The Profile

For reasons that were never fully explained to him, Ram Gidoomal CBE and his family were forced to flee their home in Kenya when he was just 16 years old. Having previously left India during the 1947 partition, they said goodbye to the life of wealth and comfort they had created for themselves in east Africa to arrive in a hostile 1960s London as refugees once more, with no money and little to their name. Gidoomal was brought up in both the Hindu and Sikh faiths, but Jesus started to become real to him through the lyrics of a song he heard in a London pub. At the time, he was a student at Imperial College London. His business skills had won him a scholarship and would eventually lead to him earning so much money he couldn’t even spend the accruing interest. In this interview with Abi Thomas, Ram explains how God led him to raise millions for charity. 

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Sometimes the demands of leadership can overwhelm us. In this interview, mental health specialist Will Van Der Hart explains how Christians can build resilience and keep going when times are tough. This interview was conducted by Andy Peck, Premier's resident leadership expert. Will is a Pastoral Chaplain at Holy Trinity Brompton. Based on his book, The Power of Belonging, Will looks at being vulnerable as a leader and how shame works against out engagement with others. He shares why 'success doesnt equal security' and touches on his own mental health issues and the importance of being authentically present in our leadership. Why 'fake it to make it' is lousy career advice and why he hates the phrase 'becoming the best version of ourselves.'

The Profile is brought to you by Premier Christianity magazine. Subscribe for news, features and analysis from £3.95 (UK) or $1 (International) at premierchristianity.com/subscribe

Premier's resident leadership expert interviewer Andy Peck has been having conversations with preachers and pastors for the past 17 years. This week, Andy talks with Jen Baker who moved from Michigan in the USA to the UK in an Abraham style call where she knew very little of God’s intentions. She now helps Christians live without fear, through a writing and teaching ministry that takes her all over the world. They talk about her latest book Unwavering: The Power of Choice and find out what holds people back from making progress in what God has called them to do. The key is learning how to make decisions based not on fear, but on faith. 

The Profile is brought to you by Premier Christianity magazine. Subscribe for news, features and analysis from £3.95 (UK) or $1 (International) at premierchristianity.com/subscribe

As the year draws to a close, our presenter and producer Sam Hailes says thank you for joining us in 2022, and asks - who would you like to hear being interviewed next year?

Send your requests to [email protected]

Have a merry Christmas and a happy new year, with lots of love from all the team at The Profile podcast and Premier Christianity magazine

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Premier's resident leadership expert interviewer Andy Peck has been having conversations with preachers and pastors for the past 17 years. This week, Andy Peck chats with Tim Alford, the National Director of LIMITLESS, the youth and children's movement of the Elim Pentecostal Churches in the UK and Ireland about how local churches might start groups designed to reach and disciple more young people.

The Profile is brought to you by Premier Christianity magazine. Subscribe for news, features and analysis from £3.95 (UK) or $1 (International) at premierchristianity.com/subscribe

Have you realised that the Nativity plays in many local churches actually have little to do with the birth of Jesus as depicted in the Gospels? In this interview with Premier's resident leadership expert Andy Peck, Rev Dr David Instone-Brewer Research Fellow at Tyndale House, Cambridge, tackles some of the mythical elements surrounding the incarnation and suggests a new way and better way of understanding what was really going on.

The Profile is brought to you by Premier Christianity magazine. Subscribe for news, features and analysis from £3.95 (UK) or $1 (International) at premierchristianity.com/subscribe

The unorthodox pastor Mick Fleming is a man on a mission, to change the Church – and society in the process. In this interview with Premier Christianity's Emma Fowle, the Burnley-based leader tells his story of abuse, homelessness and salvation. His own story of being thrown out of church, and miraculous experiences which prompted him to forgive the man who raped him, has resulted in a desire to serve those on the rough edges of society. "Stained-glass windows won’t feed children," he says. Instead, Christians must step up to serve the lonely, lost and hungry. "We need to repent so that God can move...we haven’t provided for the poor as we should have done," he says.