Fire in our hearts - Jesus Army

FIRE IN OUR HEARTS
COMMUNICATE!
sonal identity. Some left the church outright but a number
returned after tasting what the world had to offer. But whether
they stayed or not, all needed their own experience of Jesus.
Twenty years had flown by since Noel and his friends had
patiently won the hearts of people like Rufus and Jess, sitting
where they sat — on orange boxes, drinking herbal tea and
just listening. Noel and Rufus now found themselves in a similar
situation with two of our teenage ‘rebels’.
Nathan and Phil were both sons of Fellowship leaders. Nathan’s
parents had joined our Oxford group in the early 70s.
They were gripped with the vision of Christian community
and had left everything to follow it. Now, as a large family,
they all lived at King’s House in the Warwickshire countryside.
Nathan was 16 and making friends at sixth form college in
Rugby. A group of them had a good scene together and would
often meet up, chatting late into the night, playing reggae
and smoking dope. The brotherhood appealed to Nathan.
There he could relax, be himself and do his own thing.
Phil, who lived in our Nottingham house and attended drama
school, was on a similar journey, experimenting and ‘finding
himself — often at all-night raves and parties, sleeping on
floors and returning home as little as possible.
Nathan and Phil compared notes and smoked hash together.
Nathan was the more emotional and keenly felt the conflict
that was raging within. ‘What’s happening to me?’ he asked
himself. ‘I love God and the church, so why am I going off the
rails like this ? Why do I want this scene ?’
After one meeting Noel encouraged him:
‘Nathan, you’re going to be a real man of God.’
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