An Unexpected Invitation
Some moments quietly change the course of a life forever. In this personal testimony, one man reflects on how a simple invitation, a small prayer meeting, and a courageous step of faith at fifteen shaped not only his own future, but the spiritual journey of his whole family. From those early days in Birmingham to a lifetime in ministry, this is a story of transformation, calling, and the enduring power of the gospel.
When I was fifteen I started work for a small printing company in Birmingham. I was warned that one man, Stan, was very religious and rather odd. It was at lunchtime that I saw him get out his bible and read it.
Though an atheist, I was impressed by his enthusiasm and kindness. He invited me to his small mission hall, called Ward End Full Gospel Mission. It was situated in the same area where my mother in the 1920s had gone forward in a tent meeting to accept Christ as her saviour. She was one of thirteen children living in a spiritualist home in very poor circumstances. She suffered with ill health most of her life.
Like my mother, I was caught up with the fervour and joy of the worship. The people seemed to have a living faith, and I began to long for it also. It was on a cold, wet night on 11th November in a small prayer meeting when I felt God was saying to me “Stand up and confess Jesus as your saviour.” I remember gripping the chair in front of me and standing to my feet, saying “Thank you, Lord, for saving me. Keep me on the straight and narrow.” I sat down in tears feeling filled with a supernatural love. I knew that I would never be the same again. I experienced a deep peace within, and my life began to change.
Within a few months I had read through the whole of the new testament. I was eager to pray, and every morning with Stan, I would kneel by the printing machine before anyone had arrived, and pray for my parents and my sisters.
A few weeks later, my mother and my sister walked forward in a meeting, witnessing that they had given their lives to Jesus.
A few weeks after that, my father was sitting in a service when the preacher preached on the text, “You and your household will be saved” , and he responded. The family felt that they had been changed by God’s love, a change that was to last and to alter the whole course of their lives.
I became keen to share my new-found faith, visiting clubs, coffee bars and estates in the Birmingham area, telling others of the forgiveness and new life I had found in Jesus Christ. I saw many respond to the call of the gospel.
I formed a gospel music group called the Scarlet Chords and started a coffee bar in the church rooms. I began to see the same life-changing process in other people’s lives as they discovered God’s accepting love . As a result I was led to train for the ministry at Spurgeon’s College, following which I became a Baptist minister.
Opportunities arose in Britain, America and other countries to take the gospel and see the transforming power of Christ being effective in many people’s lives. To use the apostle Paul’s words, “I have complete confidence in the gospel. It is God’s power to save all who believe.” Romans 1:16.
I remain as active as ever, now in my eighties, and I know the same joy and purpose that I first felt as a young teenager.
About the Author
Eric grew up in Birmingham after the war. He had three older sisters, and it was a difficult time for the family because of our mother’s poor health. Their father had to go to work because of their financial circumstances, and an aunt came to look after us.
At the age of fifteen, Eric found a living faith in Christ, and began serving in evangelism in the Birmingham area. He was married to Margaret, and they had two children. He was called into the Baptist ministry to a small church in Kent. He have served in four churches, and also as a hospice chaplain. Eric has travelled to many countries to preach and share the gospel.
He is still active in ministry, particularly called to support the lonely and the bereaved with counselling, both within groups and one to one support. Eric is also active in their local parish church as a part of the ministry team.
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