Swallowbeck Church Lincoln  24th to 30th November 2014
 

Richard Scott reports:

Ian Silk is a vicar in Lincoln and, until recently, a TFM trustee. As a minister he has organised several parish missions in the past few years and while as a walker he is aware of how we work and what we can offer.  Putting the two together, under the umbrella of 24/7 prayer, a small team of 8 TFM-ers undertook a 6 day mission at Ian's church in Swallowbeck Lincoln.

Ian’s plan was to combine door to door visiting, especially in the northern part of his parish, with evening events led by a variety of visiting speakers. Two speakers were invited from Maasailand in Kenya. David Kereto is known to many at TFM who have worked under him abroad. David has a remarkable testimony, the first half of which is featured in the January 2015 TFM newsletter. His sidekick, Bishop Ben, also spoke on the work at the developing Rescue Centre in Narok for girls fleeing forced marriage and FGM. A reminder, if any was needed, of how the Church steps up in times of extreme need.

Daniel did a night of colour. Three women sat in the front row. Ian and others had prayed them in, seen them come and then hoped they’d respond. All three did!  We had a Hot Potato evening at which Sheila Hughes and myself joined Bishop Ben and Ian’s curate, James on the panel.  A ladies’ evening, mens’ breakfast and Sunday preaching completed the main events.

How did we get on?  I would have to say the week spawned mixed results. Certainly the ground was tough, with statistics showing poor levels of faith compared to elsewhere in the country, both at the beginning and at the end of the survey. And whilst we’d have liked more fruit, God came through with a dozen conversions, including Daniel’s three.


 

Learning points :

1)      Listen to the Holy Spirit and be prepared to change your approach. Philip Morrison and myself spoke to a man and his wife for an hour in their kitchen before Philip changed tack. After they’d both received the Good News, Philip felt compelled to warn the man that it is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God and not to harden his heart. Shocked, he responded to my suggestion to pray for more faith. As I was walking away, feeling we’d got as far as possible, God intervened by answering my prayer! The man shouted at me to return, for he wanted me to go through the little green book (KGP). He then prayed the prayer.   

2)      Churches must advertise missions more in advance.  Whilst we gave out many fliers during the week concerning evening events, it is too late to rely on this approach during the mission itself.