Ron’s Story
I was not brought up in a Christian home, although my parents would have considered themselves Christians or ‘Church of England’ like most of their contemporaries in England at that time.
My first understanding of Christianity which was anything more than a label came from Sister Julia, who prayed for us boys and did her best to point us in the direction of God. I cannot remember much taking root, however I am sure that her prayers contributed to my eventual decision to follow Jesus.
Ironically it was my parent’s religious beliefs, or perhaps even superstition which brought me into contact with the person who led me to faith in Jesus.
When I was around 11 I had one or two health issues, nothing major but enough for my parents to be concerned that I might die without having been Christened (because I had not been Christened as a baby – I am not sure why!). They took me to see a wonderful young curate at the local church named Martin Kiddle. Martin was young, energetic, full of fun and full of faith and he and Meggs, his wife, became the inspiration and support for my first steps in faith.
When my parents brought me to Martin for baptism, he took time to speak to me on my own and to explain to me the gospel. Young as I was I responded in faith to the news that Jesus had died for me and when, some weeks (or was it months?) later I was Christened, it was as a believer. I have this distinct memory of leaning back over the font in St Mary’s Church, Great Parndon while Martin poured copious amounts of water over my head. It may not have been full emersion – but it was certainly more than a sprinkle!
From then on I became an enthusiastic member of the church and of the Youth Group run by Martin and Meggs from their home. It was there that I experienced baptism in the Spirit and first began to speak in tongues. I remained a member of that church for over 10 years, growing in faith and understanding.
I was not bashful about telling others about my faith and in my teens became one of those irritating young people in the 70’s who wore large badges with things such as ‘Jesus is Lord’ and ‘Jesus loves you’. For my woodworking project at School I chose to make a large wooden cross. I remember showing my teacher the plan of what I was going to make, he said something along the lines of ‘is that what I think it is!’. I hung that on my bedroom wall where it remained for a good many years. Some have scandalously suggested that I used to wear this approximately three-foot-high cross around my neck, it was never true!
I attended church on Sundays, then Youth Group and at some point started attending Fellowship Groups. It was at one of the latter that I had my first experience of the prophetic, before I understood what it was. Nancy, a dear friend from the church, was praying and immediately afterwards I began to speak with words that I believe came from God to Nancy. I can’t remember exactly what I said, but the words and the tone felt as if they came from someone else – as I now believe they did!
I became a bell-ringer at St Mary’s Church, significant partly because it is something Karen and I shared before we started going out and during our ‘courtship’ (that does sound a little old fashioned I know!). It was also a place where I developed great friendships and had lengthy theological discussions with at least one atheist, one Buddhist and someone from a Catholic upbringing.
At School I became leader of the Christian Union and in the sixth form I spent much time discussing God with my fellow students – whether one to one, in groups in the 6th form common room, or even in whole class discussions.
It was while at School that I felt a calling to become a church leader and pursued this in the only way I had experience of at the time, applying to be an Ordinand in the Church of England and a student at London Bible College, for both of these I was accepted.
As well as developing my relationship with God, I was also developing my relationship with Karen and when I came to leave School I decided that parting from Karen would be too difficult and I turned down the place at London Bible College and began my working life as a Work Study Clerk, for English Numbering Machines, the company my Dad worked for.
In order to save you from complete boredom, I will truncate the rest of my story in a few headings below.
Work
Having been made redundant from ENM after just a year, I got a job with a Lloyds Insurance Broker in the City of London. (where I had vast amounts of time to read as I waited in the marbled air conditioned and extremely imposing old Lloyds building waiting to see claims underwriters). From there, after just a few weeks with another broker I moved to Addis Ltd in Hertford. There I learnt how difficult it could be to balance a demanding stressful job and a young growing family. I was eventually dismissed from Addis because I could not give the time and focus they demanded.
After 3 months of unemployment I gained a job as a Housing Benefit Assistant for Tower Hamlets Council. More pay for less responsibility, less hours (despite the commute) and definitely less stress. I stayed working for the Council until I worked with a small group of others to set up Poplar HARCA with Steve Stride, also a Christian, who was and still is the dynamic driving force of that wonderful example of Housing and Community Regeneration which has changed many residents lives for the good in one of the most deprived parts of the Country. (I must just add that my role was very modest).
Family
I married Karen when we were both relatively young (just before our 21st birthdays) We had 3 beautiful daughters all now grown up and moved away from home. We now also have 3 wonderful grandsons that we love very much.
Church
Karen and I remained in the church where I came to faith until around our mid-twenties when we moved, to Harlow Baptist Church (Fore Street). It was here that I responded to a conviction that I should have a full emersion baptism. We remained there until we left along with the leader of the time, Phil Jones, to plant a new church, Freshwaters Christian Fellowship. I became the Treasurer of the new Church and soon became involved on the Leadership Team
Relatively early on I believed the Lord spoke to me through the picture of Elisha taking over the mantle of Elijah, that I would take over the Leadership of Freshwaters from Phil when the Lord took him away. I did not tell anyone at the time, but this is subsequently what came to pass. (Not in a chariot, but a flight to Canada!)
After a period of transition, I took over leadership of Freshwaters around the turn of the millennium.
And finally
My walk with Jesus has not been dramatic or explosive, but has ebbed and flowed, much like the river from Ezekiel 47 that is still part of the DNA of Freshwaters. I have had periods of passionate pursuit, periods of quiet intimacy, periods of pain and struggle and periods of confusion. There are two ways that I would summarise my walk with Jesus through so many decades, the first is by saying He is faithful and has enabled me to persevere. The second is a simple prayer which I say from time to time when I feel overwhelmed, or particularly down on myself – Lord Jesus I love You and I know that You love me – at the end of the day that is what is more important than anything else, and do you know what, He loves you too!