Fire in our hearts - The Jesus Army

FIRE IN OUR HEARTSNEW GENERATIONOne woman, partly deaf through an infection, was healedafter she felt oil dripping into her ear. The healing was impressivebut they found the most powerful effect of the ‘miracleoil’ was new breakthroughs with the locals.‘Pray Northampton’ was now well underway, its progressmonitored by a team who turned out bulletins of inspiration,stories and statistics. As the number of friends slowly increasedwe considered new ways of nurturing them.The Alpha Course that had originated from Holy TrinityBrompton was being well received in Britain. Alpha was amid-week introduction to the Christian faith for those interestedbut not ready for ‘church’. It centred round a meal, aninformal talk and discussion round the table.We took our cue from Alpha and held a New Friends Coursefor our own ‘rough and readies’ in a modern sports centre.We used a tailor-made New Friends booklet we’d written inaddition to Why Jesus? 139 from Alpha and a colourful booklet,The Church-Relic of a Bygone Age? 140The question mark was a symbol of the times. But peoplewere now finding answers in the church. As they were touchedby God, relatives and friends of friends were drawn in. As thenetwork widened, so the gap between church and people narrowed.We began to see the reality of the multitudes.The multitudes in New Testament days were the huge numberswho were attracted to Jesus, if not yet disciples. Thecurious, like Zaccheus who shinned up a tree to get a closerlook, often got more than they bargained for! We wanted tobelong to these ‘multitudes’ and felt that Jesus ought to bethe national folk hero. At one Festival the band blew a horn410