Along with other soldiers I attended the health fair in Lisburn garrison. As I made my way along each stand, I came across the Chaplaincy/ SASRA stand manned by ASR Paul Somerville. I wasn’t that interested in the stand, but Paul offered me a New Testament which initially I was reluctant to accept but I thought it would be good to pass on to my mum. In the days and weeks following on from that health fair, I actually kept the New Testament and began to read it for myself. I was being challenged by what I was reading. One Sunday afternoon whilst at home off camp someone posted something through my door. It was an invitation to a Gospel church meeting that was happening that evening. With what I had been reading in the New Testament, I decided I would attend. During that service I heard the Gospel message and for the first time, I saw myself as God saw me, a sinner that needed to be saved. I accepted Christ as my Saviour as I sat on the back row of that meeting. I am in fellowship with that church now, and I was recently baptised.
It has often been said that God’s ways are perfect, and His timing is never wrong, and how true that has proven to be. After I gave Steven a New Testament, I heard nothing more and had no idea what the Lord was doing in his life. There were no updates, no visible signs, just the quiet trust that God’s Word never returns void. In those unseen months, the Lord was at work in ways I could not have imagined. One morning, during a conversation with the Senior Chaplain, he mentioned that he had recently met a soldier and had invited him to our Thursday prayer meeting in the Garrison Church. I thought little of it at the time, until Steven walked through the door. We recognised each other instantly. As he began to share what God had been doing in his life, he told us he still had the New Testament I had given him. I was deeply moved. The seed that had been sown had taken root. Since that morning, Steven has faithfully attended the prayer meeting, earnestly lifting up the wider garrison before the Lord. What a joy it is to watch him grow, to see his hunger for God’s Word, his eagerness in prayer, and his quiet faithfulness. The New Testament has now been replaced by a well-thumbed Bible, its pages bearing witness to time spent with the Lord. Though his army duties keep him busy, he remains only a phone call away, always willing to serve and even keen to accompany me on deputations to share his testimony. Seeing his courage to speak of what God has done in his life is a reminder that the Lord is still powerfully at work among us. How gracious God is, to allow us, at times, to glimpse the fruit of seeds sown in faith. Moments like these strengthen my own trust in His perfect timing and remind me that no act done for Him is ever wasted.
