The Profile

When 15-year-old Natasha Ednan-Laperouse died from a severe allergic reaction to an unlabelled Pret a Manger sandwich in 2016, her young face graced newspapers across the country and her story travelled the world. What failed to be reported at the time was that her father, Nadim, who was with her when she collapsed, had a powerful spiritual experience that ultimately led him to faith. In this in-d...

Known as ‘Napalm Girl’, Kim Phuc is recognised globally as the nine-year-old running from a napalm attack during the Vietnam War. The image was recently voted the most iconic photo of all time. In this in depth interview with Premier’s Jess Lester, Kim shares her remarkable story of how she came

Justin Brierley speaks to church leaders, evangelists and authors from lockdown in their homes about what the Coronavirus means for them, their ministry and the church. Evangelist JJohn talks about faith instead of fear in the storm, RT Kendall believes God is trying to get our attention, Rob Parsons reflects on how to make lockdown work for families and Philip Yancey reflect on God’s purposes in...

Will van der Hart is a pastoral chaplain at Holy Trinity Brompton, London and a director of The Mind And Soul Foundation. Since struggling with anxiety following his experience of the 7/7 London bombings Will has worked at the forefront of helping Christians and the church to understand and engage mental health issues. He speaks to Justin Brierley about his life and ministry and how Christians who...

Andrew Brunson is a American pastor who lived in Turkey for more than 20 years as a missionary with his wife. He was imprisoned for two years on what religious freedom campaigners say were bogus terrorism-related charges including leading Turkey’s failed 2016 coup and being the head of the CIA for the Middle East. His detainment drew international attention from world leaders including Donald Trum...

“How do we bring enemies together?” That’s the question which has dominated much of Canon Andrew White’s ministry. For many years he was the only Anglican vicar in Baghdad, staying there throughout the most recent Iraq war. He only left when the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby told him: “You’re more use to us alive than dead, Andrew”.  In this in-depth interview with Premier Christianity’s S...

Working in Nigeria as a medical missionary, David and his wife Shirley thought they were safe. “That was an illusion,” David now says. On 13 October 2017 the couple were awakened by a pounding on the door. The power lines had been cut as a gang stormed the compound and kidnapped them along with Alanna Carson and Ian Squire. Soon afterwards, Ian was shot dead. In this interview with Premier Christi...

Nims Obunge loves an acronym. Hope stands for “Helping Other People Excel”, while Dream means “Develop Real Examples and Mentors”, he says. As a preacher and pastor, Nims is passionate about motivating his people to live for God and make a difference in their communities. His Christian roots are evident. He talks about growing up in the context of 6am family prayer meetings and how he’s gone onto...

‘Open the Eyes of My Heart’ has been sung by millions of Christians across the globe. Writer Paul Baloche, who has also penned many other hit worship songs including ‘Hosanna’ and ‘Our God Saves’, never expected his music to travel as much as it has. Ahead of the release of his new record Behold Him , Paul talks about the tension found in promoting his own music (admitting the publicity side is hi...

When God told Nona Jones to quit her job, she was shocked. But minutes after she handed in her notice, Facebook called. They were offering her the chance to become the company’s head of global faith partnerships. In this in-depth interview with Premier Christianity’s Sam Hailes, Nona explains what the role involves and how she’s helping churches get the most out of social media. She also opens up...

In this bonus edition of The Profile podcast, Marcus Jones interviews the controversial evangelist Franklin Graham ahead of his planned UK tour. The son of the late great Billy Graham is due to visit eight cities across the country but has been dealt a number of blows as all eight venues have canceled his booking, citing the division that his appearance would cause. In this interview, Franklin res...

Peter Lynas joined the Evangelical Alliance weeks after CEO Gavin Calver told this programme the organisation needed to be “braver”. Is moving a former barrister into this public-facing role part of a new strategy for the 170 year old organisation? In this in-depth interview, Peter talks about the need for more thoughtful Christian voices in the public sphere on hot topic issues such as abortion,...

Noël Tredinnick tells Justin Brierley about his life and work in musical ministry, leading the All Souls Choir and Orchestra and Prom Praise musical celebrations for several decades.  Following his 70th birthday he talks about handing the All Souls conductor baton on to others, and his life and passion for music and Jesus, including some musical extracts from Prom Praise down the years. https://ww...

Will Torrent eats chocolate for breakfast. He recommends the practice. “Your taste buds are ready to have something exciting!” he says. In this in-depth interview with Premier Christianity’s editor Sam Hailes, the award-winning chef shares his remarkable testimony, recalls his experiences working in Heston Blumenthal’s kitchen and explains why he’s so fascinated by bananas. He also talks about his...

Having grown up as a Christian in Iran, Katia Adams is deeply aware of the persecution which many Christians are facing around the world. In this interview with Claire Musters, Katia explains how her Grandparents witnessed a revival in their Iranian home and how her parents have since witnessed 300,000 Muslims becoming Christians over the past three decades. For Katia, living the Christian life me...

In this week’s show Megan Cornwell sits down with veteran missionary Simon Guillebaud to hear about the miraculous ways God has protected him and his family during decades of missionary work in what was once the most dangerous nation on earth. Guillebaud describes how God brought 164,000 people to faith through his ministry and why he believes Christians in the UK can be blind to the spiritual war...

In this week’s show Sam Hailes sits down the Conservative candidate for the 2020 London Mayoral election, Shaun Bailey. Although he grew up in a Christian family, Bailey soon turned his back on the Christian faith. In this interview he explains what brought him back, how Christians can be a force for good in politics and why his 20+ years of experience in youth work has prepared him for his politi...

In this week’s show Sam Hailes sits down with the San Francisco-based author and activist Mark Scandrette to talk about a whole host of issues which centre around spiritual formation, the gospel and whether we need to re-think the way we do Church. Mark’s own process of theological deconstruction began when his best friend fell asleep part-way through one of Mark’s sermons! Today, this prophetic t...

In this week’s show Sam Hailes sits down with the Grammy nominated Gospel artist William McDowell to hear how the miraculous has been invading Deeper Fellowship in Florida. McDowell grew up in a strong Christian family and made a commitment to God at a very early age. Over the past two decades he’s been crying out to God for revival. That prayer was finally answered on May 22, 2016 when the presen...

In this week’s show Cara Bentley delves into the life and faith of the outspoken and at times controversial politician, Ann Widdecombe. When Widdecombe last spoke to Premier ten years ago, she was approaching the end of her career as an MP, looking forward to retirement on the south coast, and hoping a peerage would be on the horizon. She talked about her lifelong allegiance to the Conservative Pa...

On this week’s show, Rev Nadim Nassar, the Church of England’s only Syrian priest, talks to Megan Cornwell about growing up in Syria and the constant threats to his life which led him to a deep sense of trust in Jesus and to his calling as a peacebuilder. He shares stories of the Syrian Muslim experiencing profound visions of Christ in the war-torn country at the moment and he shares a strident me...

On this week’s show, Mark Sayers, the pastor of Red Church in Melbourne, Australia talks to Premier Christianity’s Sam Hailes about his life and ministry. Mark speaks on a variety of topics related to church and culture, including his own experience of failed church plants, the dangers of “digital capitalism” and his definition of revival as ‘renewal gone viral’. He also opens up about his own men...

It’s a double bill this week. The Nashville based country star Josh Turner talks to Premier’s Simon Tuck about his music career, and why faith matters to him more than anything. Then in part two, Maria Rodriguez meets co-author of The Bible of the Year, Pippa Gumbel. The Profile is brought to you in association with Premier Christianity magazine. For a free sample copy of the latest issue visit pr...

On this week’s show, Ortis Deley talks to Premier Christianity’s Sam Hailes about his Christian upbringing, why he doesn’t go to church anymore and the ups and downs of a career in broadcasting. Ortis is best known for previously fronting the BBC’s flagship morning show Live & Kicking, and today presenting The Gadget Show on Channel 5. In this in-depth interview, he answers questions on young peop...

Andrew Peterson’s biggest struggle is believing the truth that God loves him. Not because God isn’t loving, he explains, but because “I’m not lovable”. It’s a surprising admission from a man who has sold thousands of records and tours internationally. In this in depth interview with Premier Christianity’s Sam Hailes, Andrew opens up about a variety of topics, including his battle with depression,...