Streetpaper 82 - The Jesus Army

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modern JESUS army Streetpaper No. 81 Page 1
modern Jesus army: bringing spiritual and social help to all people No. 82 FREE
Young Christians make a splash in today’s UK
THE
CROSS
P4-5
READ ALL
ABOUT IT
k
P7
ANGELA’S
BATTLE
WITH
DYSLEXIA
CHRISTIAN BAPTISM!
Baptism into Jesus
Christ! Baptism by full
immersion!
Jesus Army had many
baptisms in 2007. Most
were young men in their
teens and twenties.
UK youth is open to a
Jesus who is alive and
revolutionary.
Jesus Himself was baptised.
And He said that
those who believed in Him
and followed Him should
also be baptised. It’s a vital
part of being a Christian.
And our baptism in water
will, as Jesus described, be
accompanied by the experience
of being baptised
with the Holy Spirit.
Baptism in water
speaks of our dying to our
old, sinful life. And we rise,
in Holy Spirit baptism, to
walk the new life of holy
adventure as Christians.
We have with us the life
and power of the Holy
Spirit.
If you would like to
know more, please get in
touch (see contact details
above).
Young men splash out:
Danny, 19 and Ali, 22,
baptise Dave, 19.
Jesus said “whoever believes and is
BAPTISED
will be saved”

modern JESUS army Streetpaper No. 82 Page 2
THE GOSPEL of Mark is
part of the Bible and tells the
story of the Life of Christ.
Packed into 60 pages you
can find how one man
bridged the gap between
man and God. Read
about angry Jesus driving out money
changers. Read about compassionate Jesus healing
people. Test for yourself the claims of Jesus.
The Bible in its entirety has now been translated into
414 languages, and parts are now available in over
2,000 languages. If listed in the bestsellers, it would
regularly top the list in all its versions.
For your FREE copy of Mark’s Gospel contact us
(see address below). Or text on 07969 679 501 or
phone on 0845 123 5550 to reserve your copy.
GET IN TOUCH
ALL GOOD armies have an HQ, and we are
no exception. We will answer your queries,
provide you with free literature or a Mark’s
Gospel, even pray with you over the telephone
if you are in special need.
@
Get a bestseller
FREE
You can call us: our National Helpline is
0845 123 5550 (local call rate), and generally
there are real people to talk to, not machines.
Email us at info@jesus.org.uk
Want to have a look at what the mJa is all about?
Check us out from anywhere in the world on our
website: www.jesus.org.uk
But in these days of hi-tech, we still have an
address and lots of people write in.
Jesus Fellowship, FREEPOST,
Nether Heyford, Northampton, NN7 3BR
Across the UK you are welcome to call one of our
local churches if they are near you. There are Jesus
Army congregations and groups around the UK.
They are not all the same size, they meet in different
sorts of premises, but they are all made up of
people who love Jesus and are ready to help you
on in your faith too.
Belfast ........................................................... 0845 123 5552
Birmingham ................................................... 0845 166 8153
Bournemouth ................................................ 0845 123 5558
Brighton ......................................................... 0845 166 8151
Bristol ........................................................... 0845 123 5339
Coventry ........................................................ 0845 166 8154
Croydon ......................................................... 0845 226 1972
Chester/ North Wales.................................... 0845 123 5561
Hastings ........................................................ 0845 123 5551
Huntingdon ................................................... 0845 166 2697
Ipswich .......................................................... 0845 166 8156
Kettering ........................................................ 0845 166 8157
Leeds ........................................................... 0845 166 8167
Leicester ........................................................ 0845 644 9705
Liverpool ....................................................... 0845 166 8168
London Central ............................................. 0845 166 8152
London West ................................................. 0845 833 1319
London South ............................................... 0845 226 1972
Manchester .................................................... 0845 166 8169
Milton Keynes ............................................... 0845 166 8159
Newcastle-upon-Tyne ................................... 0845 166 8187
Northampton ................................................. 0845 166 8161
Norwich ......................................................... 0845 166 8162
Nottingham .................................................... 0845 166 8163
Oxford ........................................................... 0845 166 8164
Preston .......................................................... 0845 123 5554
Sheffield ........................................................ 0845 166 8183
Stoke-on-Trent .............................................. 0845 123 5334
Swansea ........................................................ 0845 123 5556
Wolverhampton ............................................. 0845 123 5563
JESUS Fellowship Church is an evangelical Christian Church with a charismatic emphasis. It
upholds the full historical, Christian faith, in particular it upholds the doctrine of the Trinity and
the full divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Fellowship Church is a part of the Multiply Christian
Network and a member of the Evangelical Alliance. To receive Jesus Fellowship literature
regularly, free, send the response form on page 6 to Jesus Fellowship Central Offices, FREEPOST,
Nether Heyford, Northampton NN7 3BR. Tel. 0845 123 5550. modern Jesus army Streetpaper
No.82 © 2008, published three times a year by Jesus Fellowship Church, Nether Heyford,
Northampton NN7 3LB. Editor James Stacey. All photographs supplied and copyright by Jesus
Army Photo Library or Public Domain unless stated otherwise. Printed by BGP Ltd., Bicester, Oxon.
Reproduction of any part of this newspaper in any form requires written permission. All Bible
quotations are from the Contemporary English Version © 2000 Harper Collins unless otherwise
indicated. All articles are contributed by members of the Jesus Fellowship Church, also known as
the modern Jesus army. Some members live as part of the New Creation Christian Community.
Readers wishing to contact authors may do so by writing to the Jesus Fellowship Central Office.
FORGOTTEN
NO LONGER
The Jesus Army takes the gospel to the “forgotten
people”, those who are lonely, hurting, and poor.
EDDIE WAS crippled
with arthritis, incontinent
and in his eighties.
He had never been married,
never had any children
and had no family
in Nottingham. He once
told me that he didn’t
get visitors and that’s
when I decided I would
adopt him; I would become
his daughter.
Eddie came to our church
a few times but he was a
hurt man, and especially
hurt by his past experiences
of church. When I rang
to say I was
coming to see
him he would
put on his
best clothes
although this
was a real
struggle as
his movement
was very painful
– it was
something
special to him. When I left
after visiting him we would
pray together for Eddie
knew Jesus, better in fact
than me, I felt – as I would
discover.
One day Eddie rang me.
He was upset but calm.
Some hooded men had
come and forced his backdoor
open with a crowbar
at dusk. As he sat helplessly
in his wheelchair, they
Julia Faire tells
Streetpaper the
moving story of one
such lonely person.
“as he sat
helplessly in
his wheelchair,
they took
everything”
took everything he owned
that was of any value. He
pleaded with them (and
they consented) to leave
his hearing aid batteries.
“Jesus was with me” he
told me bravely. “I wasn’t
afraid.”
One Saturday I went to
see Eddie. On the way I
had a sudden inspiration.
I would go into the discount
shop and buy him
some cakes. He was overwhelmed.
“Did you know it
was my birthday?” he said.
On a dark winter evening,
I rang Eddie. He didn’t answer.
I tried again the next
night... again, there was
no reply. Eventually I got
hold of the warden of the
old people’s
sheltered accommodation
where he lived.
“I’m very sorry”
she said,
“Eddie has
passed away.”
I went to the
crematorium.
There was very
few people at
the service – it hardly did
justice, I thought, to one
of God’s forgotten ones. At
the end the vicar asked if
anyone would like to pray.
I took myself by surprise
and cried out, “Thank You,
God, thank You that Eddie
is Yours and has gone to be
with You.”
Eddie: forgotten in this
life, maybe, but certainly
not in the next.
Eddie is no longer a “forgotten person”
Imaginative glimpses of how different
people saw the death of Jesus. Cross perspectives #1
By a Pharisee
a religious leader who
opposed Jesus
SO MUCH for your proud
boasting, Jesus! Where
are your “Father’s” legions
of angels now
then? Just a common
criminal, that’s what
you are, stuck there between
two of your sort
for all to see.
Ha! The people preferred
a mass murderer
to you. Given
the choice by Pilate,
they’d rather have
Barabbas set free than
you, the so-called miracle
worker and selfstyled
“Son of God”.
So what if you “saved”
others – healed the
sick, delivered the
demonised, or raised
the dead? You cannot
save yourself. So
it must have been by
demons that you did
your charlatan acts.
We knew it all along.
And this is the “King
of Israel”? Stuck there
like a pig?
What are you waiting
for? Come down from
the cross, and even
now we will believe in
you. You trust in God;
let Him rescue you now
then. “Son of God”? An
illegitimate abomination,
more like!
see page 3 >>
Prayer is
not dead,
concludes
survey
A POLL on prayer, commissioned
by Tearfund, the Christian
charity, reveals that while
only about one in fi ve British
people goes to church at least
once a year, twice as many of
them pray.
Far from prayer being irrelevant
to today’s secular society,
10 million people say that they
pray ‘daily’ and a further 10 million
‘regularly’.
In London, the fi gure is even
higher – three out of every four
people pray regularly.
What did they pray about?
68 per cent pray for family and
friends, 25 per cent for world
issues and 41 per cent give
thanks to God.
Churches
help to
solve street
violence
FOLLOWING a survey of more
than 3,000 church leaders and
members, the Church Consultation
on Violent Crime reported
that 65 per cent wanted
their churches to be involved in
playing an active part in helping
the families of victims of
street violence.
One of the writers of the report,
Reverend Ermal Kirby, said
churches could help the families
of victims “put their lives back
together”.
The survey followed the
violent death of 16-year-old
Jonathan Matondo, who was
shot on the street in Sheffi eld.
Jonathan had spoken of becoming
a pastor.
It’s offi cial:
“Marriage
is good for
you”
IF YOU marry, rather than
just live together, the statistics
show that you may well
be more healthy resulting in a
longer life.
This is the fi nding of a study
by the government’s Offi ce of
National Statistics.
Although the number of
weddings has declined by
four per cent over the last ten
years, those who have married
will statistically be more likely
to stay together and provide
better care for each other after
they reach the age of 65.
Of those couples who currently
supply 20 hours or more
weekly care for each other, 84
per cent are married.
Fun, funky
gospel for
mobile
generation
NEW IDEAS for getting the
Christian message across by
mobile phone have been developed
by a Welsh company in
Monmouthshire called Teimlo.
Mobile users can now choose
from a list of services from the
“Ecumen” range, which includes
ring tones and ‘wallpaper’ with
a Christian theme and a Bible
you can read in the dark.
The new service is praised
as one way of communicating
the gospel better – especially
among young people.
‘It’s getting the message
across in a fun, funky way,’ commented
Pastor Robbie Howells,
of Newport City Church, south
Wales.

modern JESUS army Streetpaper No. 82 Page 3
Gent by
name
- and
now by
nature!
Chaos and crime on Carlisle’s rough estates.
Then HMP Doncaster. Then HMP Lindholme.
Mark Gent, 28, certainly needed a new life.
MARK GENT had a troubled
youth by anyone’s
standards: cannabis;
ecstasy; drinking and
fighting on “the Currock
estate”. Injecting
amphetamines to get
high; necking Valium to
come down. “You could
get Valium for 50 pence
each on the estate”
says Mark.
His mate Barry had “connections”
with the drug underworld
and began storing
drugs in their foster home.
One time, Mark found a
thousand ecstasy tablets
under Barry’s bed.
Mark’s plan to sell the
ecstasy ended in disaster.
Ripped off by Harry, a dealer
he thought he “could trust,”
Mark didn’t dare go back
home “empty-handed”. But
after a week or so of sleeping
on mates’ settees he went
back and told Barry what
had happened.
As a result, Mark was
badly heavied by one of Barry’s
“colleagues”, “a massive
guy with a bald head”.
“He grabbed hold of me
by the throat, pinned me
against the wall and put
a knife against my neck. I
thought, ‘I’ve had it, this
guy’s gonna kill me’.
“He said, ‘Where are the
drugs?’ and I tried telling
him, through sobs. He kept
pressing this knife closer to
me. ‘Do you know I could
put this knife right through
your face?’ ”
Mark escaped with his
life, but realised he had to
get out of Carlisle.
The chance to leave came
unexpectedly. Arrested for
assaulting his foster mum in
a wrangle over her purse, he
was sent to a bail hostel in
Accrington. But he started
using heroin through mixing
with addicts there.
“My giro went on heroin.
I just couldn’t break away
from my heroin addiction.”
The continual cocktail of
heroin, drink, Methadone
and Valium made Mark, in
his own words, “psychotic”.
“One time, I was drinking
with this bloke. He fell
asleep. I got a knife out of
the kitchen and went and
started checking his pockets
for money. He woke up, so I
stabbed him. The knife that
I used – thank God – was a
bread knife and quite flexible.
If it wasn’t actually for
that, I’d have probably been
in prison now for murder.
“There was blood all
over me. I panicked and
thought ‘What have I done?’
So I went to the phone
box round the corner and
phoned up the ambulance
and explained, ‘I’ve used a
knife on my friend’. The ambulance
phoned the police
and they came round and
arrested me.
“I did 21 months in prison
in HMP Doncaster and then
HMP Lindholme in Yorkshire.”
Afterwards, Mark drifted
to Northampton where he
lived on the streets and encountered
the Jesus Army.
“I saw a Jesus Army sticker
on a house’s window. I
thought ‘I’m going to go and
knock on that door and try
and get some sandwiches
and a blanket’ ”
He knocked on the door
and Jesus Army leader,
Steve, invited him in, saying
“Do you want something to
eat? Do you want a bath?”
Mark remembers his first
Jesus Army meeting. “They
were singing, and I just
started to well up inside.
I felt really unclean and I
burst out in tears. Steve
prayed for me and I felt really
filled with God’s love. I
felt accepted and clean.
“I found God over that
weekend and found a love
for the church, for my brothers
and sisters.”
Some time later, Mark
was baptised – in a river in
December (he must have
been serious). That was
five years ago in 2003. Mark
is now an up-and-coming
leader, living in a Jesus Fellowship
community house.
His face falls most naturally
into a grin; no longer
pinched, scared, hard, hunted.
In Mark’s own words,
“God has freed me. The life
I’m living now is for God.”
Some names have been
changed.
Imaginative glimpses of how different
people saw the death of Jesus.
By Jesus’ mother
IT’S A LONG and lonely road we’ve
trod that’s brought us here to this
blood-soaked hill. A road of tears.
A road of separation. A road of suffering.
My son, I see your body on
this cross – weak, defenceless,
exposed, vulnerable – just like the
baby I nursed so long ago, there in
the muck and the hay.
You were mine, but not mine.
Didn’t you say a long time ago that
you “must be about your Father’s
business”? There I was, and Joseph
too, frantic with worry, searching
Jerusalem for you. And where were
you? Sitting amongst the teachers
in the temple, calmly debating with
them! No, you were not as other
boys. You never were.
Now your eye, bloodshot, bleeding,
a river of blood streaming, it turns
to me and John, the disciple whom
you loved. Your mouth, cracked and
Cross
perspectives #2
broken, speaks: ‘Woman, behold
your son.’ John, my son? Are you
not my son? But it’s as you said “My
family are those who do my Father’s
business?” Harsh, it seemed, yet
not harsh as once I understood. So
still I follow, as I’ve always followed,
and I will do your business – to the
bitter end.
see page 4 >>

modern JESUS army Streetpaper No. 82 Page 4
READ ALL
The Bible still tops the bestseller lists.
So what’s it all about?
WHAT IS the Bible? A set of rules? A leftover
from an unscientific age? A propaganda
tool? Or just a dull book from
school assemblies, best forgotten?
Popular, powerful, and precious?
The fact is that the Bible remains popular.
About 44 million Bibles are bought each year.
It remains a powerful book which has hugely
influenced history’s giants, from Martin Luther
to Martin Luther King. And for many, many people
it is precious beyond words. As one Chinese
Christian said “The first Bible I saw was very
precious because it was during the Cultural
Revolution when the Christian faith was prohibited
and Bibles were not permitted.”
So why has this book, regarded by some as
dangerous or dynamic and others as dull, been
so hugely influential? Is it worth the fuss?
The God story
But the Bible is not just religious propaganda.
It is scarily honest. Rather than “spinning” an
Imaginative glimpses of how different
people saw the death of Jesus.
By the devil
FINALLY I’M almost there.
Just a few more minutes,
that’s all it will take, and then
I’ve won. From the moment
way back at the beginning
when I wormed my way into
human consciousness and
sowed the seeds of doubt
about God’s intentions, I’ve
worked and waited for this
day. “Did God say?” I said.
That’s all it took to sow
confusion and set mankind
on the downward path to
destruction. Sheer brilliance,
that’s what it was.
As for you, Jesus, you
may have escaped death as
a baby. Somehow Joseph
got wind of Herod’s plans
and took you away. Or again
when the people wanted to
stone you, but you walked
through the crowd and vanished.
But death’s caught
up with you now.
It could have been so different.
Bread you refused.
Power you refused. Wordly
acclaim you refused. And
for what? Where has it got
you? A common criminal’s
death, that’s what. And if
you’d agreed to work with
me, you could have had it
all.
see page 6 >>
official line, the Bible spells out unsparingly the
failures of God’s people when they messed up,
like religious people sometimes do today.
The Bible tells the real, often painful, story of
God and the human race: that all life has been
created by a God who loves this world, who
wants to make Himself known, who gets involved
with us and wants us to work with Him.
As well as being human writings that reflect
the personalities of many different authors, the
Bible’s writings also claim to be “inspired” by God.
God spoke through the writers to communicate
His heart and desire for people everywhere.
The common thread
Not that the Bible is an easy read like a paperback
romance or a junior school textbook (who
would expect this from a book that stretches so
far across history and different cultures?)
But there is one common thread that links
the entire Bible together and makes sense of
it all. One person: Jesus. The Old Testament
contains hundreds and hundreds of stories and
prophecies that point towards the saviour that
God would send to the world. And His arrival is
chronicled and explained in the New Testament.
Cross
perspectives #3
The Bible in ten seconds
RADIO 4’s Today programme set their listeners
a challenge: to sum up the Bible in
ten seconds.
Here are some of the ten-second Bibles
they came up with. Some were in verse,
like this one
Snappy
rhymes, but
possibly
not quite as
snappy as
this
One statistician calculated that the chances of
all the prophecies made about the Christ being
fulfilled in one man – as they were in Jesus – are
about 1 in 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,0
00,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.
In other words, not very likely!
Relevant?
The story is told of a South Sea Islander who
proudly displayed his Bible to an American soldier
during World War II. Scornfully, the soldier
commented “We’ve grown out of that sort of
thing”. The Islander smiled and said “It’s a good
thing we haven’t. If it weren’t for this book, you’d
have been a meal by now!”
Down the centuries, the Bible has enabled
people in every kind of situation to experience
God’s special love through Jesus. This love
has changed millions of lives, sustained people
through the toughest times and given them a
reason and the endurance to make the world a
better place.
That is why the Jesus Army works to make
the Bible – and Jesus, who the Bible shows us
– known by people everywhere.
The lights came on
we could see the rules,
but being lost,
we behaved as fools;
He came to save us,
died on the cross,
will we learn,
or are we lost?
A talking snake
A fLoating zoo
A burning bush
and then...
A man walks on water
Saying
‘Do what you ought-ter!
’Cos I’ll be back!’
Amen.
Reckon you can do better? Send your
“ten second Bible” to Streetpaper and
the editorial team will choose some to be
published. Email: streetpaper@jesus.org.uk
Or this “Bible
Haiku” (Haiku is
Japanese poetry
with seventeen
syllables in three
lines of five,
seven, and five)
In the beginning, God made the
earth, made it perfect, like
heaven. But man sinned and messed
it up. For centuries and centuries
he messed it up, even when he
was wandering in the desert, even
when he was trying to be good.
Eventually, God took pity on man,
and sent his Son, Jesus who really
was utterly good. Man messed him
up too, but because Jesus was
so good, He didn’t mess up. He
forgave man, and made a pathway
back to heaven for him.
Last but not least,
this ten second
bible (well five
actually) managed
to bring an almost
“soft-focus”
Hollywood feel to
the God-and-man
story
an eye for an eye
father, son and holy ghost
turn the other cheek
Some were a bit
more down to
earth, but took
seriously the
challenge of trying
to really sum
up the whole of
the good book
Man meets God,
man loses God,
God Finds man.
What more is there to say?

modern JESUS army Streetpaper No. 82 Page 5
ABOUT IT
DUST
BLOWN
AWAY
Stuart Patnell tells Streetpaper how
the Bible came alive for him.
modern Jesus army
presents
I THOUGHT the Bible
was an old dusty book
about irrelevant stories
and a weirdo called
Jesus. In my late teens,
a friend of mine showed
me some of what it had
to say. I was taken with
this Jesus bloke, but
I must admit I didn’t
really get it.
A year or so down the
line, I gave my life to
Jesus and had a powerful
experience of being
filled with the Holy
Spirit. Suddenly, almost
overnight, it all made
sense. The things I’d
read in the Bible before
all clicked into place
and it came alive to me.
I was blown away.
When I read them again,
they hit me smack in
the face and gripped me
in a way I would never
have imagined.
It was like I’d had a
year of learning the Bible
in my head, but the
Holy Spirit made it all
fit together and come
alive in my heart.
Nowadays when I
read the Bible, I’m
gripped and I love it.
The dust’s blown away
and the cover’s opened.
I meet God in there and
I’m blown away.
raw real and wild
date:
7-9 August 2008
Venue:
Jesus Centre,
abington square
northampton uk
age limit: 15-35
parental consent required
for those under 18
WINNING.
THE WAR, THE LOST,
WHATEVER THE COST.
IT’S SERIOUS. IT’S TIME TO TURN THE TIDE; TO HEED THE
CALL TO THE REALITY OF FOLLOWING JESUS IN THE UK
TODAY. RAW 2008 WILL CALL YOUNG PEOPLE TO BE ALL OUT
FOR JESUS IN THEIR GENERATION – WHATEVER THE COST.
AT RAW 2007, HUNDREDS MET WITH THE “REAL JESUS”
AND DISCOVERED “WIL D CHURCH”. IN RAW 2008 WE’RE
GOING ON – GOING WHERE ONLY JESUS CAN LEAD US:
ONWARD AND UPWARD. NO HOLDING BACK.
IT’S TIME TO TAKE UP THE CROSS. TO RIDE THE TIDE OF
HOLY SPIRIT MOVEMENT. DON’T MISS IT. GET ALL YOUR
MATES AND GET THERE.
FOR INFO CHECK OUT
WWW.JESUS.ORG.UK/RAW
OR EMAIL: RAW@JESUS.ORG.UK

modern JESUS army Streetpaper No. 82 Page 6
STREETPAPER CHALLENGE
Church of
the poor
THE MODERN Jesus army is a church
of the poor, a working class, underclass
church. That’s not to say there aren’t
people in our ranks who come from
“privileged” backgrounds, but they, like
the rest of us, have embraced a lifestyle
of deliberate equality: brotherhood for
real.
One mJa member (the son of a wealthy
lawyer, now living in Christian community),
had an email from an old university
friend recently. In it she describes
two very different reactions to the Jesus
Army:
“I mentioned to a lawyer that I know
that I’d met up with a uni’ friend now in
the JA. He went off on one about it being
‘terrible’ – and I was a bit like ‘Whoa
– have you actually ever met anyone or
talked to anyone in the JA?!’ Anyway, it
was an eye opener as to some of the reactions
you lot must inspire!
“To counter this I was also chatting
to a homeless guy outside Harrods who
was from Coventry and who knew the
JA and said you were all great; in his
words ‘not like the skinny girls who go
to that posh church across the road!...’
“Think it’s probably telling that it’s the
homeless guy and not the middle class
lawyer who is positive about your work.”
Have your say:
Email: streetpaper@jesus.org.uk
Imaginative glimpses of how different
people saw the death of Jesus. Cross perspectives #4
By the centurion
responsible for
the crucifixion
IT STARTED as just
another day. Just another
execution. Two
common criminals, and
then this rabble-rouser
rabbi they called Jesus.
We’ve done it so often
now it’s routine. We
have to find new ways
to add a bit of interest.
So we took his clothing
and made four
piles, one for each one
of us.
But the tunic was
woven in one piece.
“Why not make it a
game then, cast lots for
it” we said. And it fell to
me, as it happens.
FOR HELP & INFORMATION
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Still, it was a long
day. Noon came, and
darkness fell over the
whole land until three
o’clock. The sun was
obscured. It was weirdly
still. I found myself
holding my breath and
didn’t know why.
“It’s getting late.” We
have to finish it before
the day ends. Take a
hammer, break the legs.
That way they’ll no longer
be able to push up on
their legs to breathe: it
finishes them off pretty
effectively.
But for this one there
was no need. He didn’t
Please tick as appropriate
struggle to stay alive.
Why? He’s slumped
forward. A spear pierces
his heart, blood and
water pour out. That
means he’s dead. No
room for mistakes.
The dark, the weird
calm, the dead teacher.
Then the earth shakes.
Rocks split. Then
there’s this eruption
inside me. I find myself
shouting out: “Certainly
this man was innocent”.
We’ve killed an innocent
man. I’ve killed
an innocent man. “This
was the Son of God.”
see page 8 >>
FILL THIS PART IN TOO
Pin head
miracle of
healing
A MEMBER of the Jesus Army
was told he had an aneurysm on
his brain.
It was the size of a golf ball so
the medics told him, and it was
potentially life threatening. The
chances of the man surviving
were described by the doctors
as “very slim”.
His friends in the Jesus Army
got praying, believing that God
could heal him and save his life.
When he went for a check up
the “golf ball” had shrunk to a
pin head size. The medics were
astounded; they had never seen
anything like it before. The church
is thanking God - they see it as a
miracle like those Jesus did in
New Testament times.
“Jesus?
Jesus who?”
asks man
IN HASTINGS recently, two men
came to the Jesus Army church
meeting even though they had
“never been to a church before”.
Some Jesus Army members
had met them previously on the
streets. Meanwhile, in Coventry
another young man has been
experiencing church “for the fi rst
time” with the Jesus Army.
More and more people have
no idea what Christianity is
about or who Jesus is.
A Jesus Army leader said:
“Many people in the UK have
little knowledge about Jesus;
even those who do ‘know a bit’
usually have some funny ideas
about what Christians actually
believe.”
Jesus
Centre to
the rescue
ONE SUNDAY evening in Northampton,
a Jesus Army volunteer
was on First Aid duty at Northampton
Jesus Centre during the
Jesus Army’s church meeting
there. She was called by the
stewards to the foyer to assist
a young man. He had been attacked
with a broken bottle in
Abington Park one mile away.
When she asked him why he
had come to the Jesus Centre
he said that he knew he would
get help. The volunteer was
able to gave him fi rst aid and
send him on to the hospital.
She said: “It’s good to know that
this young man felt he would
get the help he needed at the
Jesus Centre”.
Jesus
Centres
Please send to:
Jesus Fellowship,
FREEPOST,
Nether Heyford,
Northampton
NN7 3BR, UK
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or Channel Islands)
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Coventry
Jesus Cen tre
opened 2002
Northampton
Jesus Centre
opened 2004
London
Jesus Centre
opening 2008
Jesus Centres are places
where the love of Jesus is expressed
daily in worship, care
and friendship for every type
of person. They offer friendship,
a listening ear, many
practical services and food –
and act as a ‘gateway’ to other
services and agencies.
Jesus Centres are run by the
Jesus Army Charitable Trust
(JACT). There are Jesus Centres
in Coventry, Northampton
and, from early 2008, central
London. Eventually Jesus
Centres will be found in other
places around the UK.
How can you help? Jesus
Centres always need money,
clothes, food and lots more!
Check out the website for
details:
www.jesuscentre.org.uk

modern JESUS army Streetpaper No. 82 Page 7
PEOPLE EXTRA
“Bad and sad”
no more
The day Angela Leivers
learned to read and write
Dyslexia made Angela’s school life hell. Now she’s heading for heaven.
SCHOOLDAYS – the
best days of your life?
Not for Angela they
weren’t.
“The English teacher
used to make me stand
up in front of all the class,
laugh and call me stupid,”
she recalls. “I felt bad, and
sad. So I left school at 14,
just told my mum I wasn’t
going back, and went out
to work.”
What the teacher didn’t
realise, like many other
teachers of her generation,
was that Angela was dyslexic.
But Angela soon found
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her own way round her problems
with English. “I learnt
to use my mind more,” she
says. “Everything I wanted,
I memorised.”
Packing jobs and a market
stall followed, before,
aged 19, she married a
much older man. It was
disastrous. He beat her,
and as soon as she could,
she escaped, determined
to do
her own thing:
“the usual things
– getting ready
at 5pm, drinking,
partying all
night.”
A chance encounter
in the local
post office in
2002 set Angela’s
life off on a different
course again.
She was standing
in a queue and
got talking to the
lady in front who
told her about
the reading and
writing classes
for adults that
had started up at
the Chase in St Ann’s, Nottingham.
When Angela was introduced
to the teacher, Julia,
she thought, “I know
you from somewhere.” It
turned out they had met in
a Jesus Army marquee on
“the Forest” 20 years before
(Angela’s daughter’s
Dyslexia:
some facts
Angela’s teacher, Julia
writes:
Dyslexia is not a “disease”
that someone can be cured
of. It is a type of mind, like any
other, with its own strengths
and weaknesses. It is nothing
to do with intelligence.
It is a difference in the brain
area that deals with language
and affects the skills that are
needed to learn to read, write
and spell. Dyslexic people
are often very creative, have
good physical co-ordination,
think problems through well
and can easily understand
others.
Around 10% of the population
is dyslexic in some
way. Every classroom is
The pen is mightier: now Angela is writing a book
ball had rolled in and Angela
ran in after it). Happy
to meet Julia again, she
asked if she could visit the
church.
Angela, now 45, enrolled
in the English classes. She
started with the alphabet,
reading shorter words and
then longer ones. .
“Julia is very understanding,”
says Angela.
“She makes you feel comfortable,
sits and listens,
and just explains it to you
over and over again until
you get it.
“When I went to school,
I thought I was always going
to be slow, never going
to learn. But after about a
likely to have 2-3 dyslexic
children. Many have had a
similar experience to Angela,
being labelled as ‘thick’,
often going through a humiliating
hell at school.
The signs of dyslexia are
varied and not all dyslexics
have all these signs: difficulties
in learning to read,
write and spell, in telling left
from right, in remembering
sequences like the alphabet,
months of year, in remembering
or following oral
instructions. “Side effects”
can include low self esteem,
depression, and behavioural
difficulties in children.
year, I could go shopping
on my own – it felt really
good! I used to have to
take my mum with me to
read prices.”
Angela can now not only
read and write, but has
found faith, family and
friends with the Jesus Army
in Nottingham. In January
2005, alone in her bedroom,
she asked Jesus
back into her life.
“Hold me tight
and don’t let me
go,” I said. “And I
felt a release.”
No one can
call Angela stupid
now. She likes
reading the Bible,
especially the
Psalms and the
book of John. And
her new Christian
nick-name is
“Evangela”, “because
I can talk
to anybody about
Jesus, anywhere,
in the town, at
college, down
the Chase,” she
explains. “Some
listen, some walk away. But
I tell anyone who wants to
listen.”
Angela is now almost
half way through writing
a book of her life and her
struggle with dyslexia “so
others can see how I struggled
and that they don’t
have to.”
Famous
dyslexics
Richard Branson, founder of
the Virgin group of companies
William Hewlett, founder of
Hewlett Packard
Orlando Bloom, actor
Whoopi Goldberg, actress
Winston Churchill, wartime
Prime Minister
George Washington, fi rst
American President
Leonardo da Vinci, renaissance
genius
Agatha Christie, bestselling
crime novelist
Useful websites
about dyslexia
www.bdadyslexia.org.uk
www.beingdyslexic.co.uk
www.dyslexiaaction.org.uk

modern JESUS army Streetpaper No. 82 Page 8
GOOD NEWS
FROM
START TO
FINISHYours with love:
modern Jesus army
Streetpaper is full of
good news, from front to
back. Read all about it.
TENS OF THOUSANDS
of modern Jesus army
Streetpapers hit the
streets each year.
They’re packed full of
good news, which makes
them almost unique as
newspapers go.
In every Streetpaper
there are stories of people
– ordinary people, people
like you and me – who have
had life-changing encounters
with Jesus. There are
stories of life in a buzzing,
exciting church. There are
wake-up calls for the complacent,
challenges for the
stuck-up – and a message
of hope to the despairing:
Jesus is alive. He died for
you, took the rap for you
to bring you forgiveness,
but is now alive and offers
life-changing hope and a
certain future.
Streetpapers are found
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telephone boxes, on buses,
on your neighbour’s coffee
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HOLD ON, my Son, hold on. It is almost finished.
My final plan to reverse the Satan’s
plot and the disaster of human evil. They
were made for relationship with me. I could
never bear to leave them outside forever.
And you, the sinless Man, are the only
one who can set this sinful human race
free.
You groan and twist, tormented on the
cross. Your suffering is my suffering and
all the world’s: all condensed into this one
moment of unadulterated evil. And then I
turn my face away. No evil can dwell in my
presence. “Why have you forsaken me?”
you cry.
But only for a moment, my son. Hold on.
Hold on. Soon you will be with me in glory
forever. And because you poured out your
life even to death, because you counted
yourself with the sinners, death will lose
its sting.
GET YOUR FREE COPY
OF STREETPAPER AND JESUS LIFE MAGAZINE
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Imaginative glimpses of how different
people saw the death of Jesus. Cross perspectives #5
photo by Ryan Kunkleman
By God the Father
SEND YOUR ADDRESS
ON THIS COUPON TO
Jesus Fellowship,
FREEPOST,
Northampton NN7 3BR
OFFER FOR UK ONLY
Soon you will be with me, seated at
my right hand, radiant in light. And those
who believe in you will join us here; even
though they must cross this world’s way.
“It is finished” you cry.
No more sin, sickness, no more suffering,
no more death. Only joy – forever.
What is your perspective on the Cross of
Jesus? Put your faith in Him and experience
forgiveness and new life. He’s done
your dying; join Him in His living. Pray like
this: Jesus, thank You for dying for me.
Please come into my life with Your love
and forgiveness. Please save me. I freely
choose to follow You for the rest of my
life.
If you prayed like this, get in touch with
some local Christians who can help you
on the next step (or phone the Jesus Army
on 0845 123 5550).
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For help/info: Jesus Fellowship, FREEPOST,
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Tel: 0845 166 8171 Fax: 0845 166 8178