Guest Editorial : Tim Kernan – Toronto International Chirstian Church
Acts 11:19-22
Now those who had been scattered by the persecution in connection with Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, telling the message only to Jews. Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.
News of this reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch.
Lianne and I returned from our incredible trip to the UK on this past Monday afternoon. We were glad to be back in our home but we were sad too because we had bonded so much with the disciples in London. A number of months ago we had begun our relationship with a small group of 10 disciples there. Before long they had invited us to come and help them in their ministry. You can imagine our surprise when they sent us our tickets to come visit them! As we have built our relationship we can say that this is really the primary trait of the disciples in London; in true British fashion they put their money and their action where there mouth is.
When we were getting off the plane as we arrived in London on our first day of the trip Lianne and I were overcome by a sense of humility that God was going to use us to help a group of disciples in London. It is true that God uses the “weak things of the world”. Our God is a glorious God. As a Canadian it was especially poignant for me because as a soldier in the Canadian army I had sworn allegiance to the British monarch when I enlisted. I never thought I would be able to fulfill my vow and bear true allegiance in such a special way, “planting and watering” a church of saints so that God can make it grow and thrive in that land. I am not a teary guy but it was a special patriotic moment for me.
From the moment we got of the plane to the moment we left the hospitality they showed us was absolutely incredible. They welcomed us into their homes, cooked for us, even bought us flights to Ireland where we had a retreat. One afternoon they drove us down to the boarder of the Republic of Ireland where my family had set out 250 years ago to come to Canada. It was a really wonderful experience to be back on the village where my family had tread for hundreds of years before setting out for Canada during the sectarian conflict there.
Over our ten days in the UK we had four bible studies which lasted over four hours each. We couldn’t get enough of getting into the Scriptures together to build a plan of what this fledging church should do. Certainly God blessed our prayers and an unlegislated unity based on a connectedness to Christ immerged. They have dedicated themselves to daily evangelism, bible study and discipling of one another. They are committed to continuing to build a relationship with us here and also to coming as guests to the Portland leadership meeting at the January workshop.
We in Toronto are delighted to work with a group of disciples such as the one in London and we are looking forward to amazing fruit out of our love for one another.
Much love,
Tim
