My relationship with David, who at that time had little faith, began not long after he started attending our church when he sent a text asking for a letter of recommendation for a short-term mission trip. His older sister recommended a training with a Korean mission organisation that she had completed also, and the trip was one of the final stages of the training. However, he had required a recommendation from a Korean church pastor to attend.
At the time I received the request, I didn’t really know who David was. Few years had past when he returned to our church I had completely forgotten about him and greeted him warmly thinking it was our first encounter. During our conversation, I was reminded of what had happened years ago and learnt that David had developed a strong interest in the Bible, especially in the topic of the Apocalypse. We even ended up having serious debate about it. He attended the church regularly thereafter and enthusiastically joined the English cell because the atmosphere was good. Later, he also joined in Saturday’s evangelism, participated in the evangelistic trip and the mission trip to India.
A year ago, David was deeply moved by a prayer I offered him during a Wednesday service regarding marriage. He since then prayed earnestly for a long time and after attending an evangelism conference in Poland, he met a girl and later got engaged to be married in Autumn. He was so grateful to God he wanted to hold a engagement service at our Church which was held 2 weeks ago with a small group church members, the evangelism team, and the mission team. The mothers and sisters of both families were also present. The bride’s mother who runs a church in Poland flew over to London just for this service.
The service was filled with inspiration and joy throughout, and even while sharing refreshments afterward, I felt deeply grateful. David shared that I was his first Pastor and that our church was his first church. Even though I had done very little for him, I believe God has raised David to be a faithful disciple of Christ through me and our church. He now wishes to live like a missionary in Poland and asked for the B2 course Bible study materials our church offers. He also said it would be great if, when the opportunity arises, our church’s mission team could come to Poland and evanglise with him. I do not know when this will be, but I hope that day will come soon.
About 30 foreign members are currently actively participating in our church. They come also to the Wednesday service as well as Saturday’s evangelism. I try to make sure they are engaged in conversation so they do not feel neglected and I earnestly hope and pray that our church will become one that embraces, serves, and blesses many diaspora churches in London moving forward.
