Bert Barritt (H) from York has had many new beginnings In his life and is never afraid of challenges and changes. Bert led the Deaf Christian Fellowship (DCF) for over thirty years.

What do you believe God wants you to do?
I have always said that it is not what we do for God but what we are for God. We should be doers but it is important that we are being someone for God. It is 17 years since I officially retired but I still do some of what I was doing before retiring: preparation and preaching, letters and faxes, writing, visiting people and praying. I meet in four different small groups for church prayer every two weeks and three missionary groups that meet from time to time. I believe God wants me to be a person of prayer.

Have you had a specific answer to prayer?
Yes, many. When we were living in Belfast (Northern Ireland) with our three children, the rent was paid by the DCF and we had a small living allowance. One day, our son Stuart’s shoes were completely worn out and he went to school in slippers. That morning we prayed for money for shoes. A letter came later that morning and in it was a gift of money. Our children came home for lunch so Marie took Stuart to the nearest shoe shop and bought him a new pair of shoes. That has happened often and not just for a pair of shoes. Thank God for His goodness.

But the prayer God really answered which was so special, is the one I began to pray with I was 14. I was a new Christian but I felt God wanted me to pray for my deaf parents. Most of my father’s sisters were Christians but my father was not really interested but he went with my mother to the deaf church in Deptford, SE London. As I continued to pray for my parents, I felt that God wanted me to pray for other deaf people. Through the years I had met many of my parents’ friends. When Marie and I were married, we prayed together and both of us would pray for deaf people that they would come to know the Lord in a real way. My mother eventually became a Christian and I had the joy of baptizing her. Many deaf people came to know the Lord throughout those years.

God called me from school teaching and took us to Northern Ireland and opened the way for us to lead the DCF in Belfast. We never thought that we would work with deaf people when we prayed for deaf people. I was the leader of the DCF and the pastor of the DCF in Belfast. Later we moved back to London and I was the pastor of the Evangelical Church of the deaf in Rotherhithe. Later God called us to South Africa and we helped to start a church for deaf people in Johannesburg. God has answered our prayer in so many ways and we can see deaf people who were in the DCF become leaders and some worked full-time with us.

Since we retired, God is still answering that prayer. Since we heard God’s call to join mainstream churches, many things have happened. Hands Together started and then Deaf Link (Now called Go Sign!). Thank God there has been a stronger evangelical message in the Anglican churches for the deaf. Today, some deaf people are in mainstream churches and other deaf people are leading deaf churches and groups. It has been good to see deaf people who were part of the DCF being asked to speak at deaf conferences and Alpha courses. Yes, God does answer prayer.

What has been your most memorable experience as a Christian?
It is hard to choose the most memorable experience. The one I have chosen happened when I was a soldier. I was called up for the army when I was 18. I was put in the East Yorkshire regiment and trained in Richmond in Yorkshire. We were training for the invasion of France and did our beach training on the Moray Firth in Scotland. The 2nd Battalion of the East Yorkshire Regiment was part of 3rd Division and we were to land on Sword Beach on the east flank of the attack. Two weeks before D-Day, a number of men were made LOB - Left Out of Battle. I was one of them.

So on the morning of D-Day, the Battalion was to land at H Hour, 7.30 am. The LOB’s were coming in later at 10.30 am. I slept well on the boat and after a rather fatty breakfast I read a few verses from my Bible in Acts 7. I prayed the prayer of Stephen, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” I felt excited and nervous. There were ships and boats everywhere and lots of shelling from the British Navy into Normandy beaches. When time came to land, I came down the stairs on the side of the ship and stepped into the water, it came up to my chest and I held my rifle above my head and struggled to the shore.

I thanked God for His care.
There was plenty of noise and shells going inland but nothing coming towards the beach. Our Army chaplain was sitting on the beach, he had been wounded. There were other bodies lying about. We walked off the beach and made for the houses that we had seen photos of
during our training. We were to join the rest of the Battalion but we did not get near to them until 9.30 at night. They were pleased to see us and we were to catch up with them. They told us of the fighting and who was wounded and those who had been killed. They had had a tough day but the LOB’s had had an easy time.

I thanked God for His care and His peace and presence with me. I prayed for the families of those who had died. It was a very memorable experience.

For three weeks, we lived in two man trenches. We did patrols and guard duty on watch. Other troops who landed after us came in front of us. Later we prepared to go in front of them. Three weeks after landing on Sword Beach, we were ordered to be ready to move off to attack the Chateaû de la Londe. We were ready to move off when the Germans started to send over mortar bombs. I was hit in the hand by shrapnel and fell into a trench where my hand was bandaged by two soldiers.

I was told to walk back and report to the first aid post. I said goodbye to the lads in the platoon and walked back with an officer who was also wounded. That night we were in a tented hospital on the beach and slept in a clean bed. Next day we were put on a ship and sailed back to England. I thank God that He had been with me when we landed and when I was wounded. It was scary but I felt the presence of God with me. In my diary of when I was wounded, I wrote that I sang an old hymn but I don’t remember that.

I was in England for four months and then joined the Battalion in Holland and went through to the end of the war in Germany.

Which Bible verse has helped you most?
During my visit to Northern Ireland in 1957, I was reading in Acts 7 about God’s call to Moses. God spoke to me from verse 34,‘I have indeed seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come to set them free. Now come, I will send you back to Egypt.’ The full story is found in Exodus 3 v 1 - 10. That night I preached on that story of Moses.

It was some months later when I knew God was calling us to work with deaf people that I realized that verse 34 was God’s call to us. God said, ‘I have seen the oppression of my people - I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free. Now come, I will send you.’

There have been times in our life when things were difficult and we were tempted to give up serving God, then God reminded us of that verse and said, ‘I have called you’. Thank God He kept us strong to follow Him.

What is your favourite hymn or song?
I love many songs, here is one of them:
‘My hope is built on nothing less,
than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
On Christ, the solid rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand’ (Edward Mote)

Which well-known Christian do you admire?
David Livingstone, a Scotsman who became a missionary to Africa and a great explorer.
Before he went to Africa he prayed:
‘Send me anywhere, only go with me
Lay any burden on me, but sustain me
Sever any ties, except the ties that bind me to Your heart’
As he stood at his wife’s grave he prayed:
‘My Jesus, my King, my life, my all
I again consecrate my life to You
I shall place no value in anything I posses or do,
Except in relation to Your Kingdom and Your service’.
He was a great man of God.

Which Christian book are you reading at the moment?
I like to have two or three books on the go at the same time. Just now I am reading Michael Palin’s travel book on Himalaya. It was a TV series. I am enjoying it.

Another book I am reading is by Rev. Mark Stibbe, the minister of St Andrew’s Church at Chorleywood. It is called Healing Today. It is one of the best books I have read on the subject of healing. There is prayer for healing in his church regularly and people are being healed! Praise God.

My third book is by Alistair McGrath, a Professor of Theology at Oxford. He is a scientist and has a PhD in molecular biophysics. His book is called Dawkins’ God. Dawkins is a well known atheist and a brilliant scientist. He does not believe in God and fights against any religion. Alistair McGrath has written a book to answer some of Dawkins’ arguments. I find it exciting to read and I admire McGrath in the clever way he writes. He has a great respect for Dawkins but McGrath writes against Dawkins’ arguments and stands for the truth of God.

If you have a special prayer, what is it?
To see a solution of the conflict between Israel and Palestine. There will be no peace in the Middle East until this problem is faced and dealt with.

Have you any hobbies?
Yes, reading is my main hobby. I read bio-graphies of people both Christian and secular. I read John Pollock’s biography of Wilberforce again recently. William Hague has written an excellent biography of William Pitt, the youngest Prime Minister that England ever had and I
enjoyed that. I read all kinds of books and have a long list of the books I would like to read.

I like painting and enjoy it but I need peace and time to be able to settle and do it. I like acrylic paints but find I have less time now, even though I am supposed to be retired!

Any dislikes?
Yes, I don’t like violent films. There are films with a good story but because of the violence I don’t watch them.

If called Home, what impression would you like to leave?
Bert was a man who loved God and loved and served deaf people.

Extracted from Hands Together - Summer 2007, UK