Padre Andy Latifa sent through the following report on his visit to HTB in June with 13 soldiers from the School of Electrical & Mechanical Engineering.

It was the first of its kind, a Christian fellowship group from SEME on a day out, with an invitation to HTB from Alpha 4 Forces. This Church is at the forefront of equipping individuals and churches worldwide with tools to build up an understanding of who God is and who we are, and then that relationship between us and Him. The Alpha course has been adapted for use by the forces community, with it being recommended by the CGS and other British and US commanders. Our invitation was to join in an evening with those on an existing Alpha course as the guest group, to see for ourselves what makes this course so special for so many.

We arrived in London in the early afternoon and had the choice to visit the Imperial War Museum and National Army Museum (or failing that, detour via the early summer sales). Those who got to the museums found them to be emotional and real, bringing some of the realities of war to life. At the Army Museum, one section dedicated to stories of soldiers in their own words from their time on tour in Helmand proved to be particularly impressive with video footage and replicas of bed spaces and sangars bringing their words to life.

Back at Holy Trinity Brompton, Padre Latifa showed us the DVD of 'The Unit' he had purchased on route to the Army Museum"¦honest"¦ before introducing us to Charlie Lacey (ex-bootneck) who heads up Alpha for Forces. We were warmly received and shown the video introduction to Alpha for Forces before being taken to the church and our front row seats. All of those present were given a good meal which was well received, and this was followed by a welcome message from the senior minister at HTB, Nicky Gumble.  This led into a time of worship that we all thought was one atmosphere of amazing worship and praise.

The main talk on 'How and why should I tell others?' was given by a guest speaker Jamie Hinde, a West End actor who had worked on The Lion King. His testimony and teaching shed light on why we should tell people about our faith in Christ and how to go about it. This laid the foundation for a lengthy and interesting discussion afterwards in the church garden with Charlie which went on long past 22:00 hrs.

Hearing each other talk and express what it means to be a Christian in today's Armed Forces and listening to Charlie talk about his experiences and thoughts was eye opening and encouraging to the 13 squadies who made the trip. The only question that remained was, 'When can we come back again?' What a great night and what a blessing to have been part of the group