After 30 years leading Kensington Temple, Colin Dye stepped down from senior leadership last year. But what has he been doing since then? Direction decided to find out
“I’ve learned how to do film production and editing, spreadsheets and social media. It’s been challenging, but great fun too,” says Colin Dye.
Colin is describing “life on the run”, as he puts it, since stepping down as senior leader of Kensington Temple in London last October to focus on overseas mission.
The past nine months, he says, have been a whirlwind of developing new skills, global travel and deeply poignant moments as he has seen God touch lives through the ministries he supports.
Leaving his 30-year role at KT and Elim’s national leadership team was a huge decision; one he first began considering in 2016.
“I felt God wanted me to step aside from leadership at KT – to be based there but to focus on an apostolic and prophetic ministry instead.
“I didn’t have to leave KT last year – I am still in my 60s. But I wanted to have a good few years to travel and at 68 I’m active enough to do that,” he says.
Colin was already involved in global mission. KT is a hugely international church with overseas work including events, training programmes and church planting.
Over the decades, he had also developed his own deep relationships with organisations in America, North Africa, the Middle East, Europe and central Asia, providing Bible training, supporting refugees, young offenders and much more.
His move from church leadership, he says, has allowed him to focus on developing this work. In April, for example, he and his wife Amanda travelled to Jordan to minister to and counsel churches and NGOs working with Iraqi refugees, offering medical aid and other practical help.
“We were invited to the opening of a refugee centre. We were able to provide food and share the gospel with the refugees there, to stand with them and support them.
“It was incredibly humbling to see people who are so desperate. Amanda held one woman who was absolutely bereft. Her husband had been killed two weeks before and she was left with a teenage son who clearly had PTSD.
“You can’t believe the stories of hardship, massacres they’ve seen and what they’ve managed to escape from. It’s very moving. Preaching is not enough, but I felt easier sharing the gospel with them because we were able to offer practical help too.
“We had a beautiful meeting where people came to Christ. It was quite remarkable.”
Colin has also focused on sharing his church-based Sword of the Spirit Bible school curriculum – a series of 12 books in several languages covering major biblical themes.
“Just last week, I signed 40 graduation certificates for our Sword of the Spirit school in Libya. We have an online school in central Asia and another in Lebanon training people who have come from other religious backgrounds.”
He is also passionate about his work in Brazil. Again, this dates back decades, birthed from a March for Jesus in 1991 during a season when 20 million people in the country came to Christ and needed effective discipleship.
“The emphasis of my ministry shifted from pure evangelism to discipling and I hit the streets, speaking to young people.”
A youth ministry called Pulso was born, in which youth leaders from different nations share the gospel with young prisoners and offenders.
One Pulso member, rap artist Biorki from São Paulo State, regularly visits juvenile detention centres to inspire prisoners to take up writing and performing rap music as a way to express themselves.
One of the joys of the past year, Colin says, is having more time to devote to work like this.
“Last time I visited Brazil I was there for five weeks and went to five major cities. I’ll be doing that again – raising up more Sword of the Spirit schools and doing more work with young offenders and Pulso.”
In the coming months, he also plans to help with a conference in France and return to Lebanon for another round of Bible training.
Colin admits the move away from KT has been tough.
“I miss the fellowship and the team of people who would meet and pray. We were always sharing, blessing one another, encouraging and prophesying, so I miss that pastoral care element.
“I’m a jokester, so I miss having fun with the team too.”
That said, he is enjoying having time to fully focus on mission work.
“Until last October I was doing all of this as well as running KT and planting churches. Now I can concentrate on my international work. It’s been a tremendous release.”
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What is God saying today?
In addition to focusing on international mission work, Colin has also used the past few months to visit churches around the UK and get a sense of what God is saying and doing around the world.
“With Covid-19, then the war in Ukraine, the geopolitical shifts and the reshaping of the axis between east and west, it’s very clear that God is shaking the nations,” he says.
“In many ways, I believe God is doing this so things that cannot be shaken will remain, and to encourage people to put their trust in his unchanging kingdom.
“But also, the realignment that’s taking place is part of a heavenly rearrangement – an outpouring of the Holy Spirit to the nations in evangelism and church flourishing.
“The church is coming to its rightful place of ownership of its responsibility. It is ministering to the nations and being a living voice through the example of caring for people and communities and demonstrating the love of Christ through good deeds.
“I believe God is speaking about a new move of the Spirit which will be strong and evangelistic. I don’t know when it will happen, but I see signs of it.
“I’ve also seen how institutional denominations are losing their direction. When protecting and promoting their own institution comes above the leading of the Spirit, that denomination probably won’t survive.
“The absolute opposite example of that is with HTB and Alpha: here is an Anglican denomination able and willing to hear the voice of the Spirit. Their church planting programme and training of leaders is phenomenal.
“That’s an encouraging sign that a denomination, if it’s open to the Holy Spirit, can do great things. So my prayer for Elim is to remain open to the Holy Spirit and to allow him to challenge our institutions and structures in a radical way.”
First published in Direction Magazine, July 2022.
https://www.newlifepublishing.co.uk/product/direction-magazine-july-2022/