Editing Terry Waite (section)

== Early life and career==
The son of a village policeman in [[Styal]], Cheshire, Waite was educated at Stockton Heath County Secondary School where he became [[head boy]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Padman|first=Interview by Tony|date=2016-05-13|title=Terry Waite: 'My children can be extremely stubborn. They get it from me'|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/may/13/terry-waite-former-hostage-negotiator-lebanon-release-family-values|access-date=2020-03-13|issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> Although his parents were only nominally religious, he showed a commitment to [[Christianity]] from an early age and later became a Quaker and an Anglican.

Waite joined the [[Grenadier Guards]] at [[Caterham Barracks]], but an allergy to a dye in the uniform obliged him to depart after a few months.<ref>{{cite book|author=Hymns Ancient & Modern Ltd|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NmdG2kk8juwC&pg=PA28|title=ThirdWay|date=December 1993|publisher=Hymns Ancient & Modern Ltd|pages=28}}</ref> He then considered a monastic life, but instead joined the [[Church Army]], a social welfare organisation of the [[Anglican Church]] modelled on the [[Salvation Army]], undergoing training and studies in London. While he was held captive in the 1980s, many Church Army officers wore a simple badge with the letter "H" on it to remind people that one of their members was still a hostage and was being supported in prayer daily by them and many others.

In 1963, Waite was appointed education adviser to the Anglican [[Bishop of Bristol]], [[Oliver Tomkins]], and assisted with Tomkins's implementation of the SALT (Stewardship and Laity Training) programme in the diocese, along with [[Basil Moss (priest)|Basil Moss]]. This position required Waite to master psychological [[T-group (social psychology)|T-group]] methods, with the aim of promoting increased active involvement from the laity. During this time he married Helen Frances Watters.<ref>{{cite book|author=Trevor Barnes|title=Terry Waite|url=https://archive.org/details/terrywaite0000barn|url-access=registration|date=1 June 1992|publisher=Bethany House Publishers|isbn=978-1-55661-303-6|page=[https://archive.org/details/terrywaite0000barn/page/54 54]}}</ref> As a student, Waite was greatly influenced by the teachings of [[Ralph Baldry]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Terry Waite|title=Taken on Trust|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AzJDCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT228|date=8 September 2016|publisher=John Murray Press|isbn=978-1-4736-2757-4|pages=228}}</ref>

In 1969, he moved to [[Uganda]] where he worked as Provincial Training Adviser to [[Erica Sabiti]], the first African Anglican [[Archbishop of Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi]] and, in that capacity, travelled extensively throughout East Africa. Together with his wife and their four children, Waite witnessed the [[Idi Amin]] coup in Uganda and he and his wife narrowly escaped death on several occasions. From his office in Kampala, Waite founded the Southern Sudan Project and was responsible for developing aid and development programmes for the region.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|title=Terry Waite not bitter about nearly 5 years in captivity|url=https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1995/08/13/terry-waite-not-bitter-about-nearly-5-years-in-captivity/|access-date=2021-08-27|website=Tampa Bay Times|language=en}}</ref>

His next post was in [[Rome]] where, from 1972, he worked as an international consultant to the [[Medical Mission Sisters]], a Roman Catholic order seeking to adapt to the leadership reforms of [[Vatican II]]. From this base, he travelled extensively throughout Asia, Africa, the Americas and Europe, conducting and advising on programmes concerned with institutional change and development, inter-cultural relations, group and inter-group dynamics and a broad range of development issues connected with health and education.<ref name=":2" />