East End beginnings

My name is Bob Towler and I am 59 years old.

I was brought up in a strict good Christian family, my father earlier in his life had been a Sunday school superintendent at the Grange Park Congregational Church in Leyton (East End of London) and my mother sang in the choir at the Edinburgh Castle, which was an open church, as I understand it, again in the East End of London.

Having a strict upbringing and being made to go to church three times a day each Sunday up to the age of about 15, I then rebelled and had very little to do with the church for 25 years or so. My home life as a youngster was very happy, but my mum suffered with chronic Osteo-Arthritus so she was always in terrible pain and this put a lot of extra pressure on my dad who had to see to all my mum’s needs before he went to work each day. I tell you these parts of my early life because I feel that they had a profound effect on the way my life developed.

The love of my life

At the age of 20 I met the love of my life Trish, we were married three years later and I would mention that within the space of the first year of our married life The Lord took both my mum and dad home within 5 months of each other, my mum being just 53 and my dad 56, and it left my sister Jean on her own at 17 years of age. Trish then stepped in and did her best to be a substitute mum to Jean.

After a few years Jean married and by then we had had Michelle our daughter, she was followed 3 years later by Kevin, now as I write this I must say that The Lord blessed Trish and myself with the most wonderful children we could every have prayed for, as you will see later.

Christian, Moonies or just Open Minded?

About 15 years ago Jean and her husband Hans told Trish and myself that they had become Born-again Christians. It did not mean a lot to me, but the more they told me the more I thought that they had joined the “moonies”, which were a Weird sect at the time. Some time later Trish noticed a difference in Jean, there was a peace and something she could not put her finger on with Jean. However, after a while and a lot of talking to Jean and Hans,  Trish felt the need to go to church. About this time Jean asked Trish if she would like to go to a healing service, which Trevor Dearing was speaking at, they also asked if I would like to go, so being a little more open minded by then I said yes.

As I think you may be able to imagine a person who has been used to conventional worship, hymns, prayers etc., to be confronted with chorus’s and open worship was quite a shock, and then to top it all people going to the front for Prayer and then falling to the floor threw me completely. Jean, Hans, Trish and myself talked a lot over the next few weeks, and then Jean said Trevor Dearing was speaking at another meeting locally. Would I go? I said yes I had to see if what I saw the first time was what I saw! It was.

That's the one!!!

Trish said she would like to find a local church to go to and she had a picture in her mind of the front of the church, so one night we drove in the car all around our area without finding anything to resemble Trish’s picture. I think it was the following week when going somewhere locally that all of a sudden Trish shouted: “There it is, that’s the one,” it was Upminster Methodist Church.

We started going there Sunday mornings to the family service, I went to keep Trish company. I then started to notice that Trish had the same peace and glow about her that Jean had. The penny then dropped, the peace and glow was the Holy Spirit within her. I still resisted and over a period of time there was Jean, Hans, Trish, Trish’s sister Valerie and her husband Pete who had all asked The Lord into there lives, and I saw with my own eyes the difference it made to them, and so at long last after my family and friends had been praying for me for eight years I asked The Lord to take charge of my life.

After being at Upminster Church for about ten years we moved to Benfleet, which is near to Southend-on-Sea and joined The Kings Church Tarpots which meets in Appleton School.

He called her home

I now realise that over all those years and all the time the love and prayers which were directed for me had been put in place by The Lord because He knows the whole picture, and we only see a tiny square. I am now so grateful to God for all He has done for me because 2 days after Trish’s 57th Birthday The Lord called her home and she died in my arms at home with just Jesus, Michelle, Kevin and me with her. The support from Michelle and Kevin, who at this moment to my knowledge have not yet asked Jesus into their lives, has been paramount to me physically.

The hole I had in my heart for years when I lost my mum and dad has not been there for one day since I lost Trish because of the comfort, love and support  spiritually that I have received from The Lord and I now know with certainty that we will be together for ever risen in The Lord Jesus with a New Body in a New World.

Praise The Lord.

Bob

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If you would like to contact Bob either contact the church [details on the Home page] or email him.