Marking the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church, the pastor, Rev. Peter Richmond, read on Sunday evening a sermon by a major church leader in Belarus, Slava Goncharenko, whose own New Life Church, converted from a cow barn, has been under constant government threat for years.

Starting with King Ahab's victory, told of in 1 Kings 20, the sermon portrayed a God of all power who was just waiting for someone to stand up to their adversities, saying, "I disagree!" or "Restore!" or "Give back!"

"All that is necessary to see Divine breakthrough in life is the action of a person who will say in his heart 'I disagree'. As soon as God finds this condition in you - just as in David who said: "Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, Goliath, that he puts shame on the armies of the living God?" -there is a big premise for a breakthrough in any situation."

"In all times God has moved people to stand against violence and enslavement. Many great people rose up and God's kingdom triumphed. Gentiles sat still, saying to each other: 'Be quiet and don't mess with them' because the Lord God of Israel rose up."

Bishop Slava Goncharenko used his own beleaguered church as an example:

"One day when there was no hope people of our church came and lay down in our building and declared the fasting hunger-strike and said: 'We will not leave this building'. When other churches learned about it, they joined us. Pastors and believers of other churches came and every evening we started to have prayer meetings.

"We invited reporters to a press-conference and voiced our desires to fight for our property. Everyone was so surprised because in our country no one has ever won, everyone was losing.

"Later we learned that God was stirring up the Church worldwide and they began to cry out in our behalf before our government. Belarusian public society woke up as well. We were just amazed. Leaders of public organizations got together to help us. Even representatives of one youth communist organization came and said: 'We donate money in your support'.

"Friends, I believe that God has a great dream - to rise up in your nation, to rise up in your church, to rise up in your life, to rise up powerfully – to get up above all your circumstances so that the name of Jesus Christ be glorified."

Telephone 01646 681805 or visit http://www.hesed.co.uk">www.hesed.co.uk to find out more. The next service is held on Sunday in the Avenue Centre, at 6 pm.