How about investigating Jesus?

"All over the world, the Spirit is moving", are the words of a popular praise chorus of the 1970's and 80's. We might not sing that song any more, yet the words contain the truth: God is active.

In 1999, Debi was invited by a friend to attend an Alpha Course at St. Andrews in Whangarei. She came to the Alpha Dinner, enjoyed it and decided to come to the course. On the first night of the course, Debi was amazed at all the evidence outside the Bible which showed that Jesus was real. She continued coming, being drawn in by others on the course, and finding it a safe place to ask her questions. For Debi, many of the questions were answered during the weekend away and she said 'yes' to Jesus.

As a result, Debi sat down, writing a letter to her brother Laurence who lives in England, telling him what she had discovered. Debi included a copy of 'Alpha News' and from the printed register, had circled all the Alpha churches where Laurence lived. She encouraged him to look for one and to go along. Brother and sister had not had a close relationship over the years, as Laurence battled with both drink and drug addiction. In response to the letters, Laurence phoned their parents who also live in Whangarei, asking them to tell Debi not to send him all this 'religious stuff'.

Nevertheless, just a few weeks later, Laurence walked in off the street to an Alpha dinner and decided to attend an Alpha course in Canterbury, England. Part way through the course, he phoned Debi in the middle of the night, to tell her that he had finally said 'yes' to Jesus as well.

In October 1999, Laurence travelled to New Zealand to spend time with his parents and with Debi and her family. There in Whangarei, Debi invited her brother to come to worship with her at St. Andrews. What had only a few months before seemed beyond their wildest imagination, here they were in church together worshipping and singing contemporary songs about Jesus.

Encouraged by the Alpha 2000 initiative, Debi then invited her parents and her husband to the introductory dinner at St. Andrews. Debi's family were part of a crowd of 200 who came that night. In response to the dinner, Maisie, Debi's mum, decided she would come on the course. Mother and daughter agreed to come together. As it did for Debi, the evidence for Jesus outside the Bible made a real impact on Maisie. It was on the weekend while considering the person and work of the Holy Spirit that everything fell into place for Maisie. She joined her son and daughter in saying 'yes' to Jesus.

Maisie invited her husband Bernie to the following Alpha course which they attended together. Now both husband and wife are involved in an After Alpha group that kicks around questions people have about the Christian faith.

All this happened because someone extended an invitation; they loved and cared enough to ask, "how about investigating Jesus?"