This week our family is blessed to be a part of Grace Family Bible Week. A small church in Morval, England sponsors this week of celebration in Jesus Christ on their lovely grounds, just two miles from the English Channel. Hundreds of people from across England attend, many camping out for the entire week. John Gillespie, the pastor, leads the week, teaching each night at 7:30 p.m.
This year’s theme is “For Such a Time as This,” straight from the book of Esther. John has pointed consistently to the Providence of God, noting that Providence is how God moves in the daily, even dull humdrum of life. But as we come alive to the reality of how God works each day, “hallowing the humdrum and glorifying the grind,” we can come alive, celebrating the reality of God’s great power and love for us. Whereas we may feel like most days “begin with a yawn and end with a sigh,” the presence of our loving creator awakens us to a life of joy and celebration. “If God can work when times are at their worst, like in the days of Esther, how much more can we know that He is working today, after the Cross.”
So many in America only hear that the church in England is nearly dead, but I can testify that here in this one corner of Cornwall there is a church seeking to glorify the Lord in all that it does. Its ministry is reaching families and other pastors across England, encouraging many to persevere and see revival in this country. Please join John Gillespie, his family and church in praying for England, that it will be awakened again to the freedom they can find in Christ. And pray for laborers to be raised up in England, and to come to England, to serve this great country in the love of the Father.