Feba-UK gives thanks for its long-term staff who are going the distance in Christian radio ministry, dedicating years of service to enable the Gospel to be heard across the airwaves.

100 years – that is the cumulative years of service for these Feba UK staff members who have celebrated 15th, 20th and 30th milestone anniversaries with Feba.

Many of them were involved in engineering and programme production at the Seychelles station. Some were married when they began working at Feba and others started as bachelors and met their wives along the way—some of them already working for Feba, too.

Richard Whittington, with 30 years of service, says: “I joined Feba in 1978 in the Seychelles to work at its transmitter station, using my technical skills to help spread the Gospel across the radio waves, and over the years, my hands-on work of transmitter maintenance gave way to scheduling frequencies. Today, I serve with Feba UK in Worthing as Frequency Schedule Engineer.”

In November 1988, the newlyweds Jon and Elma Hargreaves left for their first term on the Seychelles where they were both involved in English programming and Jon in the daily news broadcasts to India. (Back in 1984, Elma joined Feba’s Promotions Department as Secretary; and in 1986, Jon arrived in Worthing to interview for the post of News Editor at the Seychelles station.) In 1995 they relocated to Central Asia to focus on developing Feba’s work in the region, and in 2003 Jon took on his current role as International Director based in Worthing.
“After twenty years in radio,” Jon says, “I’m still convinced it is a powerful tool to influence people for the Gospel.”

Stewart Coombs started with Feba UK as an Accounts Assistant in 1988, back in the days when computerised accounts began. As he moved into Supporter Relations and the years passed, he saw more opportunities for computers. He designed a new application from the ground up (called Foundation) for tracking all donations, supporters’ interests and mailings. Today he oversees the interworking between Foundation, email servers, web servers and more to keep Feba UK data systems working efficiently and economically. Stewart says: “It’s been a privilege to have been partnering with God for so long in his ministry—the longer I've been here the more I've appreciated how important it is.”

Long-term Service Awards

• Richard Whittington, 30 years, 1978, Frequency Schedule Engineer
• Jon Hargreaves, 20 years, 1988, International Director
• Stewart Coombs, 20 years, 1988, Business Systems Developer
• Pete Ellis, 15 years, 1993, IT Manager
• Mike Procter, 15 years, 1993, Head of Specialised English