Back in England

We returned to Birmingham on October 8th after fulfilling 18 speaking engagements and a flurry of family activities packed into a 7 week home assignment. Honestly, we came back a little exhausted and not exactly full of vim and vigor for ministry. For the present, we are practicing perseverance and praying for refreshment.

Showing Hospitality

Last week we had the privilege of hosting a young couple from Alaska considering full-time Christian service in England. Days were filled with visits to local places of interest, ministries-in-action, and even a castle! Starting this Saturday, we will host a young man with similar intentions who has Yukon connections. He will stay with us for 2 weeks during which time we plan to give him a taste of life and ministry here in this great city. Pray for God’s leading in Neil’s future, as well as for John and Joanna.

Days Getting Shorter

As we write this update, it is noon, but quite dull and gray outside with a hint of drizzle—fairly typical weather since we’ve been back. Add to that the decreasing daylight as winter approaches and we are tempted to be downhearted even though we just recently returned! Instead, may we choose to take these conditions as a reminder of something Jesus once said,

“As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.” (John 9:4)

Thank you for keeping us in your prayers!

George and Karen King

Car 54 Where Are You?

In just days we will be coming to southern Ontario for a 7-week visit. We have yet to obtain a car for getting around. Having received no offers of loaners, we are starting to investigate a rental for the entire 7 weeks. Please pray about our transportation needs. (Does anyone else remember ‘Car 54 Where Are You’?)

Home Connections

During the 50 days of our Home Assignment we anticipate sharing our ministry at a dozen or so gatherings. That along with various necessary administrative tasks, and catching up with friends, supporters, and lots and lots of family, makes for a full schedule until we return to Birmingham on October 8th. Please pray for safety and health as we travel and visit.

More Free to Come and Go

Now that we have ‘indefinite leave to remain’ in the UK, we have a good deal of freedom to come and go as needed. In 2011, we spent almost 4 months doing home assignment in North America and concluded it was just too long to be away from the Birmingham ministry. So, we plan to make more frequent shorter visits in future. Stay tuned!
George and Karen King

Muslim Call to Prayer on TV

Muslims are now observing the month-long fast of Ramadan and will continue until about August 7th, depending on the sighting of the new moon. For the first time, the publicly-owned, commercially-funded British TV station Channel 4 chose to broadcast the adhan, or Muslim call to prayer, throughout the 30 days of Ramadan. I wondered how that was going to be handled since it would mean suddenly interrupting scheduled TV shows in progress 5 times every day, no doubt upsetting some viewers. As it turns out, the only interruption to normal TV broadcasting happened on the first day of Ramadan, July 10th. For the remaining 29 days of the month of fasting, only the first call to prayer (before 4 am) is being broadcast over the airwaves. You can read more here and see Channel 4’s response to criticism here.

Childrens Clubs Break for Summer

Saturday, July 20th marks the end of our first season of weekly clubs for boys and girls, and they have been an unqualified success. Boys club ran consistently between 12 and 15 each week, while girls club was usually about 24 in attendance. This is nice for the girls since among Muslim families here there are often fewer opportunities for girls outside the home. Thank you for praying for this needed outreach. We look forward to a restart sometime after the summer break.

Upcoming North American Ministry 

We mentioned this in a previous update but we plan to be based in Ontario from August 23rd to October 9th 2013. All Sundays are now booked and we will have opportunity to see many of you. Please let us know if you would like to touch base when we are in the area. It would be our pleasure.

George and Karen King

“You, O Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light. With Your help I can advance against a wall.” (Ps.18:28,29)

It seems lately that there are many things to discourage us and cause us to lose hope. We often have to remind ourselves that it is GOD’s work, not ours and He can do with it what He chooses. It seems that lately He has been taking many good people away from our church due to various circumstances and when a church is already small, that really hurts. It’s been an extra long and disheartening winter (we know you understand since it’s been the same on the “other side of the pond”!).

And so, we take time to remind ourselves of what God has done and is doing. Lately, we have had several new people coming regularly to our services. We are welcoming 3 new members (2 of whom are our new colleagues, the Lees). It’s been very good to have extra willing workers!
Girls’ club on Saturday mornings is going well with 20 or more girls attending each week. Because many of our girls are from Muslim homes, we must be very sensitive in our gospel presentations. Please pray for an extra measure of wisdom as we teach and exemplify Christ’s love in our actions and attitudes. Rachel and I are often quite tired at the end of club but in a good way! We praise God for this opportunity to invest in the lives of these young girls.

The men are starting up a boys’ club on May 4th. For weeks one of Karen’s Pakistani ladies has been asking when it will start. She has 3 boys who are quite excited about to come. Karen often has opportunities to share bits here and there with the ladies she teaches and visits – these opportunities come in surprising ways. Little by little…

Keep praying for open hearts and more in depth conversations. We had some come from the community to assist in our annual Big Tidy Up of the local park. This has been a good way to connect and reconnect with people. Many more people from our community are accessing the various programs taking place in our church building, such as exercise classes, job club, after school club, Indian dance group, various community forums and committees, organic gardening club.

With thanks for your prayers and support,

George and Karen King
Birmingham, United Kingdom