WHEN Charlie Forbes was casually asked if he would do a sponsored bike ride, little did he realise it was across Israel.

A few circuits of Battery Park or perhaps round Cumbrae are what he expected – not an arduous week-long trek in the Holy Land. But Charlie hasn’t been put off -- he is seeing the challenge as a chance to serve God after beating an alcohol problem and becoming a Christian.

Charlie (54) was sitting on a chair on the pavement outside the close where he lives in central Greenock when local minister Fraser Donaldson came past and asked about the bike ride. Charlie had already said ‘yes’ before discovering where he would be going. He recalled: “When he told me where it was I thought ‘on yer bike’!”

Now Charlie is training hard for the expedition in November and recruiting sponsors – he is aiming to raise at least £10,000 for Inverclyde Christian Initiative.

He said: “By doing this bike ride, I feel I am paying back for all the wasted years that I could have been serving the Lord. I want to do the people who sponsor me proud and ask that people keep me in their prayers. To go to the country where the Lord was is a privilege and a thing I would never have done.”

Five years ago, Charlie was at rock bottom but he was about to enter the last chance saloon where it all miraculously turned round.

His problems started when he began drinking at the age of 14 to keep in with his pals as he grew up in Glasgow. It led to an alcohol problem which took over his life. Charlie had many jobs including mechanic, truck driver, forestry worker, lifeguard, gym instructor and personal trainer; but the drink was in the background getting worse until he started getting in trouble with the law, appearing in court for breach of the peace, fighting and assaulting police officers.

In 2002, Charlie had nothing left. He said: “I finished up on the streets. No place would take me because of my drinking and violence. A social worker told me my last option was Fewster House in Greenock. I took the chance.”

Fewster in Terrace Road helps men with alcohol problems and is run by the Salvation Army. Charlie lived there for 18 months, eventually overcoming his drink problem.

During that time he saw the Salvation Army band playing. “I had always been interested in music and it blew my mind,” he said. Charlie started sitting in at the band’s weekly rehearsals and began going to the Sunday church services at the Salvation Army’s hall in Regent Street. He was asked if he wanted to help out looking after the premises and he readily agreed doing tasks such as washing the dishes, considering it a privilege.

Charlie emerged from Fewster at the end of March 2004 and in August that year became a Christian during one of the services he attended. He recalled: “I had a sense of happiness and security; it felt as if someone put his arms round me and gave me the biggest hug I’d ever had.”

Charlie’s physical health, as well as spiritual, continued to improve. He said: “Three years ago I weighed 18 stone. Weightwatchers at the Salvation Army hall put me on the road to losing five stone.”

He now goes to fitness sessions at the Waterfront leisure complex every day of the week, usually twice a day. He said: “The classes are superb and the staff are fantastic.” Charlie also sings with the Inverclyde Voices choir

When Charlie starts cycling across Israel in November it will be exactly two years since he became a Salvation Army solider, actively becoming involved in many Christian outreaches, with a special place in his heart for those who themselves have drink problems.

Charlie said: “Having a sober life is fantastic. The most important thing is that the Lord has given me a new life.”

Inverclyde Christian Initiative is an interdenominational group of local Christians who are praying for spiritual renewal in Inverclyde and who are planning a number of new Christian initiatives locally including Healing Rooms and Street Pastors.