Receiving The Vision
In the autumn of 1979 John had been alone praying, when the presence of God became very powerful in his room. God began to show John the importance of establishing His Kingdom presence in the heart of England, which would then ripple outwards nationally and internationally. This vision was so powerfully implanted within John that he pursued it wholeheartedly from that time on, whatever the cost.
Stepping out in faith
At that time John had been doing city outreach into schools and community centres in Coventry. John wasted no time in forming a committee for the Heart of England Outreach, together with a constitution with key people. He then prayed for an office for the work, and God immediately provided one. John was learning to step out in faith, refusing to allow the fear of man to hinder him. The Christian Care Centre opened late 1981. John had a small team of evangelists to help with the outreach ministry.
In 1983 John responded to an invitation to move to Preston and start a Christian Counselling Centre there. He did this for six years with the help of others. However, God showed John he would need to return to the centre of England, so in 1989 he moved back to Coventry.
The following year, 1990 John established another committee for the Heart of England Outreach, and went on to raise £20,000 for a local Youth Centre in Tile Hill, Coventry where John was living. He was given an empty shop, which became the Community Care Centre.
Focusing on Meriden
Later that year John met Rev. Michael Dawkins, the Vicar of Meriden, who became very supportive of John. Through this meeting John knew that Meriden was to be the focus for the Heart of England Outreach. At every step of the way, God provided key people to support, inspire and mentor John. As John continued to step out in faith, God would bring the confirmation time and time again.
God was showing John that a strong emphasis of his ministry was in encouraging individuals in their call and ministry.
In the early years of pursuing the vision God had given John, many people questioned the work. But God was in this work, strengthening John to push ahead whatever the difficulties. Eventually church leaders and individuals began to see the fruit.
A Centre for Outreach and Prayer
In 1995 John married Pam and they moved to Meriden, living first at Fillongley nearby. God had given Pam a heart for prayer and intercession. She researched Meriden’s past to help know how to pray. They prayed on the village Green and had the support of Meriden’s vicar. Prayer walks were also organised from 1996 onwards, with David Butler leading, and walking 13 miles along the Heart of England Way. They continued yearly for at least 8 years.
They asked the Lord for a shop and God immediately answered by providing them with a shop on the Green, which was to become called ‘The Centre’, enabling them to purchase the lease. At this time it was just the downstairs shop. This was more than a community charity shop; it became a safe haven for the local people to be ministered to. People’s lives were being changed. The Centre’s outreach brought the respect and recognition of many, including the local school, doctors, police and the parish councillors; the people saw it as ‘theirs’.
Planting a Church
in 1997 God prompted John and Pam to start a church which would be Spirit filled, ministering in the gifts of God. Initially, praise and prayer meetings were organised in Meriden School hall during the week. The focus of these was to get people to praise and pray in the centre of England. A big cross was made and placed in the school hall! After this, the first Sunday meetings were held at the School’s Portacabin, meeting Sunday afternoon, then meeting at the Community Centre in Meriden.
In 1998 the cottage above the shop became available and this was added to the lease. John and Pam moved to live in the flat above the shop for the following 2 years. This helped them establish relationships with the local villagers.
Revival Praise Meetings
In 2000 the new church began to meet in a room at the Manor Hotel, Meriden, and was known locally as The Centre of England Community Church, focusing on Revival Praise Meetings. God added to the church and a variety of speakers came to minister, including George Ridley, David Carr and Don Double. God also provided people to lead the praise and worship each week. Also at this time Outreach Celebrations were held on Meriden Green in collaboration with the Meriden Festival.
Alpha courses were run in the cottage lounge, with the people coming to faith going to the Manor Hotel Sunday services. A Fellowship group met on Friday mornings. Tuesday evening Bible studies were held in the Village Hall. The work in schools brought great support and a children’s Dynamite Club was formed.
The Centre was also used for counselling people, for celebrations, as a tea room twice a week, a leadership group met there, Saturday morning monthly prayer meetings, and the room was also booked by other churches. In all the outreach work that went on God always provided the volunteers to help.
During 2000, the owner of a mobile home visited the shop as Pam was closing for the day. This encounter led to the purchase of her home with God once again providing the finance. John and Pam moved out of the shop and the flat where they had been living was rented out.
Breakthroughs
One noteworthy breakthrough came after John offered to take the funeral of a man from the village without charging. This gesture softened hearts and brought greater local support.
A yearly Meriden Festival was begun, taking place on the Green, supported by local church’s and Birmingham City Mission. This yearly festival was to celebrate everything that was good about the centre of England.
The good, effective work was being recognised by doctors, police, churches, local councillors, even the MP who was a Christian. A good rapport was also gained with the manager of the Manor Hotel.
To the Nation and Beyond
In the autumn of 2003 John and Pam became involved with the ministry of Ebeneezer, running this and the local outreach ministry side by side for the time. Then from the Centre a prayer circuit was established. It was like a hub.
In 2005 John and Pam were asked to become Regional Representative and Prayer Leader for Ebenezer Operation Exodus. They had been watching videos of the aliyah and John saw the scripture Ezekiel 34:11, the same scripture God had given John at the start of his vision/ministry,
“I will seek what was lost and bring back what was driven away, bind up the broken and strengthen what was sick; but I will destroy the fat and the strong, and feed them in judgement.”
For the first time John could see how God had led him with Pam to fulfill the original calling, first with the outreach in the Midlands then in Meriden, and finally through their involvement with Ebenezer.
Thus they became involved in national outreach, and also international, as they travelled to Ireland and to Israel.
Handing Over
Gradually the time came to think about moving on, particularly so Pam could spend more time with her family.
In 2007 John and Pam met Kevin and Lynne Hunt at an Ebenezer meeting in Coventry. They had been staying in Meriden for a week and when they were shown The Centre and told of all the outreach they were impressed and very interested. God confirmed that they were the couple to take over the outreach ministry in Meriden. Also at this time the neighbouring shop became available.
As John and Pam stepped back to let Kevin and Lyn become established, Pam was asked to become National Prayer Coordinator for England. This was in 2007.
Three years later in 2010 John and Pam moved to the Isle of Wight
The Vision Revived
John’s vision revived:
Establishing God’s Kingdom Presence in this Nation
In 2016 Peter Hill of ‘Call The Nation To Prayer‘ had a vision similar to the one God gave to John in 1979 that a Holy Spirit move of prayer in our nation, calling out to God for salvation, healing and transformation, should begin in the centre of the nation, in Meriden by the cross.
In response to the vision, a gathering together for worship, prayer and declaration was held on the 29th September 2018, in Coventry, by the ruins of the old Cathedral, and then in Meriden village itself.
Meriden in the centre of England
There is an old stone monument on Meriden Green with a plaque that reads:
|
THIS ANCIENT WAYSIDE CROSS |
The Centre
Below: ‘The Centre’ on Meriden Green which God provided for John and Pam. As well as providing a charity shop, The Centre was used for prayer and outreach meetings.
A Gathering for Worship, Prayer & Declaration of God’s purposes
God’s heart is for us to be ‘as one’. On the 29th September 2018, at the heart of our nation, two connected gatherings of worship took place focusing on prayer and declaration, for reconciliation, unity and release of revival prophecy.
11 am in the Old Coventry Cathedral ruins.
2:30 pm in the Sports Park, Meriden, in the heart of England.
The Word and the Spirit coming together
In 1947, evangelist Smith Wigglesworth prophesied, when those of ‘the Word’ and those of ‘the Spirit’ come together:
“there will be the biggest move of the Holy Spirit that the nations, and indeed, the world have ever seen. It will mark the beginning of a revival that will eclipse anything that has been witnesssed within these shores…”
Read here how David Gilbey saw two Shepherd’s Crossiers (Crooks) with different engravings on them – one highlighting ‘the Holy Spirit’, the other King Jesus as ‘the Word’.
A Vision Fulfilled
A big thank you to all those who came, and those who prayed on the 29th September to see a vision fulfilled and prophecy released. It was an emotional time for us, reuniting with many lovely folk, who stood with us in Meriden in the early days. 40 years for John, sometimes wandering in the wilderness like Moses!
God spoke to a dear brother Peter Hill, an Englishman living in Canada, and said now is the time to pray in the Centre of the Nation, releasing the prophecies of Smith Wigglesworth and Jean Darnell, ‘As One’, uniting the Word and the Spirit through a prophetic act that will be a vehicle for God to move in our Nation.
John 4:35b-36 “Behold I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together!”
What an amazing day it was, the weather was glorious, over 150 people attended each event in Coventry and in Meriden, but more important than that God showed up!
We interpret it is time now for the restoration of the church to become ‘As One’. An awakening in our land of spiritual awareness that will spread through Europe and beyond.
Prophetic Sign?
In 2006, a black bottlenose whale died after becoming stranded in the Thames estuary. Many saw this as a warning to our Nation. Whales represent the prophetic. They dive deep and communicate through song, much like prophets who bring revelation of God’s heart. A week before the 29th September, a Beluga white whale was seen swimming up towards London’s parliament, business and financial centre. The whale nicknamed benny is still there. A large firework display at Gravesend has been cancelled so as not to disturb him. In the story of Jonah, it was a whale that transported him from the stormy seas of life, to his place of purpose and calling.
Is God requiring the prophetic voices to come into unity. Is the whale highlighting a reinstatement, resurgence in a greater way across all streams. Is its presence and sound calling our nation into order, from the deep places of the earth so that it can become in compliance to the Kingdom of Heaven?
Revive France
Nine people from 8 to 70 met to pray in the centre of France at Farges, Allichamps at the same time on the 29th. Amazingly, one was born in Meriden, another lived in Coventry, watching the construction of the new cathedral! Many others joined in prayer from France, England, South Africa, Canada, USA, Turkey, and Singapore, who have ‘hearts for France’.
The group prayed in a circle outwards, holding hands, representing and radiating prayer to every part of the nation of France. Two scriptures received were Luke 17:5-6 and Matthew 13:31-32. The following day mustard seeds were scattered from a bridge over the River Cher.
Jeremiah 1:12 “I am watching over My Word to perform it.”
We believe to witness an awakening in our land of a spiritual dimension, by the Holy Spirit, to those that are not saved, we as a church need to fulfill 4 conditions to receive God’s promises.
Four conditions to receive God’s promises
- “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” Matthew 22:37
- “Do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8
- Pray and stand with Israel as a nation. We were called as a Nation through the Balfour Declaration to restore biblical promises to Israel, but failed through military hierarchy. “For the nation and kingdom which will not serve you (Israel) shall perish, and those nations shall be utterly ruined.” Isaiah 60:12
- “If My people who are called by My Name will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14
We are living in exciting but sobering and challenging times, the Clarion Call is sounding, God is calling His people to stand shoulder to shoulder, to usher in His kingdom purposes in these days. “Let Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6:10
Love, prayers and blessings,
John and Pam
John’s Book, The Journey
John’s book “The Journey” can be read by clicking: here
Below are highlights from his book:
Early Years
John Yates was born in Coventry, Warwickshire, England during the devastating time of the blitz during the second world war. His early years were blighted by illness, loss of parents and the break up of a family home.
After four years in the British Army he was discharged from injuries received, and went from job to job. There was a sense of hopelessness, and emptiness, having a big chip on his shoulder, making him turn to drink and drifting.
Experiencing God
In 1972, John found himself in the Salvation Army Hostel, Coventry, England. Hearing the gospel for the first time he came to Christ. After seven more years of searching, he eventually came into a deeper experience of God, receiving the fullnes of the Holy Spirit, and set free from all that had been holding him back.
God’s call and vision
In 1979, he received a call from God and was given a vision to establish a work in the Centre of England. Recognising the importance of the location, Heart of England Outreach was born. The scripture given to him was Ezk 34:11-16. and this was the mandate to reach people with the love of God.
At first a Christian Care Centre was set up in Coventry. During this time John was a catalyst for the founding of the Coventry City Mission. John then helped a church in Preston, Lancashire, establish and open a Prayer and Counselling Centre. There was also the Preston Christian Message ministry. John brought the late Nora Coggan to Preston to launch the concept of the ministry in Preston, Lancashire, England. A Community Care Centre was set up in Tile Hill South, Coventry, also the development of a Youth Centre.
Heart of England Outreach
In 1995, John married Pam who came from the Isle of Wight, England. God then opened up an opportunity for them to acquire a small shop on the village green in Meriden, the centre of England, which was named “The Centre.” Then reaching out to the community in many ways. Charity shop, selling second hand Christian books, a Christian Club in the local school, and counselling etc, also there was a very strong emphasis on prayer and intercession. While Pam managed The Centre, John concentrated on evangelistic work holding events, and pioneering a small church, while holding down a part time job as a tent ministry.