Firstline

by Terry Virgo

The first half of this year has been rather a blur as Wendy and I have visited six countries on four continents as well as travelling in the UK. We also acquired our tenth grandchild and third daughter-in-law in March!

The year started in Dubai, hosted by Clive and Heather Cernik, with Grace Church, which has doubled in size since I was there with Matt Redman a year ago. Clive and Heather at last have an apartment of their own, having lived very patiently in one room for over a year. The church also meets in a new and much better location. We had a great meeting and it was wonderful to see several being healed as we prayed at the end.

From there we rushed to Mumbai, arriving in the early hours of the morning to be met at the airport by our smiling friends, in spite of it being 3am!

Festival of Faith

Rambabu and I shared ministry as 1500 gathered. Faith was our theme, and the large crowd responded enthusiastically to what was preached and also to the wonderful healings that followed. Lex Loizides had also been there recently with our first Indian Front Edge, at which hundreds had been converted.











After the Festival of Faith we had a day with the pastors and wives of our growing number of Indian churches. Some had travelled a two/three-day journey to be there.

Then we flew south to Kerala, where Arun and Joy Ann Philip hosted a great time for pastors and leaders from around Kochi. We also visited Changanacherry where the church led by Robin Joseph continues to grow, though not without difficulties regarding their meeting place.
We came away from India much encouraged that the Newfrontiers churches are in a better place, healthy and growing. Praise the Lord!

Conferences

We had a great Tide is Turning weekend in Bournemouth, UK, where large crowds turned out to gather in the B&Q warehouse where the Bournemouth Family Church has been meeting. The powerful presence of God, evident in healings, confirmed the sense of the tide turning.

Immediately following that, I spent four days at the UK Vineyard Leaders’ Conference where I had been invited to bring extended teaching on the grace of God. We were very warmly received by the Vineyard leaders, led by John Mumford who has become a dear friend.

Prayer and Fasting

Some 30 years ago when I first invited Newfrontiers pastors to days of prayer and fasting we gathered about 30–40 guys. In February this year, about 650 packed into the Salt & Light church building in Derby for times of extraordinary manifestations of God’s presence and power, praying and prophesying, worshipping and encountering God. These regular days are truly memorable and arguably the heartbeat of the Newfrontiers family in the UK.

Chicago and St Louis

My next stop was Chicago, where I was initially hosted by the Living Light Church led by Tim Pingitore and overseen by John Lalgee. Here I took my final God’s Lavish Grace weekend and was thrilled to see the enthusiastic response of the people who turned out with real eagerness in spite of heavy snow in the area.

While in Chicago I also had the great joy of visiting our new church plant hosted by Tim and Chloe Steinke from Cape Town. They have done a brilliant job in gathering people through Alpha. I was especially blessed to meet Alex Kozlov who had recently arrived from Rosa, the Newfrontiers church in Moscow, and soon to be joined by his wife Eugenia. He brought me greetings from Pavel and Marina. This new, lively, embryonic church is already attracting internationals.

From there we travelled to St Louis to meet with all the leaders from our Newfrontiers churches across the USA, with guests from Canada and Mexico. They came from coast to coast – Oregon to New England. It was very evident that next generation leaders are emerging – especially at the Saturday evening banquet, where the old guys were frankly out-danced by them! We were thrilled to see the great new building recently acquired and renovated by Jubilee church. It opened officially at Easter and is ready for action and impact in St Louis!

Aguascalientes, Mexico

From St Louis we flew to Aguascalientes, where we gathered all our leaders from the Newfrontiers Mexican churches. God came powerfully amongst us with many healings.

John Evans, who led our first church in Mexico (El Camino in Guadalajara), has now planted a new congregation in that city. Arturo now leads El Camino, packed with eager, praising people. We have also planted into Mexico City, one of the world’s largest cities. Lee Yarbrough is doing a great job overseeing all that’s developing there.

UK Church Plants

I love visiting new church plants and have recently had great times at Centrepoint Church Guildford and Grace Church Chichester, where two very exciting church plants are flourishing.

South Africa

Wendy and I loved being at the new Grace Church at Table Bay, led by Emmanuel Chanda and Wayne Noland. What a thrill to be there for their third week and to meet people already saved and added! The worship was beautiful, led by Emily Pettit’s fiancé, Ryan Coetzee. People were healed and the presence of God was wonderful.

While in South Africa, Dave Holden and I preached at the Cape Town Together on a Mission. Great crowds turned out at the Jubilee Church building for some excellent meetings. Things are really pumping there. The Cape Town elders and wives get-together was also a huge blessing and I greatly enjoyed preaching at Helderberg, the church led by Francois Heunis. The worship once again was superb and I felt great liberty in preaching.

Two days in Johannesburg gave opportunity to be with guys from the emerging teams that will serve among the growing number of churches in South Africa and beyond.

Church of Christ the King, Brighton

Paul Reid from Belfast once told me that one of the best things he could do to encourage his group of churches was to build his own church as a strong example. In Brighton we’ve sought to do that. We saw 60 respond to the gospel in January and February, and received 86 into membership in March. We’re just starting a new building programme and were thrilled to receive just under £300,000 on our first building offering. So there has been much to encourage.

Meanwhile, John and Sue Hosier, who travel out from Brighton, have recently returned from a visit to Peter Brooks, our former leading elder, with good news of growth and blessing in Sydney, where Steve and Ruth Brading are also thriving. Miles and Kate Simmonds have recently arrived and are settling into what we believe will be a key base for South East Asia and the Pacific Rim.

The team in Japan, led by Tom Eaton, is beginning to grow as Helen Ward and Simon Pask have recently joined them from Church of Christ the King, Brighton. David and Danielle Frazer from Jubilee Cape Town have also joined the team.

It was a special joy for me to pray for Simon and Helen as they left Brighton and within a few weeks to find myself in the Cape Town church praying for David and Danielle. I can’t thank God enough for the family that we belong to!

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