We are pleased to introduce our newest team member, Kathy Havell, as Regional Manager for the South-Central area. She shares below how she became a Christian and what has brought her to SASRA.
It’s wonderful how the Lord works to lead and direct our paths! A year ago, I had no idea that I would become a part of SASRA.
I am a Navy kid. The first eleven years of my life I lived with my family on a Naval estate. My dad was a submariner, and I have many memories of Rowner and the HMS Dolphin, where Dad worked and going to watch him on Navy Days, not to mention the excitement of the NAAFI!
Fast forward to me at eighteen when I put my trust in Jesus as my Lord and Saviour and became a Christian. It was through the testimony of my sister and her student nursing friends that I came to faith. I grew up going to church at Christmas and knowing some Bible stories, but it wasn’t until my sister came to a living faith that I started to question my beliefs. Was there more to Christianity than just tradition? The answer was a resounding yes!
I trained to be an Occupational Therapist and worked for many years at different hospitals in London. I also met and married my husband, Nigel.
I think it’s fair to say I’ve had a varied career history. As well as an Occupational Therapist, I worked as a gardener and for various charities including Open Doors and the Alzheimer’s Society. Most recently, I have been part of the staff team at St Ebbe’s church in central Oxford. I thought that this would possibly be my last paid job, but the Lord had other ideas. St Ebbe’s has recently planted a new church— All Saints, to the north of Oxford, very close to where I live. I felt the Lord urging that I should join the plant, but this would mean stepping away from my staff role. All that to say, earlier this year I was praying for the Lord to show me what I should do for a job and saw the Regional Manager role with SASRA advertised. I was immediately interested. I remembered that SASRA came to both the church I used to go to in London and one in Buckingham. I enquired, and the rest, as they say, is history.
It’s a huge privilege to be part of this incredible ministry, proclaiming Jesus to our service men and women in the Army and Airforce. I can see the amazing ways the Lord has gifted our Scripture Readers to be His hands and feet ‘behind the wire’.
I am praying that the Lord will equip me to support the ministry by developing partnerships with churches in the South-Central region. Please continue to pray for our Scripture Readers, that through their witness and the support of the church, many will come to know Christ.
PRAY WITH US
- Give thanks to God for the provision of all three new Regional Managers who will seek to encourage more churches to support SASRA's mission.
- Pray that Kathy would have wisdom in how best to encourage and support the Scripture Readers she will be working with.
- Pray Kathy would be able to build strong relationships with churches and enjoy many opportunities to share of God's work 'behind the wire'.
