Two days ago, I posted the following text on my Facebook and X pages, in response to some sad news I had just received: “Some folk will know that I am a long-time supporter of the work of Counties UK concerning their evangelism endeavours across the counties of England, especially in Essex. Ever since I first come across him as a young student, Andy Jelfs has been one of its stalwart evangelists. A few weeks ago, I learned of a rapid decline in health and I have just learned the following news about his passing. I thank God for this dear brother and pray for his wife, Miriam.”

What followed was the message I received, sent to ‘interested folk’ by his fellow Counties evangelist, Andy Mugford, who had been closely associated with Andy, and passing on the news of his death …

“Andy went to be with his Lord at 2:15 this afternoon.  It was very peaceful, there was no struggle or anything – he literally just faded away in our arms, which was lovely”.

Miriam has her godson, Andrew, with her and they have not been rushed on by the staff – which they have really appreciated.

Miriam says that she has lots of people looking out for her and is so grateful for pray-ers that are too many to number!

Please share this very sad, but full of eternal hope news of our brother who has served the Lord so faithfully here in Essex”.

As an introduction to this short tribute to Andy Jelfs (and I have no doubt there will be many more to follow that will give many details concerning his extraordinary live) I wanted to find a suitable photo. What I shared (above) is the best I could find. It was taken in 1974 and it featured several of the Counties evangelists who were around at the time. Even so, it tells a small yet significant part of the story and one I was aware of to but a small extent, concerning Andy’s life.

Just over a year ago, I posted on my website an article that I titled: “Counties; A Story to Tell; Making Jesus Known Today and Tomorrow” (see here). In it, I shared some of the story of my own involvement with Counties, going back to when I was a teen, and in it I reflected on some of its history and the work it did. I considered, for example, how Counties began as an evangelistic arm of the Open Brethren movement and operated particularly through tent missions, although these days it is more ecumenical leaning and adopts a variety of methods of evangelism, including use of modern methods and technology. I also talked about six of its evangelists that I had dealings with over the years, one of which was Andy Jelfs.

My interest was focused on Essex and the two evangelists that worked in the county in those early days were Geoff Carr and Andy Jelfs, pictured in the photo. I then had more dealings with Geoff Carr and, after they joined Counties, Steve Morely and Heather Smith. I had a lot more involvement with Geoff than Andy, partly because in those early days Geoff worked more in the South of the County, where I lived, and Andy more in the North. Even so, Andy was ever present and I would come across him at thrice yearly Essex Regional Fellowship meetings, where along with the other Essex evangelists he would give reports on the work he was engaged in.

Often, the evangelists would visit my church and as a church we would pray and support them and the work that they did.

Geoff Carr (who died in 2017) and Andy were the Essex Counties evangelists in the 1970’s when I became aware of that work, and they were contrasting characters, but who complemented each other well. I wrote about Geoff in a paper I produced earlier this year titled: “Reflecting on “Chief men among the Brethren” and my three unlikely choices” (see here). Those who knew both will probably understand this: Geoff came across as a charismatic livewire while Andy came across as quieter and thoughtful. I was struck by his gracious demeanour, his hard work ethic when doing the work of an evangelist, his wise counsel and his pastor’s heart.

It was to Andy I turned to in doing research for my paper and he was a mine of information, offering many helpful perspectives. What I didn’t know was that while Geoff joined Counties in 1970, Andy was already working as a Counties Evangelist. It happened that before Geoff joined he came and helped Andy, who was conducting a tent mission. It was his introduction to that work and he joined soon after. Another association I had with Andy was that he lived in a house owned by a trust, of which I am a trustee. Having lived many years and have come across tenants in all sorts of contexts, I can say the best tenants I have had dealings with were Andy and Miriam.

As I said at the start, there is so much more that could be said about Andy, and no doubt some of this will come out. It was only a month ago, after suffering a fall, that he became hospitalised, and health deteriorated quickly after that – a sobering reminder for all of us when we reflect on our own lives and how to make best use of the opportunities that come our way and adjust to the circumstances in which we found ourselves in. Andy did! It has become evident, even more so in this past month, that Andy impacted many in positive ways and people appreciated him as a good neighbour, a beloved brother in Christ and one of God’s stellar workmen. The work of evangelism remains. We pray others will take the torch from Andy.