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Hello Friends,
The New Arrival
Most of you by now have probably heard the great news about the safe
arrival of our new baby boy called Noah. He surprised us all by coming 4
weeks earlier than expected and after a few minor complications, with
his breathing at the start, Noah is now doing great. His favourite
things at the minute are sleeping and eating.
I know many of you prayed for us over the first few days of Noah’s life
and can I just take this opportunity to thank you. Also a big thank you
to all of you who have bought Noah such wonderful gifts. Your generosity
has been amazing!
The Big Move
However I’m writing this short letter to let you all know about other
exciting events that some of you may not have heard about yet. At the
end of May Stacey, Noah and I are making a big move. We are moving to
Dagenham, East London, to serve the Lord in a full time capacity at
Dagenham Congregational Church in a pastoral/missionary role. At present
this is a small church with around 6 attendees. However it is located at
the heart of a massive community where there is great potential for the
good news about Jesus Christ. As most of you know, Aaron Flanagan has
been the official pastor at Dagenham for the past year now. This is on
top of being pastor south of the River Thames at Woolwich Congregational
Church. His main role over the past year has been to lift the profile of
the Dagenham church within the EFCC and gain support for a new pastor.
That he has done and in December of this year the church issued an
official call to Stacey and I. We accepted wholeheartedly!
With regard to the move we have investigated the cost of using a moving
company and this has proven to be quite expensive. Therefore we are
planning to do the move by ourselves. If any of you can help in a
practical way and have access to a good moving van, or know of any good
contacts, don’t hesitate to come and chat to me.
The Past Year
The story of how God has worked in our lives over the past year to bring
us both to this point is difficult to convey in a short letter. When I
became a Christian at 15 God really did change my heart. I had these new
desires to do what God wanted me to do with my life. Because of
everything God had done for me through the death of His Son on the cross
I no longer wanted to just live my life for me, but instead for Jesus
Christ. I remember when I started my job in 2002 after university
thinking that surely I would only be working for a year and then God
would call me. God had different plans. Stacey and I got married in 2005
and both of us had a desire to do what God wanted us to do. We were both
open to God’s guiding.
Aaron phoned us one night last year to find out how preparation for the
Ukraine team was going. We chatted about the team and he mentioned how
the work was going in Dagenham and Woolwich. In particular he mentioned
that the people in Dagenham were praying that God would raise up someone
to come and help in Dagenham. From that time on we found that Dagenham
was very much in our thoughts and prayers. Whenever we heard or read
God’s Word it would be speaking to us about the situation in Dagenham.
One Sunday morning (14th May) Rev. Lewis was speaking from 2 Kings 13:
14-21 about the once in a lifetime opportunity that God gave to young
King Jehoash. He missed that opportunity due to a lack of faith and
enthusiasm. All through the service Dagenham was on my heart. Then the
pastor said something that jumped out at me…it went a bit like this,
‘I believe God has a perfect plan for each of His children. Yet it is
the responsibility of each of us to find out what that plan is and
fulfil it’
He spoke of people he knew, some who had even been close to him, whom
God had given the opportunity to step out and do something for Him but
they hadn’t – they missed out. At the end he stressed how we can’t
simply drift along through life but have to actively find out what God’s
will is for our lives and do it. In church that night the reading was
from Acts 16:1-15. Paul’s call to Macedonia grabbed my attention, ‘Come
over to Macedonia and help us’ (v.9). After that Sunday we couldn’t
dodge the question any longer – ‘Does God want us to go to Dagenham?’
We sought some good advice and a few nights later took the step and
phoned Aaron to tell him what had been happening. What Aaron told me
next left me slightly speechless. He had been praying much about
Dagenham and whenever he was due back in Northern Ireland that August he
was intending to come and see us and challenge us about coming and
serving God full time in Dagenham. And from that night on the
opportunity / the door has stayed open to us. We have met the church
several times since that night and are starting to build up good
relationships with the members. Pray that as we start in June God would
continue to build up these relationships and use us to bless the people
in Dagenham.
I was recently over in London for a Bible College interview and that
went really well. In September I am starting a two-year part time course
at a Bible College in the centre of London. A typical week for me will
consist of 2 days at Bible College and the rest working in the church.
However before all that begins we are planning on have a 10-day summer
evangelism team. This team will really enable the church to reach out
into the community in a way that I could never do over that short space
of time on my own. I would really value your prayers for this outreach.
It is taking place from 21st July- 30th July. If God would lay it on
your heart to be involved in this don’t hesitate to come and chat to me.
The Great Challenge
We were asked in the Bible College Application recently, ‘If you had
complete freedom of choice, and failure was not an issue, what would you
most like to achieve in your life time?
We wrote, ‘To be used as God’s instrument to see a God glorifying,
Christ centred, Prayer fuelled, Bible based, Mission focused, Disciple
making, Life changing Ministry established in Dagenham that will impact
a community, a capital, a nation and the world with the Good News about
Jesus Christ and see tens of thousands come to find a personal
relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ.’
Right at the start we just want to give God all the credit and glory for
everything He will do in us and through us. We are looking to Him with
expectant hearts. We invite you to stand with us as we step out to
undertake this great challenge.
Yours sincerely,
Chris, Stacey & Noah |
