Alpha International Conference 2011

Hi,

This week started off on Monday with a rare, early morning train trip from Strood up to South Kensington for the Alpha International Conference at HTB Brompton Rd.

I travelled up there all on my own (I'm a big boy now!) and to be honest even amongst the 1,000+ people that were in attendance there I really did feel alone, to the point where I even text Natalie (my wife) to let her know I was feeling a bit sorry for myself!

As I sat near the back of the hall and looked around at the inside of HTB, the balcony they have that overlooks the raised stage and the ornate building that lies beyond the worship band I thought to myself how cool it would be to stand up there and preach, or talk, or do something just to experience the atmosphere of 700+ people (the rest were in another building somewhere!) looking on and sharing in whatever you have to bring.

Anyway, during one of the worship times there was an announcement for anyone that became a Christian on an Alpha course that didn't have any real experience of church beforehand. They asked that we go down into a separate side room so they could hear of our experiences, so once the worship finished I made my way down the staircase into their Spring room.

A team of people were inside and they began to ask all of the people that went in there to share a brief testimony over just 30 seconds (man that's quick!).

We all took it in turns and after giving a whistle-stop tour of my life before, during & after Alpha one of their team asked if I could return to the room later on that day at 18:15 so Nicky Gumbel could hear my story.

The rest of the day at the conference was great, I felt personally encouraged after recalling all of the amazing things that God has done in my life, and I genuinely was looking forward to speaking with Nicky in a personal setting, or so I thought!

18:15 soon came around and I made my way back to the Spring room. There were about 12 others in there too who had all been asked to return as they each had stories that were encouraging to hear.

Nicky walked into the room with his wife Pippa. He spoke to each of us and asked to hear our stories, and then he dropped the bombshell, he wanted us to get up in front of everyone to be interviewed by him during the evening session of the conference - I was so pleased considering my thought earlier in the main meeting about how great it would be to speak to a packed HTB.

A few of the people that had been invited back were, however, not so keen! They were terrified at the prospect of speaking in front of others and soon left!

Nicky & his team drilled us as to how it was all going to work, they put us in order (I was first up!) and then they led us up into the main meeting to the side of stage.

After about 5 minutes of Nicky laying a foundation for what was to come I was then invited up.

It was one of the most encouraging thing's I've ever done, more so from a personal perspective, just being up there being interviewed for a couple of minutes was great, having a look around and seeing so many people, it really was fun! I've shared my testimony tons of times and for much longer than 2 mins but it really was an awesome experience and I really thank God for that opportunity to share the story of His glory revealed through the way He redeemed my hopeless life!

After I had finished I was then approached by a member of Nicky's staff who asked if I would mind being interviewed for the Alpha Newspaper that they print monthly! So the next day I conducted a 20 minutes interview and posed for a few pics in the sun in the HTB garden!

I'm still struggling with the fact that from out of nowhere God opened up a great door of opportunity for me that brought personal encouragement in a time when I was feeling a bit despondent and I pray that my piece in the Alpha news impacts the life of those that read it and encourages them to search and find the true living God that will bring them life and freedom as only He can!

God is amazing and He loves engineering opportunities for us to share and speak about Him.

It reminded me of the verse that says:

1 Peter 3:15

..in your hearts honour Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.

I would personally want to encourage you, if you are a Christian, to make sure that you can clearly communicate the reason you believe in Christ

What was your life like before you encountered Him and what is it like now as a result of following Him?

Much love,

Gordon :)