A Childhood in Southampton

The speaker began with a warning that, as a retired sailor, he was perfectly capable of telling stories that were not entirely true. Tonight, however, he assured his audience he intended to tell the truth. It was a characteristically humorous introduction to a remarkable personal testimony.

Born in Southampton into a family of ten children, he grew up in the difficult years following the Second World War. Money was scarce, and he remembered being six years old before tasting his first banana. His father worked hard to support the family but had little time for him. The young boy tried almost everything to attract his father’s attention, joining sporting teams and taking part in numerous school activities, but his father never came to watch him play. When his father died, the speaker was only sixteen, leaving him with a lasting sense that they had never really known one another.

His father had frequently suggested that the armed forces would sort him out. Eventually, he took the advice, joining the Royal Navy and embarking upon a career that would take him into some of the most secretive operations of the Cold War.

Life Beneath the Waves

His decision to volunteer for submarine service was initially motivated by the prospect of extra pay. He began aboard a diesel submarine, HMS Orpheus, before moving into nuclear submarines, where he received further engineering training. His accounts of naval life combined technical knowledge with the unmistakable humour of a man who had spent years confined with other sailors in extremely cramped conditions.

He described participating in secret exercises involving Special Boat Service personnel, including an operation off Norway in which a team went ashore to carry out a simulated demolition. When the submarine returned to collect them, they were nowhere to be found. He cheerfully suggested that, as this happened in 1976, they might still be there.

Life aboard a nuclear submarine was an extraordinary mixture of advanced technology, secrecy and everyday inconvenience. Crews could remain submerged for months, generating their own oxygen, purifying their water and constantly cleaning the air. The limiting factor was often not the machinery but the amount of food they could carry. Entertainment included film nights, although even laughter required consideration because noise might reveal the submarine’s position.

Communication with families was severely restricted. His wife might be able to send a message of only a few words every six weeks. Yet the submarine also carried highly classified intelligence reports, giving the crew an unusual glimpse into international espionage.

Among the distinguished people he encountered was Princess Diana, who spent a day aboard. The normal modest food allowance was dramatically increased for the occasion, and the sailors enjoyed lobster and salmon. For one day, at least, they ate like royalty.

An Unexpected Encounter with God

Amid the naval adventures came an experience that would eventually transform his life. In 1976, while attending a gathering near Fareham, he was invited to discuss Christianity with someone who asked what God would have to do to convince him of His existence. His answer was characteristically practical: if God could make him stop smoking, he might believe.

The man placed a hand on his shoulder and prayed. What followed was an experience he could neither explain nor understand. He described feeling as though he were floating above the floor, an experience so frightening that he left immediately and resolved not to return to church.

It was hardly the conventional beginning of a Christian conversion. Nor did he immediately stop smoking. That particular change, he admitted with a smile, would take several more years. Looking back, however, he recognised the encounter as the beginning of a spiritual journey which God would patiently continue.

Discovering Jesus in Plymouth

After marrying Jane and moving to Plymouth, he found that his wife had begun attending church and was enjoying it. She repeatedly invited him to accompany her, but he resisted, remembering his earlier unsettling experience. Eventually, as he put it, he did what his wife told him and went along.

The preacher spoke about the passage in Matthew’s Gospel concerning the person who notices a speck in another’s eye while ignoring the plank in his own. The message struck him with unexpected force. He recognised his own tendency to judge others, particularly when driving, and wondered why the preacher appeared to be addressing him personally rather than everyone else in the congregation.

After the service, he spoke to the minister, who explained the Christian message and prayed with him. It was then, he said, that he truly met Jesus.

His conversion did not instantly transform every aspect of his behaviour. He continued to struggle with old habits and gradually came to understand what following Christ involved. Through Bible study groups, church services and Christian gatherings, his faith deepened. He began to recognise that Christianity was not simply about attending church but about changing the direction and purpose of his life.

From Pleasing People to Serving God

One passage that particularly influenced him was 1 Thessalonians 2:4, which speaks of seeking to please God rather than people. Throughout his working life, he had concentrated upon satisfying employers, colleagues and himself. Now he began asking a different question: what did God actually want him to do?

This change gradually affected his relationships with others. He became more willing to discuss his faith, including with a colleague who was considering attending a séance. Rather than condemning her, he encouraged her to think carefully about the spiritual influences she was inviting into her life. She subsequently decided not to attend.

He came to appreciate the instruction in 1 Peter 3:15 to be ready to explain the hope that Christian faith brings. For him, evangelism was becoming less about preaching at people and more about responding sensitively to the questions and difficulties they brought into everyday conversation.

Finding His Calling at Fifty-Two

The speaker’s spiritual journey took another unexpected turn when he became involved with Street Pastors, an organisation whose volunteers offer practical assistance, friendship and support to vulnerable people.

He discovered that people sleeping rough or struggling with addiction were not necessarily lacking in religious knowledge. Some knew the Bible better than he did. What they often lacked was encouragement, companionship and someone willing to recognise their dignity.

A friend introduced him to Isaiah 61, with its message of bringing good news to the poor, comforting the broken-hearted and proclaiming freedom to those in captivity. The passage spoke directly to him. He became convinced that God was calling him to work among people who had been overlooked or pushed to the margins of society.

At the age of fifty-two, after a lengthy assessment process, he was accepted into Church Army to train as an evangelist. He joked that the year-long assessment was not because he was particularly bad, but simply because the organisation took its responsibilities seriously.

For him, the acceptance was profoundly liberating. After decades of naval service, employment and searching for direction, he finally felt that he had discovered what God had created him to do.

Belfast: Bringing Christianity into the Streets

His new calling took him to Belfast, where he worked as a community minister. He was not ordained in the conventional sense, but his responsibility was to bring people together, encourage relationships and demonstrate Christian love through practical service.

One of the more unusual initiatives involved transporting a double-decker bus from Dover to Belfast. The vehicle travelled at approximately thirty miles an hour, making the journey something of an adventure in itself. Once established, it became a regular Saturday meeting place where people could receive prayer, encouragement and a listening ear.

He recalled a mother who brought her baby, suffering from severe eczema, and asked for prayer. Nothing appeared to happen immediately, but the team continued praying during the following week. When the mother returned the next Saturday, she reported that the child’s condition had cleared. The speaker regarded this as a remarkable answer to prayer and evidence of God’s presence in their work.

Another memorable encounter involved a tiny elderly woman who approached him in the street and asked whether he understood the Gospel message. She explained it using the imagery on a coin, speaking of sin, freedom and the choice to follow Christ. When he turned to introduce her to a colleague, she had disappeared. He was so astonished that he wondered whether he had encountered an angel.

Whether others accepted that interpretation or not, his delight in recounting the incident was unmistakable. For him, the Christian life was full of surprises, and God was perfectly capable of appearing in circumstances that no sensible person could have anticipated.

A Chilean Miner and Faith Underground

During his time in Belfast, he met José Henríquez, one of the Chilean miners rescued after being trapped underground in 2010. Henríquez was already a committed Christian and had helped sustain the morale of his fellow miners through prayer, Bible study and practical leadership.

The speaker recounted how the miners had to ration their meagre food supplies and find ways to survive until rescuers could reach them. He was particularly impressed by Henríquez’s conviction that God had guided them through their ordeal, including their choice of water supplies.

The story reinforced one of the speaker’s central beliefs: that God’s presence is not confined to churches or religious gatherings but can be discovered in the most desperate circumstances.

He could not resist adding a lighter observation about the rescue. One miner reportedly emerged to find two women waiting for him, both claiming a close relationship. Surviving underground had evidently not resolved all the complications of life above ground.

Shrewsbury: Faith Expressed Through Practical Kindness

A further move took him and Jane to Shrewsbury, where he became involved with Holy Trinity Church and community ministry on an estate experiencing serious social difficulties, including drugs and violence.

His approach was straightforward. Rather than waiting for people to come into church, he wanted the church to go out and meet them. Sometimes that meant gathering men together over bacon sandwiches, building friendships and creating opportunities for conversation. He saw these ordinary activities as genuine expressions of Christian ministry.

One particularly memorable initiative took place on the Saturday between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, when a group went into the town centre offering to clean people’s shoes and boots free of charge. The intention was simply to demonstrate God’s love through an unexpected act of kindness.

He approached a woman named Felicity, who initially refused and walked away. Feeling strongly that he should speak to her again, he called after her, although he immediately wondered whether his rather unconventional approach might get him arrested.

An hour later, she returned and accepted his offer. During their conversation, she revealed that she had just received news of her former boyfriend’s death and was deeply distressed. He listened, offered encouragement and spoke about faith. She subsequently decided to attend church with her mother the following morning.

He did not claim to know what happened afterwards. Perhaps the church service helped her, perhaps the visit strengthened her relationship with her mother, or perhaps something else developed. His responsibility, he believed, was simply to offer kindness and create an opportunity for God to work.

A Conversation at Thirty Thousand Feet

Another encounter took place aboard an aircraft when a booking mistake resulted in two passengers being allocated the same seat. He was moved to the only remaining place, beside a young woman travelling with friends.

She recognised him as a church minister and began describing a series of family tragedies which had left her searching desperately for answers. She told him that she was turning over every stone in the hope of finding an explanation.

He felt that Jesus was the answer she needed, but recognised that an emotional conversation or public prayer might embarrass her in front of her companions. Instead, he listened and gently directed her towards a Christian prayer ministry operating near her workplace.

He never discovered whether she followed his suggestion. Nevertheless, he regarded the apparently accidental seating arrangement as another opportunity provided by God. His task was not to control the outcome but to respond faithfully to the person placed before him.

A Life Guided by Faith, Humour and Hope

What made the speaker’s testimony so memorable was the combination of extraordinary experiences and an entirely unpretentious manner of telling them. He had spent years aboard submarines carrying secret intelligence, travelled through dangerous waters, encountered royalty and witnessed the tensions of the Cold War. Yet he regarded his eventual discovery of Christian ministry as the most significant adventure of all.

His humour was never far away. He could laugh at his youthful misbehaviour, his reluctance to attend church, his imperfect Christian progress and the absurdities of naval life. He did not present himself as a saint or a man who had always known the answers. On the contrary, he was someone who had spent much of his life searching, making mistakes and discovering his purpose gradually.

The thread running through his story was his conviction that God had accompanied him throughout the journey, even during those years when he had scarcely recognised His presence. The young sailor who joined the Navy for extra money could hardly have imagined that he would eventually become an evangelist, polishing strangers’ shoes, praying on a Belfast bus and sharing the Gospel with people facing life’s most difficult circumstances.

He concluded by reminding his audience that everyone has a story and everyone has been given gifts which can be used in God’s service. His invitation was not necessarily to undertake some dramatic adventure but to take the next step in faith, extend love to neighbours and remain ready to explain the hope that Christianity offers.

Perhaps the most striking lesson from his remarkable journey was that a Christian calling does not always arrive early in life, follow a predictable course or lead where one expects. Sometimes it takes a nuclear submarine, a reluctant visit to church and half a lifetime of experiences before a person discovers where God has been leading him all along.