God Bless Ibiza

Soon after my radical conversion to Christianity aged 35, I heard about this amazing organisation called 24-7 Prayer. One of the things they were planning to do, was take a team of young Christian clubbers out to the island of Ibiza, to bring ‘the love of Jesus’ and see the island transformed.

I had never met people like these in my life – they were like trendy angels and our newly formed production company, Cornerstone Films, managed to pitch the idea to the ‘Witness’ strand at Channel 4 and get ourselves a commission and a decent budget.

I had just married Esther and we went out as a two-person crew for a 10-week filming schedule.

Following clubbing, often filming in the early hours of the morning, as the 24/7 crew helped staggering clubers find their hotels. We got some amazing footage!

But Channel 4 was worried that there was no real jeopardy for the team – they even sent a producer out to check that I wasn’t just showing the good side of their story.

Then one night we got a phone call to say, the 24/7 base had been completely ransacked, all passports, decks and records had been stolen. Hard as it was for the team, it proved to be the making of the film.

The 24/7-ers responded not with hatred but by turning the other cheek and putting on a huge party in San Antonio with free food and drinks for anyone who wanted to come.

I hear they now have a permanent base on the island and a truck devoted to driving the drunk and depressed people home – probably what Jesus would do - God bless, 24/7 Prayer!