Missionaries

Donnie and Julia Smith
Donnie and Julia Smith have served the Church in Peru for over thirty years. Donnie is currently the Principal of the Lima Evangelical Seminary and professor for their Masters of Theology programme. He holds a doctorate in Theological Education from the Seminario Teológico Centroamericano (SETECA). Julia helps to look after the resident students at the Seminary.

David and Olwen Ford
Work in the Bible Seminary, Medellín, Colombia.

David teaches New Testament,  Hermeneutics and Church History.  And he also runs a theological resources website, which is used throughout the Spanish-speaking world.  His aim is to train Spanish pastors and church leaders, as well as providing materials for use during their ministry.

Olwen has organized a sewing workshop, which teaches skills, provides income and has an evangelistic aspect. It is used by local women around the Seminary, as well as those based within it.

Manuel and Patty Reano
Manuel and Patricia Reaño have been in Medellín, Colombia, for almost 11 years now. Manuel has been the Principal at Fundación Universitaria Seminario Bíblico de Colombia for the last 5 years and is immersed in a very demanding process of getting to develop as a university, without losing its scope as a seminary.  Patricia pioneered the Department of Students’ Services at the Seminary, as well as its children’s library, and lately, has started a project with a local church in a very depressed area of the city called ‘El Pacífico’, where she provides family therapy services.

Manuel and Patty have three children, Catalina, Cristina and Benjamin.  Catalina is studying Social Communications and Journalism in Medellín, Cristina will leave soon to read Law in Bogota and Benji is still at school.

Clive and Ruth Bailey
Clive and Ruth have come from the Ayr congregation of the Free Church to work in Colegio San Andrés, Lima, Perú.

Colegio San Andrés is a mixed nursery, primary and secondary school, right in the heart of Lima, offering a solid Christian education to Peruvian children from the age of 3 to 17.

Clive is the Headteacher, and identifies these priorities and prayer points for the School’s vision for the future: Developing our Christian testimony; raising our academic standards; administrative and financial stability.

Ruth’s ministry in the school is in offering individual tuition in English to those pupils who are finding the going tough, and in the home , it is in looking after our many visitors.

Alistair and Jenny Wilson
Alistair and Jenny Wilson, with their three children, Rachel, Bethany and Stephen, moved to King William’s Town in South Africa in 2005, when Alistair was appointed ‘Principal Designate’ of Dumisani Theological Institute. He became Principal in 2006. Following graduation from the Free Church College, Alistair served in the Free North congregation, a large church in Inverness, before appointment as Lecturer in New Testament at the Highland Theological College, Dingwall.  Alistair holds a PhD in New Testament Studies from the University of Aberdeen, and is an Extraordinary Associate Professor of New Testament in the School of Biblical Studies and Ancient Languages, North-West University, Potchefstroom. Jenny has taught at a variety of levels, from classroom teacher through to Head Teacher.  She is the author of 13 educational books. She teaches English, Study Skills and Computer Skills at Dumisani, and is also involved in a wide variety of other activities in the local community. Alistair says, “We are committed to serving the local South African church with the highest quality training and education, so as to enable Christians to minister effectively in their specific situations.”

Norman and Angela Reid
Norman Reid comes from Co. Tyrone in Northern Ireland and is a minister of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, serving in the Finaghy congregation in Belfast, before planting a new congregation in Tallaght, Dublin. He has wide experience of Ministry in Ireland, not only having maintained a pastoral ministry but also having taught at the Irish Bible School (now the Irish Bible Institute). Norman is a graduate of the Free Church of Scotland College, Edinburgh, and holds an MA in Theology from Potchefstroom (North-West University). He has been part of the faculty of Dumisani Theological Institute in King William’s Town since 1999 and specialises in Systematic Theology. As well as teaching in Dumisani, Norman helps in the work of the Free Church in Southern Africa.  Angela is involved in practical ways in Dumisani and in the community.

John and Elizabeth Ross
( http://johnstuartross.wordpress.com/) John teaches Church History and Missiology at Dumisani Theological Institute. He commenced Christian Ministry in 1972, as a district missionary and theological educator with the Qua Iboe Church in central Nigeria.  Returning to the UK in 1976, he was ordained to the ministry of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, serving for ten years in Belfast, Northern Ireland. From 1986 to 2002, John was General Secretary of Christian Witness to Israel, a UK-based international evangelistic society working among the Jewish people. From 1992–2000, he was also European Co-ordinator of the Lausanne Consultation on Jewish Evangelism. He was inducted in 2002 as minister of Greyfriars-Stratherrick Free Church of Scotland, Inverness, and joined the Dumisani team in 2008. John holds a Ph.D. in Historical Theology from the University of Wales and is currently researching nineteenth century Scottish missions in the Eastern Cape. He preaches regularly in a variety of churches, but especially the congregations of the Free Church of Southern Africa. From January 2010, he is expected to join the faculty at the University of Fort Hare, teaching Church History on a part-time basis. 

Elizabeth has a background in nursing and midwifery, but is now involved as part of the Dumisani team, helping with English-language Biblical and Theological Correspondence courses, and with student support and catering. She is active with the FCSA Bible women, runs a Sunday school in the King William’s Town Free Church congregation and is involved in a number of local Christian initiatives. 

John and Elizabeth have three children and eight grandchildren. In their spare time, they enjoy camping and big game-watching.