Sharing our faith journey is an important part of encouragement as we actively witness to the impact of the Holy Spirit in our lives. As this page develops we will add the stories of those that worship in and visit the Church
This is my story: Im now 74, an ex Firefighter, Probation Service, Second Chance Trading in Gibraltar, Frontier Youth Trust, Out4 Good, Go4 Enterprises and Colchester Rough Sleepers Group. I grew up in a non christian family, but my parents would pack me with my two elder twin sisters off to Sunday School every week. Sunday mornings was their time off!!, no work, no shops open, the Sabbath was truly respected..!!. My twin sisters and I though spent most of our time playing hide and seek in the graveyard.
We had a good upbringing in a safe and stable hardworking environment. My dad was a firefighter and my mum a dinner lady. They did extra jobs to keep food on the table and clothes on our backs.
I followed my dad into the fire service, but at the age of 58 he passed away silently in his sleep, none of us had any understanding of anything being wrong with him health wise. I was 30, and my biggest regret was not being able to tell him I loved him. I remember a moment before his funeral in his garden crying out to God to make things right, I sensed someone standing near to me, but there wasn't anyone but the sense of a presence was so strong. Something happened to make me feel ok about his passing, and gave me the strength to organise his funeral, and all the other administration things one has to do. Weirdly had a sense of elation that everything was going to be alright.
Nothing much changed in my life, I shared the feeling i had in the garden with many people, seeking an explanation, i was told it was a common experience in recently bereaved. Life carried on much the same until early one morning we got a call that there was a church on fire, we turned out and the high road where the station was situated was full of smoke, we knew we were going to a big fire.
The church was disused but being used to store carpets. The fire was taking control but hadn't broken through any windows or roof, as the senior hand it was my task to lead the Breathing Apparatus crew in. It was intensely hot, we used a widespread 'fog' of high pressure water to create a shield in front of us, but I got a real sense of danger, and it was almost as if somebody was telling me to get out, this feeling intensified until finally we pulled back at my behest and we followed the hose line back to the point of entry, we started to walk away and took our face masks off, we were probably 20 feet away from the building when there was a massive explosion, the biggest in the area since the WW2 Blitz. It transpired that the carpets had been stacked into wigwams and underneath was a LPG fuelled fork lift truck - the fire was set by an arsonist. If we hadn't have left following my 'sixth' sense feeling we would have probably died in the explosion.
I came out wondering for the second time where this 'sixth' sense comes from. When we returned to the station we de-briefed, one of the other firefighters in the crew thanked me for "bottling out" in the fire, I explained it wasn't quite like that, I also shared the experience in my Dads garden. There was something uncanny yet very real around me, I prayed to a God i didn't believe in, I wondering if it was just one of those 'sixth sense' experiences, but then the next question was where does that come from?
We expanded our family by two girls and moved out to a waterside village on the Blackwater Estuary in Tollesbury, we didn't know anybody, purely moved to be near the water and somewhere safe for our children to grow up in, by now i was carrying an injury incurred in the Fire Service.
I had learnt to sail in the East End of London in a free scheme conducted by Haringey Borough Council, so moving to Tollesbury was an alluring prospect to broaden my sailing ambitions.
I bought a bare hull of a boat seen at the London Boat Show and fitted it out on the driveway of our house, it was called "Our Jack" after my father. It was a great little boat for estuary sailing and for navigating the shallow creeks, and broadening my sailing experience with trips up to the Deben in Suffolk
I grew confident at sailing, and my experience in the Fire Service in looking after equipment etc was a good match, until one trip went wrong.
My closest friend, Paul, lived in a nearby village, he too was a Firefighter, and was keen to go sailing, so i planned a trip up to the Orwell and on to Ipswich Dock. We had a 'run' all the way up with the wind behind us. We anchored up and went ashore to the Butt & Oyster and had a great meal washed down with Tolleys Ale (no longer brewed), my friend was well impressed, but I was a little concerned about the weather forecast for our return trip. The morning shipping forecast predicted Force 6 winds, wasn't something I was keen to sail against, but my friend insisted that we should return as his wife was expecting him, I tried to convince him that it wasn't wise and i had never sailed the boat in strong winds, he was adamant that we should return, so we set off early on the ebb, so we could sail on the flood tide up to Tollesbury. Initially the weather conditions were ok until we got of Walton on the Naze and the wind strengthened, there were no other boats in the vicinity and i reefed in, but on a small boat that impairs the windward performance so i ran the 4hp outboard as well, to ensure progression through the waves on every tack. Everything went ok until off the Colne Bar and North Eagle Sands, we could hear the waves breaking onto gravel, and then the engine died, we were under reefed sails and couldn't tack through the waves and wind which was now close to the predicted Force 6.....I prayed quietly something on the lines "jesus help us", i gave the helm to my friend as i investigated why the engine stalled, and it was simply because the fuel level was drained low, confidently i delved down into a small cockpit locker where i stored the petrol but the first can had been used up, so i went to get the second can, to my horror there was only a very small amount of petrol in it, I retook the helm and asked my friend to put what was left into the tank, although it wasn't enough to get us home, we were at this point watching every wave, and i steered the boat away from the shore by sailing "on the beam" it was the safest strategy, but meant we made little actual progress, but whilst Paul emptied what was in the can, we were suddenly overwhelmed with the smell of petrol and what Paul had put in the engine was now 'overflowing', we were both taken back by this, I restarted the engine and could head up into the wind, until we finally got to close quarters off West Mersea, the sea flattened and the wind dropped and we motored back to the boats berth in the marina. Down below was a mess, a lot of water from spray and rain, plates and mugs and cutlery in the bottom of the boat.
Once we were berthed up Paul thanked me for getting us home, I could only answer him honestly and said it wasn't me mate, something extraordinary happened out there!!, he agreed as it was he who put what was a very small amount of petrol into the outboard tank, I said i had prayed and God had answered..!!, he never ever agreed that God did that, but he did say he couldn't explain it either.
I shared with him the incident in my dads garden, the fire where i could have died, and now this, he was respectful but said there had to be a rational explanation - ive been waiting for that now over thirty years!!
This incident made me want to go to Church to thank God which is what I did - it was a big step as i didn't know anybody, I had never met an evangelist, didn't understand what the Holy Spirit was!!
I also introduced myself to Fellowship Afloat Charitable Trust, a sailing centre, here in the village, and got involved with them. Through conversations with staff I learnt a lot, and it seems that the prayers of members of my extended family (two great aunts) brought me here to find God and learn about the Holy Spirit and the relevance of Jesus
Im not the best model of a christian, I swear a bit, drink alcohol, love football, motorbikes, sailing, but thank God every day of the blessing of having a family and wife who has stuck by me through thick and thin, a gift from God in every sense. The saying "by the Grace of God" encourages me as we don't have to be perfect or good but understanding why he died for us and accepting him.
Also knowing Jesus could be handy as we approach difficult times with fuel provision!!
If you are reading this and not yet a christian, simply pray and wait, for me I had to surrender, others have had different experiences, but it is prayer that bonds us together, through prayer we can communicate our feelings, make our requests, be thankful, but simply being able to spend time in the presence of the Holy One is a profound thing.
God bless!!