REAL LIFE: A life-changing moment

Gary Moore must be one of the most colourful characters ever to have entered the YMCA in Norwich.

When he walked through the doors he came with a background which included children's homes, prison, the Royal Military Police and the French Foreign Legion.

Shortly after becoming a resident, Gary had a life-changing experience and became a Christian.

"The change in my life was both immediate and, in some ways, dramatic," he said. "I stopped drinking almost straight away for one thing.

"As the first few days after my conversion to Jesus Christ moved along, I saw for myself first-hand evidence of my new life, of the fact that I had been born again of the spirit of God and was in fact, what the Bible called a new creation.

"One day I had my usual walk and was passing through the crowded market place in Norwich when a man barged into me, nearly knocking me over. Just a few short days before I would've attacked him; instead, today, I asked him if he was all right! He was the most surprised man in Norwich that day, the more so when I began to talk to him about my Jesus. He was amazed, shaking his head as he left me. A small crowd had gathered and I told them as well about my Jesus!

"I began to smile at everybody I met; the joy of knowing Jesus loved me just overflowing from deep inside of me, from heart to face muscles. 23 years later I'm still smiling.

"One afternoon soon after, there was an argument between two residents. One of the staff members, a lovely guy called Ron Day tried to calm down the incident as it was right on the point of turning nasty," said Gary.

"I was in the snooker area when it started and so I went over to back Ron up in case he needed any help. He was a Christian brother and that was good enough for me.

"Ron was in-between the two guys and I could see one of them was about to have a go so I pulled Ron aside and stepped in the middle – just as one of the guys threw a punch at the other. Fortunately it hit me instead of Ron and there followed a stunned silence as the gathered crowd waited to see what happened next. I still had a reputation as a nasty piece of work and had only the week before thrown someone down the stairs for getting in my way.

"I had been a Christian for four days now but I had read in the Bible only that morning about turning the other cheek when violence was offered to you.

"So I did; and then invited both the guys for a coffee in the canteen and told them all about my Jesus. Within a week both of them had also received Jesus as Lord!"

Gary's life in the last 23 years has been no less remarkable. Married for all that time to Tracey, he has two children and two grandchildren. He has worked with American evangelist Billy Graham, preached the Christian gospel in Siberia, Africa and Argentina, smuggled Bibles into Communist countries and has been commissioned to write a book about his experiences.

Today he is supervisor at YMCA Norfolk's furniture project helping countless needy families across Norfolk and dreaming up his next great adventure.