BARKING St Erkenwald's member Bill Dear is back in the business of building houses - but this time other members of the congregation will be joining him.

Bill says: "In March 2007, I was part of a Habitat for Humanity team which built houses for those living in
poverty in Egypt.

"Then last summer, the Lord kept giving me a clear vision of a photo (a pair of dirty builder's boots lying on the floor) - I called it at the time ‘The Colour of Mission'.

"Its not one of the memorable photos from the Egypt mission but it was the one the Lord kept bringing back to me.

"It signified that the mission I had been part of was dirty and grimy and hard work - but it also reminded me of the privilege of seeing at first hand the work of the Lord amongst those who placed absolute trust in Him.

"I held it in prayer throughout the summer. Then, in October, the Lord laid the following scripture on my heart:

‘The day for building your walls will come, the day for extending your boundaries, In that day people will come to you... (Micah 7 vv11-12).'

"I held this in prayer: it had not occurred to me that maybe another building mission was imminent.

"In December, I received an email from Richard Jones (I had not spoken to him for a year) - he was the leader of the Egypt mission.

"His opening statement was: ‘It may seem a long time ago when we were building houses but I am sure we look back and still see it as an amazing experience - almost a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Well, not quite! There is an opportunity to have another amazing time building houses; are you up for it? Next October there is a team going to Kenya; could you be part of it?'

"Suddenly the vision of the boots and the Micah scripture sort of made sense - ‘The day for building your walls' etc - but I was still alone.

"When I casually mentioned this to a small group in the church, within days there were two of us; then the two became three. Now I see the scripture has been fulfilled: ‘In that day people will come to you'."

The three decided to speak about their plans during a Sunday morning service as testimony to the work of the Lord in their lives - the three became four, then five and now six.

Bill adds: "So Keith, Caroline, Ruth, Paul, David and I are going building in Kenya in October - not only
to help build houses but to stand side-by-side with those who are less fortunate than ourselves in
purely monetary terms.

"However, we can learn much from them concerning absolute trust in the provision of the Lord in all
areas of our lives.

"The other half of our team are part of the congregations at Green Street St Mary's and Pratts Bottom All Souls (Kent) - we have yet to meet but our prayer is that together we can take the Lord's love and compassion to those we meet in Kenya, and that through those we meet our lives to will be enriched."

? For more information about the aims of the Habitat for Humanity charity, log on to www.habitatforhumanity.org.uk

Page last edited: 26/05/2009
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