'We get abused on the streets - but we'll never give up'

A pair of Christian street preachers say they love what they do - even if they do face abuse and occasionally violence.

Born-again Christians Arnie and Dawn Martin are a regular sight in the centre of Yorkshire where they play hymns through a speaker and hand out leaflets with Biblical references.

Dawn, 55, from Barnsley, and Arnie, 78, originally from Oklahoma in the USA, have been spreading their message across Yorkshire and further afield, having visited 32 countries including India, Israel, Nepal, Mexico and the United States.

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A former teacher who used to live in Japan, Dawn gave up work to become a full-time evangelist, surviving alongside her husband on a modest pension. She enjoys talking to people - even the doubters and the critics.

"We get a lot of persecution every time we preach," she says. "The Bible said we would be persecuted. Jesus was persecuted."

Dawn says a lot of people are interested in what they have to say and she says: "Street preaching works. The church is in decline - that's why we are coming to the street."

She doesn't dwell too much on the negative reactions, but revealed that she had been physically assaulted on two occasions, both while preaching on the streets of Barnsley. She says one culprit was a drug user, the other a football fan on a match day.

Dawn said she became a Christian 18 years ago while living in Japan. She had witnessed and survived several natural disasters and suddenly had a feeling that she had been saved by God. At the time she was living in Japan, she was working as a teacher and was, in her words, "doing alcohol and fornicating".

After surviving disasters including a major earthquake, a