EMMA CARPENTER (Shepherd Drive)

I started attending the parenting classes run by Simon and Christine towards the end of 2007.  I already knew them from attending Tots and Tinies with my son Jack. 

I decided to turn up to the first meeting on the spur of the moment and I’m so grateful I made that decision.  I felt so welcome and safe in those group meetings, and gradually made new friends.  Noticing how peaceful, happy and positive Simon and Christine always seemed made me want to know them better and how they did it.

As the parenting course came to an end they mentioned an upcoming course, “Christianity Explored”.  They said we were welcome to come along and find out the answers to any questions we had.  Although I spoke to no one in the group about it, I had decided I wanted to know more.  I was surprised when I arrived for the first Christianity Explored meeting at how many of my new friends from the parenting course were there – all but one!

As we went through the course it both answered and raised many questions.  I doubted what Simon and Christine were telling us for a long time, but deep down knew that my friends would never lie to me about such important things.  When we discussed Heaven and Hell it was so different to what I expected that it blew me away.  I understood that as it stood I was going to Hell, and I needed to pray to Jesus if I was going to change that and save myself. 

I don’t remember the date I asked Jesus to come into my life, forgive my sins, and help me become the person God had planned for me to be.  I didn’t have any sudden moment when I knew I was a Christian.  It happened slowly and gradually.  It made me see the changes I needed to make to my behaviour, my language, my driving, and to me as a whole.

I can’t remember when I started praying, consciously asking for help to become a better person.  For a long time now I have prayed, to help me understand Our Father’s words, and for him to guide me as I start my life along a different path from the one I had previously walked.

I’d always had a strong moral conscience, and felt I was being watched over, but didn’t feel right or happy with my life as it was.  I knew that deep down I was a good person, kind and helpful, and had been told on more than one occasion that I would go to Heaven for helping out in one way or another.  But in my head I questioned ‘How do they know this?’
I now know that at the time they were wrong about me, and my final destination.

Although I was being a good person, that’s not enough in God’s eyes.  I’m never going to reach God’s expectations, even on a great day, and so the only way I can join him in Heaven, is to ask for his forgiveness, and continue to live my life for Him.

I now feel an inner peace and security of the love I receive from God.  He raises my spirits when I ask for his help and he listens to my prayers whenever I need him.  He’s there watching over me still, only now I have a real relationship with him.

Photo shows Emma and Donna giving their testimonies at their Baptismal service at Shepherd Drive

DONNA ELLIS (Shepherd Drive)

I started coming to “Tots & Tinies”, the toddler group at SDBC. It was when Simon & Christine came to the church that really opened my eyes up. There was now a lovely atmosphere and friendliness.

They approached my sister, my friend and I about doing a parenting course. This was a chance to meet other mums, help me with the issues I had and to get to know Simon & Christine more. The course was very successful and I feel that we all got on well and wished that the course was longer. 

They announced that they were doing the “Christianity Explored” course. My sister and my friend were interested but I was not so keen but then decided that I had nothing to lose by doing the course.

On the last week of the six week course, my little boy Louis had to have an operation - nothing major, but I was not looking forward to seeing him be put to sleep. That day, Simon prayed for Louis and it really touched me. The amount of love and care that was there for us was overwhelming.

My friend on the other hand had found this hard and had decided that Christianity was not for her so she finished the course. What she found hard, I wanted to learn more about. Then I found out about Jesus dying on the cross to help me and take away my sin. I thought this was a truly amazing thing for somebody to do. I then wanted to learn more.

Being part of a new family means a lot to me. The support is amazing. My blood family and my nearest and dearest have always been loving and supporting. Coming to the Church is an extension of that love and here I feel very welcome.

It was heart-warming when I spoke to Simon, who explained that people from other churches and areas were praying for us, people that I have never met yet they care so much. It’s a truly unbelievable feeling.

This is why I became a Christian. I feel so cared for by a whole range of people that it’s just amazing. Also the thought of going to Heaven and then looking back on what Jesus has done for us.

My husband was in hospital for a little stay last year and Christine took the time out to cook our family a meal to help us. I was so touched; that’s when a wave of emotion came over me and I then thought  - “I want to be like that; I want to help people; I want to be a part of that”.

It took me another two months of thinking, then I prayed a prayer asking Jesus into my life. I didn’t want to rush into it; I wanted to give myself some time. I did keep a copy of the prayer on my bedside table for the two months knowing that I was going to be ready at some time.

CHERYL BIRKETT (Bradfield & Rougham)

Cheryl's testimony: Almost 20 years ago I gave my life to the Lord Jesus and asked Him to be my Saviour.

He has proved Himself to be a faithful friend many times since that day. So when I found a lump in my breast in January 2008 my cry to Him was simply, “Lord, please help me.” Immediately all my fears disappeared and I was comforted and just so aware of His presence with me.

Over the last year there have been so many things happen that to write about all of them would probably fill a book, but I will try and keep it short! I was diagnosed with breast cancer and as a result, have had a double mastectomy, chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

To say Chemo is not nice is an understatement! But some days are better than others. It was on a ‘good’ day that I went to the office of the company I work for and one of my colleagues asked me, “Cheryl, aren’t you angry? I mean, you are a person of faith and if God exists then He could have stopped this happening to you.” My reply was, “No I’m
not angry and yes He could have prevented this from happening, but when I became a Christian the Lord did not promise to keep me healthy and trouble free for the rest of my earthly life, but He did promise that I would never face these things alone if I turn to Him.” I was able to spend some time with this colleague, telling him about Jesus as my living Lord and Saviour.

One of the other things that has really struck me is ‘the Christian Family.’ When I was diagnosed I told my brothers and sisters at church what was happening and they promised to pray for me and help me. They have done more than that and I have received calls and emails from all over the world from their friends and family, people
who I don’t know, but who are Christians and have upheld me in prayer.

After a bout of Chemo when I was feeling particularly bad I went to church and at least four people came and told me they had been burdened by the Lord to pray for me. I find that so amazing! Here is The Creator, the Lord of all, asking His people to pray for me!! But such is His love and care for us.

So many people have said to me, “Cheryl, you have been so brave,” and my response has to be, “No, I haven’t,” You see to be truly brave you need to face your fears and as I said at the beginning the Lord has taken all fear away. There is a hymn which sums up how I feel.

God gave His Son, they called Him Jesus,
He came to love, heal and forgive,
He lived and died to buy my pardon.
An empty grave is there to prove my Saviour lives.

My prayer is that God would be glorified in all that He has done for
me.

Since Cheryl recorded her testimony her condition deteriorated and she passed away on 7th November 2009. Her obituary reads: Cheryl was in membership with the fellowship at Bradfield & Rougham Baptist Church, and although she would not be remembered widely outside that area, Cheryl was known to hundreds of people who have read her testimony in our current Association Report & Handbook and on our website. Many people have mentioned that wonderful testimony of God’s saving grace and of his keeping power and love she experienced through much suffering. Cheryl passed into the presence of her Lord on November 7th 2009.

RICHARD ROLFE

I was born on 2/3/76 in Ipswich. My father left my mother before I was born and we lived with my grandparents. When I was about 3 years old my grandparents moved to Mablethorpe but my mother decided to stay in Ipswich, and after a brief period of homelessness, she eventually got a council house on the Rushmere estate in Ipswich.

When I started school I was badly bullied and I started fighting back. I was a pretty good at fighting. The bullies suddenly wanted to befriend me and I realised that I could win popularity with my fists, so I gained a reputation of being the hardest boy in school and one of the toughest boys on my estate.

I did all the normal things kids might get up to growing up on a council estate like fighting, minor drug abuse, getting drunk, sexual encounters with girls and so on. I left school with poor qualifications and no direction to go in.

At 19 years old I decided to put my size and aggression to good use and got a job as a doorman at various pubs in Ipswich town center, and eventually ended up at a nightspot called Chicagos permanently. Despite being a bit wayward with plenty of attention from girls, I always said I would knock it all on the head if the right girl came along, and she did! Her name was Lynette and she is now my wife.

Lynette was a born again Christian and so was all her family. I didn't mind, in fact it made a nice change being around nice, quiet people considering all the mad people I was hanging around with. It wasn't long before I regularly started staying over with Lynette and her family at weekends and started to go with them to Horham Baptist Church.

In 6 years of regularly attendance, I learned much about the gospel, and on many occasions I felt God speaking to me, sometimes quite powerfully, through his Holy Spirit. I kept shrugging it off because I was afraid to change, though deep down in my soul I knew it was right.

On March 6th 2002 it happened again but this time far too powerful to shrug off. It started after a normal days work when I went to see my Mum who still lives in Ipswich. We talked about my brother who sadly died at birth, and my late Grandma who died back in 1998. We were both welling up with tears and said our Goodbyes. It is a half hour journey from my Mums house to mine yet strangely I could not stop crying the whole way home. At some points I was sobbing like a baby and I knew that the Holy Spirit was again at work within me, convicting me of my sins.

When I got home I didn't want my wife to see that I had been crying, so I dried my tears before entering the house. However, she asked what was wrong and I immediately broke down. She sat me down and kept asking me "What's wrong?" But by now I was crying so much that I couldn't even answer her. After a while I eventually managed to explain what was wrong. I said "I think that the Holy Spirit is poking about with me" and she suddenly realized what was happening.

I was in terrible anguish but deep down we both knew what was taking place - The Holy Spirit was again at work in my heart. Lynette asked me if I wanted her to pray for me and if I wanted to become a Christian and, distraughtly I said "yes, I want it to happen". It still took about half an hour for me to pluck up the courage to do this.

Eventually when I did pray I was in such turmoil that I can't really remember exactly what I said, but it was something like "Dear God please forgive me. Please help me. Please be with me". Then almost instantly all my pain and anguish just seemed to melt away. Then after a few moments I started to smile, and my smile seemed to last for ages, and after about 2 or 3 minutes I felt the strangest, most beautiful, sensation that I have ever felt in my whole life. I felt something that I can only describe to you as my old soul dying and the birth of my new soul, and then I had another sensation, it was like butterflies in my stomach but higher up in my heart and in my chest area. Through all this I had a feeling of floating or flying. I felt my soul lift upwards to heaven. It was a strong feeling like I was soaring at great speed upwards, like when you are on a roller coaster. I knew from that moment on that my name had been written in the book of life up in heaven. I felt exhausted but at the same time ecstatically happy and relieved. The whole conversion lasted about 3 hours and at the end I was totally dazed and bewildered. I literally had a fight with God but it was a fight I could not win.

For the first 2 weeks or so I could feel myself buzzing with the power of the Holy Spirit. I felt no shame in telling my friends and family that I had become a born again Christian, and I will often stand and stare in a totally new and different way at the outstanding beauty of nature. I remember talking on the phone to another Christian called Steve Johnson from the Tough Talk team, for whom I helped to set up one of their talks locally about 1 month before I was born again, to tell him of the good news of my salvation. He was overjoyed but he said to me "Be careful Rich, because we don't suddenly become Angels over night". As time went on I realised how right he was…even now it seems I am always doing something wrong - whether it is saying or doing the wrong thing to someone, or indeed not saying or doing enough about my faith, but the difference is now I am always saying I am sorry to God, and asking for his forgiveness and to help me get back up on my feet and go forward with him, to do his work in his name and for his glory.

Now it is with great sadness that on the 14th May 2003 my Father-In-Law 'Reginald Catling' passed away suddenly. He was a good, solid Christian man who faithfully witnessed to me all the years that I knew him. So at his funeral I felt moved to stand up and say what a fantastic Christian influence he had been to me in my life. Also at the funeral was a gentleman called David Piper who invited me to have my testimony published in the Association of Grace Baptist Churches Report and Handbook, at which I was very happy to agree to. So here it is, and with it I send a covering prayer that it will be a useful tool in the furtherance of Gods beautiful kingdom. Amen.

Christian love to you all,
Richard Rolfe

ASSOCIATION OF GRACE BAPTIST CHURCHES (EAST ANGLIA)

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