Back from the brink
David Peters left school early, then spent the next 20 years of his life trying to kill himself. Drugs and alcohol ruled his life. He’s now a published scholar who spends his days bringing marginalised Australians back from the brink.
“More than one doctor said in their medical opinion I wouldn’t live till 40,” said now 41-year-old David Peters, recalling his final admission to hospital for alcohol-related seizures and health problems associated with years of drug and alcohol abuse. Without The Salvation Army’s William Booth House Recovery Services program, David can confidently say that he would be “dead”.
In a sense, David did die during his 10 months in rehabilitation. Giving himself over to God, he died to his self-destructive ways and allowed Jesus to bring him true life. Life with a purpose and a plan and a future. When he graduated from The Salvation Army’s William Booth House, he completed a Diploma of Counselling and a Diploma of Alcohol and Other Drugs. He discovered that, “I’ve still got a brain for some reason. For God’s reason!”
His drug-fuelled lifestyle had left David homeless, with no friends and little money. While studying he lived in a Sydney boarding house, just one week’s rental payment away from the street. His heart, once cold and calculated to take whatever he could get, now broke with the pain of watching fellow boarders struggle to survive, week-to-week.
“What I noticed was that a lot of these guys, they isolate. They just sit in their rooms,” he said. “They’ve got about $100 a fortnight to buy food and get around and live. So … things like having a cup of coffee and going out for a meal don’t factor into their lives.
“I thought, ‘What can I do to combat that social isolation and that exclusion?’”
It was almost Christmas, and David was about to receive a gift from God that would change the course of his life forever. It arrived in the form of retired Salvation Army officer, Major Hilton Harmer.
“I was living in a boarding house in Marrickville and Hilton came … around Christmas time,” David said, recounting the sight of the retired Salvation Army officer arriving in his little white van, plastered with red shield stickers and flashing lights. The van was full of donated, free food which Major Harmer collected and distributed weekly to about a dozen boarding houses in Sydney’s inner-west.
A strong friendship grew out of both men’s desire to help others. David now counts Major Harmer as one of his closest friends.
“Hilton gives me a lot of spiritual advice and he’s very good at the practical stuff on how to deal with things practically and you know, on a day-to-day basis, stuff like that.”
To keep himself on track with his recovery David followed Hilton’s advice and found the local Salvation Army, made church his new ‘habit’ and joined the band. He went on to secure employment with a peak mental health body and moved out of the boarding house. His study and work led to speaking engagements at various industry events and conferences.
He could have left his past behind him, but David couldn’t shake the feeling that God was calling on him to act on his earlier conviction – to do something to break through the social isolation of his former neighbours.
“[Hilton] also got me involved in… the boarding house outreach stuff,” David said. Hilton’s friendship and practical discipleship encouraged David to pursue his vision of creating a place for friendship, community and hope for the socially isolated boarders he lived alongside. Just over a year ago, ‘Essential Living’ – a Saturday afternoon BBQ and friendship space, was launched at the Dulwich Hill Salvation Army.
“I’ve got people there that come on a Saturday and they basically say that if I don’t come here on a Saturday then I’m not eating,” said David. But Essential Living is about so much more than just the food. “I’m sure that they don’t come just to get a free meal because they all hang around afterwards and talk and get to know each other.”
Already, Essential Living has raised the self-confidence of many of its participants to the point where they have gone on to obtain volunteer work and even paid work. The weekly get-together gives boarding-house residents a social outing to look forward to, a place where they are loved, accepted and respected, a place where they can form real friendships. It’s also a referral hub for holistic care: participants can access legal, financial, counselling, housing, alcohol and other drug service referrals through Essential Living, and know that they have a supportive environment of friends to help them on their journey.
“I feel that if people feel more included in a community then they are more willing and able to participate in that community,” David said. “I believe that Jesus lifted me up out of an abyss. I was near death, really, and the love of Jesus lifted me up out of that.
“And what I feel is that I’m extending that same love that Jesus gave to me, I’m extending that out to others, you know?”
Comments
Great story!! Hilton and Joyce Harmer are truly GOD's servants. Their work has
changed many lives. Thank GOD for Essential Living ministries.