Fire in our hearts - The Jesus Army

FIRE IN OUR HEARTSON THE MARCHit up in disgust. Then he pieced it together and passed it onto us!A group was formed to ‘pray’ against us, and they motivateda smear campaign. The ‘Jesus Cult’ pamphlet was distributedto ministers, relatives, new converts and the press.The Jesus Fellowship was discussed in churches, on radio,and even in Woman magazine! Letters flew around, and themedia were fed with titbits.The effect was poisonous, and suspicion spread like cancer.A Christian church had been reviled, and the name ofJesus dishonoured. New friends and converts stumbled ascritics sought to turn away those whom we had led to Christ.We expected opposition, but this was shameful.On December 24th the Daily Star accused us of denyingour children the innocent joys of Christmas. Innocent joys! Infact, we had already scheduled December 26th as a specialChildren’s Day. (The Hall kids enjoyed an outing to a wildlifepark.) Many laughed at the press, and relatives and friendswere often supportive of the Fellowship. In the school whereI worked they respected us. (They said I had a ‘calming influence’on the staff room!) However, many Christians seemedgullible.Dave ‘Resolute’, our PR man, had a busy time. In 1986 wewere embarking on a two year programme of ‘explosive pioneering’all over England, evangelising and planting ‘churchhouseholds’. Noel had his hands full and Dave had the unenviabletask of heading up a PR battle, answering the pressand shuttling between leaders. Eventually we asked the EvangelicalAlliance to stand with us publicly.265