Leading Home Groups – David Smith – England

Leading Home Groups

My name is David Smith and I live in the South of England near Portsmouth, UK. I’m married 2 years to my beautiful wife Kathy and I work as an IT Systems Administrator.

I gave my life to Christ as a young lad at the age of 10 but after a while became a bit of a complacent Christian. I cared greatly and deeply about other people’s feelings which caused me to go a bit adrift, I wasn’t going to church as much, my prayer life diminished. My life just seemed to fly off the rails a bit while I was growing up and by the grand old age of 39 was plunged into complete chaos of a magnitude that even I couldn’t truly comprehend. Without going into too much personal details I essentially lost everything that I had ever strived and worked for in life. I lost my home, possessions, and my family. The reasons behind these were not of my doing, but because of my nature of caring for people I was essentially taken advantage of on both emotional and financial levels which led me to my fall, I became an utterly broken man.

It was in this brokenness, you could say I was at the very bottom of the barrel, that the Lord met with me. He told me that He loves me and that I am forgiven, I was given 3 phrases all of which were perfectly clear. I was to TRUST, LET GO & FORGIVE and I would HEAL. From this day onward I put all my trust in my Lord Jesus knowing that I could not live life as I had as this was leading me to destruction. My life and circumstance improved in leaps and bounds within a matter of a few months, as my Dad put it, “David I am rejoicing in what the Lord has blessed you and I with, my prayers have been answered and you have truly come home to your Heavenly Father”. I started to meet regularly with my brothers and sisters in Christ at church bringing praise and worship back to our Father and started to grow and grow in the Spirit. I liken my trust to God, Jesus and Holy Spirit now to that of a child standing on top of a shed. My Father is on the ground calling me to jump into His arms, I can hear Him say, trust me I will not let you fall. So this is now every day of my life living by the Spirit in faith and trust. God has reshaped my life through my obedience to Him and made me a stronger man both spiritually and emotionally.

I mentioned at the very beginning that I live in the South of England. During the very brief outline above of my brokenness I was living in the North of England in Yorkshire. Now God loves each and every one of us and here now is an example of such love. After getting back on my feet and into work again a year or so passed. It was announced at work that the company was going into administration. The news though disappointing did not upset me, why? My trust is in my Father and I knew that he wouldn’t let me fall. I prayed about the situation and asked the Lord to provide a job but most of all to send me where he needed me to be. In faith I applied for jobs all over the United Kingdom in the field of IT Systems Administrator. Out of 72 jobs applied for only 1 job interview was given. The interview was arranged 3 days after applying and was over 200 miles away. In faith I went to the interview and 5 days later was offered the job to start in 10 days time. Wow things were certainly moving. There were of course 2 obstacles, I needed a car as this job was for a mobile administrator servicing various locations in the area and also I needed accommodation. I didn’t have any capital at this time to buy a car. I committed this in prayer and trust and said to our Lord, if this is where you need me to be Lord then please provide the solution to these needs. I accepted the job offer and walked each day in faith and trust. 3 days before I was due to start the job in the south there was a chap who stated that he had heard about my predicament and wanted to give me £1000 to buy a reliable 2nd hand car, 1 day before I was due to start I was given a call to say a room was ready for me nearby to my new work. Wow, Lord you have supplied again, praise Your Name. Everything rolled perfectly from the move to starting the new job.

A few days after arriving in the South of England I met Kathy on a Christian dating site. Her catching statement was simply “I want to meet another person who loves our Lord Jesus”. My catching statement was simply, “Jesus is my first love and He comes before anything and anyone else”. We seemed to hit it off very well and agreed to meet. From our very first meeting we felt an attraction which quickly grew into a love that we couldn’t possibly describe. I attended church with Kathy, Kathy had an active role in the church as a Worship leader. Our love for each other and our love for our Lord grew deeper and deeper every single minute of every day. We decided to get married. The Lord continues to bless us each and every day. We put Him first in everything we do and seek His will for our lives both as individuals and as a couple.

I now take an active part in church life,  where God is making wonderful changes in people, encouraging and building. His Name be glorified for his love and blessings poured out on us all.

I know the Lord has called me to my area to lead and encourage in ministry and has equipped me greatly to bring His Word and encouragement to others both in and outside of the church sharing Gods love, Jesus, the Kingdom and His Word with all. This scholarship will help to bolster this both spiritually and academically for me and open a door. I also hope and pray that this statement helps to encourage others who may read it. God loves each and every one of us, trust Him in all things and step out in faith.