Fire in our hearts - Jesus Army

FIRE IN OUR HEARTS THE LORD TOOK HOLD OF BUGBROOKE
‘Well might they ask!’ thought Verna, the chapel organist,
as she gazed at the ancient plaque Sunday after Sunday. The
gospel was in her blood, too. Verna’s grandfather had been a
Primitive Methodist preacher, and her parents were godly
people. Her warm-hearted father was a shepherd and would
come home from the fields and say grace before dinner. Her
mother taught her to play hymns on an old harmonium. Verna
grew up to love Jesus, and it was no surprise when she was
baptised as a teenager and made a Sunday school teacher.
Then, at twenty-three, soon after the Second World War,
she went away for a fortnight to Hildenborough Hall, a new
Christian Conference centre down south. There two war heroes
from the RAF told how they’d been converted to Christ.
The talk that followed was simple and direct, and Verna saw
that for all her religious upbringing she was still a sinner. For
three days she barely ate or slept. ‘Aren’t I a Christian, then?’
she thought. As God dealt with her, her pride was shattered.
It was like waking from a dream. Then, as she took hold of
her Saviour, she felt a deep sense of forgiveness and cleansing.
God’s love became real and peace flooded her heart.
When she came home her parents were delighted. But she
had a big disappointment when she bounded up to her minister
the next day. ‘Oh dear, Verna!’ he sighed, ‘You’ve got in
with one of those emotional groups. It will pass.’ But it didn’t,
and the new life she’d found was infectious. That night, as
sixteen girls from her Bible class crammed into her cottage,
Verna just opened her heart. Some began to weep and soon
eight of them had come to the Lord.
Verna was encouraged and began to pray for the gospel to
make a real impact on the village. She threw herself into evan-
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