The Biblica Europe Board
Find out more about the people at the heart of Biblica MENA-Eurasia. For safety reasons, we are not able to name our full staff team, but please join with us in praying for all Biblica staff, contractors and translators across the region, who are using their time and talents to bring God’s Word to those who need it most.
John Preston
Board Chair
John is Diocesan Secretary for the Church of England Diocese of Worcester, and was previously National Stewardship Officer for the Church of England. He has a passion for helping Christians grow in their faith as they seek to follow Jesus in all aspects of their lives. He sees the Bible as absolutely central to that and was both delighted and honoured to be asked to join the Board in 2022. He and his wife Jane have two grown up children and have been members of St John’s Church in Muxton, Telford for over twenty years.
Damon Harding
Board Member
Damon is Partner in the Strategy, Leadership & Innovation division of Digital Works Group, a boutique Digital Transformation Consultancy. Prior to that he was Consumer Operations Director for the telecommunications company, TalkTalk. He had a number of senior roles with Dixons Carphone and, latterly, TalkTalk Group and specialises in Business Transformation, with a focus on purpose, operational performance and efficiency. Damon is married to Theresa and lives in Hemel Hempstead with their four boys! He is also Chair of a local youth charity, Youth Across Hemel and is part of Soul Survivor Church in Watford.
Gareth Russell
Board Member
Gareth Russell is Managing Director of Jersey Road PR. As a business they exist to give voice and influence to faith-based organisations through national, regional and Christian media. Since its formation, the company has worked with charities, businesses and churches in the UK, Australia, and USA securing coverage in outlets such as the BBC, The Times, The Telegraph, Spectator, The Guardian and Sky News. Originally from Glasgow, Gareth now resides in Milton Keynes with his wife Andi, daughter Georgia and labradoodle Archie.
Gillian Fitch
Board Member
Gillian joined the Board of Biblica Europe in 2018 following in the footsteps of her husband Michael who serves on Biblica’s Global Board. She has a passion for everyone everywhere to have the opportunity to read the Good News of the Gospel of Christ. Gillian is a fully qualified solicitor and also tutors saxophone part time for a local music charity. Gillian lives in South Belfast with her husband Michael, and they attend Fitzroy Presbyterian Church. They have four grown sons, a daughter in law and two crazy dogs!
Stephen Cave
Board Member
Stephen stood down as Senior Vice President for Translation within Biblica at the end of March 2021 but he has remained part of the Biblica family, spending most of his time now serving the Every Tribe Every Nation (ETEN) Partnership. He joined the Biblica team in 2011 as Area Executive Director for Europe and was appointed to a global role in 2015.
Prior to Biblica, he served with the Evangelical Alliance UK for 10 years, serving first as Northern Ireland Director, then leading the UK Public Theology work, and also the Vice President for the European Evangelical Alliance. Previously, he had been the senior pastor of a Baptist church in Ireland. His passion in ministry has always been to see people engage better with the Bible and understand it as God still speaking today, not just “way back then.” Stephen is married to Nik and 3 have 3 children, Ben, Maddi and Levi, 2 of whom are allegedly ‘grown-up’!
Daria Novikova
Board Member
Daria is Eastern European Mission (EEM) Director for operations in Ukraine, currently also coordinating Humanitarian aid efforts to help people affected by the war in Ukraine. EEM is a non-profit organisation that is printing and distributing Bibles and Bible-based materials free of charge to help Christian Churches, Universities, students and teachers have access to God’s word.
Daria said “I love the Lord with all my heart and love finding opportunities for spreading His word in my native country. I am blessed that my work with EEM and service at Biblica is reflective of this”.