Barnabas Ministries UK

Rev. Ron and Betty Smith

 It was 1952 the month of March as a young man of 21 walking along the dockside of London’s Victoria docks when I encounter Jesus Christ, a man who had found Christ just a few days before introduced me to the Gospel of Christ Jesus, my life changed almost immediately. Having never read the bible in my life I found myself totally absorbed by what I was reading for weeks and months ahead, my reading was of nothing else so fascinated was I with the words and miracles of Jesus.

I started to attend a church in East Ham in the east end of London, a few months after my conversion still living in the wonder of Christ and experiencing mighty movings of God in my life in miraculous signs and wonders. 

Not long after becoming a member of the church I met my wife, Betty, who had been attending the church since a child. We married in late August of 1955. 

The following year again in the month of August our daughter Elaine was born, the first great test and trial of faith face us, a few hours after she was born it was discovered that she had a brain hemorrhage and was not expected to live but a few hours. The church prayed and prayed around the clock for a week at the end of the week a miracle happened that baby was heal by the mighty power of God. Today, 50 years later she is a healthy woman doing a very responsible job. 

This seemed to set the scene for a life and ministry that was to come. Together we were engaged in helping struggling churches and pioneering new churches. In 1969 God led us into full time ministry into a little Assembly of God church in the North East of England to mining village of Horden in county Durham, not a place you would chose to go, yet a place God had chosen for us to learn some very valuable life changing lessons, feeling discouraged and ready to give up I began to seek God in prayer very earnestly and some great heart-searching took place, the result being a change took place in me and in the church God began to move by his Spirit people were being healed many demons were cast out and people began to come from far and wide without any advertising, conversions were a frequent occurrence, this continued for the space of about two years.

I began to get calls to minister in other places and soon found myself more away from the church that I was there, the time had come to move on I U.S.A and many other places, the Lord confirming his word with signs and wonders.

in my latter years, retirement seems as far of as it was when I first started out the Lord has been faithful through all the years from my early days in East Ham church until now. 

We are at present based in Sunderland fellowshipping with the Millfield Pentecostal Church.