Stephen John "Steve" Chalke (born 17 November 1955) is a British Baptist minister, the founder of the Oasis Charitable Trust, a former United Nations' Special Adviser on Human Trafficking and a social activist. Chalke is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and is also the author of a large number of books and articles as well as a former presenter and now regular contributor and commentator on television, radio and other media. Early life and career Chalke was born in Croydon, South London, in 1955. As a teenager he became a Christian and decided to dedicate his life working to end poverty. He graduated from Spurgeon's College, was ordained a Baptist minister in 1981, and served as a local minister for four years. In 1985 he founded the Oasis Trust to set up housing, healthcare and educational projects. Oasis has since developed into a group of charities working in 11 countries over four continents (Europe, Asia, Africa and North America) to deliver housing, training, youthwork, healthcare, family support and primary, secondary and higher education. It has grown into a significant voluntary sector provider, delivering services for local authorities and national governments as well as self-funded initiatives. In the UK, Oasis' family of charities now includes Oasis Community Learning, Oasis Community Housing, Oasis Community Partnerships, the Oasis Foundation and Stop the Traffik as well as a growing network of Oasis churches. In the UK alone Oasis now employs over 5,000 staff as well as working with thousands more volunteers. Church leader Chalke was ordained as a Baptist minister in 1981, after studying at Spurgeon's College in London. He was minister of Tonbridge Baptist Church in Kent for four years before setting up the Oasis Trust. He later formed a developing network of community churches around the UK which began with the foundation of Oasis Church Waterloo, London SE1, in 2003 and now includes churches in Salford, Enfield, Southampton, Croydon and Bristol as well as a growing number of other locations. Chalke remains senior minister of Oasis Church Waterloo, in the London Borough of Lambeth where Oasis currently also serves its local community through the delivery of a children's centre, a primary school, a secondary school, various adult education opportunities, a foodbank, a debt advice centre, a community farm, a coffee house, the local public library, a range of youth work schemes and a breadth of other community building programmes