Mark and Sarah both feel it is a privilege to come from families with a strong Christian heritage. Sarah is the daughter of missionaries and spent some of her childhood in Nigeria, while Mark was brought up in a Christian family in Gillingham, Kent. It is largely due to the influence of their parents that they both became Christians at a young age and developed
an interest in mission.
Mark and Sarah met at their Home Church in Gillingham and were married in 1999. The early years of their marriage were spent there, Sarah working as a Speech and Language Therapist and Mark as a Quality Technician for BAE Systems. In 2000, during a mission service at their Home Church, they both felt called to full-time mission service abroad. They desired to use the practical skills that God has given them, and this led them to apply to MAF.
From 2002 to 2005 they lived in Ohio, USA. There, Mark trained to become an Aircraft Maintenance Engineer with MMS Aviation, which is a Christian organisation that repairs mission aircraft and trains engineers for missionary service.
In September 2005, they began service in Uganda with MAF. Mark joined the Engineering Team, maintaining the fleet of four planes which help enable the spread of God’s Word to places that can often only be reached by air. Sarah's roles include co-managing the MAF Guest House in Kampala and helping with hospitality in the MAF Operation.
Soon after arriving in Uganda, they felt the Lord leading them to pursue adopting one of the many babies who are abandoned or orphaned here. In April 2006, they began fostering their daughter Amy, and in May 2007 we brought home our son Joshua. The formal adoptions were completed in September 2010.
Mark and Sarah's Home Church is Gillingham Baptist Church.