Born in 1962 in Ghana, where my dad was working for Star beer, we relocated to Whickham, near Newcastle-upon-Tyne when I was 3 and then moved to Hitchin, Hertfordshire on my 7th birthday. At age 11 I started attending confirmation classes at the local CofE and was confirmed in the Autumn.
I began praying for my parents, neither of whom was a Christian and very soon they had given their lives to Jesus. My younger brother made a decision for Christ a couple of years after that and my elder brother a couple of year further on. I gained a degree in Theology and Religious Studies at Leeds University and then spent a year in south Texas as a Chaplain’s assistant in a Missions to Seamen Centre. God then called me back to the UK and in Autumn 1984 I joined my father’s business, Rand Rocket, as a Product Manager.
I met Karen, introduced by a mutual friend, in November 1986, proposed that day (in jest), but we did start going out together in December, I proposed for real in March ’87 and we married July 4th that year. The following year we had to relocate the business for financial reasons to Consett, Co. Durham and shortly after we moved into our house in Rowlands Gill.
We joined the local Methodist church, became youth group leaders and were very involved in the church. In February 1994 the Lord called me to take over from my father as MD of the company and in November that year I was licensed as a Methodist Local Preacher. We were very impacted by the Holy Spirit outpouring that began in August that year in Sunderland and following that began a monthly ministry service in our local church. In January 2000 the Lord called Karen & I to take over the leadership of the Healing Centre from my parents, even though we were not involved with it at the time. So we joined the team for a year and in early 2001 were appointed as Directors in my parents’ place. Also in 2000 we moved out of the Methodist church and started being a small group church, Cell, meeting in each other’s homes. Lucy was born in February 2003 and has been a constant delight and joy to us. In 2009 the Centre relocated to W. Denton URC.
In 2014 I was appointed to the Council of Reference for S.O.L. In 2015 the Lord called us to leave Cell and join Sanctuary Church in Whitley Bay and in 2021 the Lord called me to the role of Senior Leader there. In January 2024 I retired from business and am looking at what the next season holds for me and Karen together. It is a constant amazement to me to be blessed with a very diverse mix of roles: a local church, being a Director at the Healing Centre, being husband to a beautiful wife, father to an amazing daughter! My passions are equally diverse – leading worship, preaching and teaching, travelling and developing others to be all that they can be – and I get to exercise all of them frequently.
What a mighty, loving God we have.