August 1999 - Evangelicals Now - Christian Newspaper

Each year Finkle Street Congregational Church in Pontefract, holds a mission to the town, and publishes a booklet of true conversion stories. Here is an interview with Mike Walters from this year.
Mike spent 18 years in the army, mainly abroad. He was a heavy drinker whose life changed in an amazing way when he became a Christian 16 years ago. Ten years ago he had a heart bypass operation. Here he gives an update on his experiences.

Were you happy when you were drinking?

I thought so at the time. Life seemed great. The army is a man's world and I thought drink, hangovers, cursing and gambling were part of this world. When Margaret, my wife, became a Christian, she kept asking me to go to church and, as I sat in the pub, I would think to myself: 'She wants me to change, but no way - I couldn't be happier.' I'd got everything I wanted and God and church were not for me!

Did you ever think you were ruining your life?

No, not then - I was enjoying myself and didn't look beyond that. Drink was the most important thing in my life, followed by gambling. Family came way down the pecking order, and I often gambled away the housekeeping money and deprived the kids to buy alcohol. But I never acknowledged that drink had a grip on me, even though I had to have a drink. In any lunchtime, I would have four or five pints, and then on the way home from camp, I would stop off again to drink. I couldn't have a social drink - I had to get drunk. All this obviously put a strain on our marriage and many wives would just have left. But I was so selfish and blind that when Margaret complained, I just thought: 'She's at it again!' for I never believed I was as bad as she said I was.

What changed you?

God changed me! I never could have changed myself.
God used a nagging wife to bring me to Christ! After we came to Pontefract, Margaret started going to Finkle Street church and kept asking me to go with her until, eventually, I went - more to stop her asking than anything else! I sat there, feeling that everything the minister said was directed at me, and it got to me. God must have been speaking to me because I wanted to go again and again. Sometimes I would say I wasn't going but then at 6.10pm I would change my mind. I felt compelled to go and listen to God's Word. I knew I was a sinner but I believed my past was too bad for God to accept me. Because of that, I didn't become a Christian until four years later, when I cried in earnest to God for help and knew he had accepted me. I wanted to give up the drink, and during that time God slowly weaned me off it. I drank less and less every week until eventually I had half a glass of shandy on the bar and left it there. I said: 'That was the last one.' At the same time, my need to gamble also disappeared.'

Has life improved in other ways?

Because of the change in me, my home life has never been happier, and I love my family so much now.

What about your bypass? Was your faith in God a help to you then?

Yes it was - more than I could have imagined. When I became very ill with serious heart problems ten years ago, I was admitted to hospital for a heart bypass operation. While I was waiting on the ward, other patients around me were nervous and jittery through fear, but I had no fear at all. I knew that everything was in God's hands and that, whatever happened, everything would be all right. After the operation, I developed blood poisoning and felt that I was going to die, I was so ill. But I had this total inner peace - it was so wonderful I really can't describe it. In fact, because of that peace, I was actually looking forward to dying, except for leaving my family. I felt that the Lord was preparing me for heaven and that I would go to sleep and wake up there. In the event, I recovered, but because of that experience, I could never fear death again.

If there's one thing you wish your life could teach others, what would it be?

Life might seem to be a ball of fun, but until you've found Jesus Christ you haven't lived at all!

A changed life

The testimony of Mike Walters who recounts how he came to Christ after being an alcoholic

Were you happy when you were drinking?

What changed you?

Has life improved in other ways?

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