Heather Bellamy spoke with Arthur Wakelin about his journey of faith and how he and his wife coped with health challenges including prostate cancer and septicaemia.

Arthur: Most of the time, yes. There are times when I wish I was back bus driving with the PMT, but I wouldn't like to do that again.

Heather: What are the highs and lows of being a Methodist minister?

Arthur: Highs are being involved with people. Lows are administration; I loathe administration. The real highs are seeing people grow in Christ and become Christians. Some of them have gone into ministry and that really crowns the lot that really does.

Heather: You are married to Muriel, but we've not really talked about her. When did you guys meet?

Arthur: We met when I was 20. That was 1966. That's when Muriel became a Christian. We met at a Christian coffee bar. My friends and I used a Methodist church in Sandbach and Alsager Circuit that wasn't being used, a place called Malkins Bank. We asked if we could use it for a coffee bar. It was amazing how many people came. We were absolutely gob smacked. We didn't think we'd get many. Every night the place was heaving with people. One night Muriel came with some of her friends and we shared testimonies with them and she became a Christian there. That's where we met. I asked her out some weeks later. We were going to share in a Nurses Christian Fellowship at the North Staffs Royal Infirmary and on the train going there I asked her if she'd like to go out with me.

Heather: Was the answer affirmative?

Arthur: Absolutely and the rest is history.

Heather: How many kids have you got?

Arthur: We've got a daughter, Ruth and a son Matthew.

Heather: How long have you been married now?

Arthur: 43 years.

Heather: That's amazing, isn't it? In recent years though you've had some challenges. I know you've had some health struggles, haven't you?

Arthur: 10 years ago I was diagnosed with prostate cancer and I had surgery for that, the week before Christmas. When I went into the hospital one of the guys at church came out and prayed and he asked Muriel to come and stand with me. He got a couple of ladies to pray with Muriel. We prayed about me going into hospital for Muriel to be ok with that. It turned out that that prayer was more than just me. February 7th, the following year, nine years ago, Muriel was taken ill; we didn't know with what. She had not been well for a while. She'd kept complaining, but Muriel came from a family that doesn't like going to the doctors. You don't push them into going to the doctors because that makes them more resistant. It turned out she really had a serious illness, which put her into intensive care for several weeks. She was in and out of hospital for seven or eight months. Her longest stay was February through to Easter that year, which I think was in April. Then she was in and out with different things. She lost toes and fingers. She lost a lot of hearing, but she's alive. We were told she wouldn't survive.

Heather: How do you face something like that?