Grief and growth in Basildon

With news of how God brings blessing and new life out of the darkest of situations in His church, Jim Sayers of the Association of Grace Baptist Churches writes:

What happens when your church building gets destroyed in an air raid? That happened to the church in Chatham Road, Wandsworth Common on 15 October 1940. After World War 2, large numbers of Londoners moved out to the new towns. A number of Grace Baptist churches were planted in these new towns in the 50s and 60s, a time of real social change. So Fryerns Baptist Church was planted in Basildon, Essex in 1954 to replace the church in Wandsworth.

Spiritual warfare is just as real, a continuous conflict that is often unseen, with Christ and His church attacked by the spiritual forces of darkness in the heavenly realms. This can manifest itself in the kind of conflicts we know in church life, as well as other physical traumas and sufferings. The church at Fryerns has known its fair share of both. Against this backdrop of brokenness, the church of Jesus Christ is the consistent visible testimony to the marvellous love, grace and righteousness of God.

The current pastor at Fryerns Baptist Church is Ben Jones, who began his ministry in March 2017. A couple of years later, his wife Eleanor was diagnosed with cancer, and she died early in 2020, just as the Covid pandemic set in. This was a double blow for a small church, but they have proved God’s faithfulness through dark times.

Over recent months they have seen the Lord add eight new members to the church. This includes three single men, one of whom found the gospel online first, an increasingly common trend. A Christian family from India have joined them, and a single mum from Nigeria, as well as another young mum who was baptised last year and whose husband comes occasionally. Ben also remarried in the autumn of 2021, and his Japanese wife Yoko brings new energy and joy to church life. Ben says: ‘Eleanor and I took on Christ’s mission together, but God took her home so soon. Knocked sideways, I had no idea the Lord would send Yoko – another amazing woman – to help us!’