Profile

Friends of Cyprus and the Gulf have often shared with me how much their time spent in the Middle East has strengthened their Faith. Being a Christian living among Muslims is a privilege and we are called to witness to our Lord in the way we live our lives.

For me the experience began in 1974, the hot summer of the Turkish intervention in Cyprus. In the Spring of that year my wife Jenny and I took a big step into the unknown when I accepted a job as Technical Director of a Turkish company to set up a new factory to manufacture hydraulics. The Turkish government had incentives to move industry away from the city; our factory was to be built in a newly created industrial zone centred on the small village of Cerkezkoy, 120km out of Istanbul, much of it on unmade roads. Why, we asked, don't we locate alongside other similar factories on the Izmit peninsula near the amenities and comforts of Istanbul? In 1999 Izmit was the centre of the tragic earthquake destroying homes and factories and killing thousands.

New Turkish friends drew us into their warm family circle. We learnt respect for their Turkish customs and Muslim culture and they accepted that our Christian faith was important to us. Every Sunday we travelled into St Helena's, situated in the garden of the Istanbul Consulate, for a time of worship and fellowship. Our numbers were small and there were not many tourists in those days. We never felt any intimidation but, at some services, we had the plain-clothes police at the back of the church. Jenny played the organ pumped by hand by our Turkish caretaker who often had a quick puff behind the screen!

I grew up on the South coast of England where our family home above the Chemist shop backed on to Romsey Abbey. The Abbey was the centre of my life, with youth group, confirmation classes, bell ringing and serving at the altar. It was my job to put up the flag on high days and holy days before going to school. I met Jenny in the sixth form and, yes, our first date was up the Abbey tower to take the flag down!

We left home as students in the 60's but it seemed natural to return to the Abbey for our wedding. Our first home was in the north Somerset countryside. I was completing my first degree and PhD with Jenny supporting me in her first teaching job in Bristol.

My career in engineering started with Cessna, in Glenrothes on the East coast of Scotland. We found worship at the Kirk a little severe and when we moved to a house on the sea shore we found out the weather was severe too! After two years there the opportunity arose that set us off on our adventure setting up the new Turkish manufacturing company. We returned to UK in 1977, moving to Bolton where I joined Edbro plc as Engineering Director, moving to sales and ending up as MD. Each year we would return to Turkey on holiday, but in spring 1987 we were seeking early sunshine and heard about Turkish North Cyprus. We spent a holiday enjoying the beauty, peace and people of the Island. The congregation at St Andrew's gave us a warm welcome and we were fortunate to hear the late Canon Arthur Ryder preach before he fully retired.

We began to visit Kibris more and more each year, usually at Christmas and Easter, and our links with St Andrew's grew and we were blessed with Chaplains who guided us through our Christian life.

I left Edbro in 1998 and my Turkish colleagues asked us to rejoin them. Our Turkish Company has grown rapidly and is a world class manufacturing operation with 2,500 employees and blue chip customers around the world. Travelling between UK, Turkey and Kibris we decided to sell our UK house and moved to an apartment in Cheltenham where we now worship at Christ Church. So with St Andrew's as well we are blessed with two fellowships.

After Mike and Pat Stokes returned to the UK, they encouraged us to attend the annual meeting of The Friends at All Hallows by the Tower, and the following year to join the Spring reunion at Pilgrim Hall. This will be our fifth reunion and Pilgrim Hall has become a special time for us each year. I was asked to join the committee of The Friends and will endeavour to encourage others to join and share our very special fellowship.