After surviving abuse, tragedy and heartbreak, Sara Jones has planted two Christian fellowships, with a third on the way
By Chris Eyte
A Christian fellowship planting churches across South Wales has seen an uplift in men coming to faith in Jesus after getting out on the streets and talking to people about the Gospel.
Sara Jones runs Everlasting Ministries, a house church based in two locations: Barry and nearby Rhoose. She founded the church in October 2021 with a vision to “reach the lost, to equip and release people into whatever role the Lord has given them, to speak the truth of the Bible.”
“We went out in the streets and just talked to people”
Sara told HEART that the church ministry to young men had seen an unprecedented boost in numbers, thanks to local outreach efforts.
“We sought to spread the Gospel as much as we could and saw an influx of men coming in that was completely different to what other churches were seeing. We went out in the streets and just talked to people. The Lord led mainly men to us.”
Sara left her last church in November 2020 as she disagreed with their stance on the Covid pandemic. At the time, she was unwell and taking 22 tablets per day, asthma medication and various “lotions and potions”.
Her own background was one of brokenness; she had suffered physical, emotional and sexual abuse before the age of eight. Later, she says, “I had two abusive husbands, one of whom I have a life long injunction against.”
In this wilderness time out of church, she “took time out to spend with God”. In January 2021, she was reading the Bible and questioned God’s ability to heal.
“Within nine months I was healed and no longer taking any medication”
“I said, ‘Lord there is a problem, your Word says you heal but here I am, a sick woman.’
“The Lord said he would need to heal my mind and heart from the many years of abuse that I’d endured first. Within nine months I was healed and no longer taking any medication.”
At that time she met an “incredible” man called Andrew and they both felt a call to start a house church in Barry in South Wales, opened in October 2021. However, they experienced a fierce spiritual battle as the vision gathered pace.
“We had never understood the spiritual fight until we made the decision to open the church,” Sara said.
In November 2021, Andrew went into hospital with sepsis and high blood sugars. Sara maintains that he could have survived, because the hospital said he had Covid and, against his will, put him on a ventilator.
Sara says, “The ventilator was actually what killed him because it caused a bug in his lungs. He went to be with the Lord in January 2022 – the year we were due to marry.”
Even so, Sara was determined to follow God’s plan for her life and ministry.
“Despite the devastation I carried on and the ministry has grown beyond what we both expected. Only God can be given the credit for this.”
The Barry fellowship has now started a church plant in the town of Cwmbran, north of Newport city, also in South Wales. A house church opened there in April.
Meanwhile, further plans are being made for another house church “coming on board” in the city of Cardiff, according to Sara. The third church plant is planned to “hopefully” open in June (2024).
Sara, excited about the spree of church plants, added: “We are also seeing a need for a separate group for people with disabilities, which hopefully will be up and running in August 2024.
“We are looking to meet the needs of those around us, however we can.
Sara is now “living by faith” as the ministry grows because the people served by her team lack funds to put into an offering that would pay wages.
“Only God can be given the credit for this”
“Instead, we use the offering money for the needs of people we serve around the world. We pay a wage to someone in Kenya to evangelise, as well as supporting a school financially there.
“God has not let me down, although living by faith has taken a new meaning when bills or the money for food come at the last minute.
“He’s never failed me and he won’t start now.”
Captions – ON THE JPGS – please remove the full stop at end of captions!
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TIM PLEASE MAKE SURE THE QUOTE ABOUT HEALING BELOW GETS IN!