We first met in a folk club in 1970. We were married in 1975, and became Christians in 1979. We have been singing and playing guitar in folk clubs and churches ever since.
Around 1990, we realised that we needed to progress from merely learning about the Gospel to reaching out to others with the exciting good news we had discovered. We became involved in many evangelistic projects, including leading Alpha courses. Hazel became a Christian counsellor and James took part in a Training in Evangelism course. He also joined a Christian tour operator as reservations manager, and led worship on some of the holidays.
We bought our first canal boat in 1997 and felt called to bring the presence of Jesus to people we met on the canals and rivers. We have travelled most of the inland waterways network since then and have used our musical skills at various boating events. We have been involved with Canal Ministries since its inception in 2005, and part of the evangelism team since 2010.
Our third boat was called Gabriel. Gabriel is God’s messenger, bringing the Good News of Jesus’ birth first to His mother Mary and then to others. We felt we also needed to be God’s messengers on the waterways, being good news to the people we meet.
We sold Gabriel in 2023, as we were discovering a few aches and pains which come with getting older. We still intend to hire a boat occasionally, and we hope to take part in missions with Canal Ministries.
We are members of Kingsbrook and Broughton Church in Aylesbury, where we now live. James is on the PCC and the evangelism team, and Hazel helps to lead the pastoral team. We are both involved with leading worship.
Although we are no longer boat owners, we consider it a privilege to serve with other like-minded Christian boaters under the banner of Canal Ministries. James & Hazel Bell