Susan preaching in Roma house meeting.

By Susan Shanklin

We took off from Minneapolis at 7:30 at night cutting through the dark clouds ready to explore a new frontier. Tom and I wanted our hearts to beat with a fresh compassion and zeal for all cultures and classes. It was our strong desire to let the very breath of England to fill our lungs and hearts.

After our 8-hour direct flight and an hour-long trip on the Tube (subway) to central London, we navigate the brutally-narrow cobblestone streets curving every which way with cool glares of strangers, dragging our luggage thumping and bumping along. Really not knowing where we were going, Tom seemed to strike out in a direction toward a hotel squished among shops and restaurants. We arrive, check in and ride the lift (elevator) to the smallest hotel room ever! Economical was our middle name, but this hotel shouldn’t have listed their accommodations as rooms, but rather as closets with a toilet.

Elizabeth Tower at Westminster Palace houses Big Ben.

Hoping for a change in our fortune, we take a tour bus the next day since no meetings were scheduled, to see the sights of London. Cruising past the tower housing Big Ben, London Bridge, various castles, Buckingham Palace and more, eating fish and chips in front of where the Queen’s jewels are kept at the Tower of London, then it sinks in—the spirits of darkness are swirling, piercing and nipping parts of England away to drag Her down to hell. You know it’s not just the physical air that is dark, moody and broody, but you can feel England slipping away into the deep abyss.

“God Save the Queen!” my soul cries out—not the Queen so much as, “God Save England!”

Foreign gods have slipped in as a deadly poisonous toxin across borders, sliding over the stone and brick walls across England.

BUT I know a God, a very good God, who gave His SON for ALL the peoples of England. His name is Jesus! Rulers of the darkness must bow the knee to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Tom and I refused to let our beautiful feet be stuck in la la land or to wring our the hands with fretfulness.

We rode the tour bus in victory. Smiling at everyone. Greeting all with the love of Jesus. We cannot win the lost with hate, angry words, or fists.

Well, after another night in our closet, we are free to ride the tube (subway) and to be picked up by a delightful chap named Brian. With a song in his heart, speaking in an English accent that I can understand, Brian whisks us down lanes full of tiny cars to Weston-super-Mare in south England to a refuge called the Oasis, which houses a church and rooms for weary travelers. Here we are introduced to the English breakfast of bacon, sausage, beans, fried potatoes, mushrooms, eggs, tomato, and toast. Helloooooooo. It’s breakfast folks!

Pastor Ronnie Griffin

Two words that encapsulate the Oasis are joy and laughter. Pastor Ronnie Griffin, his wife Carly and three beautiful children are servants of the Lord.

We stay at the Oasis and shuttle here and there. Then we are off to the “Feet on the Ground” missions conference in northern England, where the air is cooler and in the 30s. Rain and more rain. I missed the sun very much while in England.

Pastor Kelton Black is our tour host, historian, comedian and driver. If you want to see a person who has his light on all the time, hang around Pastor Kelton. Pastor Kelton and his dear wife Sharon will lighten your load if you let them.

After a long drive with me sitting in the backseat, we check into our hotel and go to Hollybush Christian Fellowship for an enlightening message by Bill Wilson.

Pastor Kelton Black

The next day is heaven on earth at New Life Baptist Church with International Gospel Outreach with speaker Eddie Lyle of Open Doors Ministries. With such tenderness, he spoke about the persecuted church in many parts of the world that is really just a part of the WHOLE Body of Christ.

The evening service healed my soul with a strange sense of peace and wholeness.

Sunday concluded our conference with connections that I hope will last a lifetime. Ben and Carol come to mind as well as Pastor Andy. Oh, and there was … you get the picture. Brothers and sisters of ONE big family.

In that family, you know you always have that one person who, well you know, makes waves. Well, that’s me, folks. I told a very decorative gentleman that I liked his rather colorful vest. Dear Pastor Kelton leans over and says, “You just complimented him on his underwear.” What we call a vest, they call a waist jacket. Ha!!!!!!!! I just could have died on the spot. People, watch your language when you go across the pond.

Off we go again to the Oasis to preach the GOOD News. I got to share about the lame man at the Gate Beautiful. Tom shared an excellent word, of course, and the people were blessed.

From there we go to Gospel Tabernacle for a community outreach luncheon and five-minute testimony by Tom about how five minutes can change your life. Give someone five minutes of yourself and tell them about Jesus.

The next day was a home Bible study where it was great to share about “Getting out of the Boat.” Cookies, tea, and hugs the English way.

We left for Gloucester the next day, parting from newfound friends, not knowing that the next and final days will change our lives like never before.

Tom and Susan with Stan and Sarah Strunc.

We are welcomed and pampered by Stan and Sarah Strunc at their Gloucester flat.

Sarah is a sweet English handmaiden of the Lord married to a strong, articulate servant of the Lord from the Czech Republic. It is like oil and vinegar, but if you shake them up, man, best dressing ever!

Stan would be our driver, interpreter, fact giver, prayer warrior, and introducer to the Roma Gypsy people.

After I would leave a day or night of ministering alongside the Gypsies, I felt like I had been in another foreign country. I had to pinch myself to remember that I was in England. New culture. New language. New world.

Wherever we went in the Roma community, their faces beamed excitement, love, and acceptance. I can’t comprehend why this people group is so hated and despised. WHY???

Susan with Roma children.

They would laden their tables with holiday foods, sweets, and fruit. Children peeking around corners giggling. Tan faces with sparkling piercing eyes with rich wavy hair.

House to house we would travel sometimes. Tom would share a meaningful word, and I would eat. I would smile and ask questions and eat. I did a lot of eating at those Gypsy houses!

Stan was always there to interpret. Always there to dot the i’s and cross the t’s and bring us into a greater understanding of the dark pit the world was trying to put these precious people into.

His knowledge seemed to be immeasurable. If it be the Romas or European history or Christian historical events, he knew so much and his heart was as so big for the Roma people and mankind.

As we traveled winding streets of row brick houses to different Roma communities we would pass corner mosques while old stone churches sat empty and sometimes in disarray.

The Roma community was rich in spirit and Word. They have a vision. They have a will, and they will overcome the giant of rejection in Jesus name.

With great joy, we finished up our journey to England.

Our bags were a little lighter on the return trip, as we left books and CDs and newsletters, but our hearts were a little heavier to leave a nation needing to loosen the band around its neck. “Shake thyself from the dust; arise, sit down, Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, captive daughter of Zion.”

I think I could have stayed if it was not for my family and Ella, the dog. Yes, I could have stayed. I want to get out of the boat like Peter did. Thank you for sending me. May we always bring honor to His name.