My testimony started at a chess club. I was running a small class at a community centre in Canning Town, London. I had been playing chess since I was about 11 years old and had played in tournaments. I was about 34 years old at the time and it was about 1995. The players were mainly women who were waiting to collect their children from school.

   I was single at the time and though I believed in God and didn’t know much about Jesus. I came from a Roman Catholic family and I had attended Saint Benedict’s, Roman Catholic School in Colchester, Essex. I did not attend church after leaving school but I always tried to improve myself. I did not take drugs, or smoke and only drank in moderation.

   At the chess club, one woman appeared different to me than the others. I don’t know why, but the other women seem to pick on her. I separated her from them and I played chess with her. On the way home I would walk her to her address and chatted. Eventually we began dating. Her name was Dawn and she said that she was a backslidden Christian. I had no idea what she meant at the time. We lived together for a year and it was during that time I became a Christian. She would attend church every Sunday and read the Bible before going to bed at night. She never did invite me to church so I asked her if I could join her one Sunday. She said yes, so I went along to see what it was like out of curiosity. In the past I had found church to be very boring so my expectations were low.

   I attended Elim Pentecostal Church, East Ham, London and was amazed by the atmosphere. I was warmly greeted and the service was lively. The pastor wore a suit and there was a band playing. I felt at home there and continued to fellowship there. I was very curious about everything they were doing. When some spoke in tongues, I asked Dawn about it and she tried her best to explain. The pastor’s name was Derek and he was probably about 30 at the time. He was a very good preacher and personally came to teach me the Bible at my flat. However, he probably overestimated my understanding of the Bible and I found it difficult to follow. I had created my own standard of living which I struggled to fulfil. When I saw a much higher standard in the Bible I became discouraged. I was working as an electrician at the time at Harrods in London and after about 10 months I decided to put the Bible down. I reasoned that if I should die and meet God and He asked me about the sins I committed, I could say that I didn’t see that one because I had not read that far in the Bible.

   One day a voice said to me, ‘I will teach you.’ The voice in my head said, ‘Read Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and Revelations. Do not study it, just read it as if you are reading a novel.’ I carried with me a small, red, pocket Bible that contained the New Testament and the book of Psalms. I started to read it during my breaks.

   As I read it, some words were being amplified in my head, DO YOU HEAR, DO YOU SEE, I wondered what Jesus wanted the Sadducees and Pharisees to see and hear. They had eyes to see and ears to hear, so what did Jesus want them to see and hear.  After reading the book of Revelations, I decided to read them over again. As I did, I came to a particular verse, Matthew 9:36, I felt a change in my mind. It was like another level of consciousness and I had just woken up. I felt as though I had been sleeping for 35 years and I just woke up. I felt as though that all I had done before was irrelevant. As I continued to read the Bible during my breaks there was a change in my personality. It was subtle and I didn’t realise until the end of the week. I often swore on the building site, especially when I injured myself. But now when I swore, a voice would say to me, ‘What did you say?’ On hearing the voice, I decided to use another word.  I wasn’t even conscious of it. It wasn’t until the end of the week that I became aware of it. I injured my hand once again, and I said, ‘Oh dear.’ An electrician was passing by and said to me, ‘What did you say?’ I thought for a moment and realised that I had stop swearing.  As I continued to read the Bible, I came across the word, repentance, and became aware that this is what was happening to me.

   The Bible says, ‘That faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.’ So my faith took a giant leap. From here onwards God did other miraculous thing in my life. Some of these can be found in my books that I have written.