Counties Evangelist, Jordan Armstrong, shares how, after much prayer, a whole family gave their life to Christ

Jordan and Lacy Armstrong

Jordan is the leader of Counties church plant, ‘Church in the Community Wollaston’, which opened 2021. It tried lots of different community engagement opportunities, but it was only when it became less busy, and put the Gospel message first, growth began.

The regular church congregation, at a Sunday gathering, is around 40-50 percent non-Christian which is an incredible figure for a church that only opened three years ago.

Kaylen, Pippa, Emilee, mum Katie and Rowan

JORDAN’S STORY

I love people. That means I give a lot of my time, energy, and prayer to deepen relationships and see those I care about come to know the Lord. Lacy and I have been pouring into a family for over a year. We spend our time with Katie and her four children. The two middle children, Pippa and Emilee, consider themselves Christians. Kaylen (the eldest daughter) has been on a journey of faith for some time, and her youngest, Rowan, is one of our faithful Kid’s Church and Little Lights inhabitants. We are so excited that Katie and Kaylen have decided to follow Jesus. 

Katie and I regularly chat about the Bible and faith and wrestle with challenging scriptures and big questions. I had been encouraged by the way the Lord had been moving in her life, particularly over the past year; it was evident He had been calling her closer to Him. I would regularly outright ask Katie if she was going to follow Jesus, and generally received the “I don’t know,” “Maybe,” or “We’ll see.” Those are better than no! 

On our first week of Alpha, which started at the beginning of May, I did the same after the session as we were washing up: “So, Katie, are you going to follow Jesus?” This time, there was a brief pause, then that wonderful word, “Yes.” So short, so simple, so beautiful. It has taken a few weeks since then, but it has been so encouraging to hear her confess her faith to others and begin to vocalise more confidently the decision she has made. 

The next Sunday after that conversation with Katie, I was chatting with Kaylen, asking her about the faith journey she is on, what she believed, and what was holding her back from making a decision. After a little while, we reached a point where it was clear that she wanted to make a decision, but perhaps felt she needed permission to make it for herself. I said to her, “From where I’m sat, it’s pretty clear you’ve made a decision already, you just want someone to tell you it’s okay to make it. This is me telling you.”

 And her response was: “Okay, yes!” Praise God! She then proceeded to inform the volunteers and leaders there: “I have decided to follow Jesus.” I cannot express the overflowing joy that hearing those six words has sprung out of me.

 For our small church plant in the West Midlands, these are precious moments that point us back to the truth that the Lord is always working, is faithful, and loves His creation. Please join us in praying for this family in their walk with the Lord, and we may see more people in this area come to know Jesus.