When I was horribly religious (2)
In 1956 five young American Missionaries were speared and hacked to death by members of the Woadani tribe in Ecuador. They became known as the “five martyrs of Ecuador”.
At least three of the five were Plymouth Brethren, so we took extra and somewhat exuberant pride in their deaths.
Sometime later in ‘56 or perhaps in ‘57 a group of we young “Peebs” took the ‘bus to the City of Bath to a Gospel Hall there, for a slide show of the five martyrs. It ended with the inevitable sunset slide, and we all sang “We rest on thee, our shield and our defender”, the hymn that had been sung by the men on the night of their murders.
Of course, I immediately wanted to be a missionary - except for that small matter of potential martyrdom. I devoured everything I could read about the men.
Elisabeth Elliott, widow of the martyr Jim Elliott, wrote a biography of her late husband “Shadow of the Almighty” I dare say that book influenced more young evangelicals of my generation than any other.
Jim had written “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose”. I planned to be “no fool” and to give everything to Jesus (well, not quite everything - aye, there was the rub!).
In 1960 “Youth for Christ International” held it’s great annual convention in Bristol. Most of the local evangelical churches were enthusiastic about this, but not the separatist Brethren of Chelsea Gospel Hall.
But the event had been advertised in “The Harvester” a monthly Plymouth Brethren magazine, which gave it some warrant in the minds of we young turks. So despite the gloomy warnings of our Elders, many of us participated in the week long events.
We met real live Americans for the first time, and even at that age (I was 16) we talked with them of our fears of America having a Roman Catholic President. “Would he take instructions from the Pope?”
The YFC convention was the beginning of a “break out time” for many of us. The music was lively and engaging. The Americans were young, charming and engaging. And, we met “true Christians” from “the systems”. (Remember that the P.B’s spoke of denominations as “the systems of men” - they were not the true Church).
Four of us, Jeffrey Davies, Richard Woodey, Eric Pavey and I were inspired by Youth for Christ to begin a “Gospel Quartette”. We sang in unaccompanied close harmony. And the Brethren looked upon us with pride and awe “four 16 year olds who were keen for the Lord”.
So we sang, and sang, and the original group stayed together for four years. Jeff Davies was the first to leave when he became engaged to marry Mary Bees. I was the next, when I, at aged 20 left to go to Bible College, determined to be an evangelist. (More about that later).
Precocious little buggers that we were, we decided right from the beginning that we would sing wherever we were invited, including Baptist, Methodist and Anglican Churches, for after all, “they needed the Gospel too”. (It was then that I first encountered Anglican Liturgy - and I liked it!)
And not only did we sing, but we also preached. So I have been preaching since I was 16 years old. Little wonder that I needed a year’s sabbatical when I retired in 2006!
We sang and preached all over the country - in one year alone we had over 60 “engagements”. We were “dead serious” about our mission, and slightly priggish to say the least.
But we had moments of comedy. One of us was preaching on the feeding of the five thousand and carried away with his own rhetoric said “and there were millions and millions there … well 5,000!”.
Another, when reading Luke 4:25 mis-spoke and said first “there were many windows”, and then, correcting himself said “there were merry widows”.
And we never forgot the time when I, telling the story of the Titanic (which huge drama on my part) cried out “and the Titanic shunk”.
And I was beginning to have some doubts. No matter how many times I had re-dedicated my life to Jesus, I was still having major crushes on other young men, and was subject to “impure” thoughts and deeds. I remember protesting “I don’t want to sing Victory in Jesus, for I do not have that victory”. But my precocity and pride won out, and I decided to become a “full time evangelist” with the Brethren. That story will have to wait for another day.
I still hear from time to time from Eric and Richard, and Jeff is still alive. But, they are men in their mid-sixties by now.
At least three of the five were Plymouth Brethren, so we took extra and somewhat exuberant pride in their deaths.
Sometime later in ‘56 or perhaps in ‘57 a group of we young “Peebs” took the ‘bus to the City of Bath to a Gospel Hall there, for a slide show of the five martyrs. It ended with the inevitable sunset slide, and we all sang “We rest on thee, our shield and our defender”, the hymn that had been sung by the men on the night of their murders.
Of course, I immediately wanted to be a missionary - except for that small matter of potential martyrdom. I devoured everything I could read about the men.
Elisabeth Elliott, widow of the martyr Jim Elliott, wrote a biography of her late husband “Shadow of the Almighty” I dare say that book influenced more young evangelicals of my generation than any other.
Jim had written “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose”. I planned to be “no fool” and to give everything to Jesus (well, not quite everything - aye, there was the rub!).
In 1960 “Youth for Christ International” held it’s great annual convention in Bristol. Most of the local evangelical churches were enthusiastic about this, but not the separatist Brethren of Chelsea Gospel Hall.
But the event had been advertised in “The Harvester” a monthly Plymouth Brethren magazine, which gave it some warrant in the minds of we young turks. So despite the gloomy warnings of our Elders, many of us participated in the week long events.
We met real live Americans for the first time, and even at that age (I was 16) we talked with them of our fears of America having a Roman Catholic President. “Would he take instructions from the Pope?”
The YFC convention was the beginning of a “break out time” for many of us. The music was lively and engaging. The Americans were young, charming and engaging. And, we met “true Christians” from “the systems”. (Remember that the P.B’s spoke of denominations as “the systems of men” - they were not the true Church).
Four of us, Jeffrey Davies, Richard Woodey, Eric Pavey and I were inspired by Youth for Christ to begin a “Gospel Quartette”. We sang in unaccompanied close harmony. And the Brethren looked upon us with pride and awe “four 16 year olds who were keen for the Lord”.
So we sang, and sang, and the original group stayed together for four years. Jeff Davies was the first to leave when he became engaged to marry Mary Bees. I was the next, when I, at aged 20 left to go to Bible College, determined to be an evangelist. (More about that later).
Precocious little buggers that we were, we decided right from the beginning that we would sing wherever we were invited, including Baptist, Methodist and Anglican Churches, for after all, “they needed the Gospel too”. (It was then that I first encountered Anglican Liturgy - and I liked it!)
And not only did we sing, but we also preached. So I have been preaching since I was 16 years old. Little wonder that I needed a year’s sabbatical when I retired in 2006!
We sang and preached all over the country - in one year alone we had over 60 “engagements”. We were “dead serious” about our mission, and slightly priggish to say the least.
But we had moments of comedy. One of us was preaching on the feeding of the five thousand and carried away with his own rhetoric said “and there were millions and millions there … well 5,000!”.
Another, when reading Luke 4:25 mis-spoke and said first “there were many windows”, and then, correcting himself said “there were merry widows”.
And we never forgot the time when I, telling the story of the Titanic (which huge drama on my part) cried out “and the Titanic shunk”.
And I was beginning to have some doubts. No matter how many times I had re-dedicated my life to Jesus, I was still having major crushes on other young men, and was subject to “impure” thoughts and deeds. I remember protesting “I don’t want to sing Victory in Jesus, for I do not have that victory”. But my precocity and pride won out, and I decided to become a “full time evangelist” with the Brethren. That story will have to wait for another day.
I still hear from time to time from Eric and Richard, and Jeff is still alive. But, they are men in their mid-sixties by now.
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