Family & Friends

This is a picture of my late wife Dorothy just before we were married. Dorothy was born in Wigan, Lancs in January 1941, and was educated at Wigan Grammar School for Girls. She worked in a library from leaving school, and was there until shortly before we got married in 1976.We met in Birkenhead in 1975, when she was attending a convention meeting in my church in Birkenhead. Dorothy sadly, after a year of illness and five hospital admissions eventually went to be with the Lord on 14th December 2011. Please see my tribute to her.

This is a picture of my mum and dad. They were very good parents and I have very happy memories of both of them. My dad was very musical and was in fact a semi-professional musician playing the double bass in a dance band. He taught me to play the piano when I was about 8 years of age and when I was about 14 years of old he took me to an Army Band (TA) where I started playing the French Horn. We were very close and I was devastated when he died in 1987. My mum lived to a good age and was in fact living on her own until she was 91 years of age. She had a fall when in hospital and was not fit to return home after that so she came to live with us for the last 3 ½ years of her life. She used to love meeting people and going out in the car and I used to take her to Parkgate in the Wirral nearly every week, where she would love to watch people walking past and she would often wave to any children passing by. She died in 2004 aged 95 years of age. She was not only my mother but was also a good friend as was my father and I still miss them both.

This is Dorothy's parents Charles and Hetty Swift. Many people have problems with their in-laws but that certainly wasn't the case with me. They were very easy to get on with. Charlie didn't enjoy particularly good health and he died in 1979 when 75 years of age. Hetty lived on her own for the following year but didn't cope very well so she sold her house and we together bought a large 4 bed roomed house where she could live semi-independently. She lived with us for 18 years. During the last year or so of her life we had to give her a fair degree of care and she lived to be 91 years of age in 1999. Dorothy was an only child. Hetty had a sister who lived until she was 99 years 11 months.

Christine Barlow

I worked with Christine for a number of years at Wirral Christian Centre in Leasowe. She left there in 1993 to go and live in Scotland but then moved to Grays in Essex to look after her sick father who subsequently died. She has two children Kate and Andrew and now lives with Kate and her husband, and has two grandchildren.

Magnus Brand

I have known Magnus for many years but a number of years ago began to be associated with him after he started distributing my booklet "Liverpool Gripped by Revival" and I think that he was responsible for distributing this more widely than anyone else. For a number of years we attended the Merseyside Day of Prayer for Revival run by Bill Rodway and we occasionally meet up together. He used to run a School for Evangelism in Liverpool and there is no doubt that his gifting is mainly in the area of evangelism. He is married to Margaret and they live in Noctorum in the Wirral.

Sylvia Brown

We first met Sylvia about 20 years ago, when she helped us in a house group that I took at WCC in Leasowe. Sylvia has spoken on a number of occasions on a Christian radio station, and has also written a book on the Song of Solomon which has been distributed in a number of countries in the world. I occasionally meet up with her when I attend her church in Ellesmere Port in Cheshire. Sylvia is the lady standing on the far right in this photo of the house group in Leasowe.

Gustaf & Ruth DuPlessis

We met Gustaf and Ruth at our church in Bootle and during our time there realised that we had a lot in common and thought very alike on a number of issues. After a while they left the church to go to another one in Liverpool, but we kept in regular touch and sometimes pray together. It is a great privilege to pray with them because they are so fervent and sincere when they pray. It is clear that the hand of God is on their lives and that he will one day use them in a great way. They do feel that they have a call to serve him in a North African country in the future. Ruth is a nurse and presently works as a health visitor in Bootle, but she has also obtained a Masters Degree in public hygiene. Gustaf is from South Africa, which is where they met, whilst Ruth was working there some years ago. He already has a degree from a South African Theological College, a Master's degree, and is presently studying for a Doctor of Ministries Degree at the Assembly of God Bible College in this country. He has a good preaching ministry.

Naoyuke & Itsuko Hagiwara

We first met Itsuko as far back as 1978 when she was a young single girl. She studied English at Tokyo University in Japan.. Is now married to Naoyuki a lecturer in French at Okayama University, and they have 3 children. We stayed with them in Paris where they were based for one year.

Phil & Linda Hoyle

We have been close friends of Phil and Linda nearly all our Christian life. They both went to the Assemblies of God Bible College, and have served the Lord in a number of different capacities over the years. They have a real love of the Lake District and now live there in Millam.

Naho Kuwano

Naho came to work in Birkenhead a couple of years ago and was working for Christians who attended WCC. With our interest in Japan we got to know her, and took her on a couple of occasions to a bi-lingual Japanese service in Stockport where this photograph was taken. She is not yet a Christian but she certainly heard the gospel during the year she was with us.

Akemi Matsuda and Naomi Shinda

This photograph was taken in our house. Akemi on the left and Naomi the far right. Akemi attends the church where Eiji Yonemura is the pastor in Kyushu Island, Japan, and works in a leprosarium. Naomi is not yet a Christian, but we trust is not far from the kingdom of God.

Sylvia Muir

Sylvia is a Canadian and lives somewhere near Niagara Falls. She used to live and work in Baffin Island amongst the Eskimos. She is an e-mail enthusiast, and once sent us 4 e-mails in one day. She comes from a very strong Christian family and has a sister who is a missionary in Kenya. She is pictured here in Chester, not far from where we live. She is married to Jason.

Paudge & Emer Mulvihill

Paudge & Emer work for the Lord in Eire in an independent Pentecostal church in Westport, Co. Mayo, and are wholly committed to the work of the Lord. They have a great sense of humour. Before she married Emer worked as my secretary at Wirral Christian Centre. They have 2 lovely children Hannah and Andrew.

Margaret Mwakio

We have known Margaret for about 7 years since she came to Wirral Christian Centre, having come to this country from Kenya to work as a nurse. She is a very spiritual person and it has been a joy to have fellowship with her. What is particularly inspiring is that she has been part of a revival that has taken place in Kenya, and we loved to hear from her what God has done in that land. At first she came on her own and then her 2 sons followed a couple of years later. After that her husband Dominic came here and after that their daughter Flora who went to the Elim Bible College They have one other daughter who is still in Kenya. Margaret is on the right.

Soichi and Elsa Nakamura

The Nakamuras live in Colorado Springs in USA. Soichi is Japanese and Elsa is Mexican. They have lovely children and Megumi their daughter (on the left) often corresponded with me by e-mail. She is one of the nicest young people I have ever met. She is now married and lives in Edinburgh and studying for a doctorate.

Sandra O’Grady

Sandra was the wife of the late Tom O’Grady, Dorothy’s pastor for a number of years, before we got married, and she was the matron of honour at our wedding. She now lives in Ballyclare, Northern Ireland. She is a real woman of God whom we have a great respect for. She has some amazing testimonies, and she is considering writing a book about them.

Richard & Rachel Parkhouse

It was a privilege come into contact with Richard & Rachel and have been blessed by our fellowship with them. I have done a separate section on their ministry because I think that it is an important one for our country today, and in particular for Wales. Please refer to "Richard & Rachel Parkhouse & The 1904 Welsh Revival"

Phil & Mary Smith

A very mature Christian couple who I think have been Christians for as long as I have. Phil is an accomplished pianist, who has the same music qualification as I do from the London College of Music, and Mary I think of as a ‘mother in Israel’ They have spent 3 weeks in Israel and they have a real interest in the work amongst the Jews.

Sue Thornley

Sue is truly ‘one of a kind,’ but one of the most genuine people I have ever met. We befriended her in 1982 when she was going through a difficult time. Shortly afterwards she met Steve, an executive with a computer software company, and they were married the following year. She has a really good ministry with children, and, along with myself, was interviewed on the BBC Songs of Praise by Martin Bashir (the man who interviewed Princess Diana). Steve is now retired and they spend most of their time now in Conway.

Godspower and Mary Ugboh

Godspower and Mary live in Lagos in Nigeria. I came into contact with Godspower in 2003.. He is a son of a retired minister there and at the time of his birth God showed his parents that He was going to use him in a powerful way in later life and that is why they gave him that name. His mother was sadly killed in a road accident when he was a teenager. We formed together an organisation called All Africa Outreach Ministry, which is registered in Nigeria. He has preached in a number of churches in Nigeria and now has a Doctor of Ministries degree with a College in America. The have four children, the first being named Dorothy after my wife and the second Geoffrey after myself. Since 2015 Godspower has been ministering in USA and is presently in Oklahoma with all his family.

Bill & Anne Vell

Dorothy has known Anne since she was a teenager and was a bridesmaid at her wedding when she married Bill. Bill became a pastor of an Assembly of God church but is now retired and they live on the outskirts of Bolton. She was out of touch with Anne for many years but we received an invitation to their ruby wedding anniversary about seven years ago and we have been in regular touch every since. They have recently come to live in Cheshire to be near their family.

Glynn & Janet Williams

Janet has been a very close friend for many years. We worked together for 13 years full time at Wirral Christian Centre, and for 5 years with my last employer, and we think remarkably alike. We used to commence each day before work with another friend with prayer and study of the Word, which God really blessed. Janet joins with us now in praying for the suffering church. This photograph taken with Glyn at Pistyll Rhaeder in North Wales, the highest waterfall in England and Wales.

Eiji & Satchico Yonemura

Have known Eiji since 1968. He is the pastor of a fairly large church in Kyushu Island in Japan, which Paul Epton and myself visited in 1994. His church has been featured on Japanese television. They both speak excellent English, and Sachiko used to be an interpreter to a missionary. This photograph was taken in 1989 in the Residential Home at WCC when they visited an old friend of ours Violet Johnstone then aged 93 years. I met up with them in the Lake District in the summer 2018 together with their daughter Maki and her family from the USA.