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Nigel Goodwin is a member of the CTMI Council of Reference in the UK. This was his first visit to a CTMI event, and his first opportunity to see both the life the church and the lives of individual brothers and sisters. He mentions his time in Mauritius in an article published recently in a magazine he contributes to in the UK…
"Recently I returned from the Island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. I had been invited to participate in a conference where most of the delegates were leaders from African churches. What I heard and engaged with there was a dynamic demonstration of worship and teaching focused on the power of THE GOSPEL OF THE CROSS. This Gospel was so clearly proclaimed by the Apostle Paul in the book of Acts as the church grew across the Greek/Roman Empires of the first centuries, in spite of horrendous opposition.
It was with a heaviness of heart and sadness in my spirit that I quickly became aware of the fact that this was the same gospel message that had brought me, as a young actor all those years ago now, into a place of deep repentance and brokenness at the foot of the cross of Christ. My heaviness and sadness was that I rarely hear, as I travel extensively in the western world, the gospel of the cross preached today. Yet it was the single and most powerful message (see Romans 1:16) that changed the world of Paul’s day. Apart from a few wonderful ‘watering holes’, we have such a weak and flabby offering, and the watching world sees a church addicted to an unreal and ineffective message.
In Mauritius, my soul was lifted into worship as I participated in a church both alive and well. People of all ages and backgrounds were being healed daily from addictions of every kind. Restored in body, mind and spirit they came into fresh and joyous relationships, with Christ and with one another in a new freedom to serve the Living God. For me it was a WOW! and Hallelujah! time with deep personal reflection on my own journey."
May 2007
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