Esther Clifton - Trustee

Having been born & brought up in Nigeria, by British missionaries, one could say that ‘Africa is in my blood’! I trained as a teacher & have taught all over the world for many years - from India to the Dominican Republic, in the Caribbean; from Italy to Singapore; from Sierra Leone to the East-end of London. God’s goodness & mercy has followed me all the days of my life!

After a long & varied career in Education, including many years as a Senior Manager, I took an early-retirement package in 2012 as I knew God was calling me to live in The Gambia. I had married a Gambian in 2005 & had ‘inherited’ his daughter, who is now 20, from a previous relationship. When I first arrived in Gambia I wasn’t quite sure of what God wanted me to ‘do’ here. Presently, I play an active daily role in the local church (-it IS literally ‘round the corner’!), called ‘The Berean Christian Community Church’, where I am ‘lead teacher’. It is very much a ‘New Testament Church’ which has recently become a Cell-group Church, with 4 leaders-in-training, working ‘alongside’ me. We seek to ‘live out Christ in us’ in a practical way, by giving ‘help the poor, the widows, the needy, the marginalized, etc…..’. We are seeing God’s Spirit at work in Kololi, as people are coming into new, living relationship with Jesus - it’s very exciting to be a part of it!

I started teaching CRK (Christian Religious Knowledge) at Seedlings in October 2013 & am privileged to work alongside the Charity, whose aims are so similar to my own, by supporting the day-to-day running of the school in any way that I can. My hope is that we continue ‘to bear fruit’ by providing an outstanding education for ‘our lovely, lively students’ and that each one is taught the true Gospel message of Jesus Christ! My prayer for each student is that they come to know Jesus in a personal way, not just learn some ‘nice stories’ about Him!

I work with a couple of other UK-based charities as well.

Thankyou, to all of you ‘back at Mission-control, in the UK’ for your tireless support & the vision God has given you for this work that you have started. I hope that if you have never visited The Gambia – you DO so, if you are able, as I believe you’ll love it & will be touched by the genuinely warm, friendly reception you will receive here ‘on the Smiling Coast of West Africa’ – as the tourist brochures call it!

‘So I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me……..’

Our charity provides education to some of the poorest children in Gambia

Esther Clifton - Trustee