Jon Bellamy spoke with an ex-alcoholic & a Senior Legal Adviser

Jonathan: Wow

John Cartledge: She put up with me for about ten years and then separation. Then she divorced me, we actually got divorced a few days after I'd gone into Strangeways Prison in 1977.

Jonathan: And you were in there I presume because you needed to steal money to be able to buy the alcohol. Is that right?

John Cartledge: Yeah. At that time I'd progressed to drinking on the park benches. That was me lifestyle and the only topic of conversation on the park benches. I mean alcoholics that you see on park benches, you don't see them as much now because they're not allowed, but they're not there because they're trying to enjoy a drink; they're there to avoid the withdrawal symptoms from drink. You develop a tolerance and you've got to have that level of alcohol in you brain and body; more particularly your brain and when that alcohol level reduces then that's when the withdrawals come in. I was on tranquillisers as well for twenty years. Your whole life is just stealing and discussing in these parks, discussing where you can steal for your next bottle; who's in the court that morning. John was most of the time, when I was in trouble.

Jonathan: When you look back now, you look at the affects of that alcohol on your life; the breakdown in your marriage, in and out of prison, how come those things, the implications of those things wasn't enough to stop you drinking at the time?

John Cartledge: I don't know. I don't know the answer. I was powerless - I was powerless to do anything about it. I tried every possible avenue to stop drinking. Anything you can - counselling, halfway houses, Christian halfway house, the church, alcoholics anonymous periodically for ten years; all to no avail.

Jonathan: Now finally there did come a day when things changed and you were in hospital at the time. What was the story there?

John Cartledge: Yeah. For the umpteenth time I was in this mental hospital in Warrington. It was a mental hospital. And I was nearly dead when I went in this time. This was 1991. The only thing I hadn't tried was Jesus. I'd been introduced to Jesus a few years previous. I'd gone to this evangelistic meeting and I'd made some sort of decision. I wanted a magic wand. Some instant cure for me alcoholism. But me life remained the same. But when I went into this mental hospital this time, I said there's only one way I can go and try and find out more about Jesus. I'd always been known even on my sickness benefit book, I had a disease called alcoholism, an illness. But when I studied the word of God in this mental hospital I didn't see anything relating to drink as an illness. It was all a drunkard and a sinner and I actually asked God to forgive me of my sin rather than saying I was a sick person. The Bible says you know I was calling God a liar, saying I'm not a sinner. Well I realised it was revealed to me that I was a sinner and I had to repent from my sin. If you repent from your sin and asked God to forgive you, you receive His Holy Spirit. And I received the fullness of His Holy Spirit. Immediately the desires I had to drink had gone! The things I hated I loved and the things I loved I hated. It was a complete apostle Paul dramatic conversion.

Jonathan: So it was the power of God's Spirit that came inside you that brought that change?

John Cartledge: Yeah. It was exactly that. The power of God's Holy Spirit changed my life and instantly from then I wanted to serve God.

Jonathan: How's it been since then? Just to finally rap on the alcohol side. Have you wrestled with temptations in that since then or has it been total freedom?

John Cartledge: Total freedom. I went straight into mission work and I've been in mission all over Europe and Africa. In fact I've just come home yesterday.

Jonathan: What did you do in Africa?

John Cartledge: I set up a book ministry, the Malak Christian Book Ministry. I take containers of books over. I built a centre, with a storage depot, a reference library, a house and we donate thousands of Christian books in a place where there was none previously to me going.