Long overdue Catch-up! and our new church, etc.

Dear friends, I'm so sorry that since I started up our Prayer for Breconshire Facebook page, I have been neglecting the original BlogSpot page here.  Thank you for all your faithful prayers which we are totally undeserved, yet our gracious Lord has been responding to.  God has been doing so much that it has been hard to keep both sites going.
So that those of you who do not follow the Facebook page do not miss out, I shall now post some of the more significant ones on here for you:

27th Sept 2017
Our friend whom Ifor and Anne baptised in the river only two years ago has now started a Messy Church in Talgarth. She has just run her second session and is getting good numbers of enthusiastic children and parents. She has also just started a Bible Study group and a Mother and Toddlers' group. She doesn't hang about!


From 28th Sept 2017 to June 2018     Our new church, Kensington Baptist Church, Brecon




Ifor has been Superintendent of Kensington Baptist Church, Brecon for the last 18 months and only now has God lifted His word to us on not starting a church nor leading one. We feel God is saying Now is the time and he was inducted as part time Minister for the church,  giving half of each week to Kensington, and the other half focusing more on encouraging the little chapels in the Association than we have been as we continue working around the county. It has a great website with photos that is kept up to date, but not by me!
Since September, numbers have been quietly growing in faith, numbers and love.  Numbers are now 20 to 30 on Sundays. We have a monthly "All-In Thing" for all the different age ranges and personality types, which involves drama, puppets, modern and traditional worship, and opportunities to break up into smaller groups to learn through discussion, games, craft, and quiet reflection... oh and Welsh cakes.

This is bringing in new people and families and the church is generally responding positively to it.
We have also started a regular Tuesday evening meal altogether followed by Alpha, Bible Study, Prayer Meetings or whatever else, sometimes with two events going on simultaneously in different rooms in this new building.  These rooms are let out to many different groups during the week which has resulted in a huge ready-made fringe, as well as bringing in income.  The church is also involved with Open the Book in two schools, taking simple services at a residential home for the elderly, and midweek Sparklers for young children.

For a few Tuesdays I have been teaching the church how to hear God more easily and this picture shows them in small groups prophesying over each other.



We have run two Alpha Courses and a Christianity Explored course at the church so far. The first attracted large numbers and grew the church in understanding and faith.  The second was held at the same time as a Bible Study series, and resulted in one person, Misha, being baptised in May, attracting around seventy people from around the county. This was the first baptism in Kensington chapel in 20 years.  God first called her into the Ministry when she was 14, but the trauma of this call being utterly squashed by the leaders of her church in her country resulted in her realistically losing 20 years of her life.  She has now felt this calling strongly once again now she has come back to her adored Jesus. Already she is showing much wisdom with all age groups and a very strong faith.

At the beginning of June, Peter Gladwyn, author of his amazing autobiography 'Out of the Ashes', spoke at Watergate in Brecon of his start to life being snatched out of his burning house as a baby with horrific burns, followed by continuously getting into serious trouble as a result of a life of drink and drugs, etc before he met Jesus.  Four people gave their lives to Jesus that evening.  I am discipling one of them who also has had a horrific life but is now radiant. Another, Luke, is homeless and came to our next Tuesday meal and bible study, bringing three homeless new friends of his. One of these has been housed, another taken in by a church member. Luke came again the following Tuesday with two of them, plus a new one who is not homeless but from a difficult background. This week Ifor and Misha took them for a separate Bible study which resulted in one of them giving their life to the Lord as well.

The Black Mountains Filling Station is going well, meeting the thirst of many Christians in the county and neighbouring counties. A new one has now started in South Hereford which made it easier for nearly twenty people who were coming from right over there.  But our numbers have already increased to compensate.  We've had some great times of worship, and good speakers.  At the May Filling Station last month, one of the worship leaders was excited to be healed of the pain and restricted movement caused by arthritis in her knee, back and shoulder and bounced around the place.  A young mum who seemed to have already inherited her mother's blindness, with vision of less than 1 out of 10 in her left eye. After 15 minutes, with her right eye covered, she was shocked to be able to see the minute marks around the clock at the far end of the hall. Another young woman, who had been born with less than 1 out of 10 vision in her left eye, also asked for prayer. After 12 minutes she could read the tiny type on her phone clearly from just that eye. Exciting healings.  Hopefully more this coming Friday.

The midweek training and equipping group I lead at our home has been growing in confidence in living a Supernatural Lifestyle.  A small group of us went out Treasure Hunting in Builth Wells recently. Prophecy is now beginning to flow easily.  Two weeks ago a woman being prophesied over by the group mentioned that she had no functioning eardrum in her left ear due to a burst abscess as a child.  We prayed for a new one for her.  She had a really strange sensation in her ear then and now hears fingers clicking accurately with her finger firmly stuck in her 'good' ear!  Another person that evening had an excruciatingly painful finger joint that was preventing her sleeping well.  The pain left completely and she is working the finger to get the rest of the mobility back.

Two of this group have started and are leading a new work in Llanwrtyd Wells in the old vestry left oddly standing when the chapel was demolished. Ifor is overseeing.  They meet fortnightly for a service which is attracting up to a dozen people, led by two of the Filling Station worship leaders. Then they meet for prayer in the alternate weeks. Very exciting.

I have had a great time showing slides of our time in Kenya and Uganda to a nearby Primary School. The children have had a great time trying to do the African dancing whilst balancing a book on their heads, instead of a tower of clay pots! Many of them also experienced Jesus's touch as they prayed blessing over each other as they'd seen the African children do.  One child said, "my head was all itchy and now its not"!  The infants are basing the whole term on Africa as a result of what they'd learnt from these slideshows.  The juniors are writing penpal letters to the children of one of the schools we are involved with over there.

Thank you again for praying for the work in Breconshire.  I shall try to keep this prayerforbreconshire.blogspot.co.uk page more up to date in future, to keep up with our Prayer For Breconshire Facebook page.

Mission to Wales

  In July hundreds of ordinary Christians, from all over Wales from all denominations and none, took part in different ways to share the love of Jesus out in the streets over a nine day period, going out for just one hour each of those days in their local towns. The results were unprecedented. 3,351 people chose to accept Jesus's invitation and follow him in just those nine hours! They were each given a free copy of two of the books of the Bible and a booklet covering six aspects to help them in their new journeys. Those who wished to meet up with someone afterwards gave their details so this could be arranged.

Our nearest training centre for the Mission to Wales was in Pontypridd. A number of us from Breconshire went along. After a great time of worship and brief training, we went out on the streets of Pontypridd in pairs for an hour. The same the following day. Many people responded to the Good News Jesus was offering them and were keen to give their details so they could meet up with someone later.

After this we had a couple of days in Abergavenny where once again many chose to follow Jesus after hearing about His great love for them, talking to people in the streets and market and outside cafes.

On the Wednesday of that week, the Breconshire people left Abergavenny and met together in a home in Brecon before going

out to share about Jesus and His huge love for the people on the streets in Brecon over the next few days. Again, nearly a dozen people enthusiastically chose to follow Jesus and were given copies of Luke-Acts and the Six booklet to help them on their new journey.

Some of these also asked to meet up with someone near them to go through the little Six booklet so they could ask any questions they may have as the days went by.

Its not easy going out to share about Jesus's love for all people because we never know what kind of response we will get, but its been so worth it to see the joy in the faces of the people who do choose to accept Jesus's free offer of complete forgiveness, a fresh start and eternal Life with Him.

Ifor's book now on the market.

We had a table to sell books the next day at the 150th Anniversary of the Baptist Union of Wales in Carmarthen, where Ifor was asked to speak about his book.

Later we went to New Wine at Shepton Mallet.  The manager of the huge St Andrews Bookshop there took one look at the reviews by big names on the back cover and promptly put it up for sale on the shelves among authors such as Philip Yancey, John Wimber, J. Packer, Bill Johnson and Rick Warren!  The manager asked to keep the books to take around other big events in the coming months.

                          

      
Open Hands Open Heart is available in both hard and kindle forms from Eden Bookshops and Amazon, as well as St Andrews Bookshop.
Should you want a quantity for your church or group, contact us and we can arrange a discount price.

Ifor's Book Launch

Ifor's book launch in Broad Haven went really well on Thursday 15th. It was great to see so many friends there from the chapel and village. Around a hundred books went and we've left a box of books with Glenys for those who were unable to make the day. So see her if you'd like one and you live in that area. Also at Ffald y Brenin.
Otherwise they are now available on Amazon as hard copies and Kindle. People who are already reading it are saying its a real page turner.

God Healing at Praise and Worship Evening in Brecon

The next Praise and Worship evening at Watergate, Baptist Church, Brecon, with live band 'Open Doors' will be on Sunday, 11th June at 5.30. 

The last one was great.  During the coffee afterwards I got to pray with three people for healing.  The first man had been involved in a car accident in 1992 and has had painful knees and extremely limited movement in his wrist ever since.  As we prayed, the pain left all sites and when he tried his wrist five minutes later, he found he had full movement in his wrist, easily putting it in positions he hasn't been able to for twenty years!  His knees too. These healings have remained.
Seeing that, two others asked for prayer and felt the Holy Spirit doing something:  one man found the pain left his hip and a woman felt strange sensation in her gall bladder as we prayed.  I haven't heard if the latter two healings stayed.  All good fun!

 This is the story of the man with the broken wrists:

"In 1992 my wrist was smashed in a car accident. They didn't try to fix my wrist when I was taken into the hospital as I had a fractured skull and was in a coma. So they just made my wrist more comfortable so I could die in less pain.

When I recovered, I learned to cope with limited wrist movement as being the new norm. Towards the end of last year the use of a walking stick caused a further impingement and this showed up in an x-ray in January. I was praying for it to go back to its limited movement as I didn't even think of full movement, being so used to it.

Now I am amazed every day when I see my hand in a position it couldn't be in."

The top photos in the white tee shirt show his attempts to position his hands previously to the now healed versions in the blue tee shirt.  JESUS STILL HEALS TODAY!

Training and Equipping

My "Hearing God" series of four went down really well in Abergavenny last month.  I have just completed a new series of four on "The Cross and How to Apply it" at our home which over a dozen seemed to enjoy and get a lot from, which was very encouraging.

My next series of four on the Holy Spirit will be starting on 14th June and will be as follows:

14th June    Discovering the Holy Spirit in the Bible and His relevance to our lives.

21st June    What does the Holy Spirit do?

28th June    How to be filled with and empowered by the Holy Spirit.

 5th  July     The Gifts of the Spirit and how to use them.

Kensington Chapel

After the very successful Alpha  Course Ifor led in Kensington Baptist Church in Brecon, the people asked to continue with something similar.  So using the same format, Ifor has been running Christianity Explored which is also proving popular.  https://youtu.be/B5W-11Om8ME  This is held Tuesday evenings, 7 to 9pm, starting with a light supper.  If you are in the area, do call in and sample a session.  Each session is self contained and great fun.

Also do check out the chapel's Facebook page which is full of photos and current activities.


@KensingtonbaptistchurchBrecon

Ifor has been moderator at the chapel for over a year and will be their part time minister from September.