He is an on-time God!

It is often said that out of every bad situation comes something good. Pastor Deverney Brissett of the Spaldings Church of Christ, Clarendon, has identified with this statement.

Brissett, who has been walking with the Lord since May 1985, testified recently that his church was planted in the community of Spalding in 1993 and was struggling to find members.

"It struggled, with only my wife and I, as well as my daughter, who was only eight months old when the church started. It was after 10 months that we had our first conversion, meaning the first member came 10 months after the church started. The church virtually stagnated for a very long period," shared Brissett.

The church leader disclosed that despite a lot of evangelism in and around the Spaldings community, there was nothing happening for the church, a building leased from a man who was once using it as a house of worship also.

"Some problems developed between us and the man, which we thought, at the time, was most unfortunate. It resulted in the police being involved. I spent almost an entire day at the police station and was almost incarcerated. It was no fault of my own. However, out of the problems, the church miraculously benefited," testified Brissett.

The pastor said, for months he, his wife and the lone member of his congregation prayed hundreds of prayers to the Lord for a breakthrough. It appeared as if their prayers would not be answered. However, after the unfortunate incident between Brissett and the man, which was published in THE STAR, God poured out His blessings on the church.

"The membership of the church started to skyrocket. Within a few months, God saved scores of souls and the membership moved from one to 60. I learnt, just as Paul said in the Book of Romans, "All things work together for good to them that love the Lord." That very situation, at the time, had a serious negative impact on the church but it was what God used to grow the church.

Pastor Brissett noted that the gentleman, who wanted him out of the building and who had challenged him to a fist fight, was known by persons in the community and, because of his poor behaviour, they (community persons) decided they were not going to sit by and allow any such thing.

"God really moved in a mysterious way. Fxollowing the incident, the church has been growing ever since. Sometimes we do not understand why God allows some things to happen in our lives. God used the very same negative things to help us to understand and really learn more," testified Pastor Brissett.

Brissett said the three members, backed by other sister congregations, had a series of fasting and prayers following the unfortunate incident, and God gave him a breakthrough at the right time.

Brissett wants children of God to remember that when they pray for years for God to give them a breakthrough, and it seems as if their prayers will never be answered, that is the time they need to pray even more and trust in God. He said He is an on-time God, who just wants His people to be patient and persevere.

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