Staff Profiles

General Director

Rev Derek Maxwell
Tel. 028 9261 1874

Derek pastored two congregations in Northern Ireland before joining the mission staff in 2002. He served as Regional Representative in Northern Ireland, until his appointment in 2004 as Field Director. With his appointment as General Director in 2009, Derek is focused on maintaining the mission’s Biblical ethos and vision of reaching Slavic nations with the Gospel. He is also engaged in extensive deputation work throughout Northern Ireland and other parts of the British Isles. He continues to exercise a wider ministry of preaching and lecturing throughout Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Derek is married to Carole and they have two teenage children, Julie-Anne and James.

Director of Field Ministeries

Pastor John Birnie
Tel. 028 8775 3690

A former secondary school-teacher, John entered ministry with the Association of Irish Baptist Churches in 1974 as an evangelist and church planter. This was followed by some years of pastoral ministry before he became Director of Studies and Lecturer in Pastoral Theology and Missiology at the Irish Baptist College. John joined the staff of SGA in 2007 and currently serves as Director of Field Ministries. He is married to Dorothy and they have four sons and one daughter, all married. To date they have nine grandchildren.

Regional Coordinator for UK and Ireland

Mr Philip Nicholls
Tel. 01606 79529

Philip is married to Mary and has two grown up daughters and a grand-daughter. He was brought up in a Christian home in West Bromwich, West Midlands. He became a Christian at the age of 16 at a church in Birmingham where he met his wife Mary. Philip worked in the West Midlands for 34 years as an engineer and served his local church in the Dudley area as missionary secretary, treasurer and church secretary. In 1994 Philip was involved with a church plant and became an elder and was also a lay preacher in the locality. Philip began working with SGA in 2002 and relocated to Northwich. He now represents the mission in North Wales & the North of England.

Field Representative

Rev Bill Patterson
Tel. 01455 450363

Bill is a native of Northern Ireland and sensed the call of God to the ministry when he was twenty.  After a period of study he began a pastoral ministry of almost 40 years duration, primarily in London and the Midlands. He has been travelling into Central & Eastern Europe and Kazakhstan carrying out Bible teaching for 18 years, while continuing to exercise a pastoral ministry for thirteen of those years. He served on the Council of SGA for 10 years before joining the staff 5 years ago as a Bible teacher, and representative of the Mission in the Midlands area.

Communications Coordinator

Pastor Mark Foster
Tel. 0151 334 9841

Mark is married to Margaret and they have 3 children, Sarah, Joshua and Joel. After university and employment in the construction industry for a number of years, he undertook theological studies for pastoral ministry. During this time he commenced ministry in a church on the Wirral where, after graduation, he was appointed pastor. He joined SGA in 2009.  His responsibilities now include overseeing the mission’s publications, preaching and lecturing throughout Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and representing SGA in North West England and North Wales.

Field Representative

Rev Chris Menzfeld
Tel. 01823 680040

Chris had a Roman Catholic upbringing owing to the fact that his father was Polish. He travelled to Eastern Europe many times, especially during the early days of communism, and remembers the border crossings and ‘Cold War’ atmosphere that gripped the east. Conversion came in his late teens, when he was greatly affected by the love of God’s people, as well as the winsome and effective preaching of the Revd. Frank Goodwin.

After training in electrical engineering, he joined the family business in 1982. He received a call from the Lord to preach, and after training at the London Theological Seminary, went as Pastor to Hitcham Free Church in 1994. He ministered there until joining SGA in 2009. Today Chris travels to Eastern Europe to teach, and represents the Mission in South West England.

Office Manager

Derek Slark
Tel. 01323 725583

Derek has been employed as Manager in the SGA Office since February 2002. Previously, he worked for many years in an administrative role at the Royal Mint in South Wales. Derek is married to Liz and they have a son, daughter and four grandchildren.

Admin Assistant

Anne Northfield
Tel. 01323 725583

Anne works in the Eastbourne office. The main part of her work is administering and producing the Mission accounts. She also handles financial support coming to SGA by way of standing orders, vouchers and on-line.  She loves her job, including talking to many of SGA’s supporters.

She has lived in Eastbourne for most of her life, but her family were originally from London. Eastbourne is a beautiful part of the country in which to live. In her spare time she enjoys gardening and looking after her oriental cats.

Part Time Admin Assistant

Pauline Francis
Tel. 01323 725583

Pauline spent her schooldays in London and then completed a Secretarial Course in Eastbourne. In 1967 she married David and later had two children. She ran a Christian Guest House for seven years, after which she was asked to join the SGA office staff in 1987. There she stayed and was Office Manager for several years, before retirement in 2003. After 18 months she was asked to return on a part-time basis.