Gilbert Thomas Samuel Dunk was born on March 29^th, 1912 in Brighton, Sussex.

His father, Bertie John James Dunk, was a Master Draper who was also a Baptist elder and lay-preacher, whilst his mother, Rose, was a good cook and delighted in caring for their little bungalow in Hove. With the addition of Gilbert’s younger sister Kate, it was by all accounts, a happy little family.

Quite possibly due to contacts through his father’s trade, Gilbert began his working career in large clothing and furnishing store in Brighton. In his mid-teens (about 15) and having just completed his ‘Top Form’ exams, he was full of energy and enthusiasm. With artistic flare, he began to show his creative skills by developing in-store displays and was soon more than just a junior salesman on the floor. He was later given the opportunity to assist in creating and arranging the store’s window dressing.

About this same time (circa 1927), the spiritual aspect of Gilbert’s life began to awaken. As a young lad he had made a
profession of faith, was baptised in water and had later been involved in an ‘Evangelistic Band’ outreach from the Preston Park Baptist Church, Brighton, which the family attended. A group of the church young people used to cycle to villages and hamlets in the countryside inland from Brighton, in the company of the church youth leader, to conduct open-air preaching meetings. These events were an enjoyable challenge to the early faith of the young people concerned.

Then there came a pivotal event which was to turn his attention in a new direction. Renowned evangelist, ‘Gypsy’ Smith paid a visit to the Sussex Coast region, holding meetings in public halls and local churches. Whilst attending one of these gatherings, Gilbert felt the first stirring of God’s call on his life toward ministry.

Smith headed up the work of the Gypsy Mission, the main aim of which was to minister to the socially ostracised, nomadic, Gypsy Folk who travelled and lived along the highways and byways of Britain. He was looking for young men who believed they had a call from God to spread the Good News, to swell the ranks of his work. Gilbert enlisted, along with a band of several other keen young men, for the voluntary work of the Mission. To the dismay of almost all of the applicants, they were informed at the interview that to be part of the ministry they must go out in teams, using their bicycles as transportation, going door-to-door and selling Bibles to raise money for the support of the Mission and its workers.

Believing this to be God’s call on his life, Gilbert was undeterred. He accepted this surprising turn of events to be a test of his willingness, in addition to being an equipping exercise for service and so set out to do the work with all the enthusiasm he could muster. As he had privately suspected, this is exactly the resolve evangelist Smith was looking for. Besides, always one to make the most of every opportunity, it gave him the chance to engage the people of the households he visited in conversation on personal, spiritual issues. Eventually quitting his job, Gilbert remained involved the work of the Gypsy Mission for almost two years.

After serving as a lay-pastor-in-training for two years, Gilbert began 3 years of training at ‘Elim Woodlands’ Bible College on September 23^rd, 1933.

Irene Alexandra Gale was born on July 21st 1912, in Richmond, Surrey. Her father was a Master Furnisher, with his own furniture retail store. Her mother, Lillian was a teacher in pianoforte as well as being a highly qualified seamstress, working with fine brocades and silks. Lillian died when Irene was 6 years of age, during the birth of her second child, Alexander – having been affected by a Spanish flu epidemic. Irene and Alex lived with their paternal grandmother and a spinster aunt.

In 1934, Irene lived in Wimbledon and attended the nearby Elim Church. At the same time, Gilbert was being sent from the Bible Training College to undertake practical experience work at that very same church. It was there they met.

Despite separation for many months, whilst on probationary postings to several different towns in England, seven months after his Ordination as a Minister, Gilbert married Irene on the 10^th of April 1937.

The following year, at the close  of the conference sessions that Gilbert was called aside by the executive council to be notified of his new appointment to the ‘Eldad’ Elim Church in St Peter Port, Guernsey, one of the historic Channel Isles. The transfer was to be undertaken in May, only six weeks later.

It is here we pick up the story of Rev. & Mrs Gilbert Dunk’s ‘Guernsey Story’.