Arthur White interviewed by Sandie Keetch

World Champion's Power and Glory

World champion power-lifter, Arthur White, was a man who had money, fame and influence and then lost everything because of an addiction to cocaine.

Behind the tough exterior of a man built like steel with a vice-like grip, is a man soft on Jesus, who now unashamedly shares the gospel from London's East End to the East Coast of America.

At the age of 37, strong-man Arthur had it all. But the luxury homes, fast cars, successful business, sporting fame and happy family crashed around him when he had an extra-marital affair. His cocaine addiction cost him more than £150,000 and put him on a collision course with death.

He became a man with no peace, a hard heart and no will to live until in desperation he turned to God. His spiritual experience lifted him from the pit of hell and today Arthur's past has equipped him to reach out to the murky underworld in the city ghettos of New York and London.

"I am more a man now than I ever was before. It takes a real man to be a follower of Jesus in this dark, dark world…but Jesus will help you through," says Arthur.

The power-lifter's life turned sour when he left his wife for a younger women. He was plagued with depression and a feverish addiction for cocaine. Arthur's life continued to spin hopelessly out of control. He became an East End debt collector with a diver's knife tied to his wrist to persuade people to pay up and was frequently involved in violence.

"I was taking cocaine like you would take sugar on your cornflakes, I spent about £150,000 on the addiction…. I even stooped so low as to sell my wedding ring. At that time of debauched living, nothing was precious to me. Everything was expendable," says Arthur.

As a member of Tough Talk, he is one of the most innovative evangelists in Britain, he now sees hardened criminals reduced to tears as the team's life transforming stories from drugs, violence and crime rekindle hope.

Arthur's own life was changed when he cried out to God in 1983, convinced he needed to turn away from evil. That desperate heartfelt plea was answered as "a strange feeling enveloped me, soothing me and I felt at peace with myself," recalls Arthur. It heralded a new start and Arthur swapped the diver's knife and drugs for Bible study and marriage counselling.

His home, family, health and business have been restored and today he is a man with a mission for God and a new heart of love. When he regained the world power-lifting title this autumn, the arm of his T-shirt simply read: "To God be the Glory".