| Come in out of the cold |
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Come in out of the cold  ‘I became a Christian on 24th August 1979,’ says Norman Critchell, ‘two hours after my wife Denise. From then on our lives changed.’ The couple have devoted their lives to God’s work. Norman shares what led to this life- changing decision and its consequences. ‘I came from a broken marriage background. I was very much into heavy drinking and gambling but Jesus totally changed our lives. We became Christians at 30 years old and asked the question, ‘why hadn’t anyone told us before about Jesus and our need of forgiveness?’ ‘It began two weeks before we married, with what we would now call an awareness that we had done many wrong things in our lives, that we had messed up.’ ‘Denise got out a Gideon New Testament that she had been given at school. She’d never read it. She opened it at 1 Peter 2 v 24. ‘He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.’ ‘We then went on a quest to find out who this “he” was. ‘I was a church goer as a young boy but we didn’t know who this “he” was who had died for our sins. One of the things that happened was my brother in law and his wife had become Christians. They shared their story with us – it sounded quite weird at the time. We thought we’d study the Bible to try and rescue them. ‘Then 15 months later we found a book called ‘Your confirmation’ by Canon John Stott, a man we trusted because he was a ‘big gun’ in the Church of England! He talked in there about how Jesus could come into our lives, forgive us and take control. This confirmed what we had read in the Bible. There and then we responded – and everything fell into place.’ The following year, Norman and Denise went to a Christian convention in Keswick. The speaker, George Verwer, spoke about telling others about Jesus. ‘We responded to the call to full-time missionary service. But we didn’t have the usual missionary skills – nursing, teaching etc. I’d had 17 jobs by this time,’ Norman recalls, ‘everything from a yoghurt salesman to a forklift driver.’ The couple were accepted for training at All Nations Christian College expecting to go overseas but halfway through their course, felt God wanted them to stay in this country. So they joined London City Mission, sharing the good news of Jesus first in Fulham, then Tilbury Docks, working with dockers, sailors and prostitutes from around the world. On a ship one day with an Asian crew, they felt God’s further call to specialise in working among people from the Indian sub-continent and in 1988 moved to Slough with Crosslinks an Anglican Missionary Society. Then in 1995, their work widened and they began the Salem Project, sharing the love of Jesus with the other faith communities. Salem was brought to an end in December 2007. Denise had been ordained in 1999 and had become a vicar in the Church of England. ‘Then in early 2008 I was diagnosed with prostate cancer,’ Norman says. ‘God wonderfully brought healing through an operation. I had my prostate removed and I’ve fully recovered. I worked as an evangelist for a year or so. Then last summer I saw the advert for the Outlook Trust.’ Norman took up his post last October as Director of Outlook Trust – reaching older people with the Good News of Jesus Christ (www.outlook-trust.org.uk). Outlook works with all the major denominations in the UK, and has a network of members throughout the country. Norman sees his role as encouraging the church to reach out to the older generations. His own brother became a Christian at the age of 61 having known in his head about God but not in his heart. ‘He described a vision of standing outside a shop filled with beautiful things,’ Norman recounts, ‘pressing his nose against the window, longing to gain access but feeling cold outside.’ He then made a commitment to following Jesus. ‘So many older people have received a bad experience of the church, where perhaps they haven’t been made welcome. My vision is to expand the work of Outlook Trust. God is not an ageist God. I’d like to see a church where everyone’s gifts are valued; where everyone feels that they belong. ‘They may know about God,’ says Norman, ‘but don’t have a relationship with Him.’ Norman’s ongoing prayer is for that situation to change. |
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