A UK-based charity supporting the Evangelical Fellowship of Sierra Leone
Rev Kenneth Wiebe
Chairman
Ken, who is originally from Canada, arrived in Sierra Leone with his wife, Yvonne, as a missionary in 1977 at the age of 20. Within months they had planted their first church in the Freetown suburb of Kissy. Four years later they helped with the establishment of another church in Bo, the capital of Sierra Leone’s Southern Province.
Throughout their 17 years in Sierra Leone, Ken also played a key role in developing and running a discipleship course to nurture young Christians and train for pastoral ministry those that the Lord was calling. Many of his students are still pastors today – in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ghana, and even England and the USA; and a number have held (or hold) positions of leadership in Scripture Union, Youth for Christ, Cru (formerly Campus Crusade for Christ), not to mention EFSL itself.
Ken enjoyed serving on the board of the Evangelical Fellowship of Sierra Leone (the last foreign missionary to do so) in the 1980s, so the opportunity to serve again with Support EFSL was irresistible.
Ken and Yvonne raised their three sons in Sierra Leone until they were advised to evacuate in 1995, at the height of the rebel war. But, soon they moved to England from Canada so that they could remain as fully involved in the country as possible. During the war Ken provided logistical and moral support to his Sierra Leonean colleagues. In more recent years, Ken has led teams from the UK and Canada to provide in-service training and encouragement for church leaders and their spouses.
Steve Manktelow
Treasurer
Steve first met Bill and Jan Roberts in 2003 and learned of their missionary work in Sierra Leone. Since that time he has increasingly become involved in the work of Support EFSL and eventually becoming Secretary and Treasurer in 2017.
Having been a Christian for 40 years, the Lord has developed within Steve a heart for the persecuted church. He is eager to do more to support these brothers and sisters in Christ; and his work at Support EFSL is one way in which he is doing this. He feels privileged to be able to serve the Lord through Support EFSL and to see how our prayers and financial assistance are continuing to make a real difference to the churches and the lives of the people of Sierra Leone.
In his own community Steve has helped with youth work and Sunday schools at the churches he has attended. He is also a 'Prayer Pastor', helping to support his local Street Pastors including sitting on their management committee.
Steve has been married to Elaine for over 20 years and they have two sons, Daniel and Peter.
Antoinette Wiebe
Secretary
Antoinette grew up in Zimbabwe and has since lived in England, Scotland and Canada. She is mother to two energetic boys (Isaac and Christopher), loves travelling and reading and has a background in biology, particularly in malaria prevention. She has served local churches in different ways throughout the years; including in prayer ministry, administration and working with seniors and children.
Being a Christian since childhood she has always appreciated the support of the church in each place she lived. She loves that Christians are one body across the world; and as brothers and sisters we can encourage and support each other wherever we are. She was therefore excited to join support EFSL as a Trustee; as this provides a great opportunity to serve churches and communities in Sierra Leone.
Antoinette first became familiar with Sierra Leone through her husband Kevin, who spent his childhood there. Since 2007 she has become strongly connected to the country personally; especially after having the wonderful opportunity to visit Sierra Leone herself in 2009.
Harry Stevens
trustee
As a Sierra Leonean and believer in the death and resurrection of Our Lord, Harry was excited to become a trustee, as it allowed him practice his own faith in the spreading of the gospel in his native country.
Harry’s background has been in education; teaching in The Gambia as well as community work for the Scripture Union. When he moved to the UK he continued working with young people in London. He is currently employed with the NHS as an emergency care support worker in the South East Coast Ambulance Service, which he greatly enjoys. This work has given Harry a passion for education and care, which corresponds perfectly with the work we do at Support EFSL.
Harry has recently become Support EFSL’s secretary and looks forward to applying aforementioned passion and energy to this role.
Francis Ensah
Trustee
Francis was born in Sierra Leone and came to know the Lord while on Campus at the Government Secondary School Bo (Bo School), through the work of Scripture Union Sierra Leone in 1993.
Since then, Francis has been actively involved in promoting the Christian faith, serving faithfully in his local church as well as through the work of other Christian Organisation including Scripture Union, Sierra Leone Fellowship of Evangelical Students (SLEFES), Evangelical Fellowship of Sierra Leone (EFSL) etc.
Francis is a qualified professional accountant working currently as a Finance Manager for an International Christian Organisation in the UK. He is married to Grace, and together they have three children. Francis and family are active members of their local church and have worked relentlessly in bringing Sierra Leonean Christians in praying for Sierra Leone as well as promoting Christian engagements among the Sierra Leonean community around Manchester. Francis has a great passion for reaching communities with the life changing gospel of Jesus Christ.
Francis has been a member of the Board of Trustees for Support EFSL for about a year now and has since shown passion for the work of the SEFSL in promoting the gospel work in Sierra Leone.
Grace Ensah
Trustee
Grace grew up in traditional Christian family in Sierra Leone where she spent her early to teen years. Her family provided support to the work of Christian mission in the provincial city of Bo, Sierra Leone; especially to the ministry of Christians in Action, a ministry through which she came to know and follow the Lord Jesus Christ in her early Christian journey.
Grace left Sierra Leone at the height of the rebel war to join her family in the UK where she continued her secondary education. She gained her undergraduate degree in nursing from the University of Liverpool in 2004, and is currently an Endocrinology Specialist Nurse working for a NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester. Grace has a passion for the things of God and serves in her local church as a volunteer Christian worker in the hospitality department of the church.
Grace became a Trustee of Support EFSL in 2018 out of her deep passion to help the work of God in Sierra Leone through EFSL.
Grace is married to Francis and together they are blessed with three children and are all active in the service of God.
Kevin Wiebe
Trustee
Kevin was born in Canada, but spent much of his early childhood in Sierra Leone as a missionary kid; with Krio even being his preferred language, as it was the language of his friends. This time in Sierra Leone lead him to have a deep love for the country and its people.
Kevin gave his life to the Lord at a very young age after being witnessed to by his older brother. Since then his faith has deepened through continuing to see the work of the Lord in his life and those around him.
He joined Support EFSL as a trustee in 2017, and was very excited with the opportunity to be personally involved in helping in the country of his childhood. Kevin has a keen interest in information technology, and uses this skill to help with the work of Support EFSL.
Kevin lived in the UK for 22 years, where he met his Zimbabwean wife, Antoinette. They have two sons, Isaac (born in Scotland ) and Christopher (born in England). This makes them a truly international family! He has recently moved back to Canada with his family and has enjoyed continuing in his role with Support ESFL.
Kevin works as an account executive for a corporate insurance broker; a career he very much enjoys due to the wide variety of persons and businesses he gets to meet and know closely.
Bill Roberts
Founder & General Secretary EMERITUS
Bill was born in Devon in a Christian home but truly surrendered his life to Jesus at age 18.
A few months later Bill was called up for National Service in the British Army for a 2 year period, which included training soldiers in Nigeria. It was from then that his love of Africa began. Upon moving back to the UK his faith was strengthened through heavy involvement in the Scripture Union, which he felt was invaluable, all the while feeling the pull back to Africa.
During his time with Scripture Union he put himself forward for their work in West Africa. What had started as an intention to be there for a couple years eventually lead to 15 years in Sierra Leone and 5 in Nigeria! It was whilst in Sierra Leone he met an American missionary, Janice Tovey who would later become Janice Roberts. Together they adopted two boys from Freetown, Paul and Jamie.
After a 10 year stay in the UK they were again called to Sierra Leone being asked to be “Pastors to the African Pastors” at the height of the 11 year rebel war. Although they twice evacuated Freetown due to rebel attack, on the third they heard the Lord speak clearly from Psalm 37 “Do not fret because of evil men” “Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture”. They stayed in Freetown throughout. Although they witnessed many horrors, the Lord enabled them to visit and encourage the many of the pastors and their families.
At age 65 Bill moved with Jan back to the UK, but they still visited regularly as the country recovered from the war. The need was enormous. They used these visits to report back to the UK and encourage their partners there to pray and give financially to assist. This ultimately lead to Bill and Jan setting up the UK charity "Support EFSL" in 2011 for the purposes of directing support to the country though the Evangelical Fellowship of Sierra Leone.