Who’s Who in MANNA?

Elizabeth Thomas
Organising Secretary
Elizabeth lives in Oxfordshire with her family. She has been involved with Christian development work in Mozambique since 1995, running another small charity Maninga and visiting many times. She began working for MANNA in Oct ’14 and is constantly inspired by all it has done over the past 100 years and all it continues to do. In her spare time, she loves to play the ‘cello in a variety of settings.

Ruth Savage
Accounts Administrator
The Trustees

John Tasker MA
Chairperson

Venerable Christopher Cunliffe

The Revd Preb Joseph Fernandes
Originally from Portugal, Joseph has lived in the UK for many years. He serves as the Rector of the Parish of Acton, St Mary’s & All Saints, a Prebendary of St Paul’s Cathedral, and the Diocesan Chaplain for Gypsy, Roma, and Travellers in the London Diocese. A founding member of the AMEN Network, he holds a Master’s degree in Theology and a BA in History. He has visited Mozambique on several occasions, including one visit alongside Archbishop Justin Welby. Passionate about social justice, he is dedicated to advocating for marginalised communities.

Canon Rev. Philippa Boardman

Rev. Carla Vicencio Prior
Carla is Portuguese but has lived in the UK for 30 years. She lives in Derby with her family and was ordained in 2015. She is currently Canon for Community Learning at Derby Cathedral. Carla has a background in business and marketing and has a Masters in Theology, with her dissertation looking particularly at the theological foundations for interfaith work. She has travelled extensively in Europe, South America and Eastern Africa and has lived in 6 different countries over the years. She met her husband in Tanzania. As a Christian she has a passion for social justice. She also loves reading, learning new languages and food.

Rev Canon Dr. Helen Van Koevering

Rev. Jake Cunliffe
Jake has been the assistant curate at the Church of St Mary Magdalene, Toronto in Canada since 2022. Originally from London, UK, he spent the prior seven years working and studying in Ohio and Connecticut in the USA. Jake has a Masters degree in World Christianity in which he looked particularly at global church partnerships, and he visited MANNA’s partners in Angola in 2015. To relax, he loves to follow sport (especially cricket), go on walks with his spouse, Jenna, cook and sing.

Ken Hamilton
Ken worked for 28 years as a development engineer with the Church of England in Malaysia, Mozambique and Zambia and for a short time in Bophutatswana one of the South African Homelands.
During his 7 year stint in Mozambique he was responsible for electrifying the Mission station in Chambone. Most of his time was spent in Messumba in the north of the country where he met and married Eileen. He was responsible for upgrading the school and hospital there that had been damaged during the war for independence and together with Eileen helped to facilitate the peaceful hand over of power from the Portuguese administration to the Frelimo Government.
He returned to the UK and took up the post of Maintenance Manager for the Christian Alliance Housing Association in 1994 living in a flat at their Headquarters in Secker Street. He has retired and now lives in a Housing Co-operative flat in the Cut, where he is the Chair of the Management Committee. Has now lived in Waterloo for over 25 years.

Eileen Hamilton

Gilberto Da Silva Afonso
Gilberto is a native Angolan and has grown up in the UK. He holds a MSc in Defence, development and diplomacy from St John’s College, Durham University. Gilberto currently works as the Vocational Recruitment and Diversity and Inclusion Lead at Church Mission Society and he is passionate about seeing the message of the Jesus Christ transform people’s lives. In his spare time, he enjoys writing and composing music, running, cooking and enjoys travelling with his wife.