Local Couple are on a mission

Two members from Holy Trinity Church, Steve and Portia Greenhalgh are embarking on an initial two-year voluntary teaching mission at Faith Academy Manila, Philippines and are looking for support. They have been a part of Holy Trinity Church for nearly eight consecutive years, selflessly serving in different capacities. Steven is involved in the IT/multimedia presentation ministry whilst Portia utilises her skills on the praise and music team. They have also jointly taken on the role of Church Treasurer.

Portia is a qualified teacher and childcare practitioner and Steven recently completed a TESOL course (Teaching English To Speakers Of Overseas Languages). They have been accepted at Faith Academy, Manila Philippines where Portia will be teaching at pre-school level and Steven will be assisting with English Language Learning (ELL). They will also be involved in mission outside Faith Academy with street children and the underprivileged of Manila.

As the positions are non-salaried the couple are in the process of raising start-up costs of £8,000 and monthly living expenses of approximately £1,700.

Faith Academy caters for children, from pre-school to high-school, whose parents are serving as missionaries all over Asia on medical missions, pastor training, Bible translation, church planting, ministry to the poor and tribal missions. There are over 700 children at the school and more than 120 staff. Twenty different nationalities are represented.

Jean Higgins, a fellow member at Holy Trinity and one of the couple s support team comments “Steven and Portia have served their church, Holy Trinity in Bradley Stoke, with steadfast loyalty and commitment for many years, and I have no doubt that Faith Academy in Manila will be truly blessed by the same total, sacrificial, dedication. ”

Steve and Portia told us, “We want to be seen as ambassadors for Bradley Stoke-reaching out to those less-fortunate than ourselves, giving them a hope and a future. ”   Obviously, the more support they are able to raise between now and when they leave, the more effective they will be and the more people they will be able to reach out to.

If you feel able to offer support to Steven and Portia there are a number of ways to help:

By Standing Order – For regular giving, please email either Steven or Portia at [email protected] or [email protected] to obtain a copy of the Gift Aid & Bankers Order Form. Kindly complete and send it to this address:

TeachBeyond/Janz Team UK
Suite 9 West Retford Hall
Retford, Nottinghamshire
DN22 7AY

By Cheque or Postal Order – For either single or regular giving, please send cheques made payable to JANZ TEAM UK. Kindly make sure to write on the back of the cheque or on a slip of paper Donation for S & PV GREENHALGH (for office reference). Please send cheques to the address above.

Portia and Steve can also provide tubes of Smarties which can be filled with 20p or £1 coins (after enjoying the Smarties of course!) and then taken to Holy Trinity Church. You can also buy your own Smarties and fill the tubes too!

Volunteers are also needed to help with upcoming activities, please email Portia or Steve with your details if you are willing to help, or for more information.

“We really want to thank everyone for the support so far, ” added Portia and Steve. “Please consider helping us, so that we in turn can help others. ”

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