Category: Christian Radio

Christian Media, Christian Radio, Christianity, Faith, Forgiveness, Healing, Hope, Miracles, Spiritual healing

When trouble comes, will you stay the course?

Posted on by David L'Herroux

I am very pleased to hand the blog over to my friend Bruno Kondabéka this week. Bruno and his wife Joanne are great friends of our family and are also the pastors of Chichester Family Church.

Some years ago, their son (who was then 7 years old) was struck by a terrible illness, but God did something remarkable.

It’s an incredible story of God’s power at work. Bruno will share what happened next.

Bruno writes…

My wife Joanne and I have three boys, and as pastors of a church in Chichester, our lives are often busy. About two years ago, I was preaching a sermon series on the issue of suffering. I remember asking our church, ‘When trouble comes, will you stay the course?’ We didn’t know then that soon ‘trouble’ would visit our home and put our family to the test.

It began without any warning, when one day our youngest son Samuel started to feel unwell. He had a slight fever but didn’t seem too ill, so we gave him Calpol, and he stayed home from school for a few days to recover.

Five days later, Samuel started to get visibly worse: his temperature went up, and he was complaining that his head and neck were hurting, so we rang NHS Direct who advised we take him to the emergency doctor. On Sunday, the hospital checked him over, but they felt satisfied that it was probably a virus and in time it would pass. However, by the middle of the week, Samuel was still not any better, so we took him to our GP, and that’s when things became very worrying. Samuel was very agitated that day, which was not like his usual cooperative self, and he seemed to be in pain and was very confused. The GP rang the paediatric unit at the hospital, and the consultant suggested we take him straight there.

We were greeted at the hospital by the consultant and his team, and we started to realise that this was maybe very serious indeed. Again Samuel was very agitated and confused. He had become light sensitive, so he was sedated in order to calm him down so that he could be examined and given a CT scan.

After the scan, our son’s condition deteriorated rapidly. He was finding it hard to wake up, his heart beat was erratic, and he was not responsive to anything we said to him. The results of his CT scan were passed onto the specialists in Southampton Hospital, and because they were concerned with what they saw, they arranged for Samuel to be transferred by ambulance to the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit in Southampton. To stabilise him, he was put in a drug induced coma, and he was quickly taken to Intensive Care.

Samuel

After further tests, we were told Samuel had Meningoencephalitis – a very rare and potentially deadly infection on the brain, caused by mycoplasma (a cross between a virus and bacteria) which causes the brain to swell. As parents, our hearts were broken, and the tears flowed as we watched what was happening to our little boy, but we did what we could to hold on to God and to trust Him to take us through this.

I remembered that just a short time previously, I had asked our church family if they were able to ‘stay the course’ when suffering came, and now we were facing that exact situation ourselves. We felt all the emotions you could expect – we wept and we worried, but we were also encouraged by remembering words spoken over Samuel’s life when he was dedicated as a baby by our friend, Pastor Brian Downward, from Bournemouth. The words at that time were that God had a purpose for his life, and it was a good purpose. He was to be a man of God.

I was also aware that our friends in Angers, France, were holding a week of mission at their church. I lived in France for some years, and the church there had helped to sponsor me in my theology studies in South Africa. I had a phone call from David L’Herroux, who told us that the church wanted to pray for Samuel. David felt it was important that the church prayed together during one of their services, and so that night at 8.30pm at the hospital in Southampton, we connected by phone with the church in France (as David paused in the middle of his preach). We laid hands on Samuel as David prayed, and then because we were in the ICU and couldn’t make too much noise, I went outside the ward and continued to pray (with my arm outstretched toward my son’s bed), while the church prayed that God would heal Samuel. That day had been particularly hard as we watched the nurses struggling to get Samuel to wake up out of the coma – they were not succeeding. So, we were encouraged by this prayer and support, and it gave us courage to believe for a miracle.

I walked back to the ward and we continued to sit beside Samuel’s bed, and literally just 30 minutes later, we had the biggest surprise of our lives when Samuel just opened his eyes. He had been unconscious for 3 days. The nurses rushed to see him and confirmed he was conscious – they removed his breathing tube, and from that moment, he started to make a full recovery.

Samuel2

The next day, he was moved from the ICU, and 14 days later, he was discharged from the hospital. The neurosurgeon who had worked with Samuel took us to one side and said that although she was amazed at his recovery, we should also expect the worst, as there could be long term damage.

But just over two weeks later, Samuel was back at school part-time, and the following week, he went back to school full time. He will soon be celebrating his tenth birthday and has suffered no ill effects whatsoever.

Samuel3

We thank God every day for the amazing miracle he gave us for our son.

Family

David concludes…

Bruno’s story is a wonderful reminder to us that God is very much at work in the world around us. At UCB, I encourage the team to keep being expectant and believing for the impossible. We live in a world which is bound by fear, but I believe God wants to set us free in every area of our lives.  I trust Bruno’s story has encouraged you to believe for more. We serve a mighty God!

 

David-Blog9

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Christian Media, Christian Radio, Christianity, Faith, Miracles

If God has given you a dream, don’t give up on it

Posted on by David L'Herroux

I have recently been asked how I came to UCB. Where did this journey begin?

I want to share with you a few thoughts about the power of having a God-given dream. If God has given you a dream, do not give up on it.

I first came to the UK in 1973. I was a rebellious young man, running from the Christian upbringing I had been given. I wanted to strike out on my own, but it didn’t take long before I realised that I missed the precious atmosphere of God’s presence in my life. I went to visit my brother who was attending the Assemblies of God conference in Minehead. I had not planned to go to the actual conference – just to meet up with my brother – but I stayed for the meetings, and I had a powerful encounter with the Holy Spirit which changed my life.

After that experience, I put myself before God and asked Him, ‘What do you want to do with me? What do you want to do with my life?’ I felt God encourage me to believe for the impossible, and He put a dream in my heart of going all the way to the Boardroom. At that time I was a janitor, so I did not see how this was possible, but I began to seek God’s Word.

I believe God gave me insight into the verse in Genesis 1:28, where God said to Adam: ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.’ For years, we have read this as a command to have children and populate the earth, but I believe this is also a command to be creative and fruitful in whatever we turn our hands to. By reading God’s Word, I began to develop business principles to live by, and over time, God allowed me to become very fruitful.

I started out as a janitor working for a national retail chain, and before too long, I became a warehouse manager, moving to store manager, until eventually (after 23 years), I became the Head of their national discount chain. God had truly fulfilled His promise to me to take me to the Boardroom. It wasn’t because I wanted the ‘position’ or the power. It was because I believed that God wanted me to be fruitful in what I did. However, I had to learn some painful lessons along the way.

In 1988, the business was going very well, and my wife and I had a good life, when very suddenly, we lost our 13-month-old son, Jamie. Our lives were devastated, and we cried out to God for answers, trying to understand what God’s purpose was. However, in years to come, God gave me a very powerful burden for the children and youth of the world. I had seen my own son die, and I couldn’t bear to see the young generation spiritually dead and eventually leaving this world not knowing Jesus as their personal saviour and friend.

Over time, God brought me into contact with the wonderful organisation OneHope, and eventually He led me out of the retail industry to work full time as a missionary with OneHope. Those were challenging times, but God was so faithful to our family.

I served in that capacity for five years, and then through a mutual friend, I was invited to a meeting at UCB. During my time in retail, the Welsh singer Bryn Yemm had sung in many of our stores. He was also a friend of UCB and had said to members of the leadership team at UCB, ‘You need to meet this French guy’. I was initially invited to share my testimony on air, and I had the opportunity to have coffee with Ian Mackie, the founder and at the time Chief Executive of UCB. Over a long period of many prayerful conversations with Ian Mackie, I eventually joined UCB, initially as a Trustee and then as Ministry Director. We were later able to merge OneHope UK into UCB.

And then in 2010, after many faithful years serving as the Chief Executive, Ian Mackie took on additional responsibilities with UCB International. This eventually led me to take on the role of Chief Executive.

There have been difficult times in our ministry journey, but God has been faithful to the dream He gave me in 1973. If God has given you a dream, be faithful to His Word and don’t give up.

 

David-Blog8

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Christian Media, Christian Radio, Christianity, Evangelism, Faith, Forgiveness, Healing, Hope, Miracles, Spiritual healing

Faith is like a muscle – it has to be exercised

Posted on by David L'Herroux

Last week, I shared some stories of the incredible miracles which have been happening at my brother’s church in France. We felt that God started to move in the church about two years ago during our first missions week. A lady came asking for prayer for pain in her hips, which was caused by deformed bones. She was completely healed, and this opened up a door for God to do more.

Over the last two years, we have heard many more incredible testimonies: a man healed of complete deafness, a woman healed of paralysis in her leg, another lady who had severe pain and even discharged herself from hospital for an hour to come to the service. She was completely set free and later declared free of disease. Others have been restored from tumours, depression, restless leg syndrome, chronic insomnia, and addictions. There are so many stories I could share, and in the future, I hope that some of these people will write guest blogs and tell you their stories themselves. There is so much to thank God for!

I have been asked a question which is close to many people’s hearts – why are some people healed and others not? I do not have all the answers, but I can share from my own experience what I believe is true. I wrote last week about the need for expectancy and how we should approach God believing that He will do something.

Here is an illustration: if one of us was sick, we would go to the doctor for a check-up. Often, we will not know the doctor, but we will take their advice, and when they give us a prescription for medication, we will then take that to a chemist. At every stage, we usually trust the doctor we do not know, we trust the chemist we do not know, and we trust the pills, even when we do not understand how they work. But when it comes to trusting God, we often struggle, and we question if He is capable of giving us what we ask. We have no trouble believing that He could die for us, save us, and give us eternal life, but we do struggle to believe that He could do the miraculous.

I believe that faith is a muscle, and just like any other muscle in our bodies, if we do not use it, it will eventually become weak and useless. As believers, we are children of God’s kingdom, and just like being a citizen of the United Kingdom, we have certain citizenship rights. If something was wrong in our country, we would have the right to take a petition to 10 Downing Street, and in the same way, we can take our petitions to God.

As citizens of God’s kingdom, we have a constitution (God’s Word), and we can stand on that and petition God to do what no one else can do. Just as with politics, we don’t always see answers right away, but we should keep standing on God’s Word, believing His promises, and asking Him to bring about a miracle. God’s Word is the instruction manual for life. If you or I bought a new mobile phone, we would go home and start reading the instructions to make sure that we got the best use from the phone. If we pay that much care and attention to our phones, how much more attention should we give to our lives? God’s Word is the instruction manual – without understanding it, our lives do not work properly.

Now it is true to say that not every one gets healed, but I believe that God is sovereign, and we are not here to dictate to Him how He should do things, but to be obedient to His Word. However, I have also seen great things happen when a person didn’t get healed.

Last year, a lady came to a meeting during the mission in France. That very day, she gave her life to Christ and asked us to pray that she would be healed from terminal cancer. We prayed for her, but sadly just five days later, she died.   When the church went to visit her family (they were not Christians), her husband said that in the days before she passed away, he had never seen his wife so happy and peaceful since he had known her.

He said: she spent her final days praising her Jesus, and she left this world in total peace, knowing that she would soon see Him face to face. So although she did not see physical healing in this life, she was healed when she stood before Jesus and was given a new body, free of disease. There is no sickness or ill-health or cancer in Heaven. Praise God!

If you are trusting God to heal or set you free, can I encourage you to persevere? Stand on His word, trust Him, and practice exercising your faith muscle. Whatever happens, you can be sure of one thing: your life will be changed for the better. I have never met a person who wasn’t changed by spending time with God. Follow God’s instructions and wait to see what He can do in your life.

David-Blog7

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Christian Media, Christian Radio, Christianity, Evangelism, Hope, Miracles

God is still working around the world

Posted on by David L'Herroux

I was in Florida a few weeks ago to attend the Hope Celebration with our long-time friends and ministry partners OneHope. OneHope is a wonderful organisation which is reaching millions of children and youth around the world with the Good News of Jesus. They produce a lot of resources, including Book of Hope and the Bible App for Kids, which has been downloaded over 10 million times.

The Hope Celebration was a time for leaders to gather, pray, fellowship and hear what God is doing through the ministry. One of the speakers was Pastor Andrew, who works in the Sahel region of Northern Africa. The team there is working in a very difficult context where the practice of Voodoo is very common and the terrorist group Boko Haram also has a lot of power. Boko Haram is the group which kidnapped over 270 young girls in 2014 and is regularly involved in horrific violence across the region. Despite these many challenges, God is working powerfully, and the Good News is still being shared in many creative ways.

Pastor Andrew shared a story about a day he came face to face with some terrorists deep in a forest while he was travelling. Ahead of him, he could see a group of heavily armed men advancing toward his car, and so he started to pray. Eventually the group surrounded him and demanded that he drive them to the nearest town. As some of the men got in the car with him, Pastor Andrew said he felt the presence of God come and (very boldly) he decided to give each man a Book of Hope. There was silence, but Pastor Andrew could see that each man was reading the book. After about 10 minutes, he asked the men if they understood what they were reading, and they said they did. He then asked if they would like to give their lives to Jesus! The men agreed and they stopped the car right then and each prayed to receive Jesus as their Saviour.

When the group arrived at the nearest town, Pastor Andrew was able to show them a nearby church – and today (over a year later), those men are baptised and part of a church.

Stories like these fill me with such hope as I hear how God is moving around the world in extraordinary ways.

As I wrote recently, it can be easy to look at the world’s headlines and think that God is silent. But I am reminded of the words of Jesus in John 16 where He says:

‘I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.’

Praise God that no matter what our newspapers say, we still believe and know that through His death, Jesus has indeed overcome the world.

Please do pray for the vital work of OneHope in reaching children around the world.

DLH BLOG - APR 16

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Christian Media, Christian Radio, Christianity, Forgiveness

Finding hope in the middle of terror

Posted on by David L'Herroux

Last November I was at home in France in the middle of an exciting week of mission and evangelism at my brother’s church. We were being blessed with God’s manifest presence and seeing many people commit their lives to Christ and be healed and set free. As we rejoiced in God’s goodness, the news hit our TV screens of the horrific terrorist attacks in Paris. We had been celebrating what God was doing through the mission, but now our hearts were broken for all the families who had lost a husband, a wife, a parent, a son, a daughter. Whole communities were left devastated, confused, numb and torn apart by grief.

The Sunday following the attacks, it was the last day of our mission, and my brother Daniel stood before his church, which was packed with people who were shocked and devastated at the events of the week. It is difficult to know what to say in the face of such a terrible situation, but my brother began to read from Psalm 37:

Do not fret because of those who are evil
or be envious of those who do wrong. (v 1 & 2)

Be still before the Lord
and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when people succeed in their ways,
when they carry out their wicked schemes. (v 7)

The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord;
he is their stronghold in time of trouble.
The Lord helps them and delivers them;
he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
because they take refuge in him. (v 39 & 40)

I have been thinking back to that moment this week, after seeing the news of the horrific attacks in Brussels (and the many acts of terror we see around the world). As believers, these cruel and violent acts can seem so overwhelming, and sometimes we can feel unsure of what to say or even how to pray. I believe that God’s Word shows us how to pray in these circumstances.

Firstly, let’s consider people. Let’s pray for those who are fighting for their lives. Let’s pray for the families and those who have lost someone they loved. Let’s also pray for those who witnessed the attack and for the local residents who have to come to terms with this enormous tragedy. Let’s pray also for the medical centres who are working with the injured.

Secondly, we need to pray for wisdom for Governments as they discuss and debate what happens next. Proverbs 14: 12 says: there is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death. We should pray for wisdom for world leaders – that they choose ways and responses which are inspired by God and not necessarily their own intuition.

Thirdly, what I am about to say may seem unthinkable, but we should also pray for those who plan and plot such evil acts. We can pray for God to change their hearts. Just as He did for Saul of Tarsus, God can change the hearts of these terrorist groups and their leaders.

Is it possible to have hope in the face of such unthinkable terror and hopelessness? It is easy to feel as though the world is an increasingly dangerous and unstable place, and if we look at the darkness around us, we can easily lose hope.

But we need to continue going to God’s Word for our answers. His Word (John 1:5) says that the darkness in the world will get darker, but that darkness will never extinguish light. In fact, that light (His light) will continue to shine brighter and the darkness CANNOT overcome it. That is where I get my hope.

Let’s pray with passion for our world and all those who are suffering and grieving today.  And may God’s light, His in-extinguishable light, shine ever brighter in the middle of the darkness we see.

 

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Christian Media, Christian Radio, Christianity, Easter, Forgiveness

What Easter means to me

Posted on by David L'Herroux

I was blessed to grow up in a Christian family. My father was a minister, and Easter was always a very important time for us. A lot of the local churches (in my home town in France) would get together to hold special meetings. We had speakers and worship, and it was an exciting time for the churches to work together on evangelism. I have great memories of those days!

Today, Easter is just as special for my family and I. It is a reason to celebrate the gift of life that Jesus has given us through His death.

The team at UCB know that I like to use acronyms, and a few years ago, I shared the below with friends and supporters of UCB.

E.A.S.T.E.R.

ETERNAL – (John 3:16) Through the gift of His son, Jesus, God the Father offers the gift of ETERNAL LIFE to all those who believe in Him.

ACCEPTED – (Ephesians 1:6) We are ACCEPTED in Jesus Christ.

SAVED – (Ephesians 2:8) Anyone can be SAVED if they believe because of God’s Grace and God’s unmerited favour.

TRANSFORMATION – (2 Corinthians 5:17) Only real and lasting TRANSFORMATION takes place in Jesus Christ. ‘If we are in Christ … we are a new creation …. old things have passed away, behold all things have become new.’

ENDURES – (Psalm 100:5) God’s love ENDURES forever.

RISEN – (Luke 24:34) Jesus has RISEN, meaning He is alive today and we have access to a living and true God.

Here is a link to one of my favourite worship songs: ‘Forever’ by Kari Jobe. It is a tremendous and powerful song that describes the fullness of the Easter message.

Let’s never forget that ‘Forever He is glorified, forever He is lifted high, forever He is risen, He is alive, He is alive!’ It reminds us that we are worshipping a true and living God.

I learned as a young man that the Gospel has the power to transform every life, even the most broken, and at UCB, we often receive letters and emails from people who have experienced it for themselves.

Sid O’ Neil discovered God’s love after a terrible accident which left him with serious injuries. He experienced the power of the resurrection, which changed his life. Thank God for His sacrifice and for restoring countless lives.

http://youtu.be/OQZ4RJQO78w 

Can I encourage you this week to take time to consider what the resurrection means to you? Why not tell your story to someone who hasn’t heard it before?

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Christian Media, Christian Radio, Christianity

Trusting God in the middle of the storm

Posted on by David L'Herroux

In March 2014, our son and daughter-in law were expecting their third child, when our daughter-in-law Debbie was taken very ill. To this day, the doctors cannot confirm for sure what happened, but an infection caused her body and organs to shut down. Very sadly, at eight months pregnant, Debbie lost their baby and was soon in a fight for her life as she slipped into a coma. It was a desperate time for our family, and I felt personally that we were in a very intense spiritual battle and that we had to fight. The team at UCB and so many dear friends gathered around us and prayed for Debbie’s full restoration. We did not know in human terms what would happen, but we held on to God’s promises. I felt God was saying to us repeatedly, ‘I am with you… I will not leave you… this storm will pass’. His Word was a rock we were depending on; our anchor in an uncertain time.

Debbie

The breakthrough came about seven days later. We visited Debbie one evening when she was still in a coma, attached to machines. The following day we went to see her and she was sitting up in a chair and eating a meal. Praise God for His faithfulness and His goodness! We know that our miracle-working God was with us during this terrible trial and that even in the middle of a fierce storm, He would not leave us. Today, Debbie is fit and healthy.


About 6 weeks after Debbie was very ill, I went to France to join my brother, Daniel, for a crusade at his church. As a family, we had been through loss and heartache but had still seen God’s faithfulness in the middle of the storm. Those next few weeks in France were very powerful – we saw God work in a mighty way through many people being healed, restored and saved. God was bringing testimonies out of the many tests we had faced.

Experiences like these remind me of this verse: ‘The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree’ (Psalm 92:12 (NIV). Palm trees are designed to withstand severe tropical storms. When the storm comes, they bend with the wind and rain. It looks as though they are breaking, but they are actually just bending. When the storm passes, the area where the Palm tree has almost been torn in two is actually stronger than it was before the storm. During this difficult time, I felt God saying, ‘You are like a palm tree in the storms of life, but when it passes, you are going to come right back up stronger and will flourish more than ever before.’

As believers, the Prince of Peace lives within us. We can look at the storm and feel as though we will break. We can easily forget that He who is in us is greater than the circumstances that we face. If you are facing your own storm or tragedy at the moment, I want to encourage you to trust in His Word. He promises to never leave or forsake us and is our Rock even in the middle of the fiercest storms.

Have a blessed week.

David

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Christian Media, Christian Radio, Christianity, Uncategorized

God’s plans are so much bigger than ours

Posted on by David L'Herroux

Hello

I often meet with the UCB staff team and in our meetings, will share what is on my heart that week. The team has been encouraging me for a while to write down some of these thoughts, so here is my first blog post. I want to use the blog to update you on things at UCB and also share some of the things that have impacted me during the week. We may even persuade some of our visitors to write ‘guest blogs’ from time to time as well.

This week, I have been thinking about a wonderful lady who we hosted at UCB some weeks ago: Margaret McGuckin. Margaret was put into an institution as a child due to severe family problems, and while there, she endured terrible abuse and trauma. When she left the institution (as an older teenager), she didn’t understand what it meant to be loved and believed she was damaged forever. But God had a different plan for Margaret’s life, and after several years of being in trouble with the authorities, God met Margaret in a remarkable way and touched her life incredibly. She discovered that having a personal relationship with Jesus was the key to being truly loved – her life began to change from that point.

Margaret (and her friend Kathleen) came to visit us a few weeks ago so that we could share her story on UCB TV and radio. I had lunch with Margaret and Kathleen, and although I was saddened to hear of the trauma she had suffered in the past, I was excited to see how she was using what had happened in order to powerfully help others. Part of Margaret’s healing was reading the Bible every day, along with the Word for Today.  She said that the Word for Today is very much like an appetiser for God’s Word, and she now tells everyone to read it as a way of encouraging them to get into the Scriptures. It was exciting to hear of her passion for God’s Word and the big impact that she is having on so many other people through her testimony and campaigning.

Margaret’s story is a Holy-Spirit reminder to pick up and read our Bibles. We are so blessed as a nation to have access to God’s Word in a way that many others don’t. But even so, many of us have lost the discipline. I call the Bible ‘The Divine Manual’ – if you want direction or instructions, you always go to the manual. And yet when we need instruction in our lives, we often first go to friends or to the Internet. Our good friend R.T Kendall recently wrote a wonderful blog post about the importance of going first to God’s Word: How much do you read your Bible?

Can I encourage you this week – if you are facing difficult times or need God’s direction (or re-direction) in your life, go first to God’s Word. He has given us the Scriptures as a divine source of wisdom and instruction for every situation we face.  Margaret McGuckin found healing and new purpose in God’s Word, and I know personally through my own life that wisdom for many of life’s problems can be found in His Word.

As you seek Him this week, I pray that you will be blessed!

David

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