Thrigby conference welcomes new beginnings 

New beginnings were the theme of a conference led by Pete Gillett, which took place on Saturday at Thrigby Mill in east Norfolk. 

The death of a monarch is often a time for fresh callings, recalled Pete, who was teaching from Scripture and leading worship at the conference. As in the case of Isaiah: “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord” (Is 6:1). 
 
“With the death of a monarch a nation goes into a form of morning that brings an opportunity for God to touch its soul,” he said. “Now is the time to be praying for people to turn to God.” 
 
Pete focussed on the calling to be an intercessor, praying especially for those who have the responsibility of leadership. (See I Timothy 2). “When you get close to someone in ministry, you begin to see their weaknesses,” he said. “God allows you to do that, not so that you can judge them, but so that you can uphold them. We are in ministry, warts and all. As long as we are in this body, weaknesses are going to come up, because we have desires, which are not necessarily spiritual ones.”
 
Pete recalled the seemingly incomplete work of Mark Sutcliffe, an intercessor who moved to Norfolk from Bolton to bring encouragement, mend strife and prepare the way for evangelism. Mark died of cancer on Christmas Day 2017, but not before impacting many Christian leaders in Norfolk and leaving a pattern to follow. 
 
The Thrigby conference took place on Saturday September 24, the eve of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. Anne Simpson from World Arise Ministries picked up the theme in her talk. She spoke of the way believing Jews dip apples into honey as an acted-out prayer for a sweet New Year, and of how we may need to travail in prayer for the birth of something new, as Jesus describes in chapter 16 of John’s Gospel.
 
Anne is pastor of a Pentecostal church in Bradwell and her foundation World Arise Ministries runs several projects in Africa and Asia, notably a refuge for abused women. She was just about to set off an a 10-week tour of Malawi and Uganda.
 
Her Jewish theme continued with a lesson a from an Askenazi Messianic believer on how to use a prayer shawl, and how the Our Father which Jesus taught had been distilled from a series of 18 prayers which devout Jews use when they have put on the shawl.
 
The conference took place in a converted barn which is now open for public meetings on the Thrigby Mill property. East Gate Fellowship holds a Sunday service from 11am to 1.30pm in the barn, which is just beyond Thrigby Wildlife Park at NR29 3DY. 
 
You can follow events at East Gate Fellowship on their Facebook page: www.facebook.com/thrigbymillchristianministry
 
Pictured above is Pastor Pete Gillett leading worship and below, Thrigby Mill.