Dave Saunders, from All Saints, Binfield, on how he came to know God after the Credit Crunch left his career in tatters.
I came to a place where I began to know God. I had spent 48 years of my life running away from him and it’s only in the last four years that I’ve found him. There has been no Christianity in my family and I was quite successful in life, in the financial sector as the Regional Manager of a banking organisation.
In 2008 the Credit Crunch saw things change dramatically. I was heavily affected by that but being a guy I stuck my head in the sand and pretended everything was okay. The state of my finances deteriorated to a point where drastic action was required. I had kept it all from my wife, but it came out on 1 March four years ago. She found out from a friend. When it all came to light my wife was understanding and we made an action plan.
In 2008 the Credit Crunch saw things change dramatically. I was heavily affected by that but being a guy I stuck my head in the sand and pretended everything was okay. The state of my finances deteriorated to a point where drastic action was required. I had kept it all from my wife, but it came out on 1 March four years ago. She found out from a friend. When it all came to light my wife was understanding and we made an action plan.
Once I started to do something about it my life started to change. My wife, who was absolutely amazing, said we should sell the house and press the restart button. A key moment was after I had taken a phone call from a solicitor.
I heard a voice in my head say: “Look around and see where you are.”
I was on a roundabout in Ealing and I took stock of where I was before driving away. It took six months before our house was sold and a person who had been harassing me was gone. Some words came into my head on the same roundabout where I had heard the voice before. At that point I suddenly had an urge to go to church. From the first day my wife and I attended church I felt everything that was being said by the priest at that time was aimed at me. I was oblivious to everyone around me. It was God talking to me.
Everything was wholly relevant to my life and past and what I needed to do in the future. I did an Alpha course, got into a small group. I just had an insatiable hunger to learn about God. My hunger was so great I joined St Melitas Theology college. I spent a year and a half there and I wanted to learn all the time. I wanted to understand the Bible in depth, to know whether this was true or just a story. The theology course helped me to frame my understanding and affirm my beliefs.
It was from there that I was asked to become the churchwarden of St Mark’s and All Saints in Binfield. I accepted the role because I’d learnt not to challenge what was in front of me but to accept and have faith. I’ve been doing readings and intercessions and over the last 12 months I have been exploring a calling to ordination.
My love and passion is helping people. I have always done loss adjusting in catastrophes, helping people to get back on their feet again. I looked at my skill set. I can see God at work in my life.
Through my journey I have realised how important prayer is. We have all got stories to tell and I feel privileged because it has given me so much more to give back to people.
Please pray for:
- people, especially men, who see they are in financial difficulties to ask for help with their situation before it consumes them
- my atheist family to get to know God
- the homeless initiative that my wife and I have started up. For all of those who step outside their comfort zone to help those in need
- my wife and family who have been on this journey with me. My wife and I came to faith together through this and I pray people will read the story and realise that sometimes you have to get to a low point, but that God has a purpose
- for my meeting with the DDO in July as I explore a calling to the priesthood
Whatever You Do
See @1CorTen31 for daily prayer points on Twitter.
This is an older post. Please note that the information may not be accurate anymore.
4TH JULY 2017