sentence. Following a very dark time in her life one of our prisons teams played a key part in Ruthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s journey of transformation. She shares how God restored her life.

Officers noticed such a change in me they moved me to an open unit in the prison. They offered me an opportunity to work at the Message Enterprise Centre on day release. I was flabbergasted. For someone to put their trust in me gave me such a sense of hope.

I got my life back on track for a while and graduated from Manchester University with a degree in criminology. But after having another child my life went out of control again. I ended up in an alcohol dependent relationship, which led to me going to prison for a wounding offence. I had been in a dark place – angry, confused and lost, but all of that began to change on the first morning when I met the prison chaplain who gave me a New Testament. The first scripture I turned to was Matthew 11:28: ‘“Come to me, all you who are weary…”.’ I thought, that’s me. That night I repented. I said sorry for everything I’d done and asked God to forgive me if he loved me. Then I went to sleep. The next morning, I felt really calm. I started going to chapel where I met Natalie, who was part of the Message prisons team. I joined the Bible study group because I had so many questions about how to have God’s peace and freedom. For the first eight weeks I was in a single cell and I absolutely devoured the New Testament. I stopped swearing and smoking. My whole attitude changed. There was still a lot of hurt and fear but I learnt that I could give it all to God. I realised how much he loves me and it completely changed me. I’d been broken and now God was rebuilding me.

‘I’m so grateful for this opportunity to show that I’m not just another statistic’ When I was released from prison I was amazed to be offered a full-time job at the MEC. I have been able to support others going through similar experiences to myself. I’m so grateful for this opportunity to show that I’m not just another statistic or another offender. God has now restored my family life – it’s better than it has ever been. I’m back with my husband after he saw how much I’d changed. My daughter is stunned that she’s got a mum and she trusts me again. When I left she was 8 years old – she’s now 18 and we’ve got a really good relationship. God has completely turned my life around and I thank him for it every day.

WHAT NEXT? Pray for Ruth as she shares her story in prison. If you’re in Manchester, come and say ‘hello’ at the Mess Café.

TESTIMONY

was brought up in Manchester in quite a dysfunctional family. My parents split up when we were very young and for many years I was physically abused by my mum, who was an alcoholic. When I reached my early teens I turned to hard-core raving to escape the pain. I went from being addicted to ecstasy to alcohol. Years later it was my addiction that led to the breakdown of my family. I lost my husband and my three children.

TEACHING

Clinging on for dear life How do we deal with the massive highs and lows of kingdom breakthroughs? Andy Hawthorne reflects… t’s often been said that life is a roller coaster. This is certainly what we’ve been seeing here at The Message over the last few months. We’ve been hearing about our own missions teams and friends of The Message seeing amazing stories of mass salvations, not just here in the UK but around the world. At the same time, we’ve been experiencing illness, tragic death and financial pressure.

I told him, ‘life is such a roller coaster and sometimes I feel like going back to selling braces.’ I didn’t really mean it, but this is what Michael (who’s a lot cleverer than me) replied: It seems to me that a life of any purpose on the earth is likely to be a roller coaster; the only difference with being a Christian is that it’s a wilder ride, having a spiritual dimension as well (eat your heart out, Alton Towers). As you imply viz-a-viz selling braces, the only alternative life on offer ( for now) would be one of those little kiddie rides you can also get at the fairground, where you sit on the tiny pointless train and go round and round. This, one has to admit, can seem quite pleasant from time to time, and maybe the Lord in His grace will offer you such an interval whilst He stands lovingly watching you trundle by waving, holding your baggage and of course paying for the ride. But, like all His children, I suspect you are the sort who quickly gets bored. In Mark 1 we see how Jesus endures the highs and lows of living on the cutting edge of God’s purposes. As he’s baptised, Jesus has an incredible power encounter. When he comes out of the water the Spirit descends of him like a dove. But then the very next verse says:

TEACHING

About 15 years ago when things were similarly tough, I even for a moment considered going back to my first career selling fashion accessories. I wrote to my brother Michael, who was then a missionary in South Sudan. He was living in a mud hut with no electricity and no running water, but I managed to get an email through to him.

‘It seems to me that a life of any purpose on the earth is likely to be a roller coaster’ At once the Spirit sent him into the desert where he was tested and tempted for forty days. Satan put him through the ringer for six weeks and tried to undermine everything he knew about the Father. Yet Jesus stood the test and in Luke 4 we read that he came out of the desert ‘in the power of the Spirit’. Then, before you know it, he’s on another down when he gets the news that his best friend John the Baptist has been arrested and is on death row. Shortly afterwards Jesus hears that he’s has been beheaded. Despite all this he refuses to give up. It’s this kind of pressure that makes people shrink back and say, ‘This is too hard.’ There is a choice for us all to make. We can be on the little kiddie ride in our little world of just living small or we can experience the massive highs of kingdom breakthroughs and the massive lows of the ferocious satanic opposition that goes with it. Will you choose to stay on the roller coaster today?

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