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THE HOME OF UK GOSPEL MUSIC AND FASHION THE HOME OF UK GOSPEL MUSIC AND FASHION THE HOME OF UK GOSPEL MUSIC AND FASHION THE HOME OF UK GOSPEL MUSIC AND FASHION

WHO ARE THOUGH?

February Issue - 005 [2011] Issue 001 Issue 001 2011 Issue

YOU

MAGAZINE MAGAZINE MAGAZINE MAGAZINE

OK this month has been a little crazy with so much happening and so many releases - we love it! God is doing some really amazing things and were just proud to report on its product - great music! We check out Brewer and Jayesss mixtapes and Joelle shares a beautiful piece called Hide Me Heal Me and we go in on another chapter of building a successful music/ fashion ministry... I will take this moment to stress the words go in lol. Dont know if youve guessed but I aint Marie-Antoinette, hence the lack of bubbly lovliness which we have become so used to, but hey - she will be back with all that fluffiness next issue (btw dont tell her I called her fluffy, shell drop kick me like Thor lol). This issues testimony is one that I wont forget very easily, God truly has an amazing plan for each and every one of us and its all about being sensitifve to His divine direction. We all fit into it in our unique but sometimes quite simple and seemingly unspecial ways (if unspecial is even a word). OK, enough waffling, just read and let us know what you think? Oh yeah, a few people have asked if we ever cover international acts, what do you think should we start featuring at least one per issue? Let us know BethelMediaGroup@Gmail.com

Allan Okello - Guest Editor

BB PIN: 2246557D

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CONTENTS

RIGHT[US]NESS THE GOOD FRIDAY MIXTAPE BROKENESS TO WHOLESNESS PRESS RELEASES... PROMO... HIDE ME HEAL ME

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DISCLAIMER: All views are expressly those of the writers are not necessarily the views of the magazine. Unless otherwise stated articles are either authored by Marie-Antoinette Edeoghon or Allan Okello. where no author is stated, it can be assumed that writing was by Allan Okello or Marie-Antoinette Edgeoghon or an undisclosed writer. This magazine may not be reproduced, quoted or used in any other way other than read without prior permission
BETHEL MAGAZINE 2011, THE ALLAN OKELLO GROUP, LTD TRADING AS BETHEL MEDIA GROUP

JEREMIAH 31:3 The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: I have loved you with an

everlasting love;
I have drawn you with loving-kindness.

THE

U GOS
At the beginning of this year we began searching for the peoples favourite female UK Gospel MC, here are the three candidates that got the most love, now its down to the final votes... Who is your favourite and who should win the prize!

FEMAL

and the winner is....

Phanatik has risen to peoples favourite; heartfelt real bars mixed with a solid flow perfectly demonstrated on features with Jayess The Good Friday mixtape have earned Phanatik the critiacl acclaim she deserves Watch this space for big things from Gospels hottest female MC!!!

E TOP

UK SPEL

LE MC is...

PHANATIK
Ts & Cs apply to all competition prizes. Bethel magazine are in no way guaranteeing career success just the building blocks to one. Bethel magazine are not a record label or a management company. This campaign is solely to provide promotion for UK gospel female Mcs or groups of female Mcs. Radio plugging is not to get actual play listing but to get spot plays on significant radio stations in the commercial and Christian radio networks, although we will try to the best of our abilities. The promotional video will be a professionally produced mini documentary, not a music video. MC will hold all rights to their lyric, the producer will also retain rights. Bethel magazine will however retain 15% of revenue from single sales.

PRESS RELEASES... HANDLING PROMO & NEWS

CREATE A SEPARATE PRESS DATABASE
Your database is your most powerful tool in building your career, campaign and fanbase! develop two mailing lists; one for media (radio stations, djs, newspapers, websites, bloggers, magazines, tv stations and even event promoters and churches). The next mailing list should be your fanbase who wanna monthly or bi-monthly newsletter from you. It will give you insipration to stay active and progressive as you will be forced to feed them news. Always give your media news the scoop at least 6 weeks before your mainstream fanbase hear the news and keep a couple of details out of the press one but hint on them so theyre more interested in contacting you for more info. Oh yeah and play the exclusives game - give one of the bigger press mediums a week early exclusive. The fan mailout need not be just a duplicate but a more personal rendition of everything that is happening. STOP calling people on your fanbase peeps / ppl / fans / loyal followers or any of those stupid blanket titles!!! They do nothing but create distance and impersonal barriers between you and your fanbase. Always frame your messages in a format that you would send to a friend you know well but dont often talk to but love nonetheless! Just say HI (add no name or title) and just go straight into the messages in an exciting and bubbly format. if you dont know how to, find someone in your friends or family that does! Its a heavy price that doesnt come out of your account immediately to not lock this down. Interactivity keeps your fanbase alive, engaged and involved, they MUST feel like they are getting closer to you and connected to you and your music (andcampaign). Build a feel of you as their favourite artist and they are your favourite fan! NOTICE I SAID FAN, do NOT pluralise them, they will feel like they are one in ten million and of no importance to you! This is bad... Very very bad! Your media database needs to have a friendly, but still professional feel; its OK to have personality in it but dont get too carried away! Always feed your media links with info and updates very periodically and regularly, it will keep you in the news more. I dont care what any of you think, its a necessity! Any other way doesnt work, just look at Lady Gagas campaign, shock craziness that keeps her in the news even between releases. Even if its not directly connected to your lane (music or otherwise) having your face and your name brings you out of the context of just one of those tags and labels in my mp3 player. It makes you a voice, a person, a minister, someone with substance, a personality and a life worth paying attention to! It makes a brand out of you in short.

you need to organise this or you yourself could kill your career

PLAN ALL CAMPAIGNS WITH 6 MONTHS FORESIGHT

Sit dow with a calendar and a pencil and internet access! google release dates from particular artists. always stay away from peak release seasons; summer and christimas. after you have done this, map your campaigns in 6 month segments; i.e 2011 stage one, 2011 stage two. The purpose of this is so you can develop goals, targets and this will bring you closer to hitting them. its said; failing to plan is planning to fail - put it on paper as it says in Habbakuk - write down a vision, make it plain without writing it down, it remaisn a wish not a plan. look at the market, assess the strategies which are working, adddress buying patterns look at demand for your intended product. Do as many collaborations to pre-empt AND to follow after your release, swamp the market if you have to - its all promo! wether or not the collaborations feature on your release, it actually HELPS you to sell rather than pulling away customers as imagind by non marketing minds! theres a reason why labels and management companies remove as much of the control as possible from artists - its because artists usually have some weird utopian and warped views of how their campaign will or should build. Its usually based on other artists who have had a budget, buzz and sound from them altogether. If this is you - admitting to this and reevaluating your whole perspective on how you market yourself and career will do more for you than you can imagine. Just because its your campaign and your career doesnt mean your the best thing for it! and Just cos youve heard of it happening with a few other acts doesnt mean it will work for you, the FEW cases youve heard of I can almost gaurantee that they were already at least a year deep in a blossoming career and built on what marketing experts had already done for them. They would NOT have birthed their campaigns!!! (Although a minute fraction have achieved it - I bet they had a background or uncommon natural gifting for it... And had it executed by professionals)

THE DREADED PRESS RELEASE/ PACK OR EPK

basically; pics, music, and a blurb on your material ...

Dont be afraid of it, a press release is your friend. But in saying that 60% of press releases are failing and I could call them absolute drivel! and trust me Ive read more than I caan tell you about! Most people who write press releases read other (bad) press releases and perpetuate it! The best way to write a really good press release is to get an expressive person to excitedly describe it then write it in third person. Give it a story feel, connect it to something of interest (see Bethel mag Jan edition) to see examples. Dont worry about length, just make it interesting! I heave read a press release that was about 12 lines and it was great! have pro pictures/ artwork and keep the same arwork and colour scheme for the whole section of the campaign. Be daring (with limits lol), be original, be fun, be more ineresting than youve ever been, if you cant be - find someone who finds you interesting to build this perspective of you in you lool.

Thats right! ...As youve

probably noticed...
The temperatures rising... So obviousllyyyy what does that mean?? Well generally that means yes you can put away those lovely and stylish wellingtons for yet another winter (or a rainy day in the UK). Yes you can shove that humongous (but again fabulous looking) coat with the hood, fur and waist belt to top it off, to the back of the wardrobe to make space for the light jackets and blazers and finally... Yes, you are allowed to swap that scarf for a shawl, those gloves for a watch or bracelet and those boots for a pair of sandals or toms BUT!!!! Ladies and gentlemen (as usual there is a BUT!)

High five

Deco Divas an
Dudes!

Dign

Theres a limit to how much of flesh we should have on show!

We know this but dont like to conform to it at times, especially when we see a bit of sun... So ok... We DO have the right to get a little bit excited, because come on, lets face it... The UK aint no Barbados but camorrnn! That is not an excuse, not one at all! At the end of the day bottom line is were Christians, so being ridiculously revealing is not an option. Let me just add this in quick... This rule applies to the males and females by the way, there are no double standards here. I have noticed that these days that a lot more emphasis goes on females when it comes to discussions on being revealing, maybe because its a bit easier for girls to show their stuff (I dunno) but let me just say... Guys can be quite flaunting too! Especially since summers creeping up and gym sessions are increasing doesnt mean that the tops have to fling off and the muscles have to be out! Yeah lads! So lets agree on this, girls keep the bosoms in, if guys keep the biceps covered! Hahaha! Ok, back to being serious; as men and women of God we have a standard to set, we walk and represent Gods image, so as trend setters of this

gnity

orum nd the

e to the

world we need to set the trend of correct demeanour. The bible says in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 19Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received for God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your body. That verse says a lot about what type of men and women we are and how much our lives count and costs, we cannot dress as flaunting females or boastful boys, we are clothed in the royalty of the Holy Spirit; if you ask me, that tops any Louis Vuitton or Gucci garment anyone could ever buy!

Heres another thing that people forget about when they get

dressed for the day, is what youre wearing causing your brethren to sin lustfully?

Matthew 5:28 states But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart, bearing that in mind lets try not to disappoint or distract people from God. Itll be hard at times, but ask God to reveal His heart and His plan to you and you will dress accordingly. Lets try to keep our brethren winning and not from sinning by not wearing corrupt clothes... Support them. The little things count... Last thing I have to say... Even though we live in this world, were not of this world, and by that we do things different. Stand tall in your special-ness; Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind Romans 12:2 (a favourite of mine!) Its tha word ya heard! So... Anyone feeling for a spring clothing clear out?!

JENNY NERDI NEUTRON

If There is anything evident about JayEss from the outset, its his heart! His heart for the word, his heart for God and his heart for music. His character and persona seeps through every track and we just love the excellence in which he executes!!! This latest release THE GOOD FRIDAY MIXTAPE is definitely one for the collection. It features some of UK Gospels finest and with a range of tracks, albeit pure hiphop, feature the different flavours and facets of hip hop. Featured on the album are two of the hottest female MCs in the game Roucheon from Royal Priesthood and our peoples favourite winner Phanatik. A quality line up of singers also grace this collection of masterfully produced tracks including J.Williams and one of our long time favourites Melody. Utter Once puts down a hot bar as do the full crew on I Need The Light which features E Tizz, Blessed, CJay, Phanatik, Lionel and Roucheon. Its a free download that its success doesnt need us to tell anyone to support, rather dont miss out - Its a free download!

WWW.JAYESSONLINE.COM

In this banging mixtape you can expect real gritty unpretentious depth in lyric form. Jayess we salute you!

YOUR AD HERE
CONTACT: 07961228131 BETHELMEDIAGROUP@GMAIL.COM BB PIN: 2246557D

WANT TO SEE

Is there evidence for God?

Premier Christian Radio is proud to present the first-ever Unbelievable? Apologetics Day Conference at Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church on Saturday, 14 May 2011 from 9:30am until 5pm. The Conference is aimed at those wanting help in answering tough questions on faith from atheists, Muslims and those of other world views and will be hosted by Unbelievable? Hosted by Justin Brierley.

Is Jesus the only way?

What - ...Is G worl

APOLOGETICS DAY CONFERENCE :: BLOO SATURDAY 14 ,

John Lennox is Professor of Mathematics and Philosophy of Science at Oxford University. He is a lecturer for the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics. He has debated Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and other well known atheist around the world. John is in much demand as a speaker and author.

Jay Smith is a Biblical Scholar specialising in Islam. He has spent much of his adult life in evangelistic ministry to Muslims in the UK. Jay regularly engages in Islam debates, from the chambers of the Oxford Union to his regular debates at Speakers Corner in Hyde Park.

David Robertson is Minister of St. Peters Free Church, Dundee where he recently established the Solas Centre for Public Christianity. He is author of The Dawkins Letters and regularly speaks to sceptical audiences of atheists and agnostics.

WWW.PREMIER.O

at about suffering? God still good in a rld of suffering?

Is there evidence for the resurrection? How do I respond to Islam? Has Science Buried God? Can I trust the Bible? Is God a moral monster? How do I make the case for faith?

OMSBURY CENTRAL BAPTIST CHURCH 4 MAY 2011

s s

ORG.UK/ANSWERS

David InstoneBrewer is Senior Research Fellow in Rabbinics and the New Testament at Tyndale House Cambridge. He regularly speaks on issues of scriptural reliability and interpretation and writes a regular column on Biblical issues for Christianity Magazine.

Mark Roques is the Director of Reality Bites which provides training and resources for schools and youth workers. Mark is a story-teller who asks subversive questions about common atheist and religious world views.

Righteousness...

Righteousness. How many times have you read this word in the bible? How many times have you heart your pastor say it at the pulpit? How many Christian songs have you sang with righteousness in the lyrics? Personally, I know I probably read, hear or see the word righteousness at least once a day. Infact the idea for this article came to me as I was listening to a Christian song Blessed be the name of the Lord a couple of days ago. One particular line of this song kept repeating in my head: the name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous run into it and they are saved. Now, in my lifetime (which is of course extremely short because Im forever young :p ), Ive probably sung that song about a hundred times. Yet that day, for some reason that line really resonated with me. I began to think, do I REALLY even know what righteousness means? So I decided to look at the meaning of righteousness. The dictionary definition of righteousness is : morally upright, justifiable, without guilt or sin. And in terms of Christianity, being righteous is not only this, but also the added dimension of doing what is pleasing to God.

RIGHTEO US
Now, the concept of righteousness is something as Christians we probably hear about every day of our lives in one way or another. However, the reality is something that we all, (myself included), seem to struggle with. Before I became a Christian, I was used to doing things my own way, attaining success in my own way, fail because of my own mistakes, and pretty much doing things according with MY moral code. However, when I became a Christian, it became a whole different ballgame I was renewed and born again with the chance to start my life a fresh. Since I made that decision ( 7th November 2010 woop woop!), I have so many testimonies of how God has worked in my life that I wouldnt even know where to start. However, sometimes I still struggle with the thoughts I had before I got saved. Sometimes I make the wrong decision even when Im aware of whats right. Sometimes I still watch, listen and do things that I know arent pleasing to God. The only difference being, I now have the gift of spiritual discernment to know when I am doing wrong in Gods eyes. Recently however, the importance of living a righteous life has really been weighing heavily on my heart. I kept asking myself, why is it so important to be righteous? As soon as I picked up the bible though, God answered. Reading the story of Noah, I was amazed that with a choice of all the people on the earth to build the ark and be saved from death, God picked Noah for one reason; he was a RIGHTEOUS, blameless man who walked with God.

God chose Joshua to lead the Israelites over a DRY river Jordan to the promised land because he was a righteous man. God became furious with the Romans, and even gave them up to themselves and left them to their sin because he stated in Romans 3:9 that No-one is righteous, not even one. This begs the question, why is righteousness of such great importance in Gods eyes, and why does he demand it of his children? Simple answer : The Lord is righteous, he loved justice. God is a righteous God. The nature of God is of righteousness, and we are made in his image, therefore God expect righteousness from us too. I believe thats why we are all born with an implicit knowledge of what is right and wrong. You just have to look at children to see this. As children, we have a very clear understanding of what is right and wrong, and view morality in a black and white way. However, as we get older, we start to pick and choose the moral guidelines which best suit us. In the world, the moral code is the law, but as Christians we cannot let the law become our moral guide! The law allows children to have sex at the age of sixteen, people can smoke at sixteen and at eighteen we can drink to our hearts content. In other words, from the age of sixteen we have permission from the government to destroy our bodies if we so choose. As Christians, the law and righteous judgement of the world are not good enough, the law of the Lord should be our guide. Remember, all things are lawful, not all things are expedient (beneficial). The righteous judgement of the worlds law allows us to smoke and drink ourselves to disease or death. However, the righteous judgement of God can only lead to two things; blessings on earth, and eternal life in heaven.

O SNESS
SHEILA MBURU

As a Christian living in this world (though not of this world of course ), I am aware of how intimidating the concept of living righteously can be. The way Ive started think about it though, is as a step by step process. You have to wake up every day and think and say to yourself today I will live my life righteously. Remember, thoughts become words, words become actions, actions become habits and habits become character. We have the power as Christians to speak things into existence! Therefore I plan to commit myself to the quest of developing a righteous character, and I hope you all join me! Food for thought: Psalm 1:1-3 - Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.

B A C K G R O U N D I M A G E B Y: C H I R I L A S

her mind so full of confusion her heart so full of pain so full of hurt

WHOLENESS

BROKENESS

when will the pain in her heart stop when will anybody see this broken child within her like the woman of infirmities, she too carries her own in firmities the infirmities not of the flesh the infirmities that torment her heart the heart that is so broken such that when it is trully revealed the pieces of brokeness do not match this heart that is so guarded never to be revealed to a soul never to be shared because the pain it carries is far too much to comprehend Daily the deceiver, he who comes to steal he who comes to kill he who comes to destroy in a minute instills fear in her heart instills the pain all over again and in a flush the heart she mended tumbles back into peaces and in a minute the past tumbles back in her mind

the pain once again floods her the hurt floods her too she tries so hard to mend her broken heart knowing this is only temporary Enough is enough she crys out to the maker the creater of this heart mend my heart she cries carry the pain she cries And in a minute she is flooded with peace peace that surpasses all understanding Her maker begins to mend her heart taking every piece of brokeness making it into wholeness He whispers in her ear no more brokeness you are free no more brokeness you are whole with her head held up high she walks in freedom she walks in wholeness the lover of her soul the lover of her heart has made her whole her heart is safe in His hands from brokeness to wholeness

CAROL GUMBO

GrindForJesus

HIDE ME, HEAL ME

Matthew 7:7-8 (NKJV) 7 Ask, and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Many of us are familiar with this verse, if we have not read it ourselves, we would have sang it in a school hymn or maybe seen this beautiful scripture perfectly framed and mounted on the wall of our aunties living room.

My point is that we all know how to knock and many of us have no shame in asking and the likelihood of us entering Gods presence with a long list of wants and needs is pretty high. We are convinced that each of our mothers originally coined the term You dont ask, you dont get it has become second nature to us. What we find difficulty in doing is letting God in; to allow His love to permeate through every aspect of our lives, to reach every hidden pain and secret struggle. Psalm 147: 3 (NKJV) He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Many of us are guarded individuals, when someone gets too close our defences shoot up like arrows. We have been broken.

The idea that there is a God, a heavenly Father who gives good gifts to those who ask him, sounds more like an urban myth. Unselfish, unconditional love only exists in fairytales the cynic spits, thinking he is wise and educated when really he speaks out of fear. Fear contaminates faith; fear tells us Your father rejected you and God will do the same. Because you allow fear to drone on and on with a 101 reasons not to trust God, no matter how much you try you just cant seem able to let God in, its far too risky. Thats the thing with faith, to the naked eye it is a risk but to the heart that believes, faith just... is, there is no fear here only certainty. When we dont apply childlike faith for healing, we make a foolish decision to remain crippled. What ill person would gladly reject their medicine? Only someone who believes that their hurting areas are too sensitive to touch would run away from the cure, someone who has given up hope. I cannot deny believing that at times the healing process is so painful that it feels better to be broken. I had to understand that Gods will for me is to have peace that surpasses understanding, nothing missing and nothing broken. Although I cannot control what rocks are hurled at me, I can hide in His wings. Psalm 32:7 (NKJV) You are my hiding place, you shall preserve me from trouble; you shall surround me with songs of deliverance.

JOELLE BROWN

Inspiring quotes... ...A life with no vision is like a wedding with no bride... ...A life with no vision is like a car with no fuel... ...A life with no vision is like a torch with no batteries... Pastor Celia Apeagyei-Collins

www.rehobothfoundation.com

REVIEWS
HERE WE TAKE A LOOK AT THE MOST RECENT MUSIC RELEASES AND LET YOU KNOW WHAT WERE FEELING AND WHAT WERE NOT ...

BREWER
ALONE WITH MY THOUGHTS PART 2
This is the second chapter of the Alone With My Thoughts saga by Brewer, and to be absolutely frank, we were in two minds about it (OK nobody scream out the scripture in James lol, you know what we mean). On one hand the musicianship and lyricism and artistry is absolutely impecable. The level has definitely been upped in terms of track concepts, mix and master and consistency of sound get top marks - But on the other hand it has been said that 50 Cent mentioned Jesus or God more in his Get Rich Or Die Trying album than Brewer has in this release. This is not to say it isnt a quality record, but in a way we were expecting to see more musical maturity and possibly some spiritual growth in this follow up. Please dont see this as us brushing the mixtape, we bang it out dont get it twisted but knowing how much influence Christian acts have and the ability to frame the minds of followers, not much was deposited in our spirits. Again, we aint tryna par the release, at the same time we need Christian acts to really cross over into the commercial market and minister through lifestyle once a real foothold is established. We still love you Brewer and were behind you all the way. The productions are amazing, Confectionary are awesome. Our favourite tracks are too many to list, we love the overall sound. Get it now! qualms aside we love it! - Yeah, this review sounds a little mixed up but were being honest! Dowlnload it free now...

www.ItsBrewer.com

Isaiah 60 "(1) Arise

shine

for your light has come and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.

(2)See darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the Peoples but the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you.

(3) Nations will come to your light and kings to the brightness of your dawn

"

EOW is greatly known for its powerful prophetic worship, often being used to usher in the presence of God, with their own distinctive and heart-rendering worship songs such as How great is he, Spirit of Praise and He is Here. The group captivates the hearts of all who listen and create an atmosphere receptive to the embrace of God. As worshippers EOW are not restricted to church walls, but endeavour to reach out to all types of people in all types of places, allowing the light of God to shine even in the darkest of places.

YOUR TART S HION N FAS !!! OW NOW LINE

DO YOU HAVE DESIGN IDEAS THAT YOU THINK CAN BE THE NEXT FASHION HIT? DO YOU JUST NEED SOME DIRECTION? DO YOU NEED SOME SAMPLES DONE? DO YOU NEED A COMPANY TO WORK TO YOUR BUDGET? DO YOU NEED A ONE STOP SHOP TO LOOK AFTER YOUR DESIGN AND MANUFACTURING NEEDS?
Contact KINGDOM WEAR Now And See How We Can Help You Achieve Your Dream... E: Clive@bornaking.com

A Few Months Ago...

A few months ago, I had an encounter with a stranger that really demonstrated the power of prayer to me. So basically, my cousin and I had just come back from shopping in Romford, and were waiting for a train at the station. While waiting, this oldish (about 50-60) guy randomly comes up to us. He had some dirty raggedy clothes on, and looked like he had been living rough and hadnt eaten for days. He looked over at us but we just sort of ignored him and carried on talking. Then he started like muttering to himself and I caught the words...these Christians keep trying to make me give my life to Christ. Normally I wouldve just ignored him and gone about my business, but for some reason that day, I felt compelled to talk to him. So I was just asked Did you do it then?. And he replied No...I didnt with a really sad expression on his face. Anyway he then got on the train with us and we got talking about church. He said he used to be really heavily involved in the church and was a part of Hillsong ministry for 16 years, firstly in Australia, then in the UK. I didnt know if he was lying or not but at this point bur I didnt really care; I just wanted to hear his story. We carried on talking all these gospel artists, singing gospel songs on the train (well him not meI hummed quietly lol), and swapped stories about different churches in the UK. He then started carried on talking about Hillsong church, and told me that he hadnt been for three years since hed hit some hard times. Three years ago his child was born disabled and things just got worse after that. He told me that didnt have any food to feed his family, he hadnt had any electricity in his house or like 3 days, and didnt have the money to put it back on. He was saying how he felt like the devil had defeated him, and that he didnt know whether hed ever go back to church because he was so disheartened. Anyway we chatted for ages until we got to his stop. Then when he got off the train, I was expecting him to ask us for money, but he didnt. As he was leaving, the only thing he said was: Can I just ask one thing? Can u both promise to pray for me?. So I asked him for his name and promised to pray for him. Then as he walked away it dawned on me that I hadnt even thought to offer him food or money or anything. I felt so GUILTY! Like I literally couldnt stop thinking about him and his situation. So later that evening I was on my way out with my sister and cousin and I suddenly thought of writing an email to the main pastors of Hillsong. To be honest, when I wrote it, I really didnt think anyone would read it because theyre huge international church with branches in nine countries, but I thought why not? So that night I emailed like the 2 main pastors Bobbie and Brian Houston (about 20 times cos my bb was acting up) explaining the situation, asking whether they were aware of Paul (he said he knew them personally), and whether there was any way they could get someone to reach out to him. I also made sure to pray for him every night and asked my friends to as well. Then about two weeks later, Hillsong Australia sent me an e-mail back telling me Pastors Brian and Bobbie were away, but were aware of my email and although deeply thankful for it, were unable to identify who Paul was. When I received it I kind of had mixed emotions, I was shocked and happy that my e-mail had reached them, but at the same time really disheartened and disappointed that they didnt know who he was, or that his story possibly may not even be true. At round about the same time, I started lab work, and was so busy I completely forgot about the whole situation. Then one day whilst in the lab, I received an email from Hillsong London. They said that my email to Hillsong Australia had been forwarded to them, and the pastors had been altered to the situation. She then said she remembered who Paul was and had managed to get in touch with him through members of the church. Not only that, he had returned to church after three years, been helped into government assisted accommodation and had running electricity back in his house! I cant even explain how happy I was when I received that e-mail. I mean Im a really smiley person anyway, but I swear I was literally walking around looking like The Joker from Batman. I even felt to do little happy dance in the lab! In all seriousness though, this experience really touched me. It showed me that God really does listen to our prayers, even when the response isnt as immediate as we would like. It really demonstrated to me the importance of compassion and looking past personal stereotypes, because you never when and how God wants to use you in someones life! SEE ORIGINAL EMAILS >>

Email us your testimonies: bethelmediagroup@gmail.com

[FROM SHEILA TO HILLSONG CHURCH AUSTRALIA] Dear Brian and Bobbie, > > I hope you think this isnt too strange but earlier this afternoon, my cousin > and I were on a train when a rough looking, messily dressed stranger began to > speak to us. He started the conversation by saying how so many street > evangalists had been trying to make him give his life to Jesus and he seemed > really disturbed about it. After further conversation, and enquiry, I found > out he was once an avid church goer, and had been an attendee of hillsong > church for 16 years first in Australia then in the UK. His name was Paul and > he said he used to set up the stage for before the preaching and before > church services and that he was once really filled with the Holy spirit. > Howeever, three years ago he said he fell on hard times and has felt like the > devil has been messing with his life during this period and he no lonnger > attended church and was unsure about whther he believed in God or not because > he was going through so much. He then went on to explain how he hadnt had > electricity in his house for a long time and hadnt eaten for three days. The > thing that struck me most is that he didnt ask for any money and simply > asked one thing; that we pray for him. I was in such a state of confusion > that I didnt think to offer him any money or food and when I did I didnt > know how to do it. I still feel really guilty and I have prayed for him, and > will continue doing so because his story really touched my heart. Especially > at a time when I wasnt feeling especially close to God, he has brought me > closer. Why am I writing you this email you might be thinking? But he > mentioned that you were both in contact with him, and although I know its a > stretch, I hope u may somehow be able to find him and reach out to him and > help him because I dont know how else too. I think he lives ineast london > currently, and I just pray that this email somehow makes a difference. Thank > you and God Bless.

[FROM HILLSONG CHURCH TO SHEILA] Dear Sheila, Thank you for your email. Pastor Brian and Bobbie are away from the office at present although they were aware of your email at the time it was received and truly thank you for taking the time to write.

ORIGINAL EMAILS..

Thank you for making us aware of Paul in London and we are sorry to hear of his current situation. At this stage, we are not sure who Paul is but we have put our feelers out in London and we will do our utmost to find him and see if he would like some support of any kind. Please be assured that we will be praying for him also. If we have any updates in the near future regarding this, we will let you know. It is a great encouragement to know that our God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think (Ephesians 3:20). Thank you once again for having a heart to care and reach out to Paul. God bless. Kindest regards, Linda Wetzler Pastor Brian Houstons Office Hillsong Church PO Box 1195 | Castle Hill NSW 1765 | Australia

Just wanted to drop you a line in response to your email. I am one of the Pastors at Hillsong Church in London and just wanted to let you know that we are in contact with Paul. Although he is not on team anymore, he has been in regular contact with the guys that he has met in Church, and the last time they saw him was on the 27th Feb. Paul was a rough sleeper that was invited to Church some years back by one of the guys that chatted to him at pack-down, at which he then joined the team and has met some great people that have embraced him as part of the family! Since then he has been helped in to Govt assisted accommodation, and upon speaking to him today, was out of power for 3 days as they changed the electricity meter where he lives, it is all running again now. Funnily enough I thought I saw him in our Surrey service this weekend, and it was him! One of our Pastors knows him really well and is meeting him this week to introduce him to one of the guys on team in Surrey who will follow him up if he now chooses to make that his service on Sunday. Thanks for the prompt to contact him and ensure that he is all ok and keep praying for him:) Have a great week and dont hesitate to contact me if you have any further questions/concerns. Kalleigh xx Kalleigh Mikkelson Hillsong Church London

I cant explain how happy I am that hes ok and that God answered my prayers for him! GOD IS TOO GOOD MAYNE!

BY: SHEILA MBURU

ORIGINAL EMAILS..

[FROM HILLSONG CHURCH LONDON TO SHEILA] Hi lovely Sheila,

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