I have thought about this for a while now and I feel that the only way I can get anywhere in writing this and to give you the best chance of understanding what you are about to read, is to start at the beginning. Yes, sounds corny doesn’t it.
My parents made their preparations in order to have and bring up a child before the year of 1976. Then on the 2nd of January 1976 the wonderful process of birth came to its close with me entering the world! Yes, I think it merits an exclamation mark; after all, how many times in your life do you get to do that!
Here follows a brief history of the landmarks in my life up until the time that I can tell the story adequately from my own memories.
1978 we were living in Zaire for one year. My father goes out as part of a missionary organisation to help in a local hospital. (An interesting aside is that my sister who was then about six months old, lived in a drawer in the house! Well, she sleep there sometimes!)
1981 I began at Greenwood Primary School.
1983 we again went to Zaire for four months. Here I have a few of my first real memories - going to school and getting a big box of books for me to read from while I was away; and many memories of what I got up to and the friends I made with the kids there.
1985 we were in Zaire for four months and this really had an effect on my way of thinking. I saw, even at the age of nine that there are people in this world who struggle to survive, that some don’t make it, but that those who make the attempt have as full a life as they know how. I came home to the friendly taunts of my friends and had a fun time trying to explain why I had an American accent.
After this period of time, my life was pretty normal with no outstanding events. I went through school and was an average student. Then after my GCSE’s I moved school from Campbell College to Sullivan; this was a major step towards change in my life.
I was introduced to many new things that year; not the least of them being girls and parties! I spent the next year partying hard but not doing a lot of work. To cut a long story short; I spent my time doing things I thought were great, but, when at the end of the year I looked back, I found that I had done nothing at all; not one thing of worth remained. I became very despairing and lost myself in times of drunken questioning in the dark places of this world. After I had sought out all the answers I could find and having tried different ways of life, I still had no reason to be alive. I was a lost case or so I thought.
I agreed to go out to Zaire with my family again that summer, it had been ten years since the last time; I tried to remember what it had been like before and wondered if it would still be the same. That summer was a really great time and through the people I met and the evidence of the zeal for life that they had in their lives, I came to realise that they had something strong to live for. I saw many things that challenged me to live for more than just myself, I met people who had real faith and purpose in their lives and also enjoyed themselves. I came to realise that the childhood faith that I had accepted in the Lord Jesus Christ but then never put into practice, was the real living faith. I then committed myself to God and his service. This has been the most important point in my life; I now have hope, love, peace, faith and purpose.
September 1994 I came home highly charged about mission work but still unskilled and unqualified, this is when I thought I should go back and get my A-Levels. So I went to Tech for the year studying two new subjects (this was a bit too much); I ended the year with one decent grade and one not so decent!
Summer of 1995 once again saw me out in Zaire; and being older again, I am understanding more the full reality of life there. I realised that I will have to go out eventually to Africa or Middle East for the rest of my life to work and help those who need it.
Now today here I am writing this!
I WILL UPDATE THIS ASAP, SINCE IT IS NOW 6 YEARS OUT OF DATE ;-)