Team Stories from Walk Cornwall

Perranporth

In a beautiful resort with a wonderful surfing beach, alongside the Anglicans, Methodists, Pentecostalists and New Wave Church we enjoyed a typical mission.  By “typical” I mean wonderful surprises of healings and conversions, and disappointments with the spiritual resistance and poor attendances.
Come rain or shine, a healing tent was open to the public Monday to Saturday culminating with a stunning Healing Service in the Methodist Church, where the people were healed, blessed and drawn closer to Christ.

Dan’s Night of Colour in the local hotel was fully attended. Seeing him on top form in his beautifully winsome way as an evangelist in this particular context, with people willingly responding to his Gospel invitation, was a great joy for me to be with him again.

Door-to-door surveying was the bread and butter work for the fourteen strong team, supplemented mid-week by sixteen young YWAMER’s.  Out of 100 people visited, 59 wanted to know God personally.  Re-visits and follow-up are therefore on the agenda of the local Christians, who had previously prayed at every house as they delivered invitations to mission events. 
One team member recognised a man who was sweeping his garden path, as someone he had met 20 years ago on Cornwall 1.  The man recognised him too and he said, “You were helping to clean cars and you prayed for me through my car window when I was feeling very low. That prayer worked.  I became a Christian and I am now in church leadership!” 

Primary school assemblies, and after school clubs, were visited by our two excellently experienced team members; while at the other end of the spectrum Old Time Musicals were held in residential homes, including old well-known hymns, the Lord’s Prayer and Bible readings,  which resonated and awakened faith even in those suffering from dementia.
Preaching in six different churches on the opening Sunday tested and stretched the ability of the team.  On Monday and  Tuesday I emigrated to Newquay to do lunchtime Hot Potatoes to full houses, and in the evenings I visited the Perranporth villages to do Hot Stuff-Hot Stories, to a disappointing low house and an empty house – except for the final one in Perranporth itself where wonderful conversions took place.

Conclusion: eleven guests at the follow-up Alpha Course, baptism by immersion of a young man at the Anglican Church, accompanied by testimonies of a couple converted in one of the pubs.    According to the main co-ordinator, “The mission has had a positive effect on Perranporth.  People are now much more aware of the churches and the fact that we are working together”.  My hope is that the Christians from this wonderful resort will help to make up the fifty from the rest of Cornwall, whom I am challenging join us on The Two Rivers Mission in East Anglia next May!  

Callington

The team in Callington worked hard and we were blessed with seeing God work in the lives of locals as well as non churched folk. We did lots of door to door and saw people coming to faith there as well as a lollypop lady on the street.

On the Sunday afternoon we went prayer walking and were asked by a couple in their late 20's where the churches were, it turned out that they wanted some money for their electric, which we gave them from our allowance, putting it on the stick. They then were fed by the locals and also we prayed for them over several lunch times, then some of the team took them into the side chapel where they asked the Lord into their lives, he wanted to pray it twice just to make sure. They are totally non churched and have loads of problems with health and welfare issues. Please pray for the local church to follow up well.

Another thing that happened was I was given a name on Monday morning by the curate as someone who needed a visit as she was very low. It turned out that two of the team met her in a lane and did the survey and gave her a KGP and also prayed with her about her problems, then another couple visited her house and also prayed for her. I managed to go with another team member on Friday and she was delighted to get another visit by us as she said that she had slept so much better since receiving prayer, this time we went through the KGP and showed her the things that happen when you pray. She promised to go in and read the booklet. God certainly had His hand on her.

 

Torpoint

The Mission was one of the best I have done. Our team led or spoke at about 65 events; a couple did not happen but extras came in. The Community College lessons went well and were added to, 4 good Assemblies, (plus Primary School) we helped a 6th Former, who asked for help to start a Christian Fellowship; he announced it after each of our assemblies, we met 5 Care homes, about 8 Uniformed groups, Home groups, 5 service, 3 Messy Churches and many more good sessions.
 
I preached at a little Family service the first Sunday; the guy who was driving us around admitted, the day before, he was not against us, but not a Christian. My simple kids' talk explained what a believer was (he said later it was the first time he had understood it) and he was the first of the 6 who responded to the appeal. He grew more as the week went on.
 
About 30 came for Healing Prayer where I preached and led the service and we had 3 pairs on Prayer Ministry with oils. At the final Churches Together in Torpoint service, where the team was given 'free range', I closed the Teams excellent  'performances' with my testimony and an appeal, and another 9 hands went up.

 
The 'Team Times' study was on Jesus meeting difficult folk and I may have been less than friendly on the following if that had not happened. I helped at a Messy Church and we just had cleared up when a very big elderly, unkempt man came in, asking if he could be a Walker because he needed the exercise! I explained what we were about, he asked for something to drink and listened to my explanation, read the prayer of Commitment and double read "I am sorry I have been going my way and not your way. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins". He came to church on Sunday and stayed for lunch, meeting the team and the Vicar.
 

Doors work also went well with many God-incidences, people helped, prayed for, brought to Hot Potatoes, etc. All told, with the rest of the Team's work, I think about 30 came to faith in Torpoint, the team was excellent with some very experienced members who all did the stuff they were meant to. Now Torpoint are just starting the follow-up, (waiting the final bean-count) but already extras coming in all be it to meet the cat? Alleluia, praise the Lord!

Penzance

It was a difficult week which ended well - very different from other 'Walk' missions in which I have been involved. We were working with a cluster of four Anglo-Catholic churches whose Team Rector was very specific about what we were to do. This meant that we had  to adapt our usual 'modus operandi' quite considerably, including team meetings and how door-to-door work was organised.

There were many positives to the week, such as 250 children visiting the six 'prayer spaces' (with a short presentation in each) which had been erected in the main Church. These were on the Harvest themes of Environmental Issues, Fairtrade, Celtic Christianity, Water, Food and Seeds. We also covered school assemblies (including a Special Needs school), 'Open the Book' and 'Storykeepers' sessions. Pub work was undertaken in our usual manner and at one of them they had an 'Open Mic' on the Thursday evening when any musicians could perform (not Karioke). We explained who we were and why we were in Penzance then offered to do some Celtic worship songs (a theme for our week). We were welcomed warmly by the organisers (though heckled twice by a customer!).

On the day before the mission, while I was commuting on the train to London, the Lord gave me the outline of a sketch for a school assembly. On the Tuesday we had 55 minutes' notice to cover an assembly at the RC Primary School. The Lord had it all in hand - the sketch fitted completely and with two musicians (playing violin and oboe) we covered the slot without difficulty - PTL! Other events included making Cup Cakes in the main Church, 'Roast a Christian' in Wetherspoons, Sankey Hymns on Thursday afternoon (when I had to speak with no notice at all!) and a Harvest barbecue at one of the smaller churches.

Like all team members, I had to make considerable adjustments - but the Lord provided accommodation and wonderful fellowship and support for me with a lovely older couple (previously with OMF), the husband of which had also been Vice Principal of Trinity Theological College in Bristol! The team connected with many people in the town and the two villages we covered, and we collected many 'Thanksgiving/Prayer' slips from people on the doors and elsewhere - which were all fed into Celtic worship times in the main Church. We departed on good terms with our hosts and I would encourage you to continue to pray for Penzance and the villages of Newlyn and Paul. The week was one of sowing for our team - the other Walk Cornwall team in Penzance witnessed 16 people coming to faith - PTL!