With many young people turning anti-social especially in deprived areas, an opportunity to try and find an answer was such that finding a medium in which to work lay within my own experience and passion for sailing. Having taught young and older people as a member of my sailing club, based on the Clyde I then met a Glassgow school teacher who said that he had two pupils that were keen to learn sailing and would I consider them for training. I then arranged for them to meet me on board at the clubhouse during the summer and this proved to be most successful. Success took the form of being hailed by a Skipper from a cadet training sailing vessel that turned out to be one of the young people that I had trained the previous year. He had spent the winter achieving certificates at the local college to train other youngsters of the local Sea Cadets. I was delighted at such a most fortunate turn of events and when an opportunity to meet and talk to a Glasgow businessman who knew of the anti-social problems arising he offered to support my idea of training youngsters at sea.  

 

Finding a suitable craft was amusing to say the least, as I was dependent on my wife acting as first mate and my monthly sailing magazine showed a sixty-foot Viking ship made especially for a film and was advertsied for sale. The response on speaking to my wife was such that she felt that I would ask her to beat a drum to bring order to the young people rowing ! There was much hilarity as to the pictures of our minds that were conjured up especially when another sponsor offered to have the vessel shipped over to Scotland when purchased. However an American gentleman bought the ship and my wife felt the better of this happening. The next vesell looked at by myself and an Icelandic friend was in Holland, named 'Raf' and after a survey by a well known Dutch surveyor she was purchased in 1974 and in time became the asset of the registered charitable Adventure Sailing Trust in 1976. The training of young people started in May 1974 and went on to become most successful with groups of seven boys or girls returning each month to continue their living and working aboard 'Raf' now nicknamed 'Rif Raf' by many.   With hundreds of young people benefitting many made later contact and some returned to visit us just to make contact with their happy earlier years aboard still in their minds. Some of our crew often spoke openly of their Dickensian living that was interwoven with amusing escapedes,but nevertheless poverty at a present day level that was almost unbelievable.  

 

This knowledge of the young people's deprived lives were so Dickensian that it made me think that little or no progress had succeeded in helping to eliminate or even progress the aims of eliminating poverty. In fact this human problem had grown immeasurably through the Country with food box rations for three days each week being distributed by charities to hungry familes in this day and age. Christianity of the new millennium was then deeply considered by myself to find an answer and communication being so highly developed led me to research poverty as far back as Aristotle. With open mind the research continued. The fact that I considered myself as Christian led me to look deeper into the disclples backgrounds and wondered at those chosen, realising that some were educated and others such as the fisherman were uneducated although knowledgeable in the elements themselves. This meant that there was a great balance of knowledge that showed that Christ had in mind to reach all peoples with His Gospel. The rest - as they say - is history through the corruption of Christ's Truth creating continual wars with the suffering and dying of millions to-day that would give the impression that all is lost and greater wars and suffering lie ahead. The new millennium however has brought greater knowledge and enlightenment in timely fashion for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear. Greater understanding now reveals a Universal Intervention bringing love and peace as spoken of by Christ although to do so will mean thousands of human evil-doers that practice the greed of power and wealth in their very short lifetimes will be swept away. Such writings can and will be ignored by many - but the facts written of at this time, is at least a warning to evil-doers to change. 

 

The new Knowledge and Enlightenment brings great breakthroughs in science, agriculture, economies, medicines and countless fields of work with new lifestyles for all, - these are just a few of the benefits that will be gained by universal intervention.