Rescued by the love of Jesus: Susan

“I used to be a bit of a rogue. I was going out and getting drunk all the time. I would disappear for days on end. And I just thought: ‘This can’t be for me.’”

Susan Thompson discovered Jesus was for her after she started attending Brinnington Community Church, which is based on the edge of a council estate in Stockport, with just under 10,000 residents. Counties Church Planter, Martin Korchinsky is the pastor. They share the story.

Before he became a Pastor of Brinnington Community Church, in Stockport, Martin was given a word of knowledge at a men’s weekend by the guest speaker:

“He looked at me and said: ‘Don’t be discouraged. You lie with the sheep that no one else will lie with,’ and I knew that was true. It makes me cry even now thinking about it.”

During the 14 years Martin has been at Brinnington, he has seen many residents, often from the toughest of backgrounds, come to know Jesus as their Saviour. Against all expectations, Susan Thompson recently became a Christian, showing Martin, yet again, that the word of knowledge he’d been given was true.

Martin and Susan first met when a friend of hers asked Martin to come to her flat to pray as she felt there were some ‘spiritual issues’ in the flat. Martin prayed over her two young children, who were experiencing things that were worrying her.

Afterwards, Martin heard things got better.

Susan also heard about this, so she started bringing her son to the church’s playgroup and then began volunteering. She eventually began running it after Martin’s wife became ill. Sue then started attending church.

“I wanted to meet new people and see what it was about,” she says. “I’d got to know a few people through volunteering, and I wanted to learn what they believed.”

Martin adds: “Sue is from a family on the estate, and they tend to get into conflicts with each other and their neighbours. It’s very much a matriarchal family.

“So, when she started coming to church, some doubted that Susan was genuinely interested in God and wondered why she was around so much.

“I’m immune to all that. So, I tried to involve her in stuff, and after she started volunteering, she wanted to have her son dedicated. She seemed amazed when I agreed, she said: ‘Would you do that for me?’ She was clearly coming from a place of feeling: ‘We’re not used to people doing nice things for us.’

“She wanted six godparents and none of them believed in God. So, I told them that even though they didn’t believe in God, they still had to agree that whatever God wanted for this child, they also had to want that too. And then I said: ‘I don’t want you lying in church.’ They all agreed.”

The dedication went ahead, and around twenty family members came along. They didn’t take part in the service, but afterwards, there was a big fight amongst the family members in the car park. They were swearing and shouting at each other, pulling each other’s hair, and punching one another.

Martin says he could see Sue was disappointed because she wanted something better, and that was the start of the relationship they began to build. Sue began taking Martin’s advice and listening to him by making changes in her life.

“I could see that she wanted to belong and do something that gave her self-worth and status above the expectations of her family. She was trying to make a better life. And I began to talk to her about Jesus. She was meeting with other Christians. “After a while, she said: ‘I think I believe what you believe now.’ So, I said: ‘What’s that?’ And she said: ‘Those things you say about Jesus at the front of the church on a Sunday, I believe it. I didn’t used to. But now I do.”

In the words of her testimony, Sue said:

“Two years ago, I would never have walked into a church, but now I miss it when I am not here. And I am a big believer in Jesus now, and I always pray to God before I go to sleep and when I wake up.”

Sue also attended the Bible course, which taught about repentance, forgiveness, who Jesus is, what He did, and His resurrection. Sue affirmed she believed all those things. Martin adds:

“Sue said to me: ‘Does this mean I am a Christian?’ And so, I said: ‘Yeah, it does.’”

ue says her faith became stronger when she saw the power of prayer in action after her sister gave birth six and a half weeks prematurely, and the doctors doubted the baby would live.

“I asked Martin to pray. We all prayed in church that everything would be fine with the baby. I was convinced the baby wouldn’t live. But everything was fine, and she is fine and two years old. Things like this are the reasons I believe.”

Sue suffers from mental health issues, and she describes the day she was baptised:

“I was literally so stressed and anxious, and after Martin baptised me, I felt like a totally different person. I felt so relaxed and chilled.”

Sue says life has changed so much for the better since she became a Christian.

“I used to be a bit of a rogue, in Martin’s words,” she laughs. “I was going out and getting drunk all the time. I would disappear for days on end. And I just thought: ‘This can’t be for me.’

“I had bad mental health days when I just wanted to end my life. Since becoming a Christian, I don’t get those thoughts as much and if I do I message Martin, and he’ll talk to me, and I will be fine.

I pray myself. The other night, when I didn’t feel so good, I put on my earphones and listened to worship music, and it chilled me out properly.”

Sue’s sister and brotherin-law have also started attending church, and her children love Sunday school.

“My little boy keeps asking when the next Sunday school is on, and my 12-year-old daughter wants to be baptised.”

Martin adds:

“Susan deals with problems much better than she used to. She’s a lot calmer. She used to get either angry or distraught, intense emotions. I think she’s got every reason to. She’s not always had the easiest of lives. I think she’s got more confidence in herself.

“She knows that God loves her, and her sins are forgiven. That’s a big thing for Sue because people tend to look down on one another in this community. But when you know God’s on your side, it takes the pressure off. “I think this is only the beginning for Sue. The way she feels about life is only going to get better and better as she goes on with God and learns how precious she is to Him.”