GroundBreakers to Reach 100,000 in UK

Peter Wooding : Nov 7, 2012
Assist News Service

"Some people think that the vision is too large, but we believe that God is looking to do something incredible in the UK." -Dean Seddon

(Bolton, England)—An unlikely trio, an ex-policeman, a former drug dealer and a social media expert have joined forces under the banner of a ministry called GroundBreakers to reach 100,000 people with the Christian faith in the UK.

Jonathan Hulton, Darrell Tunningley and Dean Seddon connected through Facebook when they were each working independently towards the same goals of reaching the UK with the Gospel and realized they could achieve this far more effectively by working together as part of the GroundBreakers team based in Bolton.

"We've got an amazing team, and it really could only have been God who brought us together. We're so different yet so in other ways so similar! Dean is a great motivator of people and loves seeing the Church mobilized. Darrell was a former armed robber and since his release has authored a book and done a lot of work in the UK with Alpha. He is passionate about seeing the local church impacting their communities and has so much knowledge about releasing people to their potential. My heart and life is devoted to seeing people know God, and there is nothing that could deviate us from our vision to see this happen in the UK" said Jonathan Hulton.

He added: "I've really struggled with putting a figure on the amount of people that we want to come to know Jesus. I think if we were honest about it, we'd say each and every person, but to be measured in our approach we are believing for an initial 100,000 positive decisions for Jesus in the UK. I know that God is the God of the impossible, and when we decide to actively step out in faith, God can do things far more than we could ever ask, think or imagine, and He will show up and do great things."

Dean Seddon, who is an experienced marketing consultant, says one of the key strategies to achieve this goal is through equipping 5,000 Christians:

"Some people think that the vision is too large, but we believe that God is looking to do something incredible in the UK. So we're doing as much as we can from establishing Foodbanks, to evangelistic stadium events, to local Church training. We will do whatever it takes to see those 100,000 to take a step towards Christ. To achieve this we want to train 5,000 people in 21st century evangelism. This will involve training people on how to connect with the community, and how they can share their story in a creative and gentle manner that will be attractive to others."

Former drug dealer and car thief Darrell Tunningley, had such a radical conversion to Christianity while in prison, that as soon as he came out he became pastor of Hope Corner Community Church in Runcorn.

"Since I came out I've been involved in community work, social action from day one. I wanted to be leading a church that was a church with a different outlook, because I want it to be a mission led church not a church that did mission.

"Then I tied in with the guys at GroundBreakers because I have a heart to do what it actually says in Ephesians and use that gifting to equip the Church to reach the lost. We've learned a lot of lessons as a church and if I can help churches by sharing our journey and the things that we've learned. To encourage them, equip them and to see the Church come alive. It's time to wake the sleeping giant which is the UK and really start to impact the UK with the life changing message of Jesus."

Already the GroundBreakers team is in huge demand travelling up and down the country resourcing churches, holding events, preparing for stadium evangelism and connecting with Christian organizations and individuals to bring the Christian faith to the nation. The team is also connecting with the secular media who are paying particular interest to the message that they are carrying. Jonathan says everything they do is based around three core principles of living, reaching and connecting:

"We want to see the local Church living and thriving reaching her fullest potential in every corner of this country. Local Church is the hope of the world, there's no debate in that, there's no denying that. We want to work with local churches to help see that happen, even with stadium events, these must be in partnership with the local Church. The second one is reaching; reaching people can be a challenge but we want to help take away those barriers and help Christians to reach their communities. That could be through social action projects, creative evangelistic events, music events and many other ways so that people can have a great experience and know that God is well worth knowing! Finally, connecting; we want to connect people to God and help people connect into the local Church where relationships can grow, we will not stop until the job is done!"