Introduction

Introduction Sorry, I joined a while ago but found it hard to be motivated to type an introduction. But here goes. I hope it makes sense :)

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2 Corinthians 10:16
so that we can preach the gospel in the regions beyond you. For we do not want to boast about work already done in another man's territory.

one of the reasons that we left the 'cutting edge' :wink: church that we were part of, 4 years ago in October, was because they were not reaching certain people groups properly....
I am referring to those who weren't white, middle-class and fairly secure financially...
when I say 'properly' I mean they reached some who were outside of this description but they seemed not to feel comfortable and accepted, and would often stand at the back during 'services'
and not many made the effort to include them in the chatting before and after services.
Some left.

My husband and I both come from a poorer non middle-class, non-University educated background...but as with many, once you become a Christian He helps you sort your life out into better order...so we found we were able to relate ok to Uni-educated middle-class people, as well as 'poorer' working class or unemployed people.

Anyway, we live in an inner-city area, Balsall Heath, Birmingham...we believed God wanted us here (I felt called here in '86 after 2 years in 'full-time' mission. -B'ham City Mission) Met my husband here in '88.

We made many contacts, as friends, with people from the area...working class people, Chinese students, and also a Muslim lady (who came to a 'service' with me)

We had a homegroup from that local church held in our home...but we were the 'hosts' not the leaders. I don't know if I have shared this before...but to cut a long story short, basically the leaders that were were ''given'' to lead the group in our home, did not relate very well to the people we had invited and who came to the group...and some stopped coming. :(
Me and my husband began to get very demoralised...people were being 'lost' that we had cared for for a long time..
...the senior pastor, and his wife, (who are very mature believers) had seen something in us, and shared our vision for bringing the Kingdom to that unreached, neglected area. So they had agreed for the homegroup to start there. But they were so busy, and just had to delegate...and these 'approved' leaders were 'given' us, as I said.

Me and my husband began to speak again (to each other) of things we had pushed down - like...'is God asking us to start something on our own'?
But we had bought into the theory of needing 'covering' and support, so were too nervous to launch out...thinking it wasn't God's way.

Then we got 'Houses That Change The World' by Wolfgang Simson and it freed us...
we left the church, peacefully, after talking to our house-group leaders and the senior pastor. They blessed us as people, friends, (which was nice), but they couldn't 'bless' what we felt we were going to do, as they admitted they could not understand it.
(That 'movement' of churches - is quite hierarchical....wonderful Godly, humble people in it though, winning many for the Lord across the world).

Anyway....so we left...
had our fingers burnt by a 'homechurch expert' we invited to do a mini-conference at our house, the following year.
Began to learn of the different 'types' of housechurch people there were (having started out quite naive and idealistic)

We realised that God was wanting to change us, first, so that we were more unified as a family in Him.
That has been happening...my husband and I are closer than ever.
Our kids, now teens, are not very chatty about spiritual things and I wonder what we should have done differently.
Our youngest is open, spiritually, though, and recently was going to meetings at our old church, taken by good friends of ours, who still go there.
But now she has dropped out...I think she began to feel some of the pressures that we did there.

So, what am I trying to say with all this?

We began to pioneer something, that others weren't...neglected peoples that the evangelical/charismatic Church in the U.K. is not reaching very well.

We thought we had support. Found out we didn't.
We are still here and still believing that those who God would call alongside us, to work with us, need to actually live here too...amongst the peoples (as Jesus did...incarnational)
Christians seem to not want to live in the inner cities much though...and seem to move out to 'nicer' areas.

Time has moved on really quick and we feel worn down and discouraged, although, as I said, closer as a family because of the extra time and space we have had, after 20+ years of serving others in congregations.

But we feel quite lonely in all this and are wondering if we got it wrong.
Should we give up and leave too?