England

Newcastle England Mission

The present city of Newcastle Upon-Tyne, which is located in the northeast region of England, was first settled during Roman times when a fort called Pons Aelius was built on the banks of the Tyne River around 120 A.D.  The name “Newcastle” did not come into existence until 1080 A.D. when Robert Curthose (eldest son of William the Conqueror) built a castle there on return from a raid into Scotland.  Naturally, Robert called the building his “New Castle” and the name has remained ever since.
 
Newcastle has historically been known for its drunkenness and immorality.  The esteemed English preacher, John Wesley (founder of the Methodists) after visiting the city on May 27th, 1742, recorded in his journal how the town appealed to him for all the wrong reasons.  ‘So much drunkenness, cursing and swearing—even from the mouths of children—I have never witnessed before in such a short time.  Surely this place is ripe for Him who came not to call the righteous, but the sinners to repentance.’

As it was in John Wesley’s day, so it is today.  From the Christian perspective, Newcastle would be considered a city utterly filled with immorality.  Newcastle is one of England’s largest cities, with many surrounding villages, bringing the population to well over a million people (the majority age group being 19 – 29).  This city is known for a countless number of pubs and nightclubs and has been considered one of the top ten “party towns” in the world by many travel agencies. Within this city, there are whole sections which are set apart for lewd partying and drunkenness.  The motto published by their city council is, “We work hard and we party hard!”  The devastating effects of this type of view on life are clearly seen throughout the city.  Newcastle is reported to have the highest crime rate in all of England.  Some reports have actually said, “Newcastle may be the most dangerous place in the industrialized world." Britain’s Home Office, more or less equivalent to the U.S. Justice Department, reports that “incidents of violence against the person” which include aggravated assault, rape and murder "are the highest with a rate of 236.5 per 1,000 residents.” That means in downtown Newcastle there is one assault for every four residents.” (The Union Jack, Jan. 01, 2001).  There are many homeless (most of which are the youth), there are many involved in different forms of the occult, and there is a strong push to make Newcastle the home of Europe’s homosexual community.  Spiritually speaking, this city is a very dark place.  Once known for so many great revivals, Newcastle is now Satan’s playground.  In spite of this, we know that God is not finished with this place.

In June of 2001, a team moved here and established Calvary Chapel Newcastle.  Our time has been a laborious season of ploughing, planting, and watering, but we are now beginning to see the first fruits of our labours as we have witnessed salvation springing up in our midst.  The Sunday morning church service is currently attended by approximately 60-80 people, which are predominately youth in their late teens, and university students.

The city revolves around the City Centre, which is primarily closed off to only pedestrians.  One of Europe’s largest malls runs throughout the centre of the city, resulting in thousands of people flocking the streets every day, shopping and carrying out their business.  This provides the perfect opportunity for street evangelism and music outreaches.  Newcastle also contains a large grassy area in the centre of the town called “The Green” where multitudes of young Gothics, Skaters, and Hippies hang out.  Most of the kids come from severely broken family backgrounds, are deep into the drug scene, and live very promiscuous lives.  Homosexual, bisexual, and lesbian lifestyles are openly expressed and quite prominent. Many of these youth are also involved in different forms of the occult.  God has given us a vision to see His salvation come to these kids.  For the past two years we have been running a coffee shop close to the “Green” called “The Upper Room” where many of these kids come to hang out. Over the past years we have built some very strong relationships with them as we sit and share the love of Christ with them.  We are slowly beginning to see a generation of these youth who are finding freedom in Jesus and who we believe are going to be the key to see a revival come to this city. We plead for your prayers for God’s glory to be manifested in this city and in this nation, which for so many years has taken the Gospel to the ends of the earth, but now is in desperate need for the ends of the earth to come and bring the Gospel back!