The Wickens

Dear Friends,

“But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.” – Galatians 6:14

Recently I had the opportunity to preach from this verse and focused on a Powerful Cry (God forbid), the Powerful Cross and our Powerful Christ. I pray God would make my constant prayer “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ…”

In our last prayer letter we wrote with news of a great blessing, the birth of our daughter,  Sophie Kaetlyn, but also of many trials. It would be not exaggeration to say that the time period from November 2008 to April 2009 was one of the hardest in our lives.

On several occasions I thought of the meaning of Gethsemane, an oil press, as we felt pressed on every side. A comforting, encouraging and enabling thought for us was the real Gethsemane, the one in which our Saviour was pressed beyond measure, and though knowing the trial that lay ahead, still set himself to finish the task of redemption. As the hymn says, “It will be worth it all, when we see Jesus…”

Recently I had the opportunity to preach at a Bible conference in Bury, England where a number of Baptist pastors and churches came together for fellowship. In August I will be preaching at another Bible conference in Wales.

Also recently I was involved in a small way in the starting of a new fellowship called the Association of Independent Ministries. In coming news letters I will share more about it’s purpose and goals.

For the last 4 weeks we had two young men from Northern Ireland with us. Stephen and Alan are both members of the church where I was pastor for the past 3 years. Both have been called into full time ministry and this September will begin Bible school.

While they were here they helped distribute literature, preached, evangelised on the streets of Sunderland, Durham and Newcastle plus completed several assignments. I gave them about 12 hours of lectures on homiletics, Pastor Boreland gave a small study on Romans, I challenged them to memorise the book of Jude and they fulfilled a few other studies as well.

We have distributed a good amount of literature through letter boxes in the Ford Estate, Hallgarth and Bethesda areas. The response on the doors and from people on the streets has been generally friendly. We have not had much of a response in attendance, but this is just a stage in our overall out reach plan.

On June 14th we have a special Friend and Family Service at Hallgarth trying to encourage back those no longer attending services as well as evangelistically reaching out to the lost. Please pray the Lord will bless this meeting as we have testimonies from new and old attendees, special music and a Gospel message. We have 5000 leaflets to distribute, a sample of which I have sent with each letter.

At Hallgarth we have just finished a big job of renovating the main meeting room. Hopefully soon I will get some pictures online for you to view.

In the past few months I have also lectured in the Bible school here in Sunderland as well as flown to Northern Ireland twice to lecture there.

We appreciate your faithful prayers and support.

In Christ,

Martin, Carrie, Ashleigh, Samuel and Sophie Wickens