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1939 – 2021

Matthew Hill became widely known as Home Secretary of the Spanish Gospel Mission and did much to raise the profile of the Mission amongst churches.

Born in the New Forest, he was converted in his teenage years and his life was Christ-centred from that point onwards. It was not long after leaving school that he was accepted to study at Birmingham Bible Institute and on leaving there, he (and Jean, who he had known from their teenage years and who he had recently married) left for the unknown territory of Stockton-on-Tees to take over the running of the Quayside Mission. This was a place of refuge for the homeless and a gospel ministry was also carried on there.

On 21 January, the British evangelist Peter Anderson died in a care home in Leicester.

Born in Glasgow, he enrolled in the Army when he was 18 and was posted to Singapore, where he became a Christian under the ministry of a Chinese doctor. Sensing a call to full-time evangelism, he applied for a place at Redcliffe College – only to find that it was for ladies only! He then enrolled in Matlock Bible College (later called Moorlands) and on graduating, immediately began itinerant evangelism.

1922 – 2020: MAF pioneer

It’s not often that the good-natured office comedian is the person who founded the organisation, but it says something about the humour and humility of Stuart King, pioneering founder of the world’s largest humanitarian airline, who ascended into glory on 29 August 2020.

Stuart, who died age 98 in the 75th year of Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF), combined a mischievous sense of humour which led him to make jokes at meetings and then ask the person leading to get on with it, with a deep desire to glorify God and serve the developing world through aviation and technology.

On 14 July 2020, our dear brother in Christ Peter Maiden met his Saviour face to face. With his passion for exegetical preaching and his shepherd’s heart, Peter leaves a legacy of sharing God’s truth with love and compassion that will live on within world missions.

As the International Director of OM from 2003 to 2013, Peter emphasised the spirituality of OM team members and the importance of God’s word permeating the entire life of Jesus followers. While leading a life of total surrender to Jesus, in both his public and personal life, he demonstrated a quiet steadiness coupled with a visionary passion for seeing the lives of people around the world changed by Christ. Under his leadership and guidance, new ministries developed as part of OM’s growing holistic approach to mission.

While Mary Gladstone’s name may not be widely known, the fruit of her labours is clearly evident.

As a new Christian at Cambridge, she and her friends befriended an unconverted fresher, Helen Roseveare, later to become one of the foremost missionaries of the 20th century.

Robin Dowling, a well-known former Grace Baptist pastor, missionary and theologian, departed to be with Christ on 31 July 2020.

He will be sorely missed as a much-loved husband, father and grandfather. He served his generation in the ministry of the gospel from the 1970s till fairly recently. Coming from Bristol, he was well known amongst churches there when he took on the pastorate at Salem Baptist Church in Kew, Richmond, Surrey in the late 1970s. He immersed himself in encouraging Grace Baptist Churches, serving the Association of Grace Baptist Churches (South East).

James Wood, who died on 11 March at the age of 88, had a wide and significant pastoral ministry over many years.

Born in Bolton in 1931, he was saved as a boy and sensed God’s call to ministry in his teens. He served for a while at Capernwray Hall with Major Ian Thomas, and intended to train for the Anglican ministry at Tyndale Hall in Bristol following national service (1950–52).

Generations of Christian Union members will remember Margaret Weston with affec-tion and gratitude. Her husband, Canon Keith Weston, was a widely-loved speaker in CUs and Margaret often travelled with him, making herself available to talk with students.

From 1964 to 1985, Keith was Rector of St Ebbe’s Church, Oxford. Margaret exercised a pastoral ministry among its students, as among members of the parish. The rectory was then amid some of the most deprived housing in the county.

The Revd Richard Bewes OBE, the former rector of All Souls Church, Langham Place in London, has died aged 84.

Bewes was an influential Christian leader in the UK throughout his life. He was the rector of All Souls from 1983 until his retirement in 2004. He also served on the Church of England Evangelical Council in the 1990s and was on the British Board of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association for much of his life.

Timothy Alford went home to glory on 6 December 2018.

I first met Timothy when I was a young pastor in the early 1990s and he was the General Secretary of Africa Inland Mission (AIM). Little was I to know then how much of an influence he would have upon me and the work I am now doing at Pastor Training International (PTI).

My friendship with Douglas Dawson began nearly 70 years ago when in 1952 he came to speak at our newly-formed Fellowship of Youth group at Zion, Trowbridge.

Doug’s life began in East London. There were six children in the family connected with the chapel in Hainalt Road, Leyton. Doug left school at 14 and in 1941 he volunteered for the RAF reserves.

The Revd Canon Dr Michael Green (1930 –2019) died peacefully on Wednesday 6 February following ill health.

A persuasive evangelist and distinguished theologian, he was in demand as a speaker until his recent illness.

On Sunday 16 December at the end of a Christmas service, Megan Franklin, wife of the pastor of St Giles Christian Mission, Islington, eight-months pregnant, slipped on a step and cut her knee.

It seemed so minor that my husband, along with the others present, heard nothing of it. However, it soon turned everything upside down. After suffering headaches Megan visited hospital on Christmas Day and their intensity with resultant loss of sight soon caused alarm. On Friday 28 she phoned to cancel our family visit, yet the following day she permanently lost consciousness. She died as a result of a Strep-A bacterial infection on Sunday 6 January. Mercifully, the doctors were able to deliver the little boy successfully by Caesarean, to become the seventh child in the family.

Keith Small was one of the foremost Qur’an scholars of our time. His work on early manuscripts was to provoke new questions among secular and Islamic scholars alike.

While at Dallas Theological Seminary, Keith read of Henry Martyn, and resolved to give his life to work among Muslims. He married Celeste Gardner in 1985, equally committed to the Muslim world, and they moved to the UK in 1989, settling in Dewsbury.

Ewart Frederick Bertram Helyar was called into the presence of the Lord just five days short of his 80th ‘spiritual birthday’.

Born in 1920 in South East London and unable to continue his schooling following the sudden death of his mother when he was 14, he went to live with his grandparents in East Coker, near Yeovil. His grandmother was a Christian and encouraged him to attend the local church. He started going to a boys’ Crusader Class and in 1938 he accepted the Lord Jesus Christ, under the preaching of Captain Reginald Wallis. During World War II he served in Yeovil in the bomb disposal unit of the Home Guard, being in a reserved occupation with Westland Aircraft.

On 24 July, Dr Kathleen Berger was called home aged 98.

Kathleen Berger trained as a doctor and entered the Army in WWII, rising to the rank of Captain. When she was demobbed she joined the Bermondsey Medical Mission. After the war, new housing estates were built in the London suburbs and people were moved out. With no GP practices in the area, people would walk miles back into Bermondsey. In 1950, Dr Berger was asked to become the family doctor to the Coppice Estate in Petts Wood, south east London.

Michael Rees, with his welcoming smile, will be remembered by generations of Cambridge students as the vicar of Holy Trinity Church (1972 –1984).

Michael stayed close to the CICCU, and after the Sunday evening service dispersed, the CICCU would take over the building for its weekly evangelistic address.

Sam Berry came to faith in Christ through Iwerne camps, while at Shrewsbury School. From his Cambridge days as an undergraduate in natural sciences, he took a clear stand as a Christian, arguing that a model of evolution should not hinder a belief in a Creator.

In 1975 he published his first book, Adam and the Ape. From here he became known as a leading apologist for theistic evolution. In 1974, he had been appointed as Professor of Genetics at University College London, a chair he would hold until 2000. The tribute from UCL described him as ‘a massive figure in evolutionary and ecological genetics, biodiversity and conservation biology’ and noted his Christian faith. Sam was a man of immense output. His books included academic titles in biological science and Christian apologetics. He was generous with his time, accepting many speaking engagements, and lending his name and presence to a range of initiatives in the area of ecology. While eminent in his field, he wore his achievement lightly.

Dick Saunders, international ‘crusade’ and radio evangelist, Bible teacher and pastor, died 19 January, 2018 aged 87.

Richard (‘Dick’) Stephen Saunders was born in Hailsham, East Sussex, on 16 July, 1930, the son of a Strict Baptist lay-pastor, Alfred Saunders. He grew up surrounded by the prayers and godly example of his parents, and trusted Christ as his own Saviour at the age of 18. Soon after his conversion he married Betty (née Thomas).

Ray Porter

Date posted: 1 Oct 2017

Her Irish Christian name reflected her ancestry, but she died with a traditional Batak scarf (ulos) around her neck, signifying her adoption into the Hasibuan clan during her time working in North Sumatra, Indonesia.

Converted at the age of 15 through the ministry of Humphrey Newman at St John’s Church Welling, she went to university in Leeds, then taught RE in Yorkshire. After further study at London Bible College she was sent to Asia with OMF in March 1969 by Sidcup Baptist Church. She served in Bandung, West Java, as a lay Elder in the Gereja Kristen Indonesia, whose members were mainly Chinese. She preached, taught and counselled regularly in the congregations, but her greatest ministry was to students and other young people.

On 27 July 2017, the funeral and thanksgiving service for Leslie Jarvis was held at Market Street Chapel, Hailsham. The chapel was full with family and friends from many churches.

The spirit of thanksgiving and worship, especially through the singing of Leslie’s favourite hymns, was a testimony to the grace of God in his life and a wonderful support to Leslie’s wife Nettie and his family. Jonathan Jarvis gave a message of thanksgiving and reminiscence on behalf of the family, Pastor Paul Relf gave the reading and prayer and Pastor Howard Sayers spoke from Philippians 4.

Erroll was brought up in a privileged and nominally Christian family in South Africa.

While studying architecture at the Afrikaans-speaking Pretoria University, his friend David Cowan invited him to Pretoria Central Baptist Church, and he was converted.

Ray Porter

Date posted: 1 Mar 2017

In the 1960s and 1970s two remarkable men led OMF International. The General Director was Michael Griffiths, the public face of the mission. The other was the Overseas Director, Denis Lane, who was responsible for its daily running. He was the man who turned vision into reality.

Born in Worthing, in 1949 he graduated from London University with a Law degree. The next year he started training for CofE ministry at Oak Hill. The Vice-Principal at the time was Alan Stibbs, who had served with OMF’s predecessor, China Inland Mission. Denis then went to a curacy in Deptford while completing the London University BD. A second curacy followed in Cambridge before, in 1960, with his wife June, he joined CIM/OMF to serve in Malaya. Isabel Kuhn’s book Ascent to the Tribes was instrumental in leading them to this ministry. They went with their young son and spent six years in the South Perak district.