THE MINISTRY

The Powerful Love of God

by Daniel Stanley

After fifteen years of drug addiction, and numerous violent occasions, I should have died by now… but God saved me. He used people to help me get clean and, as the weight of my addiction brought me to my knees, I said the Lord’s Prayer. I felt the presence of the Holy Spirit come upon me and remove this demon from me, and I haven’t touched a drink or used a drug since.

That was over 11 years ago.

Throughout my path of recovery, I was unknowingly led into the occult, and ended up in places that claimed to be of God but I now know had been misled by the enemy. By following these religions and different paths, I became very disheartened and disillusioned with God, as they didn’t sit right with me, and the presence of the Holy Spirit was not there.

Unbeknown to me, I had been carrying a sickness in my body for many years. I assumed this was because I had been abusing and neglecting myself with drugs. As I started to get clean, I noticed this sickness wasn’t going; in fact, it started to get progressively worse. I think this was because I had been in some places, which I now believe were of the enemy. The Bible says the devil presents himself as an angel of light. I saw many doctors,, spent thousands of pounds, and tried various things - herbalists, yoga, meditation, veganism, taking supplements… all sorts of things, but nothing worked.

A Christian pastor friend of mine told me my sickness was spiritual and that I needed Jesus. My previous seeking had left me feeling disillusioned, but I was so desperate that I walked into a church and the pastor said: “You have been waiting for this appointment for a long time. You have seen many doctors, and you have now come to see the Great Physician!” Pastors started to pray over me, and I started vomiting violently. The sickness had loosened but it hadn’t left.

When I came into ECC, Pastor Rajinder and one of the elders prayed for me, and the Holy Spirit came upon me powerfully; I couldn’t move or speak, I was frozen to the spot. I came to the Revival & Healing meeting whenever it was on, and every time, I was again touched by the Holy Spirit. My faith started to grow. I started to study the Bible with someone from ECC, who also prayed for me. Each time, I was moved by the Holy Spirit, and my strength started to improve. I was being released from this spirit of sickness that had been holding me prisoner for many years.

One night, I was praying - as I had been taught to do – and engaged in spiritual warfare against demons. I just started being sick, and some very unpleasant things happened, but since then, the sickness has gone. I have been healed by the blood of Jesus. After my decision to make Jesus my Lord and Saviour, I was baptised in water.

I was spiritually blind but God’s love to save me was there all along, even when I was living in the worst manner of sin.

Jesus’ love has made me cry, as I have never known a love and power like this before. I look back and can see the enemy’s various traps and curses he tried to place upon me and lure me into, and I see that Jesus has intervened and stopped the enemy’s plans from prospering. As my God tells me: no weapon formed against me shall prosper!

I know I need to put on the full armour of God to win the battle. The Christ who is in me is greater than the Devil, who is under my feet. As for me and my church, we stamp on scorpions and serpents, in the mighty Name of Jesus Christ. Amen!

Because every fifteen minutes in the UK, a child will come into care

Fostering and Adoption Champion “ My name is Olivia Baiden, and I am grateful to God that He chose me and showed me grace, love and compassion when I was still an atheist. My identity is in Christ; nevertheless, prior to being adopted into the family of God, I was an orphan.

I was left in an orphanage soon after I was born, and was adopted at three months old. Being a mother myself of two daughters, I just cannot imagine the pain my own mother must have endured: carrying me for nine months; feeling the kicks and movements while she was pregnant with me… Every time my girls kicked, I was so excited.

I was born in Cali in Colombia - a beautiful country, but is sadly known for the drugs wars between gangs. My birth mother found the strength to let me go, so I could have a better life.

I have always wanted to adopt, but adoption is not a decision to be taken lightly... Children need reassurance; they need to feel that both parents really want to adopt them. If both parents are on the same page, though, and want to adopt, that is great.

Don’t allow your fears to get in the way. It’s normal for adopted children to look for their birth parents. I looked for my birth mother, and still love my adoptive mum.

Not every child is meant to be raised by their birth family, and there is nothing wrong with that. Home for Good is a Charity that is dear to my heart - not only because of adoption, but also because they are standing on the promises of God, and that is why I decided I would like to become a Fostering/ Adoption Champion for Ealing Christian Centre (ECC).

This simply means that I provide a link between Home for Good and information to ECC, so that people have the information they need to consider fostering and adoption.

Sharon Grant (Assistant for Pastoral Care at ECC) and I were introduced to Rachel Maclure (who heads up Home for Good in London) and Sarah Geake (a foster carer). We also invited Michelle

PICTURE: Olivia (on the right) with Rachel Maclure, and (below left) the new book by Home For Good founder and director, Dr Krish Kandiah

from the Ealing Fostering and Adoption Team in November 2019 to celebrate Adoption/Fostering Sunday. O livia Baiden, our new Fostering and Adoption Champion, has shared her story, passion, motivation and desire to support those who are considering, or families who have already opened their homes and lives to children and young people. ”

As a church, we fully support Olivia as our new Fostering/ Adoption Champion, and we pray that God will continue to bless her as she begins her new role. ECC will be hosting the Home for Good Foundation Course, which is for anyone who wants to further explore fostering and adoption. This is a free course but you will need to register, as we can only accept a limited number of people. The course will be run on the following dates: Thursday 30th April from 7.15pm to 9.15pm Thursday 7th, 14th and 21st May from 7.15pm to 9.15pm, and Saturday 13th June from 9.30am to 2pm If you would like to know more about Home for Good, please visit https://homeforgood.org.uk/. To book your place on the course, or to speak to Olivia or Sharon, please contact the ECC church office on 020 8840 7508 or email sg@ecc.org.uk.

Pure and undefiled religion before God, the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. James 1:27