Keynote Ministries

Dear Prayer Partners,

We have used this salutation reference deliberately because, at some time or another, we all pray. Yet the question is often posed by some, “Why pray? What is the point of praying to God who is omniscient? After all, in Matthew’s gospel, chapter 6, Jesus said: ‘Your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things’” (V32).

And yet … in the next chapter, Jesus said: “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you” (V7). (In our English language, this makes rather a nice acrostic – A-sk, S-eek, K-nock.)

I was meditating on this only the other day whilst praying for Ruth in Scotland. I wondered whether Ask, Seek, and Knock were three progressive stages in prayer. Asking can be a momentary petition; seeking is more of a process: while knocking is more a patient (sometimes impatient) persistence. Go through the acrostic once more: Ask, and we receive; Seek, and we find; Knock, and a door opens to us, and we find the secret of God’s presence!

When Abraham was on Moriah, and Moses was in the obscure desert, Jehovah met them at the point of their need, establishing a principle for all time, and for all of God’s people. Ruth’s need in Scotland, Hazel’s need in Bristol, Ann’s need in Glasgow, and every need there is, is designed to create a meeting place with our God. And so, we need to pray for each other.


As you know, a not insignificant part of our ministry is concerned with reaching Blind people with the gospel. Torch Fellowship Groups give us great opportunities to do this. Since our last letter to you, we have visited Fellowships in Ammanford, Bedford, Bridgend, Gloucester and Taunton. For the most part, many of these folk would not be in our churches.

In February, the first meeting was held in order to form the Neath Torch Fellowship Group. This really was an outreach from the Ammanford Group, together with the coordinator for Wales, Verena Walder and her husband Lindsey.

Whilst visiting Bedford, I stayed with Geoff, having met him last year at a holiday houseparty in Sussex. He particularly requested that I should be his guest, and during our time together, told me that it was on that holiday that he came to a saving faith in Jesus.

During the Saturday morning, he suggested that we went for a walk. I gladly complied, and we crossed a bridge, and before we had gone very far, we stood on grass, in the middle of a village.

“Can you guess where we are?” Geoff asked.
“I don’t think so,” I replied.
“You are in Elstow, on the very Green where John Bunyan used to play, and where God first met him, showing him his need of forgiveness and cleansing.”

What would you have done? Well, what we did was to there and then give thanks for God’s faithful pilgrim, and for his progress and reception in the Celestial city!

Margaret travels with me a lot more nowadays, but in April, I set out on the eleven-hours’ train journey from here in West Wales to the East coast of Scotland. However arduous a journey this may seem to have been, the result was out of all proportion when Sally made Jesus welcome in her heart. I had stressed in my message in the Town Mission, Arbroath, how important it was to make Jesus, the willing Saviour, to be the welcome Lord.

April continued to be busy with a week of Easter celebrations in Guernsey. Can we ever forget the beautiful weather we had pretty well the whole of April? In such weather, there is no such blue in sky and sea as in the Channel Islands! Good Friday evening proved to be another wonderful occasion with the Guernsey Festival Chorus and three of us narrating the happenings of that Holy Week. I felt it to have been a great privilege to be involved with such lovely people.

May comprised visits to Gloucester, the Potteries, and Dinas Powis near Cardiff where Torch held a Wales houseparty at Hebron Hall. This was one of a number of houseparty holidays Torch arranges for blind and visually impaired people. We had a lovely time with the folk, and local people came into help with escorting the blind guests to different venues.

June included visits to Whites Hill Evangelical Church, Bristol, and West Shore Baptist Church, Llandudno followed by a week of Bible ministry at Beth-Eden guest-house. We had wonderful times of fellowship and encouragement in the Word of God.

July was taken up with visits to Walton on the Naze, Essex and Northern Ireland - South-East, and then to the North-West! In Walton, we stayed with Pastor Robert Wood and his wife Thelma. It would be hard to find a Pastor more dedicated to his flock than “Pastor Rob”. Because he has a fairly elderly congregation to look after, he goes out before every service picking up folk in the church minibus. As he says: “It’s the only way they’ll ever get to church.” And, of course, he’s very much loved and appreciated. He is very keen to revive the Frinton-on-Sea Torch Fellowship Group which recently closed.

The last weekend in July was a wonderful time of blessing. Steve Dennis, a bass-baritone from Swansea and I stayed with Rev. Eric Stewart and his wife Yvonne. On the Friday evening, we were in the border town of Lisnaskea, Co. Fermannagh. During the gospel song concert there, it was announced that I’d been in this same school some 28 years ago. After playing and speaking at the assembly that morning, the head teacher wanted me to shake hands with some of the boys and girls. I said that I would be pleased to shake hands with all of the children. But he assured me that there was a special reason why he wanted me to greet certain of the children personally.

Afterwards in his office, he said, “The reason I wanted you to shake hands with these boys and girls is because each one of them had lost a relative in the troubles.”

On 29th July this year, after the concert, a lady came to me and said: “My name is Beverley. I was one of the girls you shook hands with all those years ago! Unashamedly, we were both moved enough to give each other a hug!

We had four wonderful gospel opportunities in all that weekend, with Steve singing the Good News into people’s hearts. There was a drive-in service on the Sunday evening. Even over that council carpark, we all sensed the dew of God’s presence. The preaching came with great power and conviction, and people were challenged to step out of their cars either to pick up a special booklet, or to be counselled for salvation. A lady had been brought by two friends, and she came under conviction. But fear prevented her from getting out of the car. As she was being driven out of the car park, she pleaded with her friends to turn round, so that she could meet some one for counselling. There and then she trusted the Saviour, and went home rejoicing!

Now in closing, a word about our supportive church here in Ammanford. Last November, we began to reach capacity in our church. Something had to be done. Due to the closing down of an occupational Therapy unit opposite the chapel where we used to be able to house the children for Sunday-school, we had no room to accommodate the many children we have. A brave decision was made by the leadership to re-locate on Sunday morning to the Amman Valley Comprehensive school. Now we had plenty of room, especially for the children’s work.

Since our re-location, however, it is reckoned that the church has grown by at least 20 percent - and still growing! It is no exaggeration to say that this is being regarded in the Ammanford area as a phenomenon.

It’s been a great joy to write to you all, and we do hope that this may be an encouragement to you to pray for us. As we said at the beginning of our letter, whenever we express a need, we provide, as it were, a meeting-place with our God.

May we all know His enabling strength in these critical days.

Yours in the

Fellowship of the gospel,

Peter & Margaret.




KEYNOTE MINISTRIES