Hemsby in November is a curious beach front ghost town with its amusement arcades and fish and chip shops locked up for the winter. The grey sea hammers against the long beach of sand and dunes. This is the venue for the FIEC leaders’ conference.
the wild and windy beach at Hemsby must be beautiful in summer
Some 500 delegates met together to hear talks and attend seminars on the topic of “Evangelism”.
main meetings in the Starlight ballroom
The key-note speaker was Ed Stetzer from USA. His main point was that churches should be always involved in the “seeking the lost” ministry of Jesus. Jesus went to people where they were – e.g. Jesus meeting Levi at his tax-collection booth. He also made loads of jokes.
There were several seminar streams with helpful topics. For exampe we were able hear about the following topics and ask questions: How to help churches to think evangelistically, ministry on an “estate” (= scottish “scheme”), how to support single mums in the church etc.
seminar leader tells us how “middle class” Christians can actually be useful ministering to people with a very different background
The preaching on Wednesday evening opened up how Jesus’ weeping over Jerusalem was particularly breathtaking. We were humbled and inspired to worship God.
It was good to meet with other Christians on the same mission, facing many of the same problesm, and enouraging one another to press on in serving Jesus Christ.
P.W.