Friends of The Well
Someone once said that you could tell a lot about a person by the friends they keep. I think there's some truth in that. Jesus himself made a point of calling his disciples 'his friends', so we think God wants friendship to be important to His church!
Below are some of the friends of TheWell - of course, there are many more individuals and churches both in Rochdale and beyond who we consider to be good acquaintancies, but the ones below are more special!
Anson - Hugo and Sharon - as well as heading up the Grassroots charity in Surrey(see Community page), they have strong links to Soul Survivor, Spring Harvest, Evangelical Alliance and are friends too of Roger and Faith Forster and Martin Warner (see below). Sharon will be leading our Church House Party at LLandudno in March 2007.
Forster, Roger and Faith - a lovely couple who have led Ichthus Christian Fellowship in South London for over 25 years and planted as many churches - they are held in high esteem by Christian leaders all across the world.
Grimshaw, Bob and Julie - they have recently planted a new church in Kirkham, near Preston, and we are helping them with this work.
Matas, Miguel and Maria - along with their 6 children (like a Spanish Von Trapp family!) they are missionaries in Medellin, Colombia (see Community page), but are also wonderfully encouraging to our church.
Pogodin, Kirill and Lena - now with 3-year old Lisa, and another baby due at Christmas 2007! Part of a church in Moscow, Russia, called 'Domatsa' (The Fathers House) led by our other friends Michael and Kate, and Sergei and Tatiana, Kirill and Lena are part of our family and had their honeymoon in Rochdale!
Zimin, Michael and Olga - also part of Domatsa Church in Moscow. They head up a project similar to our ReBuild Project, offering a 'second stage' to people leaving drug rehab unit (also run by Christians) in an area called Tula about 120 miles south of Moscow. They have a huge derelict manufacturing site (over 27 hectares) which will provide employment opportunities for the clients as time goes on. Its a very big vision!
Shackleton, Keith and Charlotte - living in St Annes, they are musicians who love to lead Christian Worship, and have a wonderful gift to bring people into the presence of God.
Smith, Martyn and Linda - they are the leaders of a group of churches in the North West called Vinelife Churches, based in Bolton, but it is the friendship of Martyn and Linda that has encouraged us as The Well to become part of that network. When part of the Vineyard Church Network, Martyn and Linda were close friends of John Wimber, and still retain close links with David Watson's widow, Ann.
Warner, Martin and Dinah - part of a North Church Baptists in Berkhamstead, Hertfordshire, led by other friends David and Michelle Russell (who are also friends of Hugo and Roger (above), Martin is active in supporting one of our community projects currently under development.
Dennis & Lynnie Walker - are based in Las Vegas in USA, and have planted many churches in Peru, South America. Dennis has visited us twice, with colleagues like Wendell McGowan from Redding, California, and we all believe God has brought us together for some greater purpose, which will become clear in time! We have also visited their group in Las Vegas and met some lovely Christians there. Just like us!