Extra Ordinary Family

Last year, Mike and Julia Fleet moved onto an Eden estate with their two young children. Here Julia reflects on their remarkable move.

“Our years of praying for an opportunity to serve God somewhere as a family came to an end when we heard an interview on Premier Radio mentioning Eden.  It sounded like just what we were looking for: being able to reach out to a poor community on our doorstep.

So I looked into it online and saw they were looking for people in Gorton, Manchester. Our two boys, William and Harrison, were a key part of our move. The fact that the boys were so young had almost stopped us going on mission in the past – what if their education suffered or they were bullied? But we felt God clearly saying, ‘I’m more than capable of looking after your children – trust me.’

And every single step of the way, God has opened a door. We found it was very easy in leafy suburbia to become quite complacent – life was comfortable and often not very challenging. Up here, yes, we’ve had discomfort spiritually and physically but that’s brought us closer together and made us stronger.

There are still strains on family life – not least being burgled. But even that was turned into a blessing as we all learned more about putting our security in God alone. Our youngest Harrison was really shaken up by the burglary, and wondered why God had allowed it when he said he’d protect us. But one day while he was praying, he felt God spoke to him, ‘You are a mighty warrior’ and everything changed for him. For Harrison to have grabbed hold of that is amazing. I really don’t think that would have happened if we hadn’t brought him on this adventure with God with us.”

For more information, take a look at the  Gorton team page and email Steve Roast, Gorton’s team leader on gorton@message.org.uk

Follow these links to find out more about joining a team as a volunteer or team leader.