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After years of looking in all the wrong places, 1990 was the year that I finally found what I was searching for; money, sex drugs and rock n-roll weren’t doing anything for me and I could really relate with the lyrics from that well known song ‘can’t get no satisfaction, though I try, and I try and I try…’

I had looked into other religions and even dabbled in the occult but nothing was meeting that inner drive and desire to have peace and to know just why I was here. I also became very aware that I was far from ‘perfect’ and wanted to become a better person but just didn’t know how.

Finally, I decided to look into Christianity. Looking back, I’m so grateful that an elder in a Baptist church actually told me that the only way to get to heaven and to have the true peace that I was looking for was through Jesus Christ. Although, I have to admit that when he first told me that I wanted to punch his lights out!

That same Baptist elder, took me through a study in Luke’s Gospel. When I got to chapter 15 and read about the Prodigal Son, I was cut to the heart and that was the day that my life changed completely and I became a Christian.

Shortly after that, on the 22nd July, 1990, I was baptized in water in a Dr Barnardos therapy pool in the East End of London.

Within a few months of being baptized in water, I received a baptism in the Holy Spirit at a Spring Harvest conference in Wales. This I believe was another huge turning point as I no longer became content with the work I was engaged in doing and that was accountancy.

After completing two years (evening classes) at a Bible College in London and gaining a Diploma, I felt a call to do something completely different with my life. This was confirmed by the Lord, by that fact the fact that the next two jobs I had ended in redundancy (not my choice).

So, on a snowy and cold winter’s morning, I set off for a new life in Scotland! This was a place that I never been to before, or indeed had never contemplated wanting to go there (as I do rather prefer warm weather). Plus, I didn’t know a soul that lived there. But, I had applied for a job in Edinburgh helping alcoholics and drug addicts and my application had been successful. After an 11 hour drive in a rather clapped out old Fiat Panda (with all my worldly possessions inside), I arrived in Edinburgh and have been in Scotland ever since.

After working at the rehab in Edinburgh, I spent a few years as an assistant to a Pastor helping out in a church plant situation. Then, I moved further north to a place called Fraserburgh (in Aberdeenshire), where I became part of a team that started and ran a Teen Challenge rehab for people suffering from substance misuse problems. My work helping addicts went on for about 15 years and took me to other places such as Mumbai in India and Hong Kong in China.

As well as working for Teen Challenge, I’ve been a delivery driver, delivering fresh fruit and vegetables all over the Northeast of Scotland. I also worked in a local bank for a number of years and to add to the variety, was a warden at a local caravan park.

I currently live alone after becoming separated from my wife and daughter.