With mixed emotions we bid farewell to two dear colleagues who have become our friends, but we also have the huge privilege of welcoming two more to our team. We know those who leave and those who come are not alone and that the Lord goes before them all. We will continue to hold them up in prayer.
Farewell to…Daniel Whetham, who has sensitively fulfilled the role of Regional Developer for Northwest England for the last 4 years. Based out of Manchester Daniel made new church contacts in this time and has also written many articles for our website which have always been current, witty, helpful and easily accessible to a wide audience.
A highlight for Daniel he says was “finding a group of people who combined three rare elements – integrity, professionalism and the sharing of the gospel in everyday life with easiness and understanding yet at the same time each team member was so different from the rest”. When asked for a ‘takeaway’ from working with the team he said it was hard to choose just one. He says that a real blessing has been the joy of seeing English classes started in all sorts of churches from large wealthy ones to poorly attended ones in gritty urban environments.
Going forwards Daniel will continue teaching English in church-based classes. Some of his time will also now be returned to Interserve from where he was seconded to work for 2:19. He will be heading up Interserve GB & Ireland’s Vision Studies Committee welcoming and supporting mission partners. Daniel is also hoping to pursue a post-graduate diploma in Transformation Development and Justice, his focus being how we can use teaching to bring about justice.
And also farewell to… Jonathan Norgate, who has been our Resources and Materials Developer for almost 6 years working with the team on Start to Speak, So Lord, Speak 2 and Utter Wisdom. He recently submitted a resource created specifically for the Animation videos which we are hoping to launch at our Forum this October.
Jonathan’s highlights have to be the annual Christmas party and all the Forums he has been a part of. He has absolutely loved being with the team in person on both occasions and specially working together for the Forum. When asked what he has learned or wants to take away from his time here he shared something quite personal. He spoke about how God was so gracious to him and provided an open door to work with 2:19 at a very difficult transition time for him and his family after living and working abroad for many years. He feels he has also learned so much from the team and about how they share the gospel and reach out with ESL. The Forum has taught him much too from speakers to delegates all teaching and sharing Christ in different contexts.
Jonathan’s plans going forward are to expand his role at Crosslands Training where he has also been working part-time. His responsibility is to teach Christian Doctrine and to lead Cross-Cultural Ministry Training. Jonathan will still be keeping one foot in the 2:19 boat and will soon be voluntarily heading up a Writing Team to create new resources in the future.
Welcome to…Gav Delapp who is now running our Comms & Marketing and who has been in this role for the past few months. Gav is born and bred in vibrant, multicultural Birmingham where he lives with his wife, Becky. He has a background in Office Management and Marketing. Read more about Gav here.
Welcome to…Stu Ward based in Birmingham who is taking on the role of ‘Midlands Resource and Hub Developer’ hoping to start this month. Stu is Missions Pastor at Grace Church Stirchley in Birmingham and will be working with 2:19 one day a week. Click here to read more about Stu.