Chris Mountford spoke with Peter Gladwin

Peter: That's right Chris. My father had committed suicide when I was 27. I got the news by a telephone call and for some reason I pondered on doing the same thing simply because I couldn't see a way out. I couldn't see a way out of my problems and as I say I was pretty fed up with carrying these memories and this pain; but something happened to me one day that, I have to be honest with you, totally transformed my life. It didn't happen in a church and it didn't happen in any sort of organisation. It happened in the front room of my mother's living room; a little flat. I heard a message via a telephone call. My sister had just become a committed Christian and I didn't know what a committed Christian was even though I'd been to churches, baptisms and weddings. I broke down in my mum's front room. My mum rang my sister and as I said, unbeknown to me she'd become a Christian. The first thing my sister said to me was that God loved me. She didn't try and give me a quick fix and say, 'Peter get some counselling', or, 'Peter get yourself a job', she told me that God loved me. That's all she said, she said, 'Peter, God loves you and He wants a personal relationship with you'. I'd never been told this before. I'd never heard this sort of message and it intrigued me so much that within seconds I'm crying down the telephone and I'm becoming a committed Christian.

Chris: Wow. Over the phone?

Peter: Over the telephone.

Chris: So she just said that out of the blue over the phone and those words went deep inside?

Peter: Sometimes you get desperate times in your life. I'd never been in such a low situation in my life. I'd lost everything; I'd lost my dignity and my integrity. I was totally amiss. I was hooked on drugs and couldn't keep out of the bookies. I had a bad gambling problem. My father was a professional gambler; like father like son. I was at such a low ebb in my life that I needed something dramatic to change my life. It had to be a heart operation and that's what I believe happened to me on the telephone that day. God touched my heart and I responded and boy what a journey ever since. He's totally transformed my life and He's doing that even to this day.

Chris: What happened next?

Peter: I went to church that night for the first time in my life, with the intention of seeking this God who I'd just committed my life to. The pastor after he had this talk, he put out a call for people to come forward to commit to the Christian faith and I went forward again. This pastor looked at me and said, 'What is it you want God to do for you'? I just said, 'I'm just a complete wreck; I just want God to transform my life and to make something of value; I've wrecked it. I've made such a mess of my life, I just want God to do something with my life and I want to live. I don't want to live the life that I've lived previously. I want to change, but I can't change in my own strength'. He prayed for me and I joined the church for a few years and started going to Bible study groups; meeting with other Christians; praying with other people and really getting into God's word and digesting it.

After a couple of years I went to an Elim Bible College at Nantwich and had an amazing couple of years. I met my wife there, Sarah who was from Switzerland. We had an amazing wedding up in Sandbach.

It has been an incredible journey since I made that commitment. We're now living down the south of England, in Hampshire. I went to work at a drug rehabilitation centre after graduating from the college. I was there for a few years. Then incredibly a door opened for me to go to work at the probation service. I was on probation when I was 13, but now a door's open for me to go and work for the probation service. I worked there for about seven years. I worked in prisons. I worked in Winchester prison for two and a half years and ended up at the crown court as a probation liaison officer. From where I come from to where God's brought me is quite incredible. I describe it all in a lot more detail in the book Out of the Ashes, which was published last year.

Chris: I guess Out of the Ashes as a title is alluding to when you were very little with the burning incident; out of all that's gone on since in your life and then finding faith and this transformation. Is that where the title stems from?

Peter: Yes that's right. We all go through fires in life and I've been through quite a few. Out of the Ashes seemed to be apt as a title for the book. I share in that book the successes, but I also share the struggles as well, because it's not been easy, even as a Christian. It's probably the hardest challenge I've ever had in my life, but God's been faithful. We now go into prisons and churches around the country and I share my past to hopefully unlock someone's' future. Obviously people are struggling; we've got 87,000 prisoners in the UK today. By the year 2020 it's estimated that there'll be well over 100,000 people in prison. We've got 6,000 women in prison today and it's not easy. We've got to come up with a solution; we've got to have an answer to these problems and I believe that God is the answer.

Chris: Is that the kind of message you're sharing with the prisoners now?

Peter: Yes I share that. One of my favourite opening statements is that there is no setback in life that God does not have a come back plan for. We all have setbacks in life, but God loves us. I share with Christians that even though they've messed up, even though they've made mistakes, God still loves them and He's just waiting for them to surrender to Him and to come back into a relationship with Him. We've seen a lot of prisoners responding to the Christian faith, which is tremendous. We're getting invites from all over the country by these chaplains who are inviting us in because God has the power to transform people's lives. He's transformed mine and I know thousands of people who've been transformed by this same God.

Chris: One of the things that stuck out to me, which you talked about, was, like father like son. For people who feel like they're just walking in the paths of their parents and they don't like it, are you saying that with the help of God people can change and be transformed and start on a completely different path of life?

Peter: That's exactly what I'm saying. We find it very difficult to break the cycles of dependency. I followed in my father's footsteps. I picked up all my father's difficulties. He was a drinker and he had lots of problems with gambling and other things, but if my father were alive today I'm sure he'd be amazed at where I am today. I hope he is in heaven now. The day before he took his life he actually went into a church. I'm sure he is proud of what's happened in my life today. I lost my mum in February. My mum did actually become a committed Christian and my mum's life changed. I saw my mum who went through so much pain and struggle; she had ten kids. Can you imagine she was pregnant for ten years? I mean this woman went through a lot, plus what happened to me. She had to carry the guilt and pain because she actually left me in the house on my own while she nipped next door for a cup of tea. She carried that for years.

For me and for thousands of others, Christianity makes a difference. Jesus makes a difference in people's lives. He's certainly made a difference in this one.

You can buy Out of the Ashes from Cross Rhythms Direct for only £7.59 + p&p.