Broken glass showered into the room where six-year-old Ronnie Robeiro's family watched television. The bricks just missed the terrified children and crashed among the toys.

Ronnie's dad boarded up the windows, isolating his family even further from the white-people's world outside. But he couldn't board up the hatred for white people that burned inside his son's heart.

"We were harrassed at home and beaten up at school, just because we had different coloured faces. No-one wanted to know us as human beings. Every day kids yelled 'Go back to India - this ain't your country.'"

Ronnie's dad had emigrated from India to London's East End in the 1950s. His mum was English.

"By the 70s there was heavy racist intimidation and violence in our area. 'Outsiders' - especially non-whites - got it bad. Another Indian family lived round the corner. They were so frightened they returned to India. We were left isolated and decided to fight back. The bullies began to give us respect. I grew up thinking the only answer to hatred was to hate."

One night, in the West End, trying unsuccessfully to block out pain and rejection through drugs, Ronnie heard a Jesus Army street band playing.

"I was out of my face but I liked their vibe, went back with them to the Midlands and never returned!"

Finding faith in God and Christian brotherhood happened quickly. Forgiving took longer.

"The process started one night when I met God in a powerful way. Waves of His love moved through me. I broke down. Memories swept over me - especially the time when I was fifteen and three white lads stabbed Dad in the stomach with a twelve-inch knife - blood spurting everywhere.

"Forgiveness began. I was delivered from violence. I began to discover I could love others.

"Twelve years on, being patronised can still trigger hatred and self-rejections. I don't always get through straight away. But I can draw on the peace Jesus has worked inside me. I can let go and forgive, face my own failings and forgive myself.

"And I've discovered forgiveness isn't a 'one-off' - it's an 'everyday!'"