Fire in our hearts - Jesus Army

FIRE IN OUR HEARTS
AWAKE O ZION!
Evangelicals at Oxford were cautious of our influence
amongst the students there and the mother of one girl involved
with us feared that her daughter would be subject to
brainwashing, low-protein diet, sleepless nights and religious
fanaticism.
So Mum came to a chapel meeting with a tape recorder.
The worship was charismatic. That was bad enough. Then
Noel preached on repentance and whole-hearted following
of Christ. The man was obviously some kind of dictator, holding
people in sway by his hypnotic personality!
She decided to bring along a GP and a psychiatrist friend,
and as her daughter was just under twenty-one, they were
able to get her provisionally confined under a section of the
Mental Health Act. But after psychiatrists could find no evidence
of brainwashing, the matter was dropped and she returned
to us. It was an isolated incident, but a pointer to the
misunderstanding and persecution that lay ahead for us.
From within rose some disunity. Brian, who had been a key
figure from the early days, struggled with our lifestyle now
his family was at the Hall. The radical lifestyle, challenging
enough for us singles, was a culture shock for the average
couple. The self-contained flats provided privacy for the nuclear
family but some found it hard to integrate into the rather
motley ‘family’ at the Hall. Brian and his family began to withdraw
from the life of the house. We found this isolation difficult
to accept and Ralph and others gently entreated him.
But the gulf widened and eventually the family left. It was a
great loss.
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