Daniel Shwe is the pastor of Grace Baptist Church in North Watford. Watford is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, situated 20 miles (32 km) northwest of central London and within the bounds of the M25 motorway. The borough is separated from Greater London to the south by the urbanised parish of Watford Rural in the Three Rivers District. North Watford is situated between Central Watford and Garston. The population is around 95,000 and around 30% have no religious affiliation. Most of Grace Baptist's services have 12 - 13 nationalities represented.

March 2025 Update

The gospel continues to progress in North Watford. New people visit the church on an almost weekly basis. And they are not only visiting. Some of them are committing themselves to Christ and his church.

Like the young lady from Italy who came to faith in 2022 and is preparing for baptism in June. Or the Nigerian man who has recently begun attending with his family. Italians and Nigerians at North Watford? That’s right. In fact, there are 23 nationalities attending the church on a weekly basis.

And this commitment is not on paper only. Take, for instance, the young man in the church who fell into sexual immorality. By God’s grace he has now been restored to fellowship following repentance.

The Lord is indeed blessing the church in North Watford.

There are, however, burdens as well. The church members need to grow in humility manifested in love, patience, and understanding toward one another. Daniel Shwe and his fellow leaders need greater wisdom, strength, and patience in leading a diverse congregation. Unsaved persons who attend on a regular basis need to be converted.

Will you give thanks to God for the way in which he has worked at North Watford in recent years? Will you ask the Lord to help the people relate to one another with love and humility? Will you pray that the present leadership will continue to serve the church well and that additional leaders will be identified and trained? Will you ask the Lord to save sinners in their midst? Will you also ask the Lord to bless a special week of evangelism planned for this summer?

Many of you will know the work at North Watford was once considered to be a lost cause. Investment in the work – or even the workers – was considered throwing good money after bad. That’s changed somewhat over the years. Some early sceptics have actually plucked up the courage to apologise for their tepid support of the efforts to replant the church. The bottom line is without significant investment in the work then and continuing – to a much lesser extent – investment now, we would not see people from 23 nationalities worshiping in the chapel on Cecil Street in North Watford.