Outreach to mark 100 years

Barking Elim is among a group of churches birthed 100 years ago from an amazing revival. And now they are celebrating their centenary with a year of imaginative evangelism, Adriana Saldana tells Direction.

When brothers Stephen and George Jeffreys came to Barking, revival was sparked through their 1925 crusade. Many were healed, many found faith, and from it Barking Elim, East Ham Elim, Canning Town Elim and City Gates in Ilford were born.

That’s why, a century later, the churches are celebrating their centenaries together. To honour this foundational revival, Barking Elim planned a year of local evangelism, packed with creative ideas to engage its east London community.

Here’s how they’ve been celebrating.

1. A year of evangelism

To prepare for their outreach, the Barking and East Ham churches began with training from Gary Gibbs, London City Mission (who specifically helped on reaching Muslims) and Jesus at the Door.

From there they’ve been hitting the streets every month, worshipping outside the train station and evangelising using Jesus at the Door’s resources. They’ve spoken to many young adults in particular.

“We have a strong community of young adults, and two are particularly good at connecting with others and bringing them to church,” says Adriana.

2. Christmas community fun

Festive outreach included Christmas carols in the town square and a Christmas play explaining who Jesus is.

“A lady who’s well connected to the Indian community ran it and got Indian children to do the play. Through that we got to evangelise to their parents and friends. We had eight people give their lives to Jesus that day,” Adriana says.

… story continues