Author Archive

Let me start by telling you a God-incident! When I arrived my colleague Mark was talking to a Moslem Man (called Mohammed), and he was quoting the words of Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount, a cyclist who was passing through the park and not intending to stay, heard the quotation and stopped saying, “Are those the words of Jesus?” Mark replied yes, he dismounted and joined in the conversation, the cyclist (Michael) was a committed Christian and along with Mark spent almost two hours answering questions and sharing the gospel. Afterwards Mark came to tell me what happened, I was chatting to Ray (an atheist) at the time, so he also head the story of the ‘God-instance, now I have often spoken top Ray about football etc, but we have never really had a good spiritual chat, so I was able to seize the moment and link what Mark shared with the story of Acts chapter 8, Philip overhearing the Ethiopian eunuch reading the prophet Isaiah and stopping to explain it. “God moves in a mysterious ways.”
Pray for Mohammed & also Ray (photo 1 – Mohammed, Mark & Michael).

A pretty average kind of day in the park, a slow start before it began to fill up, the usual arguments and the odd profitable conversation. Today, Pastor John Sherwood (photo 3) grabbed me and said, “Your preaching next!” and so I enjoyed a short gospel preach on the ladder, spoken in open airs before but this was my first time at Speakers Corner.

Evangelism @ Speakers Corner. Hyde Park. London.

“If the Great Commission is true, our plans are not too big; they are too small.” — Pat Morley

Note: I have no hatred towards Moslems, my issue is with the ideology of Islam! As a Christian I seeks to love all Muslims, while honestly engaging with the true nature of Islam.
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Speakers Corner in London’s Hyde Park is the oldest free speech platform in the world. People won the right to speak in mass protests in the 1860s and early 1870s. Some people believe the tradition is connected to the right of the condemned to a last speech before being hung at the Tyburn gallows, a practice that stopped at the end of the 18th century. Every Sunday people from all sorts of convictions come to Hyde Park in the afternoon to spread their message or to have fun.

Preaching today…
Activity: Morning Service
Time: 10.30am
Venue: The Gospel Church @ Marchwood Infant School. SO40 4ZE
Title: ‘Trusting in the Waiting Room’
Bible Passage: Psalm 130

Great to hear ‘Good News Camp’ gets a mention in Olive’s testimony, “Her favourite Camp in the world!” A privilege to be a link in the chain of her coming to faith in Jesus Christ.

Testimony: 52:32
Baptism: 1:29:00

A service for the residents at Hawthorne Court. Southampton.
Since our last visit one of our regulars at the service has passed away, a reminder of the importance of these times when we can share hope, encouragement and the good news of Jesus Christ.

Todays service will be:

Hymn: All things bright and beautiful,
Prayer
Collective Prayer: The Lord’s Prayer (traditional)
Short talk #1: Gordon Curley
Sunday School Action song: Give me oil in my lamp
Short talk #2: Gordon Curley
Hymn: There is a redeemer
Closing Prayer.

Hawthorne Court specialises in dementia care.

The day after the ‘big’ conference (on reaching Moslems for Christ), meant that it was always going to be a good day in the park! Jay Smith was back ‘on the ladder’ in the park (Jay made weekly appearances at Speakers Corner in Hyde Park, London for over 24 years before moving to back to the States. YouTube debater GodLogic was also back, along with many form the conference. This was one of those rare occasions when Christians outnumbered the Moslems.
Highlights of the day. Mark and I had a great chat with Shaun, a young man searching for God, he took a John’s gospel, pray that he will read it.
Chris and I had a really good chat with e French Moslem man, who has promised to go away and look at the thins we talked about and when he returns to the UK in a few weeks’ time, we will go over his conclusions.

Evangelism @ Speakers Corner. Hyde Park. London.

Today’s the day @ SC, all the ‘big guns’ from this weeks conference are coming out to play! It’s gonna be a good one!

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Speakers Corner in London’s Hyde Park is the oldest free speech platform in the world. People won the right to speak in mass protests in the 1860s and early 1870s. Some people believe the tradition is connected to the right of the condemned to a last speech before being hung at the Tyburn gallows, a practice that stopped at the end of the 18th century. Every Sunday people from all sorts of convictions come to Hyde Park in the afternoon to spread their message or to have fun.

Looking forward to a few days ‘taking in’ and being inspired at Pfander Conference London.
Some great speakers, including the man of the moment, ‘GodLogic’ (see below) – at last years conference he was spot on in his talk and it was good to see him at Speakers Corner last Sunday and God willing he should be there this Sunday as well.

GodLogic (born Avery Austin Jr.) is a popular Christian apologist, content creator, and host of the GodLogic Apologetics YouTube channel. Known for his engaging interfaith debates, he primarily focuses on defending orthodox Christian theology—specifically the Trinity and the divinity of Jesus—while engaging with Islamic, Jehovah’s Witness, and Hebrew Israelite faiths.’

Download your copy of the Counties IGNITE SUMMER 2026 – CLICK HERE

CONTENTS

Pages 2: Welcome to Ignite – Martin Erwin (Counties CEO)
Pages 4-5: News in brief
Pages 6-7: A Devon postman shares how a chance encounter with an online church service changed his life
Pages 8-10: Counties evangelist Kim Hobbs reflects on
walking alongside a man society had forgotten.
Pages 11-13: Tony and Brenda Ozue left Nigeria with a mission to reach Europe – see what happened next.
Pages 14-15: How one woman’s journey to faith revealed
the transforming power of the Gospel.
Pages 16-17: How the Neighbourhood Chaplains scheme is taking the Gospel to doorsteps across the UK.
Pages 18-19: Emma Veal on how stepping out in faith
transformed her church’s outreach in Ballymena.
Pages 20-25: Street evangelism in Kent and why ordinary Christians are more ready for it than they think.
Pages 23-33: Leading people to faith – replanting a church and trusting God.
Pages 30-33: Roger Chilvers on why the ministry of
encouragement is in short supply in the church today.
Pages 34: A story of faith and passion for reaching the next generation in east Cardiff.

Glad to say (but sorry to those who will miss out) that GOOD NEWS CAMP 2026 is completely full (with some young people on a standby list).

Pray for the Leadership Team who meet tonight to plan & pray.
Pray to that we will find the last few helpers needed to complete the team for this year.

Good News Camp
Sunday August 16th to Friday August 21st 2026

What is it?
‘Good News’ Camps are packed with interest and provide excellent value for money. Campers are given the opportunity to explore new places, meet new friends, and take part in exciting activities! Organised Camp activities include onsite sports and art and craft sessions, plus trips into the New Forest, a jaunt to the beach and a splash in a nearby swimming pool. During ‘free time’ campers can just ‘chill out’ or use the onsite facilities e.g. snooker, table-tennis, volleyball, badminton, football and a variety of board games.

At the beginning of the week all campers are placed into teams and healthy competition is encouraged throughout the week. Teams will compete with each other in a whole range of fun based activities, scoring points and trying to make sure they are the team who will win the team prize at the end of the week!

Note: These Camps are Christian based. That means that each day all campers take part in various forms of Bible study and prayer. The main learning time takes place in an action packed, fast paced programme called ‘T.G.S.’ (The God Slot). This event includes singing, quizzes, Bible readings, competitions, prayers, fun spots, video stories and a short talk.