GOOD NEWS Newspaper

Page 6 | GOOD NEWS | February 2026
Former criminal now
gives jobs to ex-convicts
The greatest love of all
ON Valentine’s Day we will doubtless
find our airwaves full of love songs old
and new again. One in particular comes
to mind.
It is over 40 years since Mick Jones, guitarist of
rock band Foreigner, awoke in the middle of the
night to write the timeless power ballad I Wanna
Know What Love Is. The lyrics are still relevant
today, for so many people in this troubled world.
(See page 3 for more on who sang the song.)
Jones has said that the words came to him as if
from a “higher source” and that is easy to believe.
It is not stretching the imagination too far to
suggest that the song is a sub-conscious reaching
out to God.
The chorus pleads: “I wanna know what love is,
I want you to show me. I want to feel what love is,
I know you can show me.”
That could be just about romance, but the
refrain goes deeper. Paraphrased it says: “I’ve
gotta take a little time to think things over. This
mountain I must climb feels like the world upon
my shoulders. In my life there’s been heartache
and pain, I don’t know if I can face it again but I
can’t stop now. I’ve travelled so far to change this
lonely life.”
Love is…
These words still resonate with so many people
today. It is actually possible to be lonely in a
crowded room.
Do you want to know what love is?
Well, the Bible has the answer: “Love is patient,
love is kind, it doesn’t envy, it doesn’t boast, it is
not proud. It doesn’t dishonour others, it is not
self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no
record of wrongs” (1 Corinthians 13:4-5).
However much we love someone else, we will
fail to live up to this standard. These are the
characteristics of a God who “so loved the world
he gave his only begotten son (Jesus) that whoever
believes in him shall not perish but have eternal
life” (John 3:16).
Romantic love can be amazing but it pales in
comparison with God’s unconditional, eternal
love.
Human love can let us down, but God has
promised: “Never will I leave you; never will I
forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5).
LEWIS Gibson’s life tragically
spiralled out of control
after his parents split up
when he was just nine years
old. He turned to drugs big
time and was in and out of
prison for years.
But the now 45-yearold
found God over seven
years ago and turned his
life around. He runs his
own successful construction
company which sponsors
and hires ex-convicts and
addicts!
Paradoxically, the country
was ‘imprisoned’ in lockdown
when Lewis was himself
let out in 2020, but it didn’t
prevent his enterprising
venture – begun while in a
Southampton hostel.
Over the years he’s
employed over 50 men and
women, many of whom
got work for the first time
in their lives. At least three,
including a brother and
sister duo, have gone on to
successfully set up their own
companies.
Transformation
Lewis himself has gone
from not being able to
complete the short distance
from Bournemouth train
station to a near-by homeless
hostel without scoring
on drugs, to successfully
completing a sponsored
run – raising well over his
£1,000 target in memory of a
cousin he lost to cancer.
After his parents separated,
Lewis began shoplifting
and committed petty crimes
to “impress my friends”. He
was eventually suspended
from school.
Gravitating towards “the
people who were giving me
FINDING
By Ian White
the approval I was seeking”,
Lewis’ life really hit the rocks
when he was arrested at just
13 and sent to a children’s
home.
The cycle of criminal
activity and increasing prison
sentences began. Lewis
failed to make a connection
with his own behaviour: “I
saw myself as a victim”.
Over the years he became
addicted to cocaine and
heroin, and also sold drugs.
He woke up every day with
withdrawal symptoms: “We
just lived to use.”
Although determined to
change his ways, Lewis failed
to understand he was totally
powerless to overcome drugs
and alcohol by himself.
Each time Lewis got out
of prison, he’d be “using the
same day”.
At a low ebb, he began
to read daily Bible passages
– initially in secret because
of the fear of ridicule.
However, as the reality of
God grew stronger, Lewis’
fears subsided.
One particular New
Testament verse struck him
so much that he wrote it on
the wall of his room: “If you
confess with your mouth
Jesus is Lord and believe in
your heart God has raised
him from the dead, you will
be saved” (Romans 10:9).
Even though Lewis didn’t
know what ‘saved’ meant, he
knew he needed saving from
himself, so each day until he
was sent back to jail, Lewis
did exactly what the verse
says and called on Jesus.
“It was such a revelation,”
he says.
HOPE
COMPLETE CHANGE: God took away addict Lewis
Gibson’s desire for drugs – and now he’s a company
boss and in training for Christian ministry
Lewis’ desperate cry was
answered while behind bars
in April 2019.
As he stared into the
mirror on his lonely cell wall
in the deepest of reflection, “I
didn’t recognise the person
looking back at me”. In that
moment Lewis completely
broke down: “I didn’t know
where else to go. I’d come to
the end.”
Encounter
Lewis yet again cried out
to God, and this time “God
stepped into my life,” says
Lewis.
He massively transformed
over a period of two-anda-half
years, so much so
that the prison gave him a
position of trust whilst still
inside.
He also went through the
12 Steps of Cocaine Anonymous
(a spiritual recovery
programme). When he shared
the Steps with another inmate
who was more familiar with
the Bible, his friend told him
the programme reminded
him of a book in the New
Testament called James.
That caused Lewis to delve
deeper into the Bible. As he
read the four accounts of
Jesus’ life on earth (the books
of Matthew, Mark, Luke and
John) he encountered Jesus
for himself and “experienced
a freedom I’d never had
before”.
Now with a purpose in
his life and his release date
beckoning, Lewis prayed
he wouldn’t fall back into
old ways. Then he suddenly
realised: “I had no desire to
go and get alcohol or drugs!”
As well as running
the construction company,
Lewis has completed
a theology course and
is going through preordination
with his church.
The father of three adds
there’s no greater feeling
than sharing his story in
prison and seeing “the
beautiful thing” of “the light
coming on in someone’s
eyes”.
GOOD NEWS
Issue no. 295
www.goodnews-paper.org.uk
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1167287, in association with the international family of Challenge
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Dealing with rejection
WHEN we are rejected in
love or in any relationship,
we can respond by losing
hope, being angry or falling
into despair.
I remember how I felt when I was
let down by people I thought were
friends, but who turned against me.
Rejection cuts deeply, and its
sting lingers, shaping how we see
ourselves, others and even God.
In the Bible, we find the opposite: a
powerful healing perspective instead
of bitterness. For example, Joseph was
rejected by his brothers and sold into
slavery by them (Genesis 37). Yet his
life shows that even betrayal of this
magnitude need not have the final
word. Joseph did not allow bitterness
to define him. Instead, he trusted that
God was working in the background,
weaving purpose through his pain.
Towards the end of his life (Genesis
50), Joseph stood face to face with the
brothers who had wounded him and
could say: “You meant it for evil, but
God used it for good.” He did not
deny the hurt, but through his faith
he found ways to understand it and
to see how God had used his negative
experiences.
Joseph is like Jesus, who was
able to suffer and die for others,
and was able to forgive those who
crucified him so unfairly. A heavenly
perspective will transform how we
look at rejection, and finding hope
through the lens of God’s faithfulness
is an act of faith.
Rather than letting past wounds
convince us we are unlovable or
doomed to repeat the same pain, we
can ask: “How might God have been
at work, even there?”
We have a choice: be trapped
by memories of rejection or see a
bigger picture: that God is in control,
working through all circumstances,
even the negatives in life. He can take
what was meant to break us and use
it to deepen our character and grow
resilience, faith, and an eternal hope
that cannot be shaken.