A spacious place

When I first began preaching overseas nearly thirty years ago, people asked me when I was going to preach in the USA. From time-to-time over the years I have hosted prominent American preachers visiting London but have never responded to their suggestions of crossing the Atlantic. On two occasions I attended a Ministers’ Conferences in Texas in the early 90s, but never preached. People keen to prompt me would come up with strategies and one American in London back in 1995 even came up with a name of the preacher I should be working with – someone I didn’t know at the time and had no awareness of where in America he was based. It wasn’t until I talked with John W. Stephenson in Barbados in May 2008 that things began to change.

My first preaching trip to America
John has an Apostolic ministry and operates from a church-base in Cincinnati, Ohio, and in October this year I responded to his invitation to minister in his church and city. From the moment Trevor and I arrived, John, his wife, family and congregation made us feel at home. The trip was full of highlights but the first was a drive from Cincinnati to Pittsburgh. If I needed an illustration of 2 Samuel 2:20, ‘He also brought me out into a broad place’, this journey provided it! Through Ohio, Virginia and Pennsylvania the autumn (fall) colours were spectacular; the sun caught the trees and greens, yellows, browns and reds spread out in every direction around us. As the Pittsburgh skyline rose ahead of us, the significance of the drive gripped me afresh. This was my first preaching trip to America and before I was to open my mouth to preach I was going to have the privilege of sitting in Bishop Joseph Garlington’s conference. Bishop Garlington was the very person who had been named to me back in 1995. We were only in Pittsburgh for an evening but it was an evening full of significance.

On route to Pittsburgh		Approaching Pittsburgh

Ministering in Cincinnati itself was a great joy. Apostle John has a great church and everyone responded warmly to my input. The leaders’ afternoon on the Saturday proved to be particularly significant, following, as it did, a trip to downtown Cincinnati where we saw something of his church’s outreach work. Our final meeting on the Sunday evening was a re-launch of a city-wide prayer strategy. It was an amazing event and a project that I would love all my partners to pray for. I believe that Cincinnati is going to have a real testimony of transformation through united prayer. Historically it is a city of refuge and I believe it is a place where God will bring people together to achieve powerful things for His kingdom, creating something that will speak throughout Ohio and all its neighbouring states.

John and Marissa Stevenson with Heirs Worship Team		Heirs Covenant Church, Cincinnati
Downtown Cincinnati		Apostle John and Trevor, with the Cincinnati skyline across the river
Heirs Covenant Church Leaders' Event		Local ministers lead prayer at Transformation Cincinnati

Essex and Edmonton
For those who know South East England, Essex (the county north-east of London) and Edmonton (a borough in north-central London) will be aware that they are both little less than an hour’s drive from my base in south-east London. Before leaving for Cincinnati on Wednesday 5th October, I spoke on the Sunday at Christian Growth Centre in Chelmsford (Essex) and on the Tuesday evening taught the first of three weekly sessions at the Dynamic Words Discipleship College in Edmonton. I returned from Cincinnati in time to teach my second session at the college a week later. Despite the pressure such local events put onto my timetable, I wouldn’t have missed either and found both the church and the college richly rewarding.

Conferences and congregations
Much of my ministry life could be summed up with five Cs – churches (congregations), colleges, conferences, consultations and correspondence – if ‘travel’ began with C, we could have made it six! The weekend I returned from Cincinnati was a ‘conference and congregations’ weekend. The conference was hosted by my good friend Femi Adun – a young minister whom I first met in Nigeria but who is now based in the UK. The congregational meetings on the Sunday were led by Nigel Desborough, a respected church leader in south London whom I have known for many years. On the Sunday morning we were at Forest Hill Community Church and on the Sunday evening we were with representatives of a number of congregations that had come together at Malham Christian Centre.

Femi Adun's Empowerment Conference		Malham Christian Centre

The Jesus Fellowship
My second UK conference in November was a ‘conference with a difference’. In the UK we have a powerful ‘movement amongst the poor’ called the Jesus Army, or Jesus Fellowship. It began in a relatively rural setting but now does incredible work on the streets of some of our major cities, transforming many hundreds of lives year on year. To achieve such results it has to be distinctive and radical. The day conference I spoke at in Sheffield was vibrant and full of energy – the worship was powerful, the testimonies were amazing, the drama was unforgettable and the presentation from beginning to end was highly effective and motivational. I met long-standing members who have given their lives to create transforming communities and young people who were finding security they had never dreamed of in the midst of extended families. As always, I brought a Bible-based word but I trust that all who were present felt the warmth of appreciation that I wanted to express on behalf of our often less radical church expressions. Thank you Jesus Fellowship for a great day and a great work!

Jesus Fellowship day in Sheffield		On stage in Sheffield

Praying with one of the Jesus Fellowship leaders

Christ Chapel International (aka Voice of Faith)
I have a major book just about ready for publication that looks at how the Church in Britain can maintain a multicultural voice. One of the reasons why there is the potential for such a voice is that people of stature who pioneered churches in Nigeria in the 80s were bold enough to pioneer churches in Britain in the 90s. Someone who is highly esteemed amongst such church-planters is the Rev Dr Tunde Chris Joda. I have great respect for him and his wife, Pastor Victoria Joda, and was privileged to speak at their London-based camp-meeting again this year. We need to open up to the nations, hearing each other’s voices and understanding each other’s hearts, if we are to fulfil Romans 15:6 and with ‘one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ’.

Christ Chapel Camp-meeting, London		Camp-meeting speakers and hosts

Words revisited

Toks and Linda's Anniversary

During the course of the camp-meeting weekend, I managed to fit in two other engagements: a renewal of wedding vows and an evening as a conference attendee. In different ways they brought up the subject of ‘words revisited’. The renewal of vows was for our close friends Toks and Linda Emmanuel. Toks has worked for me in different capacities over the years and is about to return to Nigeria with his wife and three children to establish a ministry in Ibadan. There was poignancy to their vows-renewal as their marriage began with visa challenges that kept them apart for well-over a year. Little did they realise what they were about to face when they spoke the words to each other first time round! Likewise, little did I realise years ago when I spoke in a church in North London and encouraged it to enlarge its sense of significance that it would end up with the incredible premises that it now owns in Wood Green. I enclose a few pictures from the Dominion Centre website as a tribute to Pastors Sam and Betty Ohene-Apraku and as an encouragement to our faith and a confirmation of God’s faithfulness.

The Dominion Centre London		The Dominion Centre Auditorium

Teaching Conference
The theme of my next teaching conference is ‘Honouring God the Father’. If you happen to be in reach of London any time between Friday 25th and Sunday 27th November, it would be good to have you with us.

Do stay in touch and thank you for your support.