Men in our community who are making a difference by Sherry Ann Dixon
In this month’s article, I have chosen three men who have made a difference in a positive way. Their areas of expertise are from health, religion, cultural and historic influences.
Some may ask why Keep The Faith are focusing on promoting individuals of worth in every issue. The answer is quite simple. We have a vast amount of talented, award-winning people in our community, who are making a difference, who are advocates for change and progression, yet many of us are unaware of who they are and what they do. By highlighting these people, we make them visible to many and not just to people in their network. We want to showcase the talented and the creative. It’s time to celebrate those who have excelled and, by doing so, we hope to encourage those who are striving for personal achievement themselves, so they can see that we do have people who have achieved. We must create the possibility of enhancing our personal power, create inspirers and gain confidence in knowing that we have great men within our community, who have achieved and who will nurture the emerging generation, and who will leave their footprints in this world.
Believe that you too can achieve!
DR CHIDI – LIFE COLOURS
Life Colours is a simple, quick and cheap way to prevent or treat some of the most prevalent lifestyle diseases, such as hypertension, obesity, type 2 diabetes and many more. It is done by addressing the root cause of the disease and applying appropriate lifestyle changes in diet, exercise and stress management to eliminate the cause of the disease. Many people have been set free from these chronic diseases just by changing their lives around.
Dr Chidi believes that our health is a wonderful gift, one that we have the ability to choose every day. This is why he is passionate about getting to the root causes of our chronic diseases, by using the wealth of knowledge in lifestyle medicine to transform illness into wellness. His greatest joy is to help heal the bodies and minds of individuals, families, organisations and communities, and to see the physical, emotional, financial and spiritual freedom that results. He has had tremendous success in reversing type 2 diabetes and hypertension in a four-week programme.
Dr Chidi MD is one of Europe’s premier lifestyle doctors. Trained in surgery, general practice and lifestyle medicine, he is able to reverse, improve or prevent all chronic illnesses, including heart disease, cancer, arthritis and diabetes. He is a founding board member of the European Society of Lifestyle Medicine, and a member of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine. He has over 20 years of experience as a national and international health speaker, where he aims to motivate, educate, entertain and inspire people to health and wellness. (Check out his TEDx Talk on Reversing Disease.) He writes columns for two national magazines, and contributes regularly to ELLE magazine, Top Santé, The Daily Express, The Daily Mail, as well as TV and radio shows, such as ITV’s ‘Good Morning, Britain’, Sky News’ ‘Sunrise’ and BBC health shows, such as ‘Food: Truth or Scare’. He is the director and founder of a lifestyle medicine clinic on Harley Street, and is author of the book ‘Life Colours’, a book on how to reverse, improve or prevent all chronic diseases (book and DVDs due out summer 2016).
Quote from Dr Chidi:
“God has blessed us richly with life and health, and it’s a privilege for me to be able to help people regain or maintain the wonderful gift of a healthy life. As a doctor, I’m constantly made aware of the challenges that we can all face in mind, body and spirit, and I remember how Jesus spent much of His ministry healing people physically as well as spiritually. It’s my prayer to continue to provide real healing to those suffering with chronic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension, depression, obesity and many more, and also to point them to the Great GP (the Great Physician).”
Follow Dr Chidi on Twitter @DrChidiMD
MERVYN WEIR
Mervyn Weir is a creative communicator, who works primarily across the disciplines of performance and visual arts and marketing communications, producing plays, musical theatre and films. His design work takes in exhibitions, corporate identity and publishing. His Caribbean heritage is a source of inspiration that is reflected in much of his creative output.
As a writer and director, Mervyn has carved out a niche in developing work around cultural and historical themes, using a fusion of forms to reveal fresh insights that challenge and entertain audiences. His MSc in Multimedia Systems is used to good effect in creating engaging theatrical events. He has also earned a reputation for nurturing new talent, as well as attracting new audiences to the theatre.
Mervyn is an award-winning writer, who has written and directed powerful musicals and dramas, including Quest, which celebrated 50 years of the Windrush Generation in Britain, starring Rudolph Walker (EastEnders, Thin Blue Line, Love Thy Neighbour) and Kingdom Choir (numerous TV and radio appearances). Rudolph Walker also featured alongside Treva Ettienne (London’s Burning, The Bill, Casualty) in Sounds Like Christmas with The London Adventist Chorale (winners of the Sainsbury Choir of the Year). Pure Voice was also a Weir production that toured the UK and featured Blessed Voices (winners of Channel 4 Gospel Singers of the Year).
To commemorate the bi-centenary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade, Mervyn wrote and directed an informative and provocative drama entitled Nobody Knows, which opened at the Drum and played to packed houses at the Shaw Theatre. Let My People Go was a specially commissioned event that used drama to introduce a debate that asked, ‘The Church – Liberators or Enslavers of Africans?’ – held at the Museum of London. In 2000, he was also commissioned to write and direct a gospel millennium celebration production, To Boldly Go, before an audience of 5,000 at the Albert Hall.
Exhibitions Mervyn has either designed or contributed to include: Black Heritage and the Metropolitan Police (Scotland Yard and touring in 2002); Faces of Freedom (Museum of Fulham Palace, 2007); The Equiano Project (Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery, 2007); Making Freedom (Royal Geographic Society, 2013) and No Colour Bar (Guildhall Art Gallery, 2015).
Mervyn completed his first film, Fired Up, which had its BAFTA premiere at the end of 2011. The film was commissioned on the strength of a stage play produced earlier in the year. The film tells the story of William Tyndale’s struggle with Henry VIII to get the Bible translated into English. Beyond Gold was Mervyn’s groundbreaking 2012 fusion of Olympic and Gospel stories, using drama, dance, music and multimedia. Mervyn is a pioneering creative arts practitioner and inspirational keynote speaker.
Quote from Mervyn Weir:
“We can’t add anything to the cross, and there’s no new Gospel for the 21st century. Therefore, I believe God’s desire for people like me, who work in the creative sector, is to find new and relevant ways to share the original Gospel story in ways that will resonate with and impact contemporary society.”
DR RICHARD DE LISSER
Dr De Lisser is a family man, an experienced pastor currently serving at the Edmonton Church, an evangelist, author, editor, journalist, columnist, broadcaster, radio and TV producer and presenter, Stewardship & Trust Services Director, a former school chaplain, communication director and trustee and now president of the South England Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.
Dr Richard de Lisser is a fourth generation Seventh-day Adventist, and was baptised in 1978. Having worked as an administrative assistant to the Secretary of State for Education, Lord Baker of Dorking, he responded to the call to enter the ministry and undertook his ministerial training at West Indies College (now Northern Caribbean University) and graduated, in 1991, as senior class president with a BA in Religion. In 1993, he graduated from Newbold College with an MA in Religion from Andrews University.
He commenced ministerial service in July 1993, and was ordained to the ministry in 1998. In 1999, he completed his doctoral degree and graduated from North Park Theological Seminary Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Richard has pastored seven churches and has served as a district coordinator, Chairman of the London Area Advisory Council (LAAC), personal ministries, Sabbath School, communication, media, and Stewardship and Trust Services Director. In September 2015, at the 62nd Session of the South England Conference, Richard was elected as President of the South England Conference.
He is married to Joanne Graham-de Lisser, a health professional, and God has gifted them a 9-year-old son, Akala Joshua Alexander de Lisser.
Richard is a member of the Institute of Directors and is a published author. His first book is entitled The Credit Crunch Christian: 27 Ways to Look Up When Things are Looking Down.
See more at: http://adventist.org.uk/sec/departments/president/about-sam-davis#sthash.uDPZXmoO.dpuf.
