ACMI Council Members
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Samson abioye
Samson is the Chair of our Advisory Council for Multiracial Inclusion, alongside serving in a number of areas of church life, including as a KingsGate Director. He first moved to the UK from Nigeria and then joined the KingsGate family in 2006. Samson is married to Kike and they have two daughters.
Samson works as a scientist with a speciality in analytical chemistry and environmental science, and he enjoys various sports too, including tennis, formula one and football, where he supports Chelsea.
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Lydia Opayinka
Lydia and her family moved to the UK from Nigeria and have been at KingsGate for almost two decades. She is a KingsGate Director and is married to Joshua, and they have two children. Lydia works as an accountant within the NHS and in her downtime she enjoys window shopping for fun, as well as having recently begun to explore her gardening skills.
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Irina Demba
Irina is Angolan-Portuguese and her family moved to England from Portugal when she was just three years old. Irina has been at KingsGate for a few years and serves in a number of ways, including as a LifeGroup Leader in Young Adults, which she loves. Irina works as a full-time paralegal and is also studying part-time for a Masters in Law! She loves taking part in escape rooms and the good news is, she’s made it out of every one she’s attempted – or at least got let out at the end!
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Jarek Jamroszczyk
Jarek joined KingsGate in 2005 soon after he and his wife, Iwona, moved to the UK from Poland. They have two children and Jarek works as a reporting analyst for an IT services company. In his spare time, Jarek enjoys listening to music sets that Iwona puts together, watching movies with his daughter, cheering on his son as he goalkeeps for a local football team, and praying, reflecting on the Bible, or listening to what he describes as “geeky” podcasts – on anything from philosophy to quantam physics to theology – while he walks the family dog.
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Ronna Fu
Ronna has been part of the KingsGate family since the early 2000s, having moved to England in the early 1980s from Malaysia. Her father was from Hainan Island, a Chinese province, and her mother was Malaysian. As part of KingsGate Peterborough, Ronna has gathered and served people in our Chinese community for many years. Having worked for a long time as a graphic designer, she is now a marketing manager for a catering company. She describes herself as having ‘a broad range of interests and a curious mind, especially when it comes to subjects that influence how people behave and make decisions,’ which is where her interest in marketing is rooted. Ronna loves all things design, advertising, publishing, and internet-related, so she often finds her work and her hobbies overlapping, but she wouldn’t have it any other way!
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Euphemia Manyanga
Euphemia has been in KingsGate for over a decade. She is Zimbabwean, the eldest of six, is married to John, and they have a son. Eupemia’s work involves mentoring engineering and design managers to be the best they can be, which she loves to do. She also loves taking long walks with John, as well as watching house remodelling and cooking shows (and putting her own spin on the recipes!).
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Charles Karanja
Charles has been part of KingsGate Cambridge since 2017 and leads in a number of areas of church life. Charles is Kenyan, is married to Rosemary, and he works in cybersecurity as an incident reporter. He is passionate about bringing the light of God into the corporate world.
In his spare time, Charles loves travelling with Rosemary, sightseeing, watching movies, and reading books.
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Charles Karanja
Ted has been part of KingsGate Leicester since our very first service in the city in 2014. He and his wife, Jennifer, have two daughters and a son who are part of KingsGate Youth. Ted’s parents are from Hong Kong and he refers to himself as ‘BBC’ – that’s British-Born Chinese, not British Broadcasting Corporation! Ted works in warehouse production and in his spare time he follows Leicester City Football Club, enjoys high-fidelity sounds (Google it!), and meeting new people, but most of the time he is kept very busy by the family puppy.
Staff team
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Simon Deeks
Simon is part of our Senior Leadership Team at KingsGate, which includes supporting Samson as he leads the ACMI, and overseeing Pastoral Care, Leadership Development, and a number of other areas. He was born in Nigeria, raised in Yorkshire, and now calls Peterborough ‘home’. Simon has been married to Zia for 35 years, and they have two grown-up children and two wonderful grandchildren.
Simon enjoys cycling (sometimes on an electric bike and sometimes on a tandem with Zia!), walking their dogs, reading, watching sports, and the occasional spot of fishing, as well as having his own aquarium and fishpond.
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Jasmine Allen
Jasmine is the Head of Connect, Media and Communications at KingsGate. She and her husband, Steve, have been married for four decades, and they have three grown-up children. They have the great joy of being loving grandparents, referred to as Mama and Papa, to their five grandchildren. Jasmine loves God, people, and peppermint tea (but not in equal amounts, obviously!) and her favourite place to be is around the table with people she loves, sharing life over a meal.
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Phil Timson
Phil heads up Youth and Young Adults at KingsGate. He is passionate about seeing many people come to know Jesus personally and, above all, loves reaching and empowering the next generation of young people.
Phil is married to Emma, and they have two daughters. As a family, they all share a love for Cornwall, where they frequently visit. Phil describes himself as “a wannabe surfer and a poor golfer,” but one thing is for certain – his great enthusiasm for seeing an increase of God’s Kingdom here on Earth is far from lacking!