I have lived a HOPE filled life since 11.00 PM on  Friday 10th April 1959.  That was the night my life was changed for good, forever, after several years of traumatic experiences, including the sudden death of my wonderful father whilst I was still only 12 years of age. Added to this grief, was the loss I experienced following the sale of the farm. Everything I had loved was suddenly taken away, and it was hard for me as young boy of 12 to understand why my donkey and cart and even my pet dog had to be parted with.

Five years later, at the age of 17, I was still grieving and so very unhappy at home in Ballygawley, Co Tyrone, Northern Ireland that I ran away, not only to try and escape all the things that made me so unhappy, but to try and begin a new life in England.

This new life was to take me into the Army and the Royal Engineer's Regiment at Aldershot in Hampshire. Soon this new life was to rob me once again of someone I had come to love so much.
I discovered that the girl to whom I was engaged to be married, no longer loved me, and our engagement was broken off. This stirred up all the previous grief that I had struggled with in the past following the loss of my father. I was so devastated by what had happened, and it hurt so much to be alone, that I came to believe that there really was no reason for my continuing to live, so I attempted to end my life by swallowing a handful of tablets with the help of alcohol.

I have read that "We can live for 40 days without food, 8 days without water, 4-6 minutes without air, but ONLY SECONDS without HOPE."

I was introduced to hope by John, a member of the Parachute Regiment, he contacted me in the Bar of the Naafi just a few days after my suicide attempt. After a brief discussion, John and I prayed together in Holy Trinity Church, in Victoria Road Aldershot - This was my prayer - "Oh God if you can heal my broken heart and dry my tears and give me hope, I'll go to the Nations of the world to tell them of the hope you have given to me."

I got up from my knees that night, a changed man, as I began my personal relationship with Jesus, I had been born again and from that moment on, I would have the life of Christ inside of me.

It's now over 49 years since I began my hope filled journey, a journey that has not always been easy, simply because I came to faith in Jesus, but I can say that The Lord has helped me to keep going when things got rough.
I have proved many times, that God's GRACE is sufficient. He has helped me through the most severe of trials, including the death of my wife with cancer in November 1983 after 23 years of marriage. Christine was only 45 years of age and our daughter Marella was only 14 at the time.

The Lord has also brought me through two painful episodes of clots in my lung, and two major heart attacks. The second almost fatal attack was in 1994 whilst I was a Missionary in Uganda, East Africa, with my wife Ruth. We served the Lord there for six years, and He enabled us to pioneer a new Mission which we called - Uganda Mission Of Hope. The Lord added 100 Churches to the Mission and He also enabled us to build a Village Health Clinic, and launch a School Of Ministry And Theology.

In April 1995, the Lord helped me through a triple by-pass, heart operation.

After returning from Uganda to the UK, I took up Pastoral Ministry again and was appointed as the Pastor of the Elim Pentecostal Church in East Finchley on 31st August 1996. I first attended an Elim Church in Aldershot in 1959, just after I was born again and four years later, I was appointed to my first Pastorate in September 1963. I served with Elim for two years beyond the stipulated retirement age and left in October 2007 after which, I served the Lord for a time as the Pastor of a Church in Kilburn.

Since June 2001, the Lord has been blessing me as a Gospel Singer, and I have travelled to many locations to sing "Songs from The Heart.

God has also opened many opportunities to serve Him on local radio, Stations have included LBC in London and BBC Radio Medway. At the moment I present "Music With A Message" on Radio Star Country and the programme reaches people all across the whole of Ireland and even into Scotland on 981 MW - To God be ALL the glory.

Thanks sincerely for reading this story of what God has done for me. I sincerely pray that you too will find the answer to every need you have, by believing in the one name and person that you can trust:
                JESUS - The WAY the TRUTH and the LIFE (John 14:6)