Image: Chinook from RAF Odiham pausing during training. UK MOD © Crown copyright 2020
Several years after the Lord planted a desire in Hugh to serve as a Scripture Reader at RAF Odiham, we are pleased to welcome him into the work of SASRA.
By Hugh French, starting as a part-time Scripture Reader at RAF Odiham in September.
I would like to testify to the goodness of God, my heavenly Father.
I had godly grandparents on both sides of the family. My father used to preach throughout Hampshire, and my brother and I went along as well. He was a good preacher, but I used to think he was preaching for the benefit of the others present rather than for me. By the grace of God, the Word took root in me, and I was born again when I was seventeen. My mother could not understand why I had become so helpful! I started attending an evangelical church, and when a tent mission came to the village, I volunteered to do a week’s mission with other young people.
My mother could not understand why I had become so helpful!
I decided to become a schoolteacher with my minimal ‘O’ levels and found a college in Lincolnshire that would accept me. I wanted to do History but was told the course was full. However, I could have a place if I would do Religious Studies, which was my second choice. One lecturer was an atheist, who seemed almost apologetic since most of us where Christians.
Image: Hugh in uniform during his military service, and now.
While studying, I joined 221 Field Ambulance Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) as a volunteer. I got to take my first flight by RAF Vickers VC10 from Brize Norton to Gutersloh for the annual two-week exercise. Despite a lack of military background, I now joined the Army full time on an ‘O’ type engagement, again with the RAMC. I did another course at Buller Barracks during which I got tonsillitis and sprained an ankle! I realised I wasn’t cut out for an Army career – besides which, I had met my wife, Ruth – so settling down seemed much more attractive.
At this stage, I joined the family business which was selling house furnishings in a shop in Fleet. In 1981 we were trying to sell a rather noisy flat where we lived and the process was dragging out somewhat. The Lord gave Ruth a message from Scripture which was just right for us as we waited:
‘Son of man, you are living among a rebellious people… Therefore, son of man, pack your belongings for exile… as they watch, set out and go from where you are to another place.’
Time went on and the Lord blessed us with two children, and they have always been a blessing to us. What a joy it is to now be a grandfather to Rupert.
We distributed copies of the New Testament
After the financial crisis of 2008, business became more difficult to find, and I had to learn to be more reliant on the Lord. My desk became my ‘Bethel’. I became a Gideon and my wife Ruth, an Auxiliary Gideon. We distributed copies of the New Testament to many company representatives, and I am pleased to say not many refused. The Lord also gave me a wonderful message of support:
‘Thus far the Lord has helped us.’
In 2015 I made plans to sell the shop. The Lord also planted a seed in me to serve Him as a Scripture Reader at RAF Odiham. We had met several aviators at different churches, and they seemed to be a type of person I could relate to. We also live under the flight path so I could hardly forget the call. In April 2016 I prayed in real earnest that we would be able to sell the shop. Praise God, we sold it at the end of May.
I can also testify to God’s keeping power through the many times I have been discouraged or begun to drift away from Him. In His grace He says this to us:
‘I will never leave you nor forsake you’
All through my life I have found that I want to know the truth about Jesus, even if the truth is to be inconvenient or uncomfortable.
An old hymn that resonates with me is, ‘O love that will not let me go’. All through my life I have found that I want to know the truth about Jesus, even if the truth is to be inconvenient or uncomfortable. Now I am sure that He is the Truth. I have been able to prove for myself that Jesus is the ‘friend who sticks closer than a brother.’ (Prov. 18:24)
God can still use us even in retirement.
Coming to be a Scripture Reader at last shows me how God can still use us even in retirement. I had hoped to join the work of SASRA two or three years ago, but I am sure that God’s timing is perfect, and that He will use me at Odiham for as long as He wants.
PRAY WITH US
- Give thanks that we can trust in God’s perfect timing, even when it might be different from what we expect or hope.
- Give thanks that Hugh has answered God’s call to serve Him through the work of SASRA and that the Lord has opened this door at RAF Odiham.
- Pray for Hugh as he looks to begin his training to be a Scripture Reader in September. May his desire to reach military personnel with the hope of the gospel deepen even more.
- May the Lord go before Hugh and prepare hearts for the gospel.
