A Knock and a Prayer – an article by Derek Clark, courtesy of St Johns, Egham
Derek Clark talks to transform about his door-to-door work with Outreach UK on behalf of the Egham churches
Be strong and courageous….
Most people would be filled with horror at the thought of doing door to door evangelism. For me, I’m driven to this ministry simply because I have a deep desire to help people what I have found – the real meaning of life.
I’m married to Lizzie and we have 3 grown up children. We live in Cranleigh and are members of the local Baptist Church. I started off in life as an Electronics Design Engineer and later became a Freelance Computer programmer.
On 6th August 1992, just before my 40th birthday and through a set of amazing circumstances I entered into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and my life was turned upside down. Prior to that my God was money and it ruled my life. Although I was well off, I wasn’t happy, I was constantly worried and drank a lot to try and find some sort of peace in my life. Praise God he gently healed me from all that – my eyes were opened to the fact that I had a really genuine relationship with the God that made the universe that was worth more than a pot of gold.
I first started going from door-to-door in Albania and later in Africa on short term missions with very encouraging results. I started working in the UK with my predecessor from Outreach UK, Richard Jee. I found that there were many people who were open to talk about the big questions of life and others who had all sorts of problems in their life who were open and grateful for prayer on a wide range of issues. Through regular repeated visits several people started coming to church and some became Christians and entered into that wonderful life transforming relationship with Jesus Christ.
About 2 years ago Richard Jee retired and Outreach UK asked me if I wanted to step into his shoes, a scary prospect which meant praying for wisdom. One morning God reminded me of the time when Moses was handing over the baton of leadership of the Israelites to Joshua:
“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6
These words jumped off the page at me and it was if God was speaking directly to me, my anxiety left me immediately and I just knew that working for Outreach UK was what God wanted me to do.
Through Outreach UK I now work for several different churches for a total of 3 days a week and for the remaining 2 days a week I do painting and decorating to generate family income. I really feel God blessing me through this work as he uses me to be a listening ear, to give comfort, encouragement and hope to the lonely, to pray for the troubled and sick and to help people move towards the most important decision anyone could ever make in their lives – asking Jesus to come into their life as their Lord and Saviour!
Work in Egham
At the moment I come to Egham for one Thursday a month with the purpose of raising the profile of the churches in Egham and to offer the love of Jesus to those we visit.
I meet up with someone for prayer and to collect any flyers for upcoming events. I then go out for morning and afternoon sessions to selected roads door to door promoting the local churches, talking to people, building relationships, answering questions, and offering prayer where needed. The strategy then is to go back again every 3-4 months gradually building relationships, as quite often it’s only after 2 or 3 visits that any real conversation takes place. Since I have started I have had the joy of David Bartholomew’s company in the afternoons, we have been blessed with invites for cups of tea, several good conversations and a few laughs on the way. The great thing about this type of ministry is that over time you learn the best way to answer those awkward questions, it helps to sharpen your mind and prepare you for conversations with friends and work colleagues. I would be delighted to hear from anybody else who might be interested in talking to me about what its really like and the possibility of joining me in this exciting ministry.
Dreams for 2010
Prayer is absolutely essential for any type of outreach so please pray for me, or how about considering prayer walking – simply walking selected streets and praying specifically for the people that live in each house.
My dreams for 2010 are that God would help those of us who go out to glorify God in everything we do, to be more and more like Jesus so that we would increasingly be able to shine the love of Jesus out to all we meet, to be more equipped to give comfort to the lonely, to give hope and support to the troubled and sick and to draw many into his kingdom as a result of this work, that others would share in the joys and blessings of this work whether in praying or practically getting involved, that we would learn how to be better equipped to share our lives with those around us. In a nutshell my dream is that God would draw many more people into the churches and it would be like a fire spreading out the love of Jesus into the community. All to the glory of God.
David Bartholemew shares his experience
My volunteering to accompany Derek Clark as he took the word of God from door to door in central Egham took me totally by surprise. I’ve been a Christian for only 18 months, my knowledge of the Bible is patchy to say the least, I’ve only just told lifelong friends of my discovery that Jesus is my saviour and yet here I was about to talk and pray for complete strangers on their doorsteps. I had thrown myself completely in the deep end. A week before the first stomp down Grange Road in Egham I was convinced I was going to take part in a Getting Punched for Jesus campaign. But God helped me to swim with a whole heap of help from Derek who is an amazingly calm and friendly soul. I haven’t been punched, I’ve met some lovely people and had some fantastic conversations about God. Derek and I have been on two treks so far and I can’t wait for the next one but if anyone wants to take my place then great, you won’t regret it. My involvement in Outreach UK has strengthened my faith so much that I just want to do more and more and more.
Come On In
Awesome is the wrath of God
To the unrepentant soul
But blessed is the Christ who
Makes the confessing sinner whole
The love of God is broad and true
He loves to save and heal
The blood of his beloved Son
Can bring the Spirits seal
This sacrifice is meant for all
God pleads for you to know
No sin so great but it can be made
As white as driven snow
So just believe and come to him
For cleansing from on high
Into his kingdom you will then
With rapturous love be nigh
Come right in and you will find
Such love beyond compare
What air may be or good or bad
Your God is always there.
by Rosemary Horton
Derek & David met Rosemary on their trip down Grange Road.
