New Beginnings

On this date, in 1986, the first Ellel team members woke up to see God ‘doing a new thing’ in our lives as the work of Ellel Ministries began. On the 31^st of October, the purchase of the property had been completed, and after an evening of thanksgiving and praise the work began in earnest the following day. We started by cleaning up the mess and preparing the place for God’s people, as we began a journey of faith that would eventually encircle the globe.

We lived in the reality of seeing God do exactly what our Scripture for today says, give drink to His people, whose lives had become spiritual deserts and wastelands. Those wonderful experiences so impacted our lives, that none of us who lived through those early months and years, when the fire of God’s Spirit burned through hearts and lives, would ever be the same again.

As a microbiology researcher I used to put implements into the flame of a Bunsen burner, to cleanse them of any possible infection before beginning an experiment. In those early days of Ellel, I learned that unless the fire of God burns deeply in our hearts, the work of the enemy can remain hidden within. Those with truly open hearts to God’s presence welcomed the fire and we saw God do amazing things – and then we saw the new shoots of Spirit-inspired life overtake the ashes of the past as the beauty of God’s healing and re-creation transformed broken lives.

I pray that I will never lose the child-like wonder of watching God at work, doing what only He can do and then seeing the hurt and the pain of their past transformed into praise, thanksgiving and celebration. God raised up all the Ellel Centres to be safe places where He can work His miracles in people’s lives. How I rejoice on this anniversary day and thank God for the privilege of having been part of the miracle, whereby the centres became a source of life-giving streams into the wasteland of so many people’s lives.