A fellowship that won our hearts: Tim Kernan

I little over a month from now, last year, I got off a plane from Portland Oregon at Gatwick Airport in London England. This is the “before photo”. A group of about 10 weary and and struggling disciples had been whittled down to exactly 3 faithful by Satan’s attacks. Sitting on a couch later that day in East London sipping tea with them I realized that I had bitten off quite a bit by volunteering to come and lead this “congregation”. In Matthew 20:19-20: Jesus said: “Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” Jesus does not have a mockers heart so he would never look down on three committed disciples. Although I admit those first couple nights sleeping in the brothers flat I was emotionally discouraged God restored my courage and put in me a furious zeal to build up this congregation and seek and save the lost.

Click “show me more” to see the “after photo”!

As you can see God has blessed us here as a congregation so much! With no outside financial support and only Lianne and I with any experience leading bible talks God has done miracles with the faith of the disciples here. As a fellowship worldwide almost all of our churches either are mission teams or just sent a mission team. Human resources and finances were stretched beyond the breaking point and I want to take a moment here to thank all the brothers and sisters who called us to disciple us and teach us to be better leaders and missionaries. I know you had your own battles to fight but we are grateful that you took time to help us here. We are so encouraged to know that all of our brothers and sisters worldwide were suffering for the same cause: to make disciples of all nations.

We literally had to build the church up from scratch. One of the major obstacles that we faced is the sheer size of London. It takes about as long to go from London to Paris as it does to go from one side of London to another. As such we needed to have bible talks in all four cardinal points of the city. Jacques and Jeanette, our awesome right hand couple were the first to head out with a bible talk all the way to the west of the city. They fought a heroic battle against Satan there.

Next was our brothers Niyi and Ola who ventured out North to set up a bible talk at the very top of the Northern Line of the London tube network. That group has more than doubled in a very short time. Lastly brother Phil took his campus group to south London and pulled the south London clan together to take their section of the city. Lianne and I who lead the East Bible Talk took on a bible talk in the Centre right by University College of London as well. As such now every living creature in London is now within 20 mins of a bible talk.

We then set to work to build a marrieds ministry that was close with one another and who provided an example to the rest of the church in love and marriage relationships. Today our marrieds devos are a cherished time for all of us and recently we even started to have singles come out to learn.

The singles ministry struggled to find its identity but recently they really stepped up their devotionals to make them meaningful, evangelistic and fun. They recently had a very successful Career Development Workshop. For the guests I think it was the first time that they heard the bible applied to something they cared about and it was very impactful. Nick Bordieri and Steve Thorne from LA and Phoenix woke up at 4am to join us by Video conference and we are so grateful to them for it!

One of the surprises this year that we already have a growing teen ministry! So far two teens have been baptized and the rest are coming closer to God everyday. I once heard a speaker say that if the teens are not getting baptized there is hypocrisy in the congregation. Its been very humbling to see the zeal of the teens and their excitement for God. I pray we can continue to meet their standards for sincerity.

We had to overcome major administrative barriers as well. Firstly Lianne and I needed to get our visas, then we had to get our incorporation, charity status, become financially self sufficient, and take care of our record keeping and accountancy to the standard that the members and God deserve. As of about a month ago all of these things have been accomplished mostly due to the hard work of our brother Ola.

I also want to plug our Cyber Evangelism Ministry and in particular the skype quiet times group that was started by Jason Green. He is an incredible brother who sets up quiet times with disciples all over the world to encourage them and build them up. Its actually really caught on and now there are brothers and sisters hooking up for prayer and bible study together all the time from their computers. Its an awesome thing. Here is the facebook group that they started: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=15897980479

God has also blessed Lianne and I with a little bun in the oven. He’s a forceful little guy, he already likes to force himself over to the left side of Liannes stomach creating a bulge on that side. Hes a baby who knows what he wants and goes after it. I hope he only takes on my good traits and not all my traits! A whole new reason to repent!

I remember introducing Lianne to my father about five years ago. When she stepped out of the room to get more tea he looked at me straight in the eye and said “that’s the best thing that ever happened to you”. Going on 5 years of marriage I agree more fully now than ever. Lianne is a wonderful woman and Christian sister who loves God more than any human I have ever met. She is a quiet and gentle sister who many said wasn’t “bossy enough for the ministry” yet her soft words have broken more than a few bones (Proverbs 25: 15). Her gentle desire for friendship and serving instead of seeking personal glory has won more than a few hard hearts back to the Lord. I am more deeply in love with her today than ever before. I was told that the honey moon would one day end, I’m still waiting. Its not that its always been easy but when you are dealing with a true disciple things always seem to work out.

I just want to share with the whole church in London and also the whole fellowship and God and Jesus how grateful I am for all that you have done for me and my family. I am eternally grateful and I love you all very much.

Your bro,

Tim