Ten questions with Charles Gardner

Charles Gardner is a South African-born journalist and volunteer with CMJ (Church’s Ministry among Jewish people) living in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, and married to Linda, who teaches Christianity in primary schools.

1. How did you become a Christian?
   I was staying with my Jewish grandmother in north London when a friend from university athletics days in South Africa shared how Jesus had come to give us life in all its fullness.
   
   I had become aware of a lack of direction or purpose, especially after failing to finish a marathon for the first and only time! Brian Jackson, a top athlete who was training for the Anglican ministry at Oxford, encouraged me to invite Jesus into my life and insisted I attend the evening service at All Souls Langham Place, the next day. I never looked back.
   
   
2. What lessons have you learnt since that you would want to pass on to a younger Christian version of yourself?
   Though I understood perseverance as a marathon runner, it took me a long time to learn patience, along with the importance of faithfully waiting for answered prayer, and for ordinary things like buses.