Here are six different international mission organisations that Goring Free Church partners with:
Wycliffe Bible Translators
Carl and Joy Follingstad
Carl and Joy have worked with Wycliffe Bible Translators since 1985. They initially worked with the Tyap people of North-Central Nigeria to develop their unwritten language and helped them complete the Tyap NT which was dedicated in 2015. They now travel to East Africa where Carl consults with speakers of a large language group to help them produce quality Bible translation in their language. Joy assists the work in various ways administratively, and is developing capacity as a certified coach.
They have three children, Rachel (1989), David (1991) and Rebekah (1994) who live and work in Texas. Carl and Joy attended Goring Free Church from 1994 – 97 while Carl was doing further studies.
Gary and Kris Caffo
Gary and Kris have been members of Wycliffe Bible Translators since 1985, serving in an administrative support capacity. They’ve worked in Kenya, England and are now based in Texas where they provide support for teams in the Eurasia Area.
Gary is partially retired but still serves as a support to the Finance Co-ordinator and Project Funding Manager. It was a privilege to have them worshipping here with us at Goring Free Church for seven years while they were based at the Wycliffe Centre, High Wycombe.
Uche and Marianne Aaron
Uche and Marianne joined the Nigeria Bible Translation Trust (NBTT), a Nigerian Wycliffe organization, in 1983, and were sent to work on Obolo language as Project Advisors. They completed the New Testament in 1991. From 1995 to 2006, Marianne was a Literacy Coordinator and Literacy Consultant at NBTT. Uche was Translation Coordinator as well as Field Projects Coordinator from 1995 to 1999, and Director of NBTT from 2000 to 2002. He became a Translation Consultant from 1989, a Linguistic Consultant in 1995, SIL International Translation Consultant 1996-2011, and SIL Senior Translation Consultant since 2012.
Both Marianne and Uche retired from NBTT in 2006, and went back to Obolo to complete the Old Testament, and the whole Obolo Bible was dedicated on 24 May 2014. From 2014, Uche joined the Seed Company, and is now checking Old Testament translation in Bekwarra, Ekajuk, and Lokaa languages, and New Testament in Ibani language, under the Seed Company. He is also involved in consultant training and mentorship. Having completed her PhD study program in Bilingual Education at the University of Reading in the UK, Marianne is back in Nigeria in charge of the Obolo Literacy project, and Obolo Bilingual Education program. She has also been helping in the Literacy aspect of the Bekwarra project.
Uche and Marianne have five foster children whom they brought up. These are Ekonyi Dienye (special education teacher, with two children), Igbemi Arthur (medical doctor, with three children), Akama Arthur (petrochemical engineer, with two children), Dorah Gwunireama (zoologist, with three children), and Uche Bassey Aaron (computer science graduate).
WEC International
Tim and Fiona Fung
Tim and Fiona are with WEC. They spent 8 years serving in Chad, Africa before moving to Normandy, France. They have three adult daughters: Jasmine, Danielle and Caroni who are now all based in the UK.
They are part of a WEC ministry called ARTS RELEASE* (formally Resonance). They have set up Arts Release France to engage and reach the francophone world with this ministry.
*ARTS RELEASE is a collective of creative arts specialists who love Jesus and people of other cultures. They enjoy expressing God’s love through various art forms, focusing on the arts that have the greatest resonance (or ‘ring true’) for particular individuals and groups. This usually reflects the cultures and societies where they were raised. They engage with the arts in various ways: Outreach projects / Discipleship and healing / Training and mobilising / Creative activity / The worship of Jesus. https://artsrelease.org
In Normandy they work with “La Source”, a Baptist church in Lisieux which has a vision to help resource and encourage churches and new congregations in the Normandy region. They help oversee the running and pastoring of the Lisieux church as part of the leadership team.
Fiona’s ministries
Fiona organises the children’s work at the church, and creative events for teaching, discipling and evangelism and occasionally preaches. She has been able to develop her artistic gifts, painting and using art to provoke opportunities to share her faith. She is exploring the role of art in the church, as worship and for healing. Together with ARTS RELEASE colleagues, she has helped organise and contribute works to international arts exhibitions.
Tim’s ministries
Tim is involved with running the Café Association on a large council housing estate. It is the church’s daily outreach project. The Association runs activities for the community such as homework help, English clubs, kids craft times and computing for senior citizens. It provides an oasis for families, single mothers and the elderly.
Tim leads worship at the church and trains others and youth in worship. He does song-writing and multicultural music workshops in various francophone countries for releasing heart worship through expressions that most profoundly represent the diversity of God’s people. He uses multicultural music for outreach and deepening true fellowship within the church community.
SIM (Serving in Mission)
Tim and Tricia Barrow
Tim and Tricia have been missionaries with AEF and SIM serving for fourteen years in Zimbabwe, and more recently for eleven years in South Africa, during which time Tim served as Regional Director for the SIM Region of Southern Africa and Tricia worked with vulnerable children and families in Alexandria Township.
Early 2016 the Barrows returned to the UK as application for extension of their work permit was refused. Presently Tim coordinates the new SIM UK ENGAGE program which seeks to place overseas gospel workers in UK churches in order to help resource the church to reach surrounding international communities for Christ. Tricia has a consultative role assisting SIM with child-safety matters. She is also working as a nurse.
Tim and Tricia have four adult children; Michael, Ben, Sacha and Gabby. They reside in both the UK and the US and are at various stages of employment.
UFM Worldwide
Paul and Susie Chatfield
Paul and Susie Chatfield are currently based at the International Church of Torino (Turin), Italy where Paul is copastor. He is particularly interested in linking together the psychological, spiritual and academic worlds. He speaks in Italian or English and has a passion for interacting with those outside the church as well, showing how faith in God makes sense.
Susie, after their marriage in 2024, is currently learning the Italian language and caring for people inside and around the church too.
International Mission to Jewish People (IMJP)
IMJP is a UK-based interdenominational evangelistic society committed to sharing the Good News of Jesus the Messiah with the Jewish people. Like the apostle Paul, we reason from the Hebrew Scriptures to demonstrate and prove that the Messiah must suffer and rise from the dead and that Jesus is the Messiah, the Saviour of the world promised through the ancient Jewish prophets. We believe that to preach the Good News of Jesus to everyone but the Jews is an act of spiritual anti-Semitism.
Sierra Leone Mission
Why Sierra Leone?
The Countess of Huntingdon, Lady Selina Shirley, was part of the 18th Century Evangelical Revival which gave birth to Methodism, and giving up her entire fortune she raised money to pay for ministers to preach the gospel, mainly in England and Wales. She also sent ministers to the United States where they came into contact with Negro slaves, who were converted to Christianity, and after helping the British fight in the American War of Independence, were promised their freedom.
After an unsuccessful attempt at settling them in cold, inhospitable Nova Scotia, the British Government agreed to give them passage to West Africa, where some 1196 of them landed in what is now Freetown, on March 28th 1792.
About half of them were ‘Huntingdonians’ and they kept the name of the church to which the ministers who had preached to them belonged. The English church was totally unaware of their existence for some years. Eventually a link was established, with the formation of the Sierra Leone Mission, and has been maintained in various ways ever since.
The Huntingdon Churches in Sierra Leone celebrated their bicentenary in 1992 with a procession through the streets of Freetown followed by a rally and many other celebrations.
The Connexional Churches are primarily in the Freetown Peninsula. There are now about 25 churches in total but this number is constantly increasing, particularly in the rural area between Magbafti and Mabang.