I was reading scripture this morning, in the quietness of an upper room in an old Church here in Ealing. A room that has been my writing atrium for a few years now. It has nothing in it but a chair and a table. No distractions whatsoever.
I'll be sad to leave this place.
The scripture?
Genesis 12.
It depicts the call of Abram.
The very first verse says, The Lord had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your Fathers household and go to the land I will show you."
In the bare quietness of my writing room, my mind shares pictures of the years of my Officership in the Salvation Army.
Particularly the last five years here at Ealing.
God has showed me the land guys.
We have been blessed to have been used to create new projects and to revive some dying Corps along the way.
Here at Ealing we were appointed as West London Development Officers to try and stem the amazing decline of the SA in West London.
Ealing itself was on the brink of extinction.
I go back to my first Sunday meeting at Ealing.
I was feeling lost as I was about to deliver my first sermon there.
Dawn and I as many of you know are not traditional Salvationists in any way.
I was dramatically rescued by God from the clutches of Salvation Army traditionalism when I got saved.
I looked out as I stood noteless and ready to deliver what the Holy Spirit would have me say that morning, the defiant posture of the death grip of the bad side of tradition sat before me. They were in serious 'bless me if you can' mode.
I felt the spirit of God ask me to say nothing.
I simply put a picture of Jesus up on the screen.
And
Sat down.
I guess you can imagine the uncomfortable moments that followed.
But I guess God was making the simple point that everything is all about Him.
A lady came up to me after the service and said these very words.
"Captain, (which I hated anyway! My name is Gary!) We don't want Jesus in here! We just want to be the Salvation Army. We don't want any of that spiritual stuff."
Well?
You can imagine my shock.
I was so shocked it made me laugh.
I gently asked her if she would help me to understand what she had just said.
I knew then.
I just knew
That the Lord was asking us to make some very tough decisions and some very drastic changes to this Corps, which had the death rattle and was heading into oblivion.
So some big decisions were made.
I don't want to dwell there, but I want to speak about what the Lord did from there on.
Nearly the whole of the remaining congregation at Ealing transferred to another Corps.
Which left us virtually with a blank sheet!
Prayer has always been the lifeblood of our ministry so we started to pray.
Furiously.
We had nothing left.
So God gave us a simple plan.
Of course we had experienced his miracles in our previous appointments in Liverpool where the amazing Liverpool Boiler Room happened, and in Sacriston and Durham where we saw growth like nowhere else.
We planted and developed Sanctuary 21.
We helped God turn around another struggling Corps in Sacriston.
So we had previous!
But here?
It had to be God's simple but devastatingly brilliant strategy.
That strategy had three elements. Pray and teach others to pray, build solid relationships showing total love, acceptance and compassion to everybody, and in this case get the doors of the Church open.
The doors of this Corps were shut most days accept for Sunday and few hours in the week.
Sounds a bit flimsy.
But it is the strategy God will use no matter what any Church Planting strategy manual will tell you.
So everyday Dawn and I prayed on the streets, prayed in the building, built relationships and opened up everyday for hospitality.
For the first few months?
Nobody really came?
But we had learned a long time ago that you have to dig in with God's plans.
Today?
As we prepare to leave?
We have a team of around fifty staff and volunteers.
The attendance in the month for hospitality and prayer is in the thousands.
Homeless and needy people have been drawn to this place by the bucket load. Refugees, prostitutes you name it come to us everyday to be fed, clothed and blessed.
This week, as we prepare to leave this place I sat with a guy who had come to us early on in our journey. I and others have sat with him and filled forms in for him, prayed with him and gave him food and clothes. He said these words to me? "Gaz, I'm so sorry you guys are going. I will miss you. Then with tears rolling down his face he said, I never had a family, but I honestly have one in this place now."
God spoke into my heart.
He said
"Gary, your job is done. I will look after this family, you move on in the land I will show you next."
So I wanted to say goodbye to Ealing publicly.
I know I resigned here, but that was to do with the Salvation Army System not the people, but hey, you guys have taught me so much. You have taught me about humility and family, community and selflessness, and you guys have added a new dimension to my ministry and mission too.
So thank you.
I say thank you, to Nicky, Sue, Tanya, Cynthia, Linda and the whole team who have contributed so much to the phenomenal growth here.
And
To those who have given your lives to God while we have been here, so many of you, keep going in the faith.
And
To the new leaders coming in I say be blessed.
But
I leave saying thank you to God who has shown me miracles of epic proportions and taught me that he can turn around the most dangerously sinking ships.
God, you are astonishing.
And
Now to a new part of our ministry.
Dawn to Winsford.
Myself to the whosoever.
Where I am waiting like a caged lion to see the breathtaking power of God at work in the everyday.
