I was born shortly before World War II, in Victoria, BC, Canada. My father was in the Canadian Navy, and was away most of the time, especially once the war started. I can never remember having a father and mother together in the home. After the war my parents divorced, and my father was given custody of my two older sisters and myself. At the end of 1947 he took all three of us to Wales, from where he had come. I would not see my mother again for over 26 years.
In 1956 I joined the British Army, and in 1957 was sent to Cyprus. It was here that I first heard the gospel. I was in Karaolos Camp for over two years. In this camp the MMG (Mission to Mediterranean Garrisons) had a canteen where one could buy food and sit around reading magazines. On Sundays the canteen was closed, and a gospel service was conducted there instead. Eventually someone prevailed on me to attend one of these gospel services. I don’t recall anything that was said, but afterwards we had "tea." This was certainly more enjoyable than anything I could get at the army canteen, so I started attending the gospel meetings regularly. On a Monday evening a Bible study was held in a small trailer, next to the canteen. I never attended these Bible studies, but often went past the trailer on the way to the canteen. One Monday evening, as I was passing the trailer, I noticed a young Irish soldier sitting in the trailer. He had only recently come to the camp, but was already attending the Bible studies. So I felt shamed into going to the Bible studies as well. At the time they were studying John’s Gospel. Little by little the truth of the gospel sank in. One Monday evening, when I would normally be attending the Bible studies, I was put on guard, and in the early hours of Tuesday morning in September 1958, in a radar compound, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, I got down on my knees, and trusted Christ as my Saviour. Although I actually understood very little at the time, a joy filled my heart at that moment that has never really left me.
In June 1959 I returned home to the UK, and was shortly thereafter demobilised. I returned to Treorchy, in South Wales, where I had been brought up, and returned to a little denominational church that I had joined not long before joining the army. I went there for three consecutive Sundays, and never heard the gospel. So I wrote the church elders a letter, explaining that I was leaving because the gospel was not preached. During the course of that week I had a light meal in a little café. As I bowed to give thanks, I was observed by an older man, who came over and asked if he could sit with me. I soon discovered that he was a Christian, and that he attended the local Gospel Hall. I had come across "Brethren" (as some call them) in the army, and was very attracted by their practices. That Saturday evening a missionary from Cyprus was going to give a report of his work. I had actually met the man in Cyprus. So I went to the meeting that evening, and from then on never went anywhere else. In August that year I was baptised, and very quickly was received into the assembly. The assembly in Treorchy was very small (and still is), but the believers knew why they were where they were, and were very well taught in the Scriptures. I owe a great deal to what they taught me (and especially Mr. Eddie Griffiths) in those early days.
Much could be said about the intervening years, but space will not permit. In March of 1974 I moved, with my wife, Elizabeth, and our three young children, to British Columbia, from whence I had come. I had been exercised about the work of the Lord since I had been saved for about three years. There were times when I thought I was ready to go into the work, but my brethren felt otherwise. I believed in being subject to the overseers of the assembly, so I submitted to their judgment. It was not until I had been saved seventeen years that the Lord opened the door. No doubt there were lessons I had to learn that would stand me in good stead in the future. When we came to Canada I found work in Abbotsford, BC, and we were received into the assembly there. But the following year I found myself unemployed due to the state of the economy at the time. Elizabeth suggested that I speak to the brethren in Abbotsford about my exercise for the Lord’s work. When I expressed my exercise to them they were happy for me to do the Lord’s work, and to give me a letter expressing their approval, but that I was "on my own charges," due to only having been in the assembly just over a year.
We lived in Abbotsford, BC, for 20 months, eventually moving to Kamloops in December 1975. While in the UK I had noticed this place on the map and that there was no assembly there. We had moved to Kamloops with a view to seeing souls saved and an assembly planted. At first the work was very discouraging. In our first nine months in the city I had had many children’s meetings, home Bible studies, a Saturday evening gospel meeting, which was advertised in the local paper, and nine weeks of tent meetings. But we could not speak of a single soul that had trusted Christ, or that was even showing some interest in the gospel. I was asked by a sister in Westbank, where we were then in fellowship, if we were intending to return to Abbotsford. I said, "No, I believe that God has work for us in Kamloops." Shortly after we saw our first soul saved. Then two weeks later another soul was saved (the husband of the first). At the time I had spoken to the sister in Westbank I didn’t even know that these folk existed. Shortly after we saw others saved, and in March 1977 I had the joy of baptising eight believers. In August 1977 ten of us gathered together in our home to remember the Lord for the first time.
It was at this time that I approached the brethren at Westbank about the possibility of receiving a letter commending me to the work of the Lord. They gave their full consent, and shortly thereafter I received a letter of commendation to the work of the Lord. Since coming to Russia I have also received a letter confirming my fitness for the Lord’s work from the assembly in Kamloops.
There are presently 32 believers in the assembly in Kamloops. Again, a great deal could be said about how the Lord enabled us to build our own Hall, with support from many sources, without ever making our needs known to men. By the time the Hall was completed in April 1979 we didn’t owe a penny on it. Praise God!
During the years that followed, I at first spent most of my time trying to build up the little work in Kamloops, but then gradually spent less and less time there, in order for the saints to get used to doing without me. For years I travelled around Canada and the United States, mostly in the west, seeking to teach the Word of God in the various assemblies. I developed the conviction that I should restrict my movements, in order to maximise my usefulness. So I started spending most of my time in BC and the State of Washington. In 1996 I was attending the Easter Conference in Vancouver. During one of the intervals I met the late George Osachoff who asked me If I would go to Siberia with him. After some thought and prayer, and a conversation with Jim Currie of Japan, I decided to go with him. The opportunity did not come until April 1997. George and I spent a month with the little assembly in Surgut, in northern Siberia. I very much enjoyed the time, speaking for the whole month on New Testament Church Principles. However, when we left I still did not know what the future held for me as far as Russia was concerned. The following year I went again, with Louis Smith, of Jackson, MI. This visit was for seven weeks, the first two being spent in Ukraine. Then most of our time was spent in Severouralsk and Volchansk in the Ural mountains. As we were leaving Severouralsk, a number of the believers came to see us off at the railway station. Their expressions of affection changed my life, and I knew that Russia was where the Lord would have me be.
Since 1999 my wife, Elizabeth, has travelled twice a year with me to Ekaterinburg, where we spend most of our time and where we rent an apartment all year round. We have been coming here for three to ten months at a time. At 62 years of age I am trying to learn a foreign language. My interpreter is also my tutor. By the grace of God I want at least another 20 years to serve Him in this land. There is no assembly in Ekaterinburg, a city of 1.5 million souls, but there is a little group of believers I am seeking to teach. Also from September to May I have the privilege of teaching the Bible in two schools, to 6 or 7 grades of children, in the nearby town of Pishma. I also take charity money to three institutions in Pishma (shortly also to one in Ekaterinburg). This has opened doors for the gospel in this area. My wife and I have a close affection with two blind teenage girls from the School For the Sight-Impaired in Pishma. We look to the Lord to see these dear young ladies saved. Please pray that the Lord will completely open the door to Russia, and that we will have complete freedom to preach the gospel and teach the truth of God.
I might add that I saw my father saved when he was 68 years of age, and my mother was saved three months before her 90th birthday, 12 days before she died.