Fire in our hearts - Jesus Army

FIRE IN OUR HEARTS THE LORD TOOK HOLD OF BUGBROOKE
friends coming up the steps. Paddy was taken aback but liked
their ‘vibe’. Kelly and Johnny had some interesting stories.
Paddy and John Cornish were intrigued by this Jesus trip,
and paid a visit to Bugbrooke. As a result, Kelly and Norma’s
cottage and the manse soon came to be known as places where
you could get a lot of friendship and a good conversation about
religion! Bugbrooke might be a bit ‘far out’ (five miles), but it
was worth the ride.
The following week Noel met Rufus, a vegetarian and a religious
freak. He was into the drug scene in London and frequently
took the hippy trail to Glastonbury and Cornwall. At
nineteen, he had done two years with the Royal Shakespeare
Company, worked for television and appeared in the film of
War and Peace. Rufus was on the road to stardom.
His wife, Jessie, lived with his mum in Northampton, and
Rufus travelled to and fro, dealing acid on the quiet. He disdained
the junk pushers (John Cornish and Paddy were already
fixing heroin) but was happy to sell his ‘sweet dreams’.
LSD, in his eyes, was a mind-opening path to religious experience:
enlightenment was his goal.
Noel sailed in. ‘This guy’s quite interesting,’ Paddy whispered
to Rufus as Noel approached. Rufus broke off his mantra
and gave him a quick suss. Noel’s face looked alive.
‘Hello. Bless you!’ Noel said warmly. ‘I’m Noel from the
Jesus People. Have you got a faith in God?’
‘Yeh,’ said Rufus, ‘I’ve just been praying to the angels —
you know — conversing with the powers of light.’
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