Joanna’s Return, Area Fellowship News
by Jon Langley

"I call on you, O God, for you will answer me; give ear to me and hear my prayer."– Ps. 17:6

"Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear."– Isa. 65:24

I arrived home from work at my usual time around 17:30. Dad was still at work and Mum was calling me from upstairs. She sounded very distressed! When I got to the top of the stairs I could see Mum standing next to her bed in a right state. She had obviously been crying a lot and reached out to show me a note. I was totally shocked as I read it and couldn’t believe what it said–Jo had left!

It seemed to take a few moments to compute and I had to check I wasn’t dreaming, but I wasn’t. I felt totally shocked, confused, hurt and angry. Just days before we’d all had a great evening out in London, and I had no idea Jo was in some kind of distress or turmoil and wanted to leave the fellow-ship and our home.

Within five minutes I was on the phone to Kim and Faye Rogers, and they came over to our house immediately. Whilst on their way, Mum and I had thought of a couple of places Jo might be staying, and as soon as Kim and Faye arrived, the three of us headed straight out there. We got Jo to come to the door and spoke to her for a little while. It was clear that we were not going to get anywhere and we left not 5 minutes after arriving.

Just in that short space of time, it was clear that Jo had already changed so much. Her appearance, attitude and total nonchalant reaction to our turning up was clear evidence to me it was a Satan takeover. I felt completely helpless because I wanted a different set of circumstances for my sister whom I loved very much. I knew there would be severe consequences for her choice not to go God’s way and found it totally frustrating not being able to do anything physically or tangibly right there and then to change her mind. But, it was her call and her free choice to go! I knew the thing for me to do was to keep my believing straight. I believed that God would be gracious and permit her to make a right choice again, confess, repent and go God’s way.

During the time Jo was gone I believed that God would be allowing her to see and experience the emptiness and consequences of her sinful life. At the same time I prayed in my own way that Jo would wake up to reality before her sin life took her down sucn a wicked path that she would become too stone-hearted to listen.

I saw Jo a few times and each time it was in a most incredible "non-likely" venue. I saw her out running one evening in an out-of-town area where I never would have expected to see her if I had to guess 100 such possible places. Another time I saw her in a pub whilst with some friends from the Christian Union at Uni. I was literally talking to someone about Jo, when I suddenly looked up and there she was, serving behind the bar!

Yet another time was when we were all heading to McDonalds after a fellowship weekend. I was passing the local shops and just happened to glance for a split second to my left where a bus stop was. I could see Jo, and she looked totally miserable! Just as I drove by she also looked up and glanced into my or and right into my eyes for a split second.

Each time I saw her, I felt really glad and at the same time quite saddened as well because she was disobeying God, and quite frankly knew better than that. I was also convinced that having seen me, she would also feel some kind of regret or at least wonder about her family and perhaps re-consider the life she had chosen to exchange for a life of sin. Jo’s decision to come back and go God’s way came as much as a shock as her leaving did. It was another fellowship weekend and on the Sunday morning, Kim, Faye and I had dropped the latest Z-News through Jo’s door. Little did we know that just 24 hours after that we would be back at Jo’s house helping her to move all her stuff out of the absolute pit of a room she had been living in for the last eight or nine months. Praise God!