"And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people..." (Jonah 4v11).
The words God spoke to a reluctant prophet long ago struck a chord with the All Saints Loose congregation in 2023. We had been praying and planning to plant a church for a few years and were just getting ready to send. Similar in size to Nineveh, with 120,000 residents unaware of the grace and hope found in Jesus Christ, a new church in Maidstone was the ambition.
So, in August 2023, 12 adults took a step that might have seemed improbable by any practical measure. Small in number, without a building and with minimal resources, it was clear that it would only work if the Lord enabled it.
One of our group was renting in a central location, and so with winter coming and the landlord putting the house up for sale, we decided the obvious option was to build a wooden floor and put up a marquee on a sloping garden!
Two years on, Immanuel Church Maidstone now meets every Sunday at 4pm in a central church location. Immanuel has become a new spiritual home to people of all ages. A lively children’s group and an emerging teen community bring energy to Sunday gatherings.
Next steps are asking the Lord how we might reach the younger adults who make up nearly a quarter of Maidstone’s population.
There are still plenty of vulnerabilities, but the heart of Immanuel beats with a desire to see Jesus made known throughout Maidstone - to see lives transformed by the same God who showed mercy to Nineveh long ago.
Please would you join us in prayer? Pray for open hearts. Pray for bold witness. And pray that many in Maidstone would turn and trust in Jesus as Lord and Saviour.
