Canon John Simons - Lead Trustee
John has travelled widely in England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales and has now visited and ministered in all 124 of the UK's post-code areas. John has formed links with countless local prayer leaders across the British Isles and Ireland.
He is particularly concerned to encourage cross-border prayer, so that English Christians (for example) can better pray, in an informed way, for the needs of Scotland (and vice versa). The same cross-border prayer help is much needed between England and Ireland and Wales and Crosswinds seeks to foster this.
John Simons has also travelled widely overseas, to meet with Christian leaders, especially those concerned with prayer, in many parts of Africa and Asia, Australia, New Zealand, USA and Canada.
He is a retired minister, but still preaches at his home church – St Paul’s Weston-super-Mare, whose minister recently received broad media coverage for spearheading their use of social media during services as a Twitter Vicar.
John and Jenny have taken part in Saturday night Street Pastors duties in Weston-super-Mare, serving the needs of the night-time economy for many years both practically, by joining the team working through the night on the streets, and prayerfully, by encouraging the vital prayer support. John's involvement has included presentations to steering groups for new projects in the region.
John’s ministry involves him with many different organisations and regional groupings. He is an advocate for using powerpoint presentations and video to illustrate bible teaching.
Andy Page - Director
Andy has a background in media, internet and communications. He brings 35 years of experience of the corporate and voluntary sectors to Crosswinds.
His work with us over the last 14 years includes managing and supporting local to international projects both for Crosswinds and our partner organisations. International projects include: Prayer Alert, Pray 4 Nigeria, International Prayer Connect, World Prayer Centre, The World Prayer Assembly (& Youth Prayer Assembly 2016 / aka 'United Prayer Rising'), The Global Day of Youth Prayer and Worship, Maranatha Revival Ministries, The Lambeth Conference & SOMA. On a more local basis, he is involved with Love Weston, Churches Together and some other local non-profit groups.
Andy shares our passion for mobilising prayer 'for the healing of our land'. He has presented at a number of events including the World Prayer Assembly 2012 in Jakarta and the Power of Prayer Conference 2017 in Cape Town. He is on the leadership team of International Prayer Connect and the steering group for United Prayer Rising - Europe.
Crosswinds has a vision for developing an innovative internet-based service called PrayerHub.tv. The Prayer Hub vision is to create a virtual House of Prayer - to Inform, Encourage, Educate, Equip and Connect Christians globally. The service will serve individuals, the Church, ministries, missions, organisations and prayer networks. In particular, its aim is to: Connect people in Prayer; Mobilise prayer for key ‘pillar’ issues, unreached people groups and the persecuted church; and be a virtual House of Prayer for all nations. Online, interactive prayer rooms will be themed by continent and specific issues or prayer types. The Prayer Hub will be managed and updated within each continent by trained teams. A pilot project has recently completed, thanks to support from our sponsors - Christian Artists - Asia.
'This virtual house of prayer will be a valuable, innovative resource,' says Andy. It aims to unite and connect the Church, as well as mobilise prayer and encourage engagement across generations. The service will also innovate with new apps and media services, bringing stories of answered prayers, news and teaching to people at home or on the move.' More info...
The Chairman of the Crosswinds Trustees is the Marquess of Reading.
He served as a lieutenant in 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards> from 1961 to 1964, he worked as a stockbroker from 1964 to 1974, and he was a member of the London Stock Exchange from 1970 to 1974.From 1975 to 1980, Simon was Marketing Director of Brahmco International. He worked for Ralph Lauren Cosmetics from 1979 to 1983. He then worked for Abbey Lubbock and Abbey Sports and Events from 1984 to 1992.
He has served as patron and trustee of a number of organisations including the Garden Tomb in Jerusalem, Mertens House in Saint Petersburg, Russia and CURE International.
There is an inter-denominational Council of Reference.