My Story

Jeannette McPhail

Fifty Years on and still learning.

As a two year old I was taken to Sunday School by my auntie and rebelled! So they let me off till I was three and then I went happily and was confirmed when I was twelve. But then rebellion set in again and as a young teenager I turned away from God. But by the time I was sixteen I knew there was something missing in my life and so when school friends invited me to the Girl Crusader Class in Halifax and to go with them to a Scripture Union Camp in Wales in the summer I jumped at the chance. Before the camp I enjoyed six months of the interdenominational Bible teaching at GCU and once a month we had a missionary story. It was the biography of Amy Carmichael who worked with children in India and was my introduction to missionary work.

Our two week camp in a boarding school in Penmaenmawr was great. Hearing some of the girls of my age pray made me realise that they had a relationship with God that I did not and before the end of that holiday I came to know Jesus as my Saviour and Lord. I remember praying the last line of the hymn "O Lamb of God I come, I come" And really meaning it But I didn't tell anyone! I was much too shy! I continued to go our GCU group every Sunday in Halifax and I'd been given the list of SU readings and started reading the bible. It was just a list of daily readings in those days, they didn't have all the notes that there are now. But reading the word every day certainly helped to keep me learning about God.

God in his grace had saved me and by grace he kept me. I didn't have a church but I did have the Crusader group and when I went to college the next year there was a good Christian Union, which helped me tremendously. My college friend belonged to a lively evangelical church and I wished I could belong to a church like that but there wasn't one near us. But God kept me reading His word for myself and kept me growing in my knowledge of Him The Halifax GCU group closed as I left to go to college but when I was home again it was trying to re-open and I met up with Florence who became like a spiritual mother to me for many years. She was always lending me books and they were always just what I needed at the time. Another wonderful provision of God's grace in learning to know Him. The Halifax Class did re-open but all the leaders kept getting called to Bible College and overseas and I thought, "No way do I want to be a GCU Leader!!" So I was very relieved when I heard that others were going to lead the class. But then I went to Keswick and felt very much that God was wanting me to do something at home and not overseas but thought it can't be helping in GCU they already have 3 leaders there now. At the end of that summer holiday I was not really surprised when I was asked to consider helping in the Halifax GCU Class.

It was the grace of God who had saved me, kept me, helped me and led me. I learnt so much through teaching the girls on Sunday afternoons and the high light of our year was going to the Leaders Conference at High Leigh, where we received the kind of teaching that we did not get in our home churches. I went to the local Methodist Church after college.

A few years later God amazed me by leading me to New Zealand. That was probably the hardest thing he ever asked me to do. But He gave me the promise from Isaiah 41.v.10 "Fear not! I am with you" and He certainly was. He gave me two things I'd very much desired - a lively Bible teaching church and a lovely Christian home with a family who are still like a second family to me and whom I have visited many times in New Zealand and Australia. Then God gave me an added bonus of two years at the New Zealand Bible College. A great time for learning more about God's Word and how to trust Him for my finances.

When I came home again in 1970, we moved to Brighouse. I went back to help with the GCU Class that was still running in Halifax and I was determined that we would find a good Bible teaching church. And the Lord led us to St. Thomas' at Bradley. It was 5 miles away but I'd gone 25miles in New Zealand. It was only 10 minutes in the car and mum needed to go by car anyway. It wasn't long before we had the children's mission CCC and my mother came along to help. She had always gone to church but became a Christian through the teaching at the mission. I was thrilled about that. Then God by his grace led me to become a Reader. Preparing sermons involves a lot of Bible reading and studying and I learnt a lot through the preparation!

When I retired a few years ago now, there were lots of things I wanted to do, like go to teach overseas, or teach English in China, but I felt very much that God was saying to me, "Keep on with what you are doing- i.e. being a Reader here at Church and working with GCU. And by God's grace and help I have been able to continue to do so until recently. And I even managed to have five weeks in China in 2005. Though our time there did not work out as we had planned and expected. It was then I had to learn how to trust the Lord for each day at a time. I like to know what I am doing and be able to plan things and be in control. Recently I have been reading a book by Selwyn Hughes called "Strong at the broken places- Grace for each new day." I realised that I am still learning about Trust. He says "The greatest enemy of trust is the desire to be in control" That's how I like to be! He also says, "To develop trust there is no better way than putting us in a position where we feel we are not in control and we simply have to fall back on the grace that God provides and believe that He and He alone will bring us out if it."

I am certainly not in control nowadays and have to learn to trust God each day at a time.
After being very fit and well all my life now I am also having to learn to be "Patient in suffering" too. Romans 12.12. is a verse I was challenged by in June, when this illness was getting serious. It says -
"Be joyful in hope, patient in suffering, faithful in prayer." Since then I have been reminded over and over again about the Joy and Hope we have to look forward to. A slow learner needs lots of repetition.
1 Peter 1.v.6 is one of the verses that has come up many times and in the Living light version says "There is wonderful joy ahead, even if the going is rough for a while down here." Yes the going is rough at the moment but it won't last long. "The troubles will soon be over, but the joys to come will last for ever." 2 Cor.4.18 Living Light. God by his Grace, saved me over 50 years ago, and over the years has kept me, led me, taught me and enabled me to serve Him. I just marvel at his wonderful faithfulness to me. Many things have changed now, but our God does not change and I am still learning.

A new song we learnt recently at church is one I keep "singing" all the time -
"May the God of Hope fill you with all Joy and Peace as you Trust in Him."

Written in 2007