John McQuoid

John McQuoid went home to heaven on November 1st, 2025. He will be remembered as a man whose life was shaped by the simple phrase that adorned the window of his childhood home in Belfast: ‘GOD FIRST’.

He worked as an engineer before going to Ethiopia as a missionary in his early twenties. He and his young family spent seventeen years in the country in three different locations. In 1975, John established a church in Gofa Sefer, an area that had no previous evangelical witness. What began as a modest gathering of just five people blossomed into a congregation of sixty. In 1977, the family was forced by the communist government to leave the country, and the young Ethiopian elders, whom John had discipled, assumed leadership of the underground church. Despite persecution, the church flourished. Today, fifty years on, the legacy is astounding: over 30,000 adult believers in 325 churches, 430 full-time evangelists, and a regional ministry to thousands of children.

After leaving Ethiopia, John spent thirteen years in full-time ministry at Larne Gospel Hall in Northern Ireland, where he spearheaded a campaign to deliver a gospel tract to every home in the town. He then ministered for seven years at Bethany Church in the Northeast of England, followed by a decade on the board of Echoes of Service.

During this period, he authored Knowing and Doing. More than 250,000 copies of this book have been printed, and it has been translated into 54 languages, helping countless believers grasp the basics of the Christian faith. It was a privilege for OPAL to work with John. 

John McQuoid’s legacy spans three countries and touches thousands of lives – a testimony of a life lived with ‘GOD FIRST’ at its heart.