Friday 15 May, 2009

UK
Health
Family

Ryan and Vicky on their Wedding Day

By Dee Pfeiffer

Ryan Gibson came from a broken home, was addicted to drugs before adulthood, and almost ended up with a criminal record for grievous bodily harm. A shadow of his former confident self, he lost his friends and almost sacrificed his freedom. But now, at just 26, he has fulfilled his dream of becoming a minister.

“As a teenager, I lived for sport. But then another love came into my life – dance music. I would dance for hours but, unlike my friends, would end up exhausted.”

So shortly before his 18th birthday, Ryan decided to see what taking drugs was all about and, from that moment, was hooked. By now working, he had the freedom and cash to fund the lifestyle he craved.

“When I started to take drugs, I totally abandoned my A-levels, became disinterested in getting a career and just lived for the party life,” said Ryan who was brought up in Northern Ireland. “I thought I had found the ultimate high. There was nothing else that had made me feel so good, so alive.”

By this time he was taking ecstasy, speed and cannabis. And for three years he burned the candle at both ends, longing for the weekend.

“Gradually, I wasn’t able to wait until the weekend, so I began smoking cannabis in a bar with friends during the week as well.”

Two years into his addiction and still only 19 he tried to kick the habit but, as a result, ended up drinking three to four times a week and was unable to concentrate at work.

Ironically, he was working in administration at a police station. “It wasn’t the best place to be working when living that kind of lifestyle,” he admits. “Working hand in hand with the authorities was an added pressure, but somehow I managed to keep my addiction hidden.”
He felt invincible until one night something happened that changed his life forever.

“One Sunday evening I was out with three friends. An argument got out of hand and I turned on one of them. It was entirely my fault. I left him in a pretty bad way and saw a totally different side to myself, which scared me.”
Until then, the only harm he had caused was to his own body – now he’d lost three friends and the threat of a criminal conviction hung over his head.

“That was when I knew that my life was completely out of control. I remembered a friend of mine who’d been involved in a similar life to mine – he had found God – and I began to get excited about the prospect that this could happen to me.”
But there was a small problem. Ryan had given a false statement to the police regarding the fight – a statement that would let him off the hook.

“I guessed that if I were to become a Christian, I’d have to tell the truth, so I decided it was worth it,” he says.

And in an incredibly fast and intense transformation, he instantly gave up the lifestyle he was leading.

With much enthusiasm and commitment, Ryan became very involved with his local church, Portadown Elim in Co Armagh. Two or three months later the police knocked on his door. “I had a real peace in my heart about telling the truth,” he says. “My solicitor said that if I stuck to my original story I could get off the hook but I told him that I must tell the truth because I’d become a Christian. He laughed at me, told me I would lose my job, have a criminal record and find it hard to get work again, but I was convinced I had to tell the truth.”

“The police subsequently prosecuted me but, when I turned up in court, the other side didn’t show at all. No witnesses, no victim, nobody. So the case was dropped. God honoured me for telling the truth and I am so thankful.”
At 22 Ryan began studying at the Elim Bible College in Nantwich, Cheshire, and completed his studies a year ago.

Shortly afterwards he married Vicky, significantly at Portadown Elim. They have since set up home in Nottingham and, last September, Ryan was inducted into Beeston Oasis Christian Centre as an assistant pastor.

Portadown Elim pastor Edwin Michael sums up Ryan’s transformation: “We have had the opportunity of seeing this young man grow, develop and mature. He’s a tremendous example of what the grace of God can do.”

Ryan has the last word: “Drugs take away your ability to think rationally. There’s a lot of fear and paranoia. You begin to crave reality, stability, relationships, just to be able to function properly on a day to day basis, but you cannot find that peace.
“What I found when I replaced drugs with Christ was all the things for which I had been searching, and much more besides.”

Photo: Used with Permission