In Bristol I spoke to around 250 to 300 people in the student union on Saturday night. The CU leaders I met at Forum last month, Matt Oliver and Rachel Foo put on an excellent event, and at the end representatives of 13 different churches stood at the back to answer questions from freshers. While I was a student myself, (twenty years ago) one of my friends Mark O’Donaghue was converted along with his brother Brian through the influence of the then CU President Chris Russell.Mark is now the vicar at Christ Church, Kensington. And I’m delighted that Mark is coming to Bristol to speak at the Bristol CU mini-mission later this term. It is amazing to me to see what God has done in his life. After a great night in Bristol I paid my £6 at the Severn Bridge toll to enter Wales!
I stayed overnight with Gethin and Clare Russell-Jones in Llandaff, and we had an almost full Rhiwbina Baptist Church. There were 8 people who responded for salvation. Four in the first appeal and four more in the second. They’ve rebuilt the sanctuary so that there are now 90 more seats downstairs than there were when I was there last year. Andrew Davies who leads the team is seeking to plant more churches in Wales, and the vision of the church is very much to evangelize the nation. I’ve known Andrew and his wife Liz for 25 years, and I’m delighted that Julia and I will be spending the whole week with them later this month at a newfrontiers conference in Turkey.