In Depth:  testimony

updates from the mission field

Baptisms are always a special time in any church but on this occasion my wife and I had special reason to rejoice. As Min shared her testimony before the congregation we found out that we had been a very small part of her journey to Christ.

Min (not her real name) came to the UK as a student with her young family and moved into some apartments near our inner city church. She comes from a country where there is no religious freedom and had never encountered Christianity before.

Josh Williamson

It was the end of a long day. As the night deepened, all members of the family were tucked up in bed. Then my wife decided to go and get a drink of water from the kitchen. As I lay in bed, drifting off, I heard a scream – a scream that spoke of an intruder in the house: an intruder with a long tail, little ears, whiskers, and a small nose… a mouse!

At the time, I didn’t know this late-night visitor would set off an evangelistic encounter. All I could think about was, "How do I get rid of this mouse?"

Adrian Warnock

The headlines of the story are well-known.

A rebellious youth. Pressganged into the Royal Navy. Whipped after an attempted desertion. Swapped onto a ship on its way to pick up slaves. Enslaved, himself, in Africa. Rescued by a captain friend of his father’s only to almost die in a storm on the way home. So far from God that his fellow sailors thought that he, like Jonah, had brought the wrath of God down on them.

scattering seeds of hope

Sharon Coates

I first met Lily 17 years ago when she joined our toddler group. We chatted occasionally, and her children took part in our church's kids clubs and activities. Over time, we lost touch except through Facebook. I had no idea then that the safe space we offered - through friendship and community - would later become a vital part of Lily’s spiritual journey. It’s a beautiful reminder that God is always at work, even when we don’t see it. I’ll let Lily share the rest in her own words.

Lily's story *

I was raised within the Catholic Church, and often felt confused and unworthy. As a child, I was told that being born to unmarried parents made me a product of sin and destined for hell. That message of shame and fear shaped my early view of God. Church became a place of kneeling, confessing, and never feeling forgiven. That sense of never being “good enough” drove me away from both church and God altogether.