The Desert will Rejoice - Christine Parkinson

This is a very interesting book with a local connection, published by Authors OnLine. Christine Parkinson moved to Birmingham in 1984 because she believed God spoke to her through these words from Isaiah 35,

‘The desert will rejoice and blossom as the rose.’

Even though she had no family roots there and knew nothing about the city, she accepted a job and moved from West London. Three years later, whilst driving her usual route to a church meeting, her attention was drawn to a derelict building, together with the words ‘That’s the place!’, which she heard as an audible voice. She knew that God had plans for this dilapidated row of three former shops on a busy high street and set about finding other like-minded people to work with.

In the same year a Dutch woman living in Birmingham, received a revelatory picture of a large house with three roofs. After sketching a picture of her vision, she and her husband went searching for it, finding the same property that Christine, a short time later, was also drawn to. It then became clear to her that the name for this ministry was to become GILGAL, taken from Joshua 4-5, and meaning ‘New Beginnings’. At the same time God revealed the names of two other places, JERICHO – a place of blessing for people in need, and BETHEL – a place for the presence of God.

The Desert will Rejoice is the fulfilment of these revelations: of three separate projects, which over the next 20 years, multiplied into no less than sixteen different urban mission initiatives. The journey that Christine Parkinson, Maria Blom and a few others travelled was full of bureaucratic potholes, which drove them to the brink of despair and exhaustion more than once, but is nevertheless, a fascinating account of how God used ordinary people to have an extraordinary impact on a disadvantaged community of England’s second city.

There are photographs of the property restoration process, personal testimonies from people whose lives were transformed, examples from booklets used to explain particular projects and a chart detailing their proliferation.

This is a story of great courage, stalwart determination and miraculous interventions, which has parallels to the nation of Israel’s dramatic occupation of their Promised Land. The names of these foundation ministries were clearly given to mirror the Israelites experiences in taking land from their enemies and establishing God’s rule and reign among his people.

I would recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in inner city restoration together with others who long to illuminate the Light of Christ in their own communities.