I am a 54-yr-old single woman, who has been a Christian for most of my life. Brought up a Methodist, I was a teenager when I gave my life to the Lord, after meeting enthusiastic Christians at Teachers College in Epsom. From my early twenties onwards, I went to Valley Road Baptist church, and was a very involved and eager member. The first major change in direction came for me when someone who attended the church and owned a few houses, offered one for rent to a larger group – my home group leaders and some of us who met with them. It was a radical change out of flatting for me, and into a situation where a group of Christians were living their Christian life at close quarters. We saw a few changes in that time, and at one stage had 13 of us in the same house, and it became so real to us, that ‘going to church’ began to feel a little less ‘real’. I think this was where I had my first authentic taste of what we call church life. It is very hard to hide who you really are from folk who see you every day, and it was in this atmosphere that I discovered the grace and mercy of a Lord who desires fellowship above all things.
Ten years after going to church, I stopped, not interested any longer in the forms and rituals that attend every organised meeting of God’s people. Gone for me were pews, pastors, hymns, sermons, jargon – the list goes on. And amazingly, my faith and sense of the Lord being with me, actually increased. I regularly kept in touch with other Christians, particularly those who  met outside church. We would get together once a month or so, and share stories.
Then, in 1995 I read another book by Gene Edwards, this one called ‘How to Meet’, (previously I had loved his ‘Tale of Three Kings’ and ‘The Early Church’.) There in simple language was what I had been waiting for – WHY I didn’t like attending church, and HOW the organic body of Christ was intended to meet. In their own homes. . . without a leader . . . helped occasionally by an itinerant worker who comes for a while and then goes, leaving them to grow in Christ. To my surprise, such groups DID exist in my day and age, not just in the first century.
Four of us who had read this book and were excited by it, wrote separately to Gene, and told him of our situation. He forwarded our letters to a group that met in Orlando, Florida, and they in turn, wrote back to us, and invited us to stay with them for a while. We all decided we would go together, and set our plans for the coming October 1996, when there was a conference.

I left my flat and moved in with the couple, as did the other single woman who wanted to come too. I gave up my business and sold equipment and car. With the money we raised we bought our tickets and made plans to be there for a month.
I have not looked back from that day until this. The time spent with the saints in Florida, cemented in me a profound love of Christian community, lived out in close proximity with other saints, and my attention was finally diverted from myself and my walk, towards discovering the Lord more fully and becoming absorbed by His plans and purposes. That’s not to say that I am not still pretty self-centred, but I’ve learnt some easy ways that turn me back toward Him again, and I’ve certainly continued to know his grace toward me expressed often by the care and love of the saints I rub shoulders with daily.

The group in Te Atatu, Auckland is the only one like it in New Zealand to my knowledge. We have fluctuated in numbers, but started all together here in Te Atatu, after a conference that was held in 1999, when Gene flew out to speak at it. From that conference, a small group of us roamed around looking for a neighbourhood to move in to, and having found one, rented or bought houses, and have met in our living rooms every since. I cannot recommend this way of living highly enough. In fact, I wish that ALL Christians could taste and see the goodness of the Lord as we do. I am so grateful that in my thirst to know Him better, and despite my shallowness and frivolous nature, He saw fit to reveal Himself to me in this way. I can truly say that there has been no other place in my experience where the breadth, width, height and length of His love can be so clearly seen. Nor is it expressed as well as it is in a neighbourhood of believers who centre on Him.