Who Are LIFT?

Written by Michael Kane

L.I.F.T. (Labour In Faith and Trust) is a group of individuals who beleive that God's love can be shown through roughened hands and sore backs in the manual labour and skills.

With the help of hundreds of like minded Christian men and women they have, over the last decade, assisted numerous projects in partnership with varied organisations to ensure the Word of God is given every opportunity to be shared with and make disciples of people from all nations as Jesus stated in the great commission.

The LIFT council oversees all the activities undertaken by the organisation.  A profile of each member can be read below.

John Purse

John helped found LIFT with Gary Moore in March 1999.  In December 1997, John and Gary returned from a trip to Guinea Bissau (see LIFT History).  After much talk and prayer, they felt God leading them to form LIFT.

John is married to Janet and they have three sons Andrew, Matthew and Daniel. As a family they attend Eglinton Presbyterian Church where John is an elder.

John became the face of LIFT, working from home in the evenings and at weekends. John fondly remembers the support and encouragement Gary gave him as LIFT was established. In April 2003, after prayerful consideration, John became fulltime secretary of LIFT and Trustee in 2004.

When asked, John said, “it has been amazing to see how LIFT has developed in ten years, from doing three project a year to twelve last year. From taking 22 volunteers in a year to 126 in a year. Without doubt I have seen God at work; what a privilege I have been given, not just helping God’s servants overseas but seeing the difference a project can have on a volunteer. We serve such a faithful God; time after time I see Him bring the right person, needed for that project, on board. I look forward to seeing where he is leading LIFT in the years to come.”

Gary Moore

Gary is the co-founder of LIFT. It was while in Guinea Bissau with John that he first thought about forming an organization to help missionaries with practical help took seed.

Gary is married to Karen and they have three children Rebecca, Sarah and Peter. They attend Eglinton Presbyterian Church where Gary is an elder. He is the General Manager of Met-Seam Limited, a standing seam metal roof fabrication firm. His expertise in the building trade has been a real asset to LIFT.

Gary’s claim to fame is that it was he who came up with the LIFT name. Gary became a trustee of LIFT in 2004. He has lead seven projects, describing each project as different yet in there own way challenging.  Gary has felt truly blessed by each project.

Looking to the future, Gary says, “ how can anyone measure the help and encouragement and witness a LIFT team can have. Time spent with the missionaries is precious.  Hearing how they are serving God and to see how God is using ordinary people, as He builds His kingdom, is such a lesson for all of us. God has a wonderful plan for all the volunteers on LIFT projects.  You can be a part of God’s plan; do get in contact with us.”

Walter Maguire

Walter is married to Corona and they have four children, Colin, Deborah, Laura and Matthew and five grandchildren. He is a member and currently Treasurer of Holywood Baptist Church.

He spent 34 years working in the Ordnance Survey and took early retirement in December 2003 as the organisation was downsizing. Seeing this as an opportunity to then do, “something completely different,” it wasn’t until a meeting with John Purse in November 2004 that the seeds were sown that have led to his deeper involvement with LIFT.

Having expressed a zero desire to ever visit Africa, Walter has been a member of teams to North Africa, Senegal, South Africa, Niger and Kenya, as well as Israel and Lebanon. All of these experiences have been life changing and have resulted in a deeper interest in mission. To be able to serve God in a practical way as well as work alongside the missionaries and meet and live with the local people is a real privilege.

In July 2009 Walter led a team to Kenya and on returning was approached by John and Gary and asked to prayerfully consider becoming the LIFT Treasurer. In September 2009 he took over the role.

“Something completely different,” it certainly has been and way beyond anything I could have imagined. The LIFT motto has been proven time and time again, “The Lord God whom we serve is able”.