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First published in the Baptist Times April 16 2009
HEARTENING THE COMMUNITY Clare Nonhebel
One mother had been coming to North Hanwell Baptist Church's parent and toddler group for two years before she realised that the chatty lady who came in at 8 a.m to clean the church was the minister.
Sandra Thwaites is happy about that. ‘Why would it come up in conversation, unless somebody asked, "What do you do?"'
Not coming from a church background herself, Sandra is aware that church culture and stereotypes can put people off.
That's one reason why the church is labelled ‘Worship Room' and the building looks like a school - familiar and unthreatening, full of colourful artwork.
Another reason is simply that, ‘It's what works here. We're in the heart of a council estate of 14,000 people; most don't work and many struggle with literacy or don't have English as their first language. It makes sense to put everything in pictures'
The history of the West London neighbourhood is unusual. ‘The estate grew up in the 1930s, to isolate people in the city who had contagious eye disease. That isolation remains: there's no work in this area, and no one comes in unless they live here or are visiting someone.'
Sandra's first contact with North Hanwell was in 2000 when its minister asked for help to set up small groups. ‘The minister of the church I attended sent me because I was passionate about small groups - that's where relationships are formed and deepened and cut through the clutter.'
At the time, North Hanwell's whole congregation was little more than a small group - 14 Sunday attenders.
‘There had been a mass exodus of the congregation following a deep disappointment with a previous minister, and the current minister was about to leave. The congregation was a faithful remnant with a conviction that God was going to do something.'
Sandra had begun to feel that her nursing career was not, after all, God's purpose for her life. She had done a course at Spurgeon's on evangelism and church planting, ‘but I thought ministry was for men.'
Her medical history included Bell's palsy and 13 psychiatric admissions, and her family history included abuse and rejection, her father's suicide, a sister who went to prison, and suicide attempts by all her siblings.
When she first felt God asking her to be a minister, she says, ‘I didn't even pray about it: it was ridiculous! I never even went to church till I was 26.'
Sandra's younger sister had become a Christian. ‘And I was horrible to her. Everything she said or did, I'd say, "Call yourself a Christian?" But she used to play the guitar and I'd sing with her - anything except "Jesus, take me as I am." I couldn't stay in the room for that; I didn't know why.'
During nursing training, Sandra went along to the nurses' Christian fellowship, ‘because I thought people would be nice, and sing nice songs.'
When a speaker asked the group what they thought ‘righteousness' meant, Sandra answered: "It means being so good that you can't be anything else: it just oozes from you."
‘The man went home and told his wife, "God is going to use her mightily," and they started praying for me, and eventually discipled me.
‘I bought three bibles, the Songs of Fellowship tapes and a load of posters and thought I was a Christian. I could see these people had something I hadn't - but I wasn't going to ask them!
‘But when I went to return a tape I'd borrowed from a friend she asked if I'd like to pray. As we started praying I fell on the floor weeping - and I never cried. I ended up on a hill outside the nurses' home praying, using words from songs, and I felt myself being emptied out, from the tips of my hair to the tips of my toes, and then filled up with light and love. People noticed the change the next day.
‘This lady took me to a C of E church where people were praying in other languages and clapping and falling down. She said it was the Holy Spirit; when you didn't know what to pray, God gave you a new language to speak to him.
‘I thought that was cool and prayed for it but nothing happened. Then I went to pray with her when she got ill and she didn't get better - but I began speaking in tongues!
‘You can't tell God how to do things. Now I think, "Just ask, and stop fretting." We make it so complicated. For instance, God said, "Love me, love one another, and I will build my church," but we try to build it ourselves. The things that have happened in North Hanwell, we've just asked for - to be used by the community, to draw people in from local ethnic groups, and so on - and he's done it. I wouldn't have known how, so it's just as well he does!'
God made it clear to Sandra that the call to ministry was real, by answering her objections in ways she couldn't ignore.
‘I worried I'd have nowhere to live when I was 70! Then the elderly lady I was living with said at breakfast one morning, ‘God's telling me he's called you to do something but you're concerned about where you'll live when you're 70, so I've altered my will and I'm leaving you the house!'
Sandra's objection about not being clever enough was answered by a stranger.
‘I was standing outside church having my pre-service cigarette when the guest preacher arrived, said hello, then said out of the blue, "You know, I'm not at all academic. God will either equip you or put people around you to help you."
Doubts about women in ministry remained till a conservative church member stopped her in the street to tell her his niece was being ordained - and how wonderful it was that God uses women!
‘Then the team leader of the London Baptist Association was leading a service and I went up to thank her afterwards and she said, "God's going to do something with you; look forward to the next few weeks," and three weeks later I was in her office asking to be considered for ministry training.
‘I loved Spurgeon's - being around other people who loved the Lord. And it showed me it's not about how much you understand. We give everyone a bible here, and I tell them not to worry if they don't understand it; just read it - or if they don't read we give them it on tape. And we let children receive communion; who's to say adults understand what God does, more than they do?
‘We don't realise how we distance people. It's harder to get into some churches' membership than into the kingdom of heaven!
Sandra's desire was to minister somewhere ‘small, poor, struggling and hurt.' North Hanwell met that description, she had done placement work there, and the church voted her in.
‘Two days later I was told I had cancer, and I was in hospital for eight weeks. It tested my faith: "Do I believe everything I say I believe?"
‘Thankfully, I did. And I feel, after everything, all I have to do is be myself and enable people to be who they are.
‘The church as a whole is quite poor at letting people know they are loved. People are much more hungry and eager for God than we give them credit for, if only we'd stop trying to find a formula for getting them into the kingdom and just make them feel held.
‘When I started as minister here, I asked people what they wanted to pray for first and they said, "For people to know we're here." So we prayed for that and shortly afterwards were asked if the church could be used as a polling station.
‘Some people objected that "my house is a house of prayer," but God puts governments in place so what better place to vote them in!
‘So then people knew we were here and other uses of the building followed: we now have ante-natal and baby clinics here, Social Services supervised contact for children separated from their families, a pop-in for retired people, parent and toddler group, men's group and prayer group, and a dance school, and we chat to everyone and get to know them. We have Sikhs, Hindus, Baha'is, Muslims, and one Moonie family.
‘One thing leads to another. This neighbourhood has the largest Somali community in West London and their interpreter asked if I'd teach the women English. I agreed because they didn't even know how to dial 999 so they weren't safe.
‘Now we have Afghan, Iranian and Turkish woman as well. Many of them were married at 13 and had no childhood. They love acting. We set up shop in the lounge and give everyone a shopping list in English, or we act going to the doctor's - complete with stroppy receptionist saying, "Why can't you people speak English?"!
‘Some of the retired people from the pop-in started coming on Sunday and it was clear they didn't know about Jesus, so we'll be having a time before pop-in when they can come and ask questions. We're also starting a parenting course and money management.
‘Without Home Mission we might not be here, and we praying now for more loos, but we're alive and thriving. 170 people came to the carol service, and on average 71 come on Sundays - but it's not about numbers.
‘It's just about God: he promised to build his church and we've dared to believe him.'
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