Streetpaper 84 - The Jesus Army

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modern JESUS army Streetpaper No. 81 Page
modern Jesus army: bringing spiritual and social help to all people
No. 84 FREE
CHRISTIANS LIVE REAL LOVE
Brothers in arms: prayer at a Jesus Army event
John’s
dream
saves
planet
Page 4
MILLIONS of us in the
UK feel pain from how
we’ve been treated.
“Didn’t know my dad.” “Mum
and Dad split up.” “My family
was ruined by drink and violence.”
“Brought up in care.”
“Only knew fostering as family
life.” “Bullied at school.”
So much unhappiness and
rejection, so little love. Even
when our childhood wasn’t
bad, life since has brought
so much emotional hurt.
Many of us feel unloved,
friendless, forgotten.
“No one wants me.” “No
one’s proud of me.” “No one
loves me.”
Of course, it’s never quite
as bad as that. And even if we
can’t believe it, God does love
us; Jesus Christ does love
us. And we, the Jesus Army,
are here to love you and to be
friends with you. Don’t give
up. Just get in touch and say
“please love me”.
• txt 0774 0774 200
‘Please
Love Me’

modern JESUS army Streetpaper No. 84 Page
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JESUS Fellowship Church is an evangelical Christian Church with a charismatic emphasis. It
upholds the full historical, Christian faith, in particular it upholds the doctrine of the Trinity and
the full divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Fellowship Church is a part of the Multiply Christian
Network and a member of the Evangelical Alliance. To receive Jesus Fellowship literature
regularly, free, send the response form on page 6 to Jesus Fellowship Central Offices, FREEPOST,
Nether Heyford, Northampton NN7 3BR. Tel. 0845 123 5550. modern Jesus army Streetpaper
No.84 © 2008, published three times a year by Jesus Fellowship Church, Nether Heyford,
Northampton NN7 3LB. Editor James Stacey. All photographs supplied and copyright by Jesus
Army Photo Library or Public Domain unless stated otherwise. Printed by BGP Ltd., Bicester, Oxon.
Reproduction of any part of this newspaper in any form requires written permission. All Bible
quotations are from the Contemporary English Version © 2000 Harper Collins unless otherwise
indicated. All articles are contributed by members of the Jesus Fellowship Church, also known as
the modern Jesus army. Some members live as part of the New Creation Christian Community.
Readers wishing to contact authors may do so by writing to the Jesus Fellowship Central Office.
Scenes of persecution:
vandalism and terror in
India
Christians
terrorised
in India
A wave of extreme violence against Christians
is sweeping through India. Streetpaper reports.
CHRISTIANS ARE being
burnt alive and terrorised
by Hindu extremists
in what is described by
The Times as “the worst
anti-Christian violence in
India since independence
60 years ago”. The fiercest
violence is concentrated
around Orissa, the state
on the east coast of India.
Christian leader,
Lalrodinga Colney, based
in Orissa and in regular
contact with the Jesus
Army, provided the
following shocking details:
“Thousands of believers
are now homeless, taking
shelter either in jungle or
in relief camps. Many have
been burnt alive. Houses
are ransacked, damaged
or destroyed, churches
are burnt down. Christian
villages are desolated and
Christians are fleeing with
their families, suffering
without food, water,
clothes and shelter.”
Fifty Christians are
believed to have lost
their lives. 600 church
buildings are reported
to have been destroyed
and a staggering 4,000
homes. More than 15,000
Christians are now in relief
camps. Even these camps
are not safe: persecutors
RUNNING
OUT OF TIME
Time: the most precious
resource we have?
WE PANIC about being late
for work, stress about growing
older, even worry about why
there is never enough time.
It’s like the addictive quiz
show, Countdown. The rules
are simple: get the best answers
in 30 seconds or lose
the game. It’s addictive because
it reflects real life. So
much to do and no time to do
it! Life quickly becomes a great
contest to beat the clock.
Are we slaves to time? Whether
you’re waiting in a shopping
queue, rushing back to your car
before the traffic warden gets
there, or desperately trying to
finish an exam with seconds to
spare, the constant countdown
dominates our lives.
WITH EYE-WITNESS ACCOUNT FROM LALRODINGA COLNEY,
JESUS ARMY LEADER IN INDIA
have attempted to poison
their water supplies. In the
chaos, women have been
raped and many Christians
have undergone forced “reconversions”
to Hinduism.
In Chattisgarh, central
India, two nuns from the
Missionaries of Charity, the
order founded by Mother
Teresa, were beaten by a
“many have been
burnt alive”
Even the universe doesn’t
escape: some scientists reckon
that the cosmos will run out
of time! They speculate that
time itself will get slower, until
everything finally stops. Suddenly
everything will be frozen
in motion. Time itself will have
run out of time.
Meanwhile life ticks by, second
by second.
Lifestyle gurus will tell you
you’ve got one life, just enjoy
it – what they won’t say is
that you’ve really only got one
chance to get it right.
Wouldn’t it be great if we
were able to reverse time? To go
back and correct our mistakes?
Most of us would love a second
chance. But who is there to start
the clocks again? Who can help
us change our lives and give our
lives a new beginning?
mob when they took four
orphans to an adoption
centre.
The violence began
when a Hindu extremist
was murdered in Orissa.
Though a Maoist (Communist)
group has claimed
responsibility, extremist
Hindu groups are using
the murder as an excuse
to terrorise Christians.
Colney writes: “By the
grace of God I am still in
my office in Orissa. I am
writing this letter from my
own table. God is strengthening
me in the midst of
this terrible situation to
encourage mourning believers,
suffering churches,
and martyrs’ bereaved
families.
“I declare love is powerful
than hatred.”
For info on how you
can help suffering
Christians in Orissa,
email Multiply
Director Huw Lewis:
huw.lewis@jesus.
org.uk
RUNNING OUT... #1
“Back in a mo”: are you ruled by the clock?
Atheists
battle it out
over God
FAMOUS PHILOSOPHER and
former atheist, Anthony Flew,
has accused the atheist scientist
Richard Dawkins of becoming
“a secularist bigot”. Professor
Flew, emeritus professor
at Reading University, shocked
the scientific and philosophical
community four years ago by
abandoning atheism. Now Flew
criticizes Dawkins in a review of
his book The God Delusion .
Flew accuses Dawkins of “insincerity
of purpose” for avoiding
Einstein’s belief that a divine
intelligence must lie behind the
complexity of physics. Flew says
Dawkins’ presentation of Albert
Einstein’s views on religion is designed
to support his own position.
World’s
youth are
‘religious’
MORE THAN four out of five young
adults worldwide are religious
– and almost half are “deeply religious”,
an international study has
shown. The Bertelsmann Stiftung
survey of 21,000 people across
21 countries “clearly refuted” the
idea that religious belief is in decline,
said project leader Dr Martin
Rieger.
But the survey highlighted
large variations between different
global areas. Outside Europe,
80 per cent of young Protestant
Christians were deeply religious,
compared to just 7 per cent in Europe.
However, the study found
that in the UK, younger people
were turning to religion more frequently
than the older population.
Hoodie: monk or thug?
Churches
set to fight
knife crime
A CHURCHES Together in
England (CTE) report has
called on Christians to unite to
address gang-related violence.
Also, a national Methodist leader
has warned against complacency
on the issue. Rev. Eric
Mustapha is Coordinator of the
Association of Black Methodist
Youth Clubs (ABMYC) which is
releasing a resource to respond
to the problem this summer.
The ABMYC’s annual conference
next week will be themed
around gun and knife crime.
And the CTE report emphasises
“the unique value of each
young person’s life and seeks
to inspire churches to reach out
to them”.
Gangs fill
the role
model gap
OVER A third of 16- to 25-yearolds
say they have no adult role
models, a Prince’s Trust report
has found. Instead, they look
to their peers for support. 9 per
cent join gangs to find “a sense
of identity”.
Teenagers who leave school
with no qualifications are most
likely to believe they have no
parent role models (43 per cent).
Where young people have never
seen anyone in their families
at work “they think having a job
with a steady income and a stable
family is not achievable” said
Paul Brown, a Prince’s Trust
director. If they have “no other
adults” to look up to, “gangs fill
the vacuum”.

modern JESUS army Streetpaper No. 84 Page
DRAMATIC NEW LIFE
Set free in ail
Tony’s story sounds like
the back cover blurb
of a paperback thriller.
But – unlike most paperbacks
– Tony’s story is true.
Changed life: Tony wears his cross with a smile
Help for refugees and asylum seekers
is available from the Refugee Council
on 020 7346 6700 or at
www.refugeecouncil.org.uk. Or text
the Jesus Army on 0774 0774 200.
BORN IN Cuba, Tony Walaz Fernandez
never knew his father, who left for Europe
before he was born. Like many deprived
black men in communist
Cuba, Tony’s father slipped
away “illegally”, hiding on
a ship.
Tony doesn’t remember
his mother either
– she died of cancer
when Tony was five,
leaving Tony with his
uncle. They eked out
a living, selling fruit
to sailors, until they,
too, made a bid for
freedom. Their ship
took them to France.
Tony was nine.
Taking up with
a band of gypsies,
uncle and nephew
worked with them in
a furniture removals
business.
“We didn’t want to
be ‘mainstream’” recalls
Tony, “in case we were
found out and returned to
Cuba” – the Cuban government
harshly punished returning stowaways.
Teenage Tony got up to no good. “I got into
drugs” recalls Tony, “Cocaine, Marijuana, Base,
Heroin – whatever I could get my hands on.”
When Tony was 17 his uncle
left with a forged passport,
bound for Miami, promising
to arrange for Tony
to follow. It was the
last Tony ever heard
of him.
Tony decided
to try to
enter the UK,
lured by promise
of work. A
helpful lorry
driver took
him to London
in 2004.
Tony spoke
no English
and had no
money; he was
desperate for
drugs
Ȧ kind
couple put Tony
up in their garage
that night, urging
him to report to
the authorities rather
than live rough. But
Tony’s first attempt in his life to go “above
board” was discouraging. Sent to a detention
centre, he felt he was going insane: “Drug
withdrawals, fear, desperation: I became like
a savage. I even tried to take my own life” he
says.
A downwards spiral followed. Housed temporarily;
kicked out to become a “non-person” on
the streets; a brush with violent crime; forged
papers to get more constructive work.
One morning the agency car that picked him
“I have left my old
life. Smoking, drugs,
fighting, crime
– over!”
up for work turned out to be not what it appeared.
Tony got in, the doors banged locked
and the driver’s companion turned around:
“You’re under arrest for entering the country
illegally”. It was the police.
In his desperation not to return to Cuba (a
“home” of which he had no memory) Tony told
the authorities he was from Africa; deportation
was arranged and it wasn’t long before
Tony was back in the detention centre. After
a bizarre plane trip to Africa – literally dragged
onto the plane – and back, Tony was returned
to the UK and sent to jail for identity fraud.
Here, in Tony’s darkest moment, a chink of
light flickered: a priest visited him. Tony was
desperate, violent, raving – dangerous. But this
quiet man touched him.
“I felt his peace” says Tony. “He said ‘Tony,
God wants to do something in your life. Have
you ever prayed?’” Tony smiles: “I replied ‘What
is praying?’”
The priest taught Tony how to pray and gave
him a Bible. “When I read the New Testament”
says Tony, “I read about God doing the impossible.
So I asked Him to change my situation. I
started to have hope – because I asked God to
find me a church I could belong to when I was
released.”
To Tony’s shock, he was released and put in
touch with a home for refugees in Coventry. In
Coventry, he made friends with Shaka from the
Jesus Army who took him along to church.
“People there were so open and warm” says
Tony. “God-joy came into me; I’d asked for this.
Later, I cried. I cried, I cried, I cried.”
Tony also cried at his Christian baptism
which took place later that month. “I have left
my old life” he says. “Smoking, drugs, fighting,
crime – over!”
“I’m free – because I prayed to God. My
baptism was the end of the old. I’m a changed
man.”
Tony still has an uncertain future. But of one
thing he’s sure – as he trusts God it will work
out for good. Tony smiles: “I’ve got faith!”

Earth is
Earth: awesomely beautiful; wild
modern JESUS army Streetpaper No. 83 Page
and uncontrollable. Is it about to
be destroyed by its inhabitants?
IT’S THE talk of the
media. Carbon emissions.
Global warming.
Greenhouse effect.
Polar ice cap
melting. Flooding.
Extinction of yet more
species.
Is Earth in all its beauty
on the way out?
And do we care? Of
course we say we do – and
we’d be stupid not to
since the end of the planet
would mean the end of us.
Yet even now the government
is busily bartering
to get the UK off the
hook when it comes to
carbon dioxide cuts. According
to a leaked document,
the UK government
wants the right to buy its
way out of half its CO2 reduction
targets.
The idea is that instead
of cutting its own CO2,
the UK gives money to
developing countries to
help them get “cleaner”
technology.
But environmental
groups say this is a cheat
– the changes in poorer
countries would have happened
anyway. The UK is
just looking for an excuse
to get out of cleaning up
its environmental act.
Dr Keith Allott, head of
WWF-UK’s climate change
programme, said: “This
is an appalling proposal
from the UK. Already the
CO2 targets aren’t nearly
strict enough to avoid the
risk of dangerous climate
change as defined by scientists.
This would weaken
the effort even more.”
We all want to save the
world – but not at the cost
of changing our lifestyles.
Irresponsible
It has been confirmed:
Earth’s sickness is
caused by human
beings. Just last year,
an Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC) report established
more firmly than ever that
global warming is a real
threat to the environment
and that most of it is
caused by human actions
such as deforestation and
the burning of fossil fuels.
The bitterest side to
the tragedy is that the
very human beings who
are busy trashing the
earth are those who, according
to the Bible, were
charged by its creator to
take care of it.
No wonder the Bible
also says: “We know that
all creation is still groaning
and is in pain”. It also
says “all creation is eagerly
waiting for God to show
who His children are.”
How about you? Are you
on God’s side? One of “His
children”? Do you want
to care for this beautiful
planet He made?
Earth’s breathtaking beauty:
are we taking its breath away?
STREETPAPER
By James Stacey
WALKING THROUGH parallel
lines of square houses
in Coventry’s suburbia, last
night, got me thinking about
the boxes that the majority
of UK people live in.
Each box usually contains
a washing machine. You may
wonder where I’m going with
this. Stay with me. I could
have chosen any number of
household appliances – fridges,
freezers, microwaves. The
washing machines are for the
sake of argument.
Humphrey Burton’s Road
(the road of my perambulations
last night) must contain,
at an estimate, a hundred-odd
washing machines.
A hundred-odd washing machines
to do the washing of
maybe four hundred people.
Then there’s cars. Most
of the drives on well-to-do
Humphrey Burton’s Road
had three parked on them.
Three hundred cars for the
same four hundred people.
I’m not good with figures
and I am no environmental
expert, but it seems to me
that that many washing machines
and that many cars
(and fridges and freezers
and microwaves and so on)
are far more than that many
people actually need.
UK society, living in its
boxes, is grossly wasteful.
Why? Because there is no
sharing. Each box has kit for
its inhabitants only. So we
live in streets packed with
washing machines. And we
only actually need about half
of them, or less.
Human beings are
meant to share the earth’s
resources, not horde them in
OUTLOOK
their boxes. And the planet
is paying the price, groaning,
getting hotter and hotter,
heading for melt-down.
I live in a particular form of
community – Christian residential
community – not, in
fact, because of environmental
panic. We live to follow
Jesus. But it’s worth noting
that we share washing machines
at something like a
ratio of eight people per machine
(cars at about five to
one, often using a minibus to
transport up to 15 people).
Sharing. It’s a good idea;
it’s how Jesus lived; it’s how
the Christian Church started
out; unlike the boxed-in-life,
it doesn’t kill the earth; it
means sacrifice; the Communists
weren’t able to force
it; I do it because I live for the
cause of Jesus.
What’re you doing about it?
Coming out in the wash: do we
need so many washing machines?
Emmaline: “important to look
after the world God made”

modern JESUS army Streetpaper No. 83 Page
sick
WHAT’S ON?
MODERN JESUS ARMY EVENTS
SATURDAY 25 OCT 2008
MEN ALIVE FOR GOD
From 11.00am Jesus Centre,
Abington Square, NORTHAMPTON NN1 4AE
SATURDAY 03 JAN 2009
UK JESUS
CELEBRATION
2.00pm & 6.00pm Jesus Centre,
Abington Square, NORTHAMPTON NN1 4AE
Shocking facts
Hotting up
• The polar ice-caps
have melted by 40% over
the last 50 years making
sea levels around the
world rise.
• The ten warmest years
in the last 130 have all
occurred since 1978.
On the way out?
• Over a quarter of the
world’s plants and animals
are threatened with
extinction.
• Over 300 plant species
in the UK face extinction.
• Internationally, one in
six species of mammal
face extinction.
• An area of tropical
rainforest equivalent to
16 football pitches is
destroyed every
single minute.
Load of rubbish
• On average every
person in the UK throws
away their own body
weight in rubbish every
three months.
• It takes around 450
years for a plastic bottle
to degrade.
• On average every ton
of domestic waste means
around five tons of waste
at the manufacturing
stage and 20 tons at
the point where the raw
material was extracted.
Burning issues
• Across the EU at any
one time, there are 40,000
miles of traffic jam on the
roads.
• Last year, 740 million
gallons of jet fuel were
burned by planes waiting
in line to take off at airports,
creating 7.1 million
metric tons of CO2.
SATURDAY 24 JAN 2009
CHURCH GROWTH
From 11.00am Jesus Centre, Abington Square,
NORTHAMPTON NN1 4AE
SATURDAY 21 FEB 2009
UK JESUS
CELEBRATION
2.00pm & 6.00pm Cocks Moors Woods Leisure
Centre, Alcester Road South, Kings Heath,
BIRMINGHAM B14 6ER
SATURDAY 21 MAR 2009
MEN ALIVE FOR GOD
From 11.00am Jesus Centre,
Abington Square, NORTHAMPTON NN1 4AE
ALL FREE - ALL WELCOME - NO PREJUDICE
Info: Jesus Fellowship, FREEPOST, Nether Heyford, Northampton NN7
3BR t: 0845 123 5550 e: info@jesus.org.uk www.jesus.org.uk/dates
RUNNING OUT... #2
RUNNING
OUT OF OIL
Emmaline puts her money
where her mouth is
AT JUST 17, Emmaline Hart
is a radical Christian. She lives
in a Christian Community and
those who live there share their
possessions and seek to live a
simple lifestyle following Jesus.
“It’s not that I moved into
Christian community in order
to save the earth” says Emmaline,
“It’s about following Jesus
and doing what He said. But
we are a counter-culture and
our lifestyle is better for the environment.
We share vehicles,
and grow some of our food, for
instance.”
Old and new
“I believe it’s important to
look after the world God made
which we live in” she says. “I
grew up on the south coast;
it’s a beautiful coast, but in the
seaside town where I lived the
coast had been made ugly with
piers, arcades, clubs and so on.
“It’s a bit like that with the
world: God made it beautiful,
but human beings have
messed it up with their ‘improvements’.
“When I was baptised I felt
God telling me to ‘leave the
old behind and enter the new’”
adds Emmaline. One day God
will make everything new – the
whole world. It will all be beautiful.
But He starts with us – if
we let Him.”
AN ENGINEER in the
Jesus Army was trying
to work out how to help
factories conserve energy.
But he didn’t expect
the answer to come in a
dream.
Tall factory buildings
waste heat because the
warm air rises to the
top, leaving the people
cold. That makes the
heating expensive and
it is bad news for the
environment.
John’s dream
saves the
planet
One morning Jesus Atmos Heating Systems.
Army member John But John is most pleased
Thomason woke up about this because his
with a new design in his
head. Why not collect the
heat from the chimney,
channel the hot air back
to floor level, and waste
less money heating up
the air in the first place?
He quickly got the idea
down onto paper and
built a prototype. Before
he knew it he had a new
business on his hands:
work is helping to save the
environment. “Christians
have a duty to look after
the earth” he says. “Our
designs are reducing fuel
bills and CO2 emissions
which makes things better
all round.”
For more about Atmos’s
environmentally friendly
heating visit
www.atmos.uk.com
WE CAN harness the
wind and turn it into energy
for our televisions.
We can split atoms and
use them to power
our cars. And yet still
it seems that we don’t
have enough power.
The world is running
scared these days because
we are afraid we are going
to run out of oil. Predictions
vary, but researchers
reckon that this could
be within 10 to 40 years
– within our lifetime and
definitely within our children’s
lifetime.
We already know that
something is wrong. Petrol
prices are far higher than
they used to be.
But to see the impact
that no oil would have
take a look at Cuba. The
country became a land of
farmers overnight when
oil supplies were cut in
the 1990s, their machinery
stopped and people
suddenly had nothing to
It runs out soon:
what then?
eat. Even city dwellers
had to start growing food
to survive.
How would you cope?
Without oil what would
we do for food, transportation,
heating, lighting and
all our electronic equipment?
Thinking of investing in
that new high-definition
television? Think again.
Medical supplies would
be affected, plastics will
become expensive, even
women’s make-up will be
scarce!
It makes you reflect
upon what you really need
for a good life. Are we so
selfish that we need so
much stuff to survive? Are
we going to keep having
“oil-wars” and killing others
just to maintain the
lifestyle we’ve become accustomed
to?
Time to change. We
need to think again about
what makes life worthwhile.
We need to admit
that we’ve been greedy.
All that power has gone to
our heads. (See page 8)

modern JESUS army Streetpaper No. 84 Page
Streetpaper challenge
streetpaper@jesus.org.uk
Does TV kill
community?
THIS TRUE story was told to a Jesus
Army member late one night on a Jesus
Army outreach coach in London:
A man from Mauritius came onto the
coach. While drinking his tea, he told us
how he came from a village where people
used to be very happy. They loved to go
together down to a river nearby, to sing,
wash their clothes and enjoy themselves.
The river was a focus of their community
life.
One day someone brought a TV to a
house in the centre of the village. People
then started to watch it; more people
began to get them. They were fascinated
and became absorbed in the ‘western
lifestyle’. People began leaving, to get to
Britain and the west. Some died on the
journey and some arrived, but were still
homeless, unable to get a job.
Now no-one goes to the river, anymore.
Perhaps it speaks for itself. Does our
western lifestyle with its technological
wizardry and media saturation give us a
better life? If so, why are stress, depression,
and relationship breakdown on the
increase in the UK?
The Jesus Army majors on brotherhood
and real friendship. That’s one
reason why in our community houses (in
which a quarter of Jesus Army members
live together) we don’t have TV. Sure,
we keep in touch with what’s happening
(newspapers and news websites help).
But we want to have time ‘to be’ – and to
be together. How about you?
RUNNING OUT... #2
RUNNING OUT
OF HOPE
‘There’s always chocolate’: do you need a lift?
CHOCOLATE! Want some?
What if we promised to send you a bar
if you text the number on the front page?
Just by doing so you’d be expressing a
kind of hope.
But hope in chocolate, though common,
is not very substantial. What else do
people hope for? Love? Winning the Cup
Final?
Hope gets us up in the morning. It
helps us to face the day, to face work or
whatever the difficult challenge is that lies
ahead. Hope is the light at the end of the
tunnel. You’ll find it difficult to exist without
it – in fact, just existing is about all you
can do when you have no hope.
‘Knife crime’, ‘gang violence’, ‘drug culture’
– some people are already running
out of hope. 59 young people died from violent
incidents in 2007. But when we feel
we have no options left, when everyday
life hurts too much, what do we escape
into?
God offers us hope. The world might try to
crush you but God promises to refresh you.
Jesus began His work by offering
freedom for the oppressed. It’s not an
empty promise. Like faith and love, hope
is ultimately a spiritual thing. When Jesus
becomes a friend to you, He fills your
life with new potential. He gives you that
chance to start again.
But hope is a risky business because
it means learning to trust again. Can God
give you the strength you need to face a
world full of trouble?
Jesus
Festival in
Oxford rocks
A RECENT “Jesus Festival” in
Oxford attracted a lot of visitors
despite rain. The Jesus Army
made a lot of friends with people
from around the city.
Hosted at a marquee in a
park were a kids’ zone, prayer
tent, cafe area, art stall, barbecue,
skate ramp, art boards and
Christian shop.
“We wanted to create a festival
atmosphere where visitors
could come to find prayer, care
and inspiration” said Peter Taylor,
event leader.
The festival ended with a
large-scale event in the marquee
with drama, dance and singing –
as well as an impromptu festive
march through the city centre.
Free cycle: Oxford youth
Jesus Army
party at
Nelson’s feet
THE JESUS Army held a large
Jesus rally at Trafalgar Square,
London, this summer. Dancers
and drummers on a march to
the Square made an arresting
sight and sound. One observer
described it as a “river of life
pushing its way along the road.”
A woman from Tunisia had
such a powerful touch of God’s
power that she fell down, overwhelmed.
A man driving past Trafalgar
Square said “I had to stop,
find a parking place and come to
experience the atmosphere.”
“For a few hours,” said a JA
leader, “we felt as if Jesus was
walking the streets of London
with us and we danced and
sang with Him.”
Nelson’s pyramid: demo
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Jesus Centre
opens near
Oxford Circus
IN CENTRAL London, just
steps away from Oxford Circus,
the Jesus Army have opened a
“Jesus Centre”, described as “a
place of worship, friendship and
help for all”.
The centre, the third of its
kind to be opened by the Jesus
Army, includes the “Welcome”
drop-in for the homeless and
disadvantaged and the “Word”
cafe.
The centre also runs support
groups such English classes for
speakers of other languages
and a parent support group.
For more on Jesus Centres
and how you can support their
charitable work visit
www.jesuscentre.org.uk

modern JESUS army Streetpaper No. 84 Page
sam’s
dream
came
true
Sam
Sam Pierre has had more
than her fair share of nightmares.
But now she’s found her dream.
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CROSSES
has overcome
racism, rejection and
isolation to find her
life’s purpose.
BOOKS
CLOTHING
“BRICKS thrown through
the window. People calling
‘nigger’ after you down the
street.” As an afterthought
Sam, 41, adds “It was quite
harsh.”
Sam’s great-grandmother
was the first white woman
in Hull to marry a black
man. The racism she experienced
continued down
the generations.
But that was not the only
reason Sam grew up with a
sense of rejection.
“I was three when my father
left. I remember him
coming home in his army
suit; then I remember him
leaving in his army suit. We
never saw him again.”
Sam’s mum re-married,
but Sam felt left out. “I was
hot-headed and seemed to
be the brunt of many arguments.
I started living in
my own little world.”
Sam empathised with
other isolated children. At
school she met an ‘elected
mute’ – a young girl who’d
decided never to speak.
“I sat with her, just chatting,
giving her space to be
herself. Suddenly she spoke
to me! She hadn’t spoken
to anyone in years! Next
day she didn’t stop talking.
“She took me home to
meet her family and I felt
loved and appreciated. I’d
never experienced that
kind of family warmth before
– our’s was all over the
place, with Mum and my
step-dad working all the
time, making money from
their businesses. That little
time of warm closeness
made my loneliness feel
even worse.”
Then, when Sam was
twelve, the biggest blow
came. “My school picked
me to train as a potential
Olympic runner, but because
there was no support
a home I had to drop out.
That really made rebellion
kick in! I started smoking
‘Ganja’”. At 14 Sam got
pregnant with her daughter,
Gemma.
Several difficult years followed.
Sam met a man who
seemed to offer the stability
she longed for. They
moved in together and had
a baby. But then a series of
nightmares struck.
“Someone spiked my
spliff on my 18th birthday. I
“It’s not been a waste of
time: the bad times, the
good times have all been
part of God’s good plan to
get me where I am today”
stayed in hospital until the
drug worked out of my system.
Coming home, I found
my man in bed with my sister.”
Bad enough – but worse
was to come. “Not long after
this,” recalls Sam, “I
lost my son in a cot death.”
At this tragic time, feeling
betrayed and heartbroken,
Sam decided to “have
a break from it all.” A friend
had given her an inspiring
Jesus Army magazine and
in 1984 she arranged a visit
a Jesus Army community
house near Rugby.
“When I was younger I’d
been taken to hear a famous
Christian preacher.
I ‘gave my heart to Jesus’
like he told me to, but got
disillusioned when I found
church boring.
“But I remember saying
to God: “If You want me to
be a Christian and follow
You 100 per cent, then You
have to find me a church
with something real for me
to hold onto. Now I felt I’d
found the church God had
chosen for me! I could see
the lifestyle. I caught the
vision and was baptised.”
The perfect point for a
“happy-ever-after” ending
– but it wasn’t quite like
that. “I did well until my
30s,” says Sam. “Then, feeling
I could be ‘missing out’,
I moved on.”
It was years later, unsatisfied
again, that Sam had
a new experience of God
which led her back to the
church. “Now I’ve found an
even deeper commitment
to God,” she declares.
“I can see God’s ‘engineering’
in my life. It’s not
been a waste of time: the
bad times, the good times
have all been part of God’s
good plan to get me where
I am today.
“At last, I feel at peace
– I’ve found my home.”
Sam: “I feel at peace”.

modern JESUS army Streetpaper No. 84 Page
United colours
Talk of the town: Edwin and Michael discuss God in Oxford.
RUNNING OUT... #4
RUNNING OUT
OF EXCUSES
Edwin is from Zimbabwe, Michael is
from Germany. And they’re brothers.
WHAT’S THE best excuse you’ve
ever used for being late?
Would you believe these bizarre – but real life
– explanations? “My cat unplugged my alarm
clock.” “I’m late because I was arrested as a result
of mistaken identity” or, “I had to ship my
grandmother’s bones to India.”
To our shame, researchers have found we tell
a lie at least once in every three conversations,
except when we talk to our mothers – then we
are likely to lie 50% of the time!
Jesus promised that the truth will set us free.
Freedom from what? From the guilt of times
past, from the greed that sucks dry the earth,
from the despair that kills hope.
“Sorry I’m late Sir,
I ran over the cat”:
what’s your excuse?
And if you’re thinking this doesn’t apply to
you, be careful: psychiatrists argue that we lie
to ourselves several times an hour!
Jesus gained a following because He spoke
truth into people’s lives. He promised people
that as they followed Him they would come to
see the truth for themselves. They would know
freedom from all the excuses the world makes
for its hatred and greed.
He believed this so much He sacrificed His life
for you. But death cannot silence the truth: Jesus
returned to life and is ready to shine in your life.
Pray (speak to God) like this: Jesus, I’m sick
and tired of all the lies. Will You show me what’s
true? Please lead me to God and help me to
start living a new, clean life.
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newspapers
in 2007
AFRICAN EDWIN and
German Michael are sharing
Jesus with people on
the streets of Oxford in
the UK. They’re brothers,
joined in one cause. It’s
what Jesus came to bring
about: people from every
nation, race and colour
joined together.
Jesus wasn’t white. Nor
was He black. As a middleeastern
Jew, Jesus would
have been coffee brown.
But colour isn’t the issue.
By dying on the cross
Jesus abolished all the divisions
of race and culture.
He broke down “the wall of
hatred that separated us”
– that’s how the Bible puts
it. “On the cross Christ did
away with our hatred for
each other. He also made
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peace between us and God”
(Ephesians 2:14,16).
How? Because when
Jesus died on the cross He
soaked up all of the wrongdoing
of us all – human history
with its hatred and unspeakable
tragedies. Jesus
carried it all. He represented
the whole human race. All of
us: our sin died with Him.
And when Jesus rose
again, three days later, sin
was left behind in the grave.
That’s why those who follow
Jesus today – Christians
– have the chance of
a new life, freed from all
the old mess. And that’s
why Christians like Edwin
and Michael are brothers.
Divisions are ended: Jesus
has set us free to be Jesus
People – loving people.