May 2015

My name is, Terry. I am a recovering alcoholic. This means that although I am not drinking or indeed do not plan to drink, I suffer from the illness of alcoholism. This is a generic fatal and progressive illness to which there is no official medical cure.
Out of every 4 people who arrive at the stage of accepting that they are alcoholic, one of the four will survive. That is the latest official statistics. I am not going to mention people’s names, or sources of information. At this stage it is not needed. I also can only speak for myself.

I was brought up by Christian parents and did marry a lady whose whole family were devoted to the Church and the Lord’s teaching.
At first there were no real problems until I reached the age of twenty (something) and moved to this area to study at Southampton University Medical School, with practical placements at various Hospitals in the area. This is when I resorted to drinking heavily after work and missing lectures. After many visits to my G.P. and other depts. I started going to Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.). After a slow start, I with the help of A.A. stayed sober for 18 years.
A.A. was started, 65 years ago. It has a programme of recovery which includes 12 steps to take and 12 traditions to follow.

After 18 years I stopped going to my meetings and thought that everything would settle down. This is where I made my biggest mistake !
The steps of, A.A. suggest that as an individual we are unable to control our lives, after we take one drink of alcohol. One drink is too much, and 20 drinks are not enough. As alcoholics we have to accept that without help we can't stay sober. We need the help of a higher power. We call this higher power, GOD. In my early days of sobriety I struggled. I then did as was suggested and every morning and night, would pray to the, LORD and thank him for my sober day and ask that I stay sober tomorrow. About this time I was introduced to, Lionhunt Ministries. I went along to see what it was all about. People seemed, happy, joyous and free. They were happy in their love of the LORD. They also wanted more of his love.
I struggled after a while and hit my rock bottom. It is due to the help, support and love given to me by members of this Ministry that I am alive to-day. The LORD was showing me that I needed to be loving, honest and faithful. There are also details and suggestions within my A.A. meetings that I employ today. I have always found that if I follow the teachings of the LORD and try my best, I can maintain a "normal" life. In the past I thought I could do things my way. After returning to the Church I find I can only do things with help from the LORD. My prayers are for my needs and not for my wants.
When I returned to the Church I was shown love, kindness and the willingness to help me in all my affairs. My marriage, which was on the verge of divorce, has been saved, not just through my actions but with the LORDS love and blessings. A.A. states that, "never have we seen a person fail that has followed the steps of the LORD”. We are not saints but we can take steps to help ourselves and others if we ask Him.
There is a long way to go, one day at a time! With the Church's help and support, I now have my wife happy to be with me. Through the kindness and support of another member of the Church, I was given my first Bible.

Thank you so much, LORD. And thank you to all in the fellowship.

My present car had slowly been losing power although it still ran it seemed to be losing the oomph it used to have and as time went on got worse. My fears were that the turbo had given out.

I was uncertain what to do so I sought the prayers of my pastors and fellowship to seek God in this matter. As I prayed I felt the words “trust me” come into my mind. Now I believe in God doing many things miraculously but this was one of those times I felt would not fall into God’s remit.

 Knowing of the prayers that were going up and my own continual prayer, even in defeat, I finally put the car into my local garage to see what was wrong. I sent a text to my pastors for prayer as I left the car in the garage.

The garage came back to me saying it could either be the turbo or the engine management system both very expensive and to make matters worse could only be done by a main dealer.

Asking for prayer from our fellowship, I put my car into a Ford main dealer. Showing them the computer printout from my own garage they said it was more than likely the turbo and if so would be around the £1000 plus labour at £100 per hour.So I booked the car in and waited for the outcome. I also expected God to say not to bother, but once more I got the words “trust me”.

Later that day to my surprise the main dealer rang and said the car was done and holding my breath asked the cost. It was £300 as it was only a fuel cell that had gone.

 My car broke down whilst returning from work in Southampton on the evening of Wednesday 24th November. The Clutch had broken and due to the age and condition of the car and the price involved for a new Clutch, the car was scrapped.

 We didn’t have any money to buy another car and what with it being close to Christmas, the weather having turned particularly cold and me working in Southampton (30 miles away) we were going to need a replacement car pretty quickly, especially as Teresa also needs a car for her work.

 A request was sent out to the fellowship asking if they would pray for a little Miracle.

 A few days later we were given a gift of some money to buy a new car…this was such a blessing! We were overwhelmed, touched and moved by the generosity and love that was shown. God had indeed provided a miracle.

 However that was not the end of the story …..After searching through a few car dealerships and makes/models of car we had planned to go and look at a car in Portsmouth. I had arranged to take a day off work but when we woke up that morning there was thick snow on the ground and people were advised not to travel unless really necessary so we decided look closer to home and came across a car online that was new into a garage in Christchurch.

 Oddly enough the price was one of the lowest we’d seen, there was no photo yet available & the garages’ computer had entered a less-popular engine size in the advertisement, we found this out when we rang to check if it was still for sale. All this plus the ice and snow made for no competition in the market place. The Car was in perfect condition, the mileage was low plus the garage also offered to give us a new MOT and 6 months road tax, some petrol and a warranty all included in the price.

 So not only did God give us a little miracle but actually far exceeded it.

 “Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be the Glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever Amen”

  Many thanks to God, we are eternally grateful, Andy and Teresa