I was at theological college in Durham

My Bible: reasons to believe in the power of the Bible

'I was at theological college in Durham and had the opportunity to do a summer placement at a theological college in the North-West of Kenya. I jumped at the chance. 

‘There were five women training and where they slept was like a bicycle shed with no windows and two iron bunks, whereas the men had dorms and mosquito nets. 

‘I was appalled. I shouted out to God, “This is not good. Someone has to do something about it.” And he said, “Will you do something about it?” I didn’t think that was possible at all. I wanted to pray that an entrepreneur would do it. 

‘But that night I woke up with James 2 going round my head. I got up with my torch and read James 2.14, “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, keep warm and eat your fill,’ and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that. So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.” Oh. It was as clear as a bell that God had spoken to me and I had to do something about it. 

‘Over two-and-a-half years I raised the money. I swam, I abseiled. The problem was that the principal didn’t want it built. He wanted a library instead. But it was built and it was a wonderful feeling. It was one of the proudest moments of my ministry. 

‘That verse was the clincher. Without it, I wouldn’t have gone ahead. I would have gone back and prayed about it and not done anything else. 

‘It made me realise that when you do step out of the boat, Jesus doesn’t let you drown, he does hold your hand. It made me take more risks. It made me bolder. It made lives better and easier for those women training.’

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