ABOUT OUR FOUNDERS


THE BEGINNINGS OF THE TREE.... The Tree of Life Network was founded whilst on a trip to Sweden in 2007. Whilst on holiday at a large Christian conference the Lord spoke to the Conway family about planting a church. Ben and Amanda had held on to dreams of church planting since they had been married in 1996. They had formed plans and worked for other churches since going to bible college and Ben graduating in 1999. The Lord spoke to them in Sweden from psalm 132. Ben was not able to sleep and the Lord spoke to him of building a place, a church, where his father came from for the Lord, a place of salvation, righteousness, praise and healing. A place of grace.

On their return the Lord spoke to them again about proverbs 13 verse 12 and The Lord said many people have dreams and their dreams of God are not being fulfilled, but he commissioned them to build a Tree of Life where dreams are fulfilled. This is how the name was given to them from the Lord for the church. Tree of Life was formed in Ben and Amanda's living room in the East End of London with one dear lady who had come to Christ and wanted to know more about her new found faith. Week after week she would come to their living room and be taught the word of God. She recieved the baptism in the Holy Spirit and was water baptised and her wonderful husband and family members came to Christ. People began to be added to their number all coming along to their living room to find out more about what Jesus had done for them. As the numbers grew so Ben and Amanda tried to hold a Thursday night meeting in Barkingside Library few people came but they saw people healed and saved there. People prefered to gather in their home and it became obvious that they could not fit everyone in their living room any more so they asked the Lord what did he want them to do next.

When they reached 16 people coming regularly, a man came to them and told them of a hall. The Lord confirmed this was the place to move the people to. They moved the church to this local hall and began public Sunday morning services. The first service was on Easter Sunday 2010 with only 11 of the 16 people coming to attend this first public Sunday morning service. The church out grew the hall and they prayed again and the Lord told them to move again. They moved the church to the local cinema. During this time Ben had been told by the Lord that the Lord wanted the church to plant 5 churches in 5 years and that He wanted no one in the UK to be more than an hour away from a grace filled church. When they asked for direction where they felt the Lord said to look for places connected to fords. This is why a lot of the Network churches are planted in towns that end in ford.

Guildford was the first Tree of Life to be planted in November 2012 and Richard and Jacqueline Waller were commissioned at the annual conference Heal the Nations in 2014 as pastors of Tree of Life Guildford, this was an obvious choice of leaders from the Lord.
In March 2013 Tree of Life Watford was born and is growing. Last year in November 2014 Tree of Life Chelmsford our newest church has been planted. In 2015 we have plantedTree of Life Croydon thereby obeying the instructions of God to plant 5 churches in 5 years.

About Benjamin Conway

Benjamin Conway has been a Christian for over 20 years.  He has a passion to see every Christian equipped by God to minister in signs and wonders, walk in perfect peace and fulfill their destiny.  He is married to Amanda and has 4 wonderful children.

He has preached about the power of the Lord Jesus Christ to restore, heal and transform people in three continents of the world. 

You can email Benjamin at ben@treeoflifechurch.org.uk 
To read how Benjamin became a Christian and how God healed him click here.
To read Benjamin Conway's personal blog, visit www.benjaminconway.net
For more information on Benjamin: http://benjaminconway.info

About Amanda Conway

Amanda became a Christian as a teenager, after asking God to reveal the truth about Jesus to her one night. Since then she has become a lover of the bible and God's kindness. She has a passion to see God's people of all ages encounter the reality of a Jesus. 

Amanda totally believes Jesus death, burial  and resurrection is the most important event in all of history and she loves to see the church moving in the power of the Holy Spirit.

You can email Amanda anytime at amanda@treeoflifechurch.org.uk