God's Faithfulness In Our First Pastorate

A butcher's van was sent to transport us to our new home,which was a two bedroomed cottage,owned by the church. It was a church started in the 1920s by Evangelist Edward Jeffreys and they met in a corregated iron building owned by a large Public School. There was a dedicated nucleus of people,many elderly,but it's amazing what God can do! Our little boy,who had been dedicated at our home church was five months old when we moved there,in 1977 and our daughters were born there in 1978 and 1980. We set to visiting and tending the flock there in many ways. After a year there we asked the Public School if we could paint the building and they said it was their intention to repossess the building to extend their own facilities. They would give us a year after serving notice. The church had been paying a nominal fee of one pound a week for fifty years. We prayed fervently. There were no funds that the church could resort to,so we started a building fund. A member of the church had an orchard at the back of his house with access from the road. We applied for planning permission but it was turned down because of inadequate access. A Church of England gentleman offered us half an acre of land for a small sum if we could get permission to build. We got planning permission and building permission,but the gentleman then informed us that he had been advised that the church building would detract from the value of his property. We cried in his living room and then went on praying and an old derelict car garage in the centre of town became available and we put in an offer which was turned down. Later we were contacted again and a further offer was accepted. I applied for a job as a Postman,so that my stipend could go towards purchasing the garage. We sold the church cottage,which made us homeless,but the Council rehoused us. Every one did what they could and the LORD provided. We then had a garage with three walls and no roof...