ACMI team

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.

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.

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!

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!

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!).

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.

Wai (Ted) Leung Wong

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.

Aggie Thomson

Aggie moved to the UK from Romania in 2010 and began attending KingsGate Peterborough with her husband Florin in 2018. In 2023 they felt God calling them to join the KingsGate Leicester campus with their two children, where Florin now leads worship. Aggie works in logistics, and in her spare time she enjoys reading, gardening, and crocheting.