Fire in our hearts - The Jesus Army

FIRE IN OUR HEARTSI left my job as a school technician in Northampton andbegan to grapple, weep and laugh my way through a storythat was both epic and passionately dear to my heart. As Idug through the archives, listened to old tapes, and talkedwith the many characters, memories flooded back. Then Ipoured out my soul into the word-processor and tried to capturethe spirit and vision of those years. Mike got me to tidyit all up! As it’s seen somewhat through my eyes, you’ll haveto bear with me when I (Simon Cooper) wander in and out ofthe story.Though this isn’t exactly an official history of the Jesus Fellowship,there has been a good deal of hard research, discussion,polishing and editing. We’ve also tried to provide somebiblical framework for what God has led us into and to setour own story in the context of the wider Christian scene.You’ll find that there are a lot of names in this book. We’vetried to keep them distinct without resorting to the formalityof surnames too often. (Within the Fellowship we often givepeople unofficial ‘virtue’ names, and these are mostly usedto describe people.)Neither of us could have produced this book on his own,but then that’s really the theme of the whole book. This isn’ta story by or about any one person. It’s too big for that. Aswe’ve worked through this text, we’ve often been unashamedlymoved and humbled. For this is a story of a bunch ofwidely different individuals whom God blessed, though theydidn’t often deserve it; changed, when they didn’t always wantit; and joined together — as a people with fire in our hearts.20