Arthur being interviewed by Dimitri:
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| TOUGH TALK IN MOSCOW Arthur being interviewed by Dimitri: . |
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| Ian and Arthur were very well received in the two orphanages and the youngsters listened intently to their life stories and to the Gospel message. Youngsters at the orphanage: |
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| They soon found out how much weight Arthur and Ian were lifting when 5 of them could not even move the bar! 5 children attempting to lift the bar: |
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| A large Baptist church in Moscow was host to an evening outreach that was attended by an enthusiastic crowd of young and older people This is a poster outside the church telling of the visit of Tough Talk in Russian: |
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Throughout the trip we had two translators-Anna and Anya. Both were excellent and at the Baptist Church meeting and the meeting arranged by the rehabilitation centre, many people responded to the gospel challenge. This was the best response the team had ever seen when speaking through an interpreter! Anya translating for Arthur: |
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| The church put on a great lighting display together with a smoke machine Ian doing a squat through a smoke storm! |
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| Even though he was carrying a serious shoulder injury and was in severe pain, Arthur continued to demonstrate his deadlift skills as seen in the photo below where he is even dancing with the weight! |
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| The team had a short visit to Red Square, the only sightseeing of the whole trip, but even so, Ian still managed to spend a lot of time on his mobile phone! |
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| TOUGH TALK AT THE "INSIDE OUT" MEN'S CONFERENCE IN CARLOW, REPUBLIC OF IRELAND. Three members of the team: Arthur, Joe and Simon flew to Dublin and then on to Carlow for the Men's conference. Their demonstrations, testimonies and gospel challenge were very well received and there were a number of responses to the gospel challenge. We have jus been sent the following photographs taken on the day by the professional photographer, Keith Dowling.. who has given us permission to use his work. |
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| TOUGH TALK AT THE HAYESBROOK SCHOOL, TONBRIDGE. Ian and Martyn recently visited the Hayesbrook School in Tonbridge where they did a powerlifting demonstration and presented the gospel to the Christian Union. The meeting was very well attended with over 150 students present. There was a good response to the message. The event was very efficiently organised by Alex Bonarius, a student at the school,who stepped out in faith in inviting us. He and we were very encouraged by the response. |
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| TOUGH TALK VISIT BRITISH ARMY CAMP IN RHEINDAHLEN NEAR DUSSELDORF GERMANY At the invitation of William Wade, an evangelist on the camp, the team (Ian, Arthur and Simon) visited the huge army base at Rheindahlen near Dusseldorf where 10,000 soldiers, families and staff live.They demonstrated powerlifting and presented the gospel through their testimonies. A good crowd were present at the evening meeting and many responded to the gospel challenge. Many contacts were made and we hope that these will lead to further opportunities to present the gospel to British soldiers. Part of the audience at Rheindahlen:  Ian demonstrating the squat with Arthur and Simon:  |
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| ARTHUR WHITE AND TOUGH TALK APPEAR ON A BBC 1 (SOUTHWEST) "INSIDE OUT" PROGRAMME As we mentioned in our report on the visit of Tough Talk to Russia last year, the team was accompanied by a BBC programme maker who filmed the trip. Some of the film recorded on this visit was used in this programme about Arthur's life and ministry and his close involvement with Tough Talk. The gospel of Jesus Christ was clearly put across to what we hope was a very large audience. We are very grateful to God for this fantastic opportunity to get so many people to hear about the claims of His Son! |
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| TOUGH TALK AT KING'S CHURCH MILTON KEYNES The week before this event, the pastor of this church, Andy Forbes, let us know that during the weeks of preparation for the event,people came to know the Lord. The church was thus very much in faith about the success of the Tough Talk evening. Their faith was rewarded and many folk responded to the gospel challenge. The team was further encouraged to meet two people who had given their lives to the Lord at a Tough talk meeting 5 years agoin Milton Keynes. They are now very active members of the church!! We regularly pray at our weekly team prayer meeting that the Lord will give us people who not only respond to the Good News but also become disciples. These two people are a direct answer to these prayers. |
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| TOUGH TALK MEETING IN FETCHAM, SURREY We received this email following the team’s visit to Fetcham. We do hundreds of meetings each year and its very encouraging to get feed-back like this now and again to let us know that our efforts are appreciated: “I just wanted to let you know what a fantastic evening we had on Saturday with the guys from Tough Talk. We had no idea how many people would respond to our advertising and we were thrilled to fill around 160 seats! We’ve had such a positive response from so many of those who attended that we have felt the evening was a great success. Your guys were so amazing in the way they delivered their testimonies and the way in which they entertained us with the weight lifting. It’s such a unique way to tell others about the Lord and many folk were truly touched by what they heard. Altogether brilliant, and please extend my grateful thanks to the guys themselves. They were such a friendly trio and we were so pleased to have them.” |
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| TOUGH TALK VISIT TO QUEENS CHURCH WIMBLEDON We have received this very encouraging report of the meeting the guys took in Wimbledon from the pastor: "Thank you so much for coming over to ‘posh’ Wimbledon last Sunday. We had nearly 300 there – lots of unchurched people – and the feedback we had from many people was very positive. It will take a while to discover exactly what was happening in the hearts of those who responded to Ian’s appeal. No doubt it was a mixture of recommitments and commitments and expressions of initial interest. We hope that some will come back to our next Alpha course later this month. What is clear is that we have never had so many responses to an appeal of that kind since I have been in the church (about 28 years!) So thank you for helping us to win some for Christ and sew needs seeds of the gospel into people’s hearts. You are a special team – may God continue to use you and bless you abundantly. I hope we’ll be able to invite you back in the future." |
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| TOUGH TALK VAN BREAKS DOWN ON M25!! For the first time ever, the Tough Talk team was unable to get their van to a venue because it broke down on the M25. The team were on their way to an Ultimate Events meeting at Alton Towers and broke down. In the picture below, the guys look quite happy.......but they had to wait for nearly two and a half hours for roadside assistance  . The van could not be repaired and Ian and Simon went on to the meeting by car and met up with Martyn there. Joe and Mike stayed with the van. The good news is that the guys gave their testimonies and a gospel challenge at the meeting at Alton Towers to a great crowd of people as can be seen in the photos below. The guys were very excited to see a lot of responses to the good news of Jesus Christ!    TOUGH TALK VISIT CAMPASOL, SPAIN The Tough Talk team were invited by the Engliosh Church in Campasol, Spain to present their testimonies, demonstrate powerlifting and to make gospel challenges. Ian, Joe and Simon flew there for the weekend from Stansted. They did meetings on the beach and in the Church and their London accents were expertly translated into Spanish by an English translator, Nicky, seen in the picture below.  The guys were able to attract quite a crowd on the beach and there was a lot of interest in what they had to say. The crowd is seen in the picture below:  JOE LAMPSHIRE BECOMES BRITISH POWERLIFTING CHAMPION At the British Powerlifting Championships (Unequipped) in Milton Keynes on July 30th, Tough Talk team member Joe Lampshire won the Senior Open gold medal for the squat (and he broke the British Record!); he won the gold medal for the deadlift and was awarded the gold medal overall.Finally, he broke the British total record too.Joe lifts in the 100kg class. 
Congratulations Joe!
TOUGH TALK VISIT AYR, SCOTLAND At the invitation of the Ayr Baptist Centre, a Tough Talk team visited Ayr for a weekend of evangelism. They were asked to do a street outreach on Saturday afternoon, an evening outreach on Satuday evening and to be involved in the church meeting on Sunday morning before flying back to England on Sunday afternoon.As usual, they took this all in their stride and sucessfully completed the hectic schedule. At the street outreach in the High Street,Ian, Arthur and Simon briefly gave their testimonies and demonstrated powerlifting  Street outreach  A large crowd of Ayr shoppers stood and listened to the guys. During the packed evening meeting at the Ayr Baptist Centre, the guys gave their testimonies of how their lives have been dramatically changed by faith in Jesus Christ.  Arthur sharing his story. As usual, they also demonstrated powerlifting with Arthur demonstrating the deadlift and Ian, the squat.  Ian demonstrating the squat. To conclude the meeting, Ian made a powerful gospel challenge, to which many responded! |
| TOUGH TALK IN CHATEL, FRANCE The guys gave two Tough Talk presentations in a bar at the base of the ski slopes in Chatel called " La Perdrix Blanche". The bar is where skiers go for a drink after a day's skiing. Ian demonstrating the squat: |
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As usual, the guys involved the audience in a test of strength. One young man, Ben, did an impressive deadlift hold One of the soldiers in the audience just about beat Ben's time. However, Ben's Dad, Lloyd , also took part in the competition and was obviously not going to let the soldier and his own son win! As can be seen by the look on his face, it was hard work to beat their times: |
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| Pastor Luc interpreted the guy's English for the skiers in the bar after their day's skiing: |
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GOOD FRIDAY STREET OUTREACH IN ILFORD The team was invited by City Gates Church, Ilford to take part in their Good Friday street outreach on the steps of Ilford Town Hall......   A large crowd gathered to see the guys present their testimonies and demonstrate powerlifting....  Jo Lampshire powerfully demonstrated the squat even though he was suffering from a virus infection.....  As usual, the hammer hold competition generated a lot of excitement and fun.....  |
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| AN EXAMPLE OF A BUSY WEEKEND FOR TOUGH TALK FRIDAY 18 MAY Ian McDowall and Arthur White represented Tough Talk for a meeting at HMP Erlestoke in Wiltshire. Ian drove from London and Arthur from Cornwall. They presented their testimonies and Ian demonstrated the powerlifting squat before challenging the audience of toughened inmates with the gospel of Jesus Christ. SATURDAY 19 MAY Tough Talk were in prosperous Bexhill on Sea at the invitation of Sidley Baptist Community Church and were represented on this day occasion by Ian McDowall, Joe Lampshire and Adam Macmillan.The church was packed to hear the guys present their stories and to see Joe demonstrate the squat. After members of the audience participated in a strength competition ( won by the pastor!),Ian made a gospel challenge to which several responded. SUNDAY 20 MAY The third meeting of the weekend was in marked contrast to the previous two. This time, Ian McDowall and Martyn Parrish were representing Tough Talk at the well-known private School, Stowe, in Buckinghamshire.Here the guys presented the gospel of Jesus Christ to more than 600 students who, at the corresponding chapel meeting the week before, had been addressed by the Archbishop of Canterbury!They were very well received by the boys who listened attentively to the gospel and were impressed by Martyn's strength. |
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| THE STRESSES OF BEING IN A TOUGH TALK TEAM Ian and Martyn were all geared up for a recent meeting and arrived at the road leading to the venue in heavy rain. They found the road blocked by a fallen tree and even using their strength, could not move the tree.Then a group who were also involved with the same meeting arrived and they, together with our guys tried, unsuccessfully, to remove the tree. Everyone by this time was soaking wet. One of the organisers of the meeting arrived and he too gave a hand to try to move the tree. After all this effort, this guy finally said "We could use the other entrance".......!!!!!! |
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| MEETING IN BRISTOL We have received this very encouraging email from the organiser of the meeting the team did at the Patchway Community College in Bristol: "Hi fellers, Well,we had great evening with you, and 3 weeks later we had our Tough Talk 2 – The Follow Up, in a local working men’s club. Over all I can say that I know of at least 6 new Christians from those meetings, who have been in church every Sunday since. Thank you again for coming over and sharing all you did, See you all again, God bless you so good, Nige Burr |
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| br> TOUGH TALK IN FRINTON-ON-SEA The peace and quiet of a sunny summer's Sunday afternoon in "posh" Frinton was broken by the sound of loud East End of London accents as Ian and Arthur presented their testimonies and demonstrated powerlifting at the Frinton Mission 2007.    There was a good crowd who were enthusiastic in their support of the guys. Several people responded to the Gospel challenge at the end of the meeting. One married couple, who both gave their lives to the Lord, came up at the end of the meeting and said that they had lived in Frinton for seven years and that "the hour we spent with you today was the best hour of our lives". **************************************************************************************************************** REPORT OF THE TOUGH TALK MEETING ORGANISED BY BISHOPS STORTFORD CHURCHES TOGETHER We received this very encouraging letter from the organiser of this meeting, Nigel Blair-Park (Youth Leader at St James Bishops Stortford): "Just to say a massive thank you. Ian and Simon were absolutely fantastic and it made the last 7 months organising this event worthwhile. We had around 250 people for the evening.......The live music beforehand and the BBQ afterwards also served well. All the people to whom I spoke afterwards were really impressed with Ian and Simon and the passion in which they delivered their testimonies. Both guys are clearly comfortable speaking in front of a big audience and the combination of weights, humour and faith was perfect. Following Ian's challenge, we had 18 people come forward for prayer which was beyond my wildest dreams.The feedback from the prayer team was also positive. There is no doubt in my mind that the Tough Talk ministry is up there with the best around.......the team is so important and unique please keep the good work up. God bless" TOUGH TALK IN CROYDON We received this report from the pastor of the Potters House Church in Croydon following the team's visit there earlier this Summer: "....Thankyou very much for the team that came down to Croydon....Arthur, Ian and Simon had a tremendous impact on our congregation and several people got saved that night and have come to the church since then. We also had a few new christians attend and they were greatly encouraged by the very real gospel presentation.Every member of the team captivated the audience with their testimony and humour" The minister of the Centre sent these comments following the team's visit..... "...thanks to the team which came to Bell Farm Christian Centre......The team had clearly had a very busy weekend but non the less they gave us a fantastic evening. There was a good number of people who came to the evening and the team gave a very enjoyable presentation as well as sharing powerful testimonies. Their ministry was clearly annointed by the Holy Spirit and when they invited a response there was a significant number who did respond. Certainly in excess of a dozen put up their hands. I was particularly pleased that some of those who responded came from families from the local estate which could be described as "difficult families". The message had clearly touched the lives of a number of people in a powerful way....." ******************************************************************************************* NOTTING HILL CARNIVAL As in previous years,a Tough Talk team was involved with the members of Kensington Temple as they reached out to visitors to this year's Notting Hill Carnival. The car park at KT was the venue for the daytime meetings and Ian, Martin and Adam did two sessions before hundreds of people. There was a great atmosphere and the gospel was clearly presented to all who were there. In the evening, the guys did anevening presentation and many responded to the gospel challenge. Ian says that this year's Carnival outreach was the best of the many he has done with the sense of God's power being very real.  Joe demonstrating the squat inside KT  Adam giving his testimony  A member of the audience trying his strength at the bench press  Ian giving the gospel challenge. Ian and Simon drove up to Rushden on a Friday evening for a Rushden and Higham Churches Together men's meeting. They were excited to see at least 250 men in the audience and were even more pleased to see how positively their testimonies were received by the men. At the end of the meeting, Ian made a gospel challenge and a very large number of the men made a response. It was obvious that the Lord was present and working in the meeting. We pray that those responses will result in the men becoming disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ!! ******************************************************************************************************************** MESSAGE FROM KING'S CHURCH HARROW "Thanks again for Tough Talk coming to Harrow last Sunday - we had an absolutely brilliant time! Simon was excellent at fronting the morning, Tony's testimony was great and Martin was unbelievable on the weights! We had a really good response, which was so encouraging and would love to have you back next year if possible............." ********************************************************************************************* We have received the following from the chaplain at the prison in Northallerton that the guys visited: "Arthur and Ian have just left, and I wanted to write immediately to say a very big thank you. Their talk and presentation was out of this world - an inspiration to offenders and staff alike, and has certainly given all of us food for thought. It is such a blessing to have such wonderful, motivated people involved in the lives of the young men here, and I really can't thank the guys enough for coming so far to share their stories. It was simply fantastic! Every blessing, Charlotte Truman Rev C. J. Truman Coordinating Chaplain HMYOI Northallerton ********************************************************************************************************************** TOUGH TALK AT RUGBY SCHOOL Arthur, Martyn and Mike visited the famous Rugby public school at the invitation of the Chaplain, Rev Richard Horner. At the school chapel service, attended by all 750 pupils and staff (including the headmaster, Patrick Derham)Arthur gave a short testimony and described the work of Tough Talk. He then invited the students to the Tough Talk demonstration that was to follow the chapel service.At least 200 students came to the meeting and they were very impressed by Martyn's demonstration of the squat. Arthur gave a full testimony and gospel message and challenged the young people to make right choices early in their lives. A tour of the school followed the meeting and we saw where Rugby football was first played and saw some of the places that formed the backdrop to the famous novel "Tom Brown's Schooldays".  On the way to morning chapel  Martyn, Arthur and the Headmaster  Martyn demonstrates the squat  School buildings  Birthplace of Rugby footballTOUGH TALK IN GOSPORT HANTS We received this letter following the meeting at Alverstoke Evangelical Church: |
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| TOUGH TALK AT LUTON CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP A Tough Talk team recently visited Luton Christian Fellowship and had a very successful evening presenting the gospel of Jesus Christ. Chris, who his the most recent member of Tough Talk demonstrated the squat:  and he also took the microphone for a few minutes:  Simon gave his testimony and made a gospel challenge.  Several people responded to the challenge and we pray that they will go on with the Lord. TOUGH TALK AT PENTECOST FESTIVAL IN LONDON'S LEICESTER SQUARE  .Ian, Martyn, Chris and Jez were the team for the recent event in Leicester Square where a very large crowd gathered to hear the gospel and see the guys demonstrate powerlifting.  TOUGH TALK ON PRIME TIME BBC 1 "SUNDAY LIFE" A BBC TV crew accompanied a Tough Talk team (Arthur, Ian and Joe) on a visit to HMP Polmont in Falkirk. The filming done there was used in the programme "Sunday Life" shown at 10.00am on Sunday morning May 18. The film focused particularly on Arthur's story and he clearly told of how he became a born-again Christian and how Jesus had dramatically changed his life. We praise the Lord for this fantastic opportunity to present the Gospel and to highlight the work of Tough Talk. You can see this programme on the BBC website at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/sunday life. ************************************************************************************************************ TOUGH TALK AT BRITISH ARMY BARRACKS CATTERICK Ian and Arthur gave a Tough Talk presentation to the soldiers at Catterick. Their testimonies were very well received by the soldiers, many of whom were waiting to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan. Sadly, several soldiers from Catterick have been killed in these countries. So it was very important that those leaving for active duty should hear the message of salvation through Jesus Christ. ***************************************************************************************************** TOUGH TALK IN HARLOW,ESSEX Simon and Joe gave a Tough Talk presentation at a meeting in Harlow arranged by a group of churches in the area called "Together for the Kingdom". Before the meeting, Joe was suffering from a groin injury and had decided not to demonstrate the squat because of it. However, before the event started, we prayed for hiom and the injury and immediately he felt better and decided to do the squat. He went on to lift the normal massive amount of weight with no after effects! God answers prayer!  Joe squatting after prayer for his groin injury! Both Simon and Joe gave powerful testimonies during the meeting. Following the gosple challenge from Simon, several people responded to the call to give their lives to Jesus Christ. We pray that they will go on to be disciples of the Lord.  Joe giving his testimony. ****************************************************************************************************** TOUGH TALK IN CUTSYKE,YORKSHIRE Martyn and Mike drove the van and our equipment up to Cutsyke in Yorkshire and met Arthur there. He had flown up from his home in Cornwall. The meeting was arranged by Cutsyke Gospel Hall:  . A good crowd turned up and enjoyed a BBQ, fruit,cakes etc and soft drinks before the meeting. Arthur gave his testimony to the crowd both inside and outside a marquee in the church car park:  .Martyn demonstrated the squat to an enthusiastic audience:  . Just as Arthur was about to make the gospel challenge, a storm arrived and the heavens opened forcing everyone to crowd into the marquee. Despite this interruption, several people responded to the call to give their lives to Jesus Christ! |
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| SIMON PINCHBECK ON THE BBC PROGRAMME "SONGS OF PRAISE" Tough Talk team member Simon Pinchbeck had a major role in a recent BBC Songs of Praise programme considering the subject of money.Simon gave testimony as to how money was his god until he met Jesus Christ. He described how Tough Talk member Bryn Robertson led him to faith and how he now serves the Lord through his work with Tough Talk. ************************************************************************************************************ TOUGH TALK IN GUERNSEY A Tough Tal;k team consistiong of Ian, Arthur, Simon, Chris and Mike were invited by the Shiloh Church in Guernsey to visit the Island for a weekend. They gave presentations in the local prison on the Saturday and in the church on the Sunday.  The prisoners were very attentive as Arthur , Simon and Chris gave their testimonies and enthusiastically supported Ian as he demonstrated the squat. As is usual in prisons, the lifting competition (bench press)was very noisy and competitive! The men were very quiet during Ian's gospel challenge and we pray that many of them responded to the gospel. ******************************************************************************************************************************************************* TOUGH TALK AT SHILOH CHURCH, GUERNSEY The team took over a packed Sunday morning service at Shiloh Church on the beautiful island of Guernsey. Simon and Arthur gave their testimonies and Chris demonstrated the squat:  Ian presented a gospel challenge and a very large number of folk responded to give their lives to Jesus Christ. The local people in the church and the pastor, Billy Gilvear, were greatly encouraged by this response. We pray that those responding will go on to become true disciples of the Lord! ****************************************************************************************************************************************** |
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