Fire in our hearts - Jesus Army

FIRE IN OUR HEARTS
CITY ON A HILL
our cell group divided, other groups joined us there, and we
had a number of non-resident members.
We began Friday night evangelism on the streets of Banbury,
and made friends with some bikers. The sister of one of
the bikers found God and was delivered from demons. The
bikers were impressed.
I visited them on Saturdays and was introduced to a world
of heavy metal, patchouli oil, Newcastle Brown and do-it-yourself
tattooing. One wiry lad looked me in the eyes. ‘I’ve just
put someone in hospital,’ he said, as Iron Maiden throbbed in
my eardrums. I felt a long way from home and wondered
whether evangelism was really my scene.
I began to write songs for our servant group. The atmosphere
of worship and friendship attracted folk and they sensed
the presence of God as we prayed with them and sang and
spoke of Jesus. We also taught from the Bible, enthused about
community, chatted, and passed round the tea and biscuits.
Most groups had targets: Mary to be saved this month;
Wayne to be healed; Sally to get a job next week, or Oily to
come off booze. Servant groups believed for disciples to join
them and households began Covenant Classes for new converts
to cover basic teaching and practice.
Our press files for 1983 were all but empty, as we kept a
low profile. Noel stopped leading us all on large campaigns
in the Midlands. Outreach was personal and grass roots, and
we encouraged people who were interested to visit our homes
and come to our various Saturday house-meetings. These
smaller meetings encouraged expression, and many more of
us were actively involved in ministry.
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