A month before Joel Fearon became Britain’s third fastest 100m sprinter, he was ready to give up.
The Olympic runner and bobsledder was injured and struggling with the weeks of separation from his young family.
“I didn’t think I could do it anymore and spent hours in the bath praying,” he tells Direction.
“But the thing that came to me more than once was, ‘If you start something, finish it. Don’t stop halfway through.’ Just weeks later, I was in the newspapers as the third fastest 100m sprinter behind Linford Christie and James Dasaolu.
“It was as wild as it gets and I didn’t see it coming,” he says after achieving his personal best time of 9.96 seconds in 2016.
His whole career has been like this, he says – a story of sporting highs, emotional lows and provision from God beyond his wildest dreams.
It started in 2011 when 20-year-old Joel and his wife Gemima moved to Loughborough. “I used to be in finance, but I got quite good at athletics on the side and Jemima encouraged me to pursue it.
This story is from the April 2020 edition of Direction Magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the April 2020 edition of Direction Magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
‘Imagine Everyone On This Planet Is Your Equal'
David Beasley, Executive Director of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning UN World Food Programme, reveals the words his work is founded on
God Sets The Example Of Adoption...
Many people have ruled themselves out for fostering or adoption when the system would rule them in, explains Krish Kandiah
The Work Of Missionaries In Lockdown
When lockdown brought Ian and Katie Moore’s mission work in Macedonia to a halt, they used the time to seek a refined vision for reaching their local area. They told Chris Rolfe their story
How Nurse Helped Acid Attack Model Find Faith
Katie Piper explains how a life-changing incident changed her life in more ways than she expected as she recovered in hospital
Big Challenges Issued At Online Conference
Elim’s first online theological conference examines how our understanding of the ‘End Times’ shapes our view of mission
Lockdown in London deepened my faith
Living alone in London may not have been what he dreamed about, but Chelsea’s Christian Pulisic says it has driven him closer to God
The Really Good News about new initiative!
Elim’s new online mission programme could be the biggest evangelistic outreach we’ve ever done, says national evangelist Mark Greenwood. As we gear up for Easter, he gives the lowdown on the campaign
It's the gospel of liberation, not renovation
When Jesus was 30 he went to the prison of sin, and knocked on the door. Satan opened that little window and said, “What do you want?” Jesus told him: “I have come to set the captives free!” A sermon by the late Reinhard Bonnke
The mystery of Skull Hill
Skull Hill is a rocky hill rising just outside the north wall of Jerusa-lem, not far from the Damascus Gate. It was given that name because of the striking resemblance to a human skull appearing on the weather-beaten formation of its southern face.
A decade of mission
With an Easter evangelism programme, the Elim Leaders Summit and a renewed call to mission, General Superintendent Chris Cartwright outlines Elim’s plans for 2021 and beyond
