Heather Bellamy spoke with Mike McDade

I met him a little while later when he arrived back in the UK. We spent a lot of time together. We had meals together. Then one afternoon in the shop, somebody else, another customer came in and said to Tina, wasn't the prayer meeting good last night? I turned to my wife and went; they're one of them, not knowing what one of them really was. I then wanted to distance myself from Tina and Dave; not from their life style or whatever but just to distance myself. I didn't want to get caught up in this religious thing. It was ok to be friends, but that was it.

Then about a couple of months later Pat said to me, Tina's invited us to go to a carols by candlelight service in their church. I said I'm not going; if you think I'm going I'm not going and I hope you haven't said that we're going. Pat said, well actually I wouldn't mind going and we had this almighty row. I said whatever happens I am not going, forget about it, that's it, let's get on with life and we did. Then Christmas was arriving and we were very busy in the shop and this particular night we were preparing because it was coming up for the Christmas weekend. We we're doing out the shop and Tina and Dave arrive. I said I don't think we planned to go out for a meal. They said no we're going to the church to the carols by candlelight service. I then took Pat out; we had another row and I thought well we'll go, but I'll just take you. I'll sit in the car in the car park; I will not get out of my car; I will not walk through the door; I will not go into this church service because I was very angry.

We got there and the next thing I know I'm walking into the church and someone's saying to me, you must be Mike. I'm going what, what do you mean? Little did I know and I realised later on that the church had been praying for us for six months. Tina and Dave had brought our name and said I believe if we can get this couple into the church and step aside and let God do his business, he will. So we then stayed for the service; I don't remember much about the service, but I remember the minister talking about Jesus being born and he was born into homelessness and that really grabbed my attention; not for very long, but it grabbed my attention. That was on a Friday and Pat and I never talked about going to that service, but on the Sunday morning we both got up and didn't talk to each other, but we got dressed, got the kids dressed and we went to church. I thought to myself this isn't me; if my mates could see me or hear about this they would just laugh and I would be so embarrassed; but we went back.

Then it was coming to a time when it was communion a few weeks later. I didn't know what it was, but I knew it was something about committing yourself. I said to Pat that's ok my daughter Kirsty can sit on my lap; cause every Sunday that we had been there when it came to the children to go out, she cried and wouldn't go. She grabbed on to one of us and we had to take her out the back. So I thought great she can sit on my lap; but the kids were invited out because it was communion and Kirsty said bye dad. And I'm saying you can't go, you're my lifeline, and you're my escape route. But she went and within seconds it was as if someone was standing in front of me and all I could see was a pair of white glowing hands; I couldn't see anything else and the plate and the bread and a voice saying, come on, come follow me.

Heather: What did you do?

Mike: I took the bread. Then it was like an instant someone was saying this is the blood, I've shed this blood for you and again there was no-one there. All I could see was these hands. I took the cup and I drank from it. After the next song the service had finished and Tina and Dave were sitting next to me and I looked over to Pat and she was in tears because exactly the same thing had happened to her that had happened to me, because God knew that if Pat at that moment had given her life to Christ and I hadn't, I would have never allowed her to come back to church because she would have had something that I didn't.

Heather: So how did you become a Baptist minister?

Mike: I still look back and I think it's been a journey that had the hand of God on it right from the beginning. I'd been a Christian for three and a half years and I have to tell you that my Christian journey was a very slow one. I was like one of those big super tankers; I took a long time to turn round. I was still doing the dodgy dealings because I still felt that I needed to have that status in my life. Then a couple in the church called Eddie and Barbara Askew came up to me and said to me that God was telling them that they had to come and tell me that he wanted me as a Baptist minister, which I had to laugh at. By that time I could just about read; I couldn't read well; I couldn't write properly and I'd never written a statement or an essay or anything like that in my life. I knew that if I went off to train I'd have to do all that, so it was ludicrous. Besides why does God want someone like me, with my background and with all that I was still doing sadly, as a Baptist minister?

Heather: Did you ever get an answer to that question, why did God want you?

Mike: The last 25 years have been a testimony to that in the sense that I've been in four churches and I believe that my ministry there has been an encouragement to others as well as a challenge to me. I believe that God has used us. In those moments and I think I've said it before, sometimes we have to stand aside and let God do the work. Sometimes we want to do it all and it's knowing when to do that. There have been ups and downs in the last 25 years, but I've really enjoyed it. It all started because in the end when people kept on saying to me this is what God wants you to do, I challenged God. I said to God, if you want me to be a Baptist minister you'll have to have me training as a Baptist minister by this September and we were in the April/May time. I knew that was impossible; with the Baptist system that could not happen, no way. Well in the September that year I was training as a Baptist minister and I was a student minister in a church in Bradford. Since then I have never ever challenged God because I know that when he wants something to happen he can make it happen and he did. So right back then he had grabbed my attention and he is still grabbing my attention even now.

Heather: There's one moment in time when you were a Baptist minister when something very significant happened in Warrington. Can you briefly share about that?

Mike: That was the Warrington bombings. I was a town centre minister and I was heavily involved in the hospital. I was called into the hospital because I was with the Free Church as a part-time chaplain. That started a whole new process of reconciliation. I was going backwards and forwards with my other colleagues to Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland and it really spoke to me personally as well about reconciliation and the need to reconcile with those who have hurt you.

Heather: What were you doing in that process in terms of going back to Ireland from Warrington?

Mike: We were visiting particular churches. We met a variety of people from all walks of life; listening to their pain and their hurt and trying to understand where they're coming from; to understand this enormous problem that there was at that time in Northern Ireland.

Heather: How do you look at the whole process of this book coming out, from where you've come from? Was it a therapeutic process?

Mike: It's been many things. It's been in some parts a difficult journey. It's ok speaking about it, but then when I read it once pen had been put to paper and thought about it, is this really my life? Especially some of the difficult moments that the book goes back over and opening up old wounds. I did meet my mother later on, but I never saw my father again after I ran away. I've seen my older sister occasionally. My older brother I haven't seen for 25/30 years. My younger sister who ended up staying with my father was abused by him and became a drug addict and an alcoholic and she still is and here am I talking about the love of God and how that love can reach out and change people's lives. I just pray one day that someone will knock on her door and tell her about Christ and that she will respond to that and that her life will be transformed.

You can buy Runaway, Red Beret, And Reverend from Cross Rhythms Direct for only £7.99 + p&p.