New chaplains for the North
18 Jun 2004
South African, Derek Keeling is the new railway chaplain for Liverpool, Merseyrail Electrics and the surrounding area.
After national service in the South African Defence Force, Derek trained as a dental technician. Later he went to Bible College and served in the mission field in the north of South Africa.
In 2002 he was called to the Cornerstone Chapel in Runcorn and together with wife Ella has been involved with youth work and helping people with learning difficulties and other problems. He will continue his work for Christ at Cornerstone as well as his new role on the railways.
By contrast Richard Cook is a career railwayman who worked as a senior conductor and train manager for Virgin Trains. Richard, from Preston, was converted at a Billy Graham meeting in 1985. He regularly preaches for the Bible Society and runs a House Church on Sunday mornings.
Richard takes over from the Rev. Mike Tewkesbury who is retiring. Welcoming the new team Rev. Liam Johnson, executive director of the Railway Mission, said, ‘The Mission is doubly blessed by the recruitment of Derek and Richard. Each comes from a starkly different background, but each has the same passion for the work of reaching out to the railway community with the Gospel...’
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