By Charles Gardner —
A Yorkshire coal miner had his life turned upside-down after an encounter with Jesus nearly
50 years ago. And now Russ and Jean Gill can look back on a time of great fulfillment, amidst trauma and heartache, with a faith that has touched many lives and seen three generations of their family faithfully following Christ.
A fitter at the former Askern coal mine near Doncaster, Russ’s Christian life was sparked by a family crisis when daughter Jayne, aged just seven at the time, became critically ill with kidney failure and nearly died.
Russ got to his knees, vowing to become a Christian – whatever that meant – if his prayer was answered.
“Jayne got better, and we went along to church (St Peter’s) as a family to thank God for her life,” he recalled. He later asked the Lord into his life and began to grow in understanding of the Christian faith, so much so that he felt called to study further at Bible College.
“Life had a new meaning and dimension, which filled us with joy and satisfaction, and we began working with young people, encouraging them in their faith.”
Back in 1983, early in his Christian walk, Russ was persuaded by their vicar, Rev Peter Noble, to share his story with thousands of others in an evangelistic paper called New Life, which had started circulating in South Yorkshire (and still does today).
A mining colleague who read his story mentioned it when they next met at work, but said “that sort of stuff” wasn’t for him.
Meanwhile Russ and Jean packed their bags for a brand-new adventure, feeling the call of God to Bible College at Moorlands, near Bournemouth.
Then one day Russ received a letter from his former work colleague who had dismissed Christianity as not for him, explaining that he was now attending church after an amazing experience while returning from shift in the early hours. He was suddenly surrounded by a powerful force driving him to his knees, where he called out for God to show him the true way! Russ’s testimony had eventually borne fruit.
Life was very different down south for the Yorkshire couple, where some folk looked down their noses at miners. But Russ was soon leading congregations and even worked for a time as a hospital porter where his upbeat nature caught the attention of the local newspaper, the Bournemouth Echo.
“When the reporter asked me to explain my happiness, I told him: ‘I am a Christian lad, I believe in Jesus, and I love people’. And in the end the paper’s editor concluded that the hospital was evidently in good hands.”
The couple’s son David now leads a thriving church in London’s East End, though daughter Jayne sadly died, aged 38, but not before serving her Lord with passion while she lived. And their 19-year-old granddaughter Jessica is now also at Bible College with the aim of deeper commitment to Jesus.
As Russ put it all those years ago in the New Life paper: “It takes courage and guts to be a Christian, to stand up and be counted and to stand firm against the jibes and nasty comments from others. But the blessings far outweigh such insults.
“We live in a world full of people striving for an answer to life by worshipping material gods of all descriptions which are here today and gone tomorrow. But my God is a living God, Jesus – the same yesterday, today and forever!”
