HUW: How did you first find Jesus?

Matthew: I grew up in what I would call a semi-Christian home in Gravesend (Kent). It was my mum's second marriage, and there were eight children and a lodger. There were eleven of us living in the house and a few dogs and cats as well! My dad was in and out of prison and we were on the Social Services 'at risk' register.

What happened then?

I saw my friends in eternal peril so I got down on my knees and began to pray for their salvation.

That sounds a very difficult start!

Yes. Very sadly, my mum had gone through a rape ordeal and I was the result of the rape. My real father committed suicide after he had written a full confession - he had raped his own two children as well. As a result, my mum was in a very poor state - mentally, emotionally and physically. She then met my step-father.

Our social worker was a member of a Baptist church and she invited my mother and father to go to church. At first mum said no, but when she found it was opposite the local police station, she changed her mind. She hated the police and wanted to feel good walking out of a church saying 'I'm a good person; I've been in a church!'

On one occasion, the visiting minister was a man called Trevor Dearing. My mum was profoundly deaf and didn't hear a thing the whole way through, but when there was a call for prayer many people went forward and a number were falling over in the Spirit. My mum said to my dad, 'He's pushing them over.' My dad said, 'No, he's got a little zapper in his hand'. Eventually, for a £5 bet, mum went forward to find out! When she was prayed for she went over in the Spirit. On returning to her seat, my dad was jeering and laughing. But she said, 'No Dave, there's something in this.'

What happened then?

At the end of the service, the last song they'd sung was 'You ask me how I know He lives, He lives within my heart'. As Trevor sung those words, he looked at my mother and she could lip read him. The only thing she actually understood from the whole meeting was the line 'You ask me how I know He lives', and she said at that minute she received the gospel. Mum suddenly realised that Jesus was actually alive and He loved her.

So they both became Christians - but it took a while. Dad was on the run from the police and in a lot of trouble. We had many challenges. In my teens, I rebelled against Christian things for about four years. But when I was 18 I just found a fear of God - a reverent fear that I'd shut this awesome, wonderful God out of my life. So I made the decision to go to church again and it took me six months to get there. But eventually I came to the Kings Church at the beginning of 1991 and made an adult commitment.

How did you get on with the church?

I'd fallen in love with Jesus, which was the most important thing. He was my hero. I found it difficult because I'd been expelled from school twice and couldn't read or write. My wife taught me to read later by reading the Bible.

A lot of the young people here at that time were going off to university and came from pretty good homes. And there was me with tattoos, five ear-rings, still smoking, but loving the Lord radically! I wanted people to know Him, and I wanted to see His Church be freed from the world's negative image. When I was at school you could spot a Christian at 200 yards - they were very straight-laced, probably mummy's boys. I struggled with that image as I wanted the world to see a radical church that was on fire and attracted people to a radical Jesus.

How did your connection with the Jesus Fellowship happen?

The connection happened through a Jesus Fellowship leader, Len Kroon, who had been part of Kings Church. A group of us came to a Jesus Fellowship Winning Weekend, and I suddenly realised that there were other radical Christians around! I loved everything I saw -intimacy, covenant relationships, dying to the self life and paying any price. But also, the flesh life got uncovered and it was painful.

As time went on I got married to Mara. Not long after we got married I felt that I needed to gain experience in various areas. My parents had already joined the Jesus Fellowship. We were regularly travelling up and down most weekends, so eventually we got committed.

After 18 months I had become unsettled and I spoke to our leader. He talked to Jesus Fellowship senior pastor, Noel Stanton, who supported our return to Kings Church. We just knew that it was God.

What did you do when you returned?

This was about 1995. We came back and we were just attending. Then Barry, one of the founders and an elder of the church said to me one day, 'Matthew, why don't you get committed?' And without meaning to be arrogant or self-righteous in any way, I just said to him, 'Well I just look at what's here and I don't know if that's what I want to commit to, because I just believe Jesus is more than what I'm seeing'.

Myself and Mara were in the car one day, listening to a Jesus Fellowship worship tape. I said to Mara, 'I've got to make a decision whether I'm going to serve God with all my life.' The song on the cassette was 'Just poured out wine, just broken bread'. That sealed it for us. Mara did night work so we could earn enough money to live off, and I became available to the church 24/7. I started here in ministry, sweeping the church drive, tidying up the boiler room, putting up shelves.

How did your ministry develop?

I served in practical ways to the very best of my ability. When I was working here one day a homeless guy came up off the streets who was hungry and tired and asked for something to eat. So I made him a cheese sandwich in the kitchen and he then began to share with me about the homeless in Medway, the drug abuse, the prostitution, the sheer deprivation. I prayed for him and he came back to see me 18 months later, telling me two weeks after I prayed for him he got involved with some people doing a walk for Jesus, and gave his life to the Lord and had been a committed Christian ever since.

As he shared all this with me I thought that we just could not be a church in the midst of this and do nothing. We had a responsibility - not a choice. I saw the leaders and I shared my heart, pouring out what I thought we should do, and they were supportive.

I marched off to the hostel and volunteered to help with cooking and cleaning. I did that for about six weeks and then one of the guys accepted me, and it went from there. I was simply their friend - I didn't have the answers, I had no experience, but the one thing I knew they needed was friendship. More of the guys started coming up to the church and we'd give them a meal and it began to grow from that.

I soon gained a reputation as a street pastor. I also began to get to know the prostitutes and then the pimps. The biggest thing that would hold the girls back would be the pimps, so I had to befriend the pimps as well. God gave us a heart for them and an ability to relate to them. We began to know more and more need so we converted part of the church to meet that need until in 2001 we bought the building across the road which became 'Caring Hands in the Community'.

How did you end up as the senior pastor here?

I had been a leader here since I started Caring Hands. Mara was running Little Eagles Nursery, and we were heading up the covering of all the cell groups in the church. We had also started King's Community. Then we went to South Africa and while we were away some problems emerged in the leadership back home.

When we came back from South Africa, we were kicked out of the church we loved and made homeless. It was an utter mess. At first I just wanted to run away.

Everything in me said, 'No way! I don't want to take the risk of staying around.' But I had this awareness of Jesus, the man with scars. There was nothing more to debate.

I put myself under the authority of Alan Smith, an experienced local pastor. He simply reaffirmed my calling as a pastor and asked us to not make any quick decisions. Eventually, we were invited back to the church after the previous leaders had left. Then Barry and Alan and several other ministers in the area felt that I should take on the role of senior pastor. It was put to the congregation and they agreed overwhelmingly.

I just shared my heart, honestly, with the congregation and said, 'Look, I don't know the way forward, I don't know what's going to happen but I know that God is faithful'. There was an emotional explosion with everybody looking for the answers and the reasons why all these things happened and who was to blame. At the end of the day we said, as Jesus said, 'Father, forgive them for they know not what they do'.

The key has been equipping the team of saints for the work of the ministry. I told them 'We are a family, we are a body and we're doing this together. It's not my sole vision; it's our vision for the church. It's your responsibility as well as mine and we've got to do this together'.

What do you feel went wrong with your last leader?

Basically, pride and a lack of accountability. There was an absence of covenant relationship where you could get alongside and just say, 'I've screwed up'. There was also a lack of support, and people that he could turn to for help.

You lost quite a lot of people during this time?

Yes, before that we were a couple of hundred strong and we went down to 30 adults and 15 kids. We just had to trust in God's faithfulness, rebuild and move on.

You've had some cultural challenges to work through as well.

Half of our congregation is black, the other half is white. We don't have Nigerian services or Malawian services - we preach one culture and that's 'kingdom of God' culture. It's not English culture either! With all the current political unrest and suspicion of different cultures because of terrorist attacks, it's a living testimony - a miracle - to walk in a church and it's half black, half white and a total mix. There are more people in our leadership that are black than white. Half of our trustees are black.

Nevertheless, the Bible says you pick men and women full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, not colour, creed or social background. It's impossible for the church of Jesus Christ to be politically correct. Jesus was not politically correct. He turned upside down the political and social culture of His day.

You had to hold onto God.

It's been very important to have the father heart of God. We've had to be the prodigal-friendly church, making it easy for people to come back when they screw up and make mistakes. We love them, encourage them, put the ring on the finger, re-establish them, but we then teach them. In tough times with lots of suspicion and lots of mistrust, we just had to apply God's grace.

Part 2