Ch. 1: His Plan
Ch. 1. His Plan:
Diagnosed with Diabetes.1.
Art & Music.2.
Bournville School of Art.3.
Cavalier Press, Small Heath.4.
Unigate Dairies.5.
Mattersey Hall Bible College.6.
Lord, Remember Wales.7.
I arrived in Birmingham, Warwickshire, during a cold Winter month in 1963. That was the particular point in time when I was born.
My life’s journey began in Barton Croft, Hall Green, a part of the leafy suburbs of England’s second city.
Having Christian parents, I and my sisters, Deborah and Allison, were never unaware of God’s hand in our lives. His provision was always evident.
1 Early on in life, however, I experienced a trauma that could have easily tested my parents’ faith in God. When I was only four years old, I was rushed to the Birmingham Children’s hospital by ambulance. There, the doctors diagnosed my illness as diabetes. At this young age, I was hardly aware of the gravity of the diagnosis. It was hard for me, a mere child, to understand or grasp the doctors’ verdict. Yet they said for the rest of my life that I would be faced with daily injections of insulin. So, my future appeared grim!
Needless to say, my condition was grave. Medication, diet, and urine tests were to become a way of life for me. Living with this trauma daily would be devastating for any young child. I was no different. Such a condition invariably took its toll on my parents, as well as my siblings. Fortunately, I did not allow it to hinder me too much as my life’s journey progressed. I resolved to be strong!
2 My routine, consisting of practicing piano, drawing, painting, and other challenging artistic interests allowed me to be less aware of a physical condition that, no doubt, would have effected even an older, stronger person more deeply. I was blessed!
One of the greatest interests that I’ve had through life, is the ability to play the piano.
I was privileged from a very young age, as my first piano tutor was Chris Bowater.
I was one of his first students.
What a challenge, imparting keyboard skills and knowledge to me!
At the same time, he also gave lessons to my elder sister Deborah.
Incidentally, we always had an upright piano at our home – and although my parents never played, my mother was always the singer in our family.
As a consequence, soon after learning to read, write and have a basic knowledge in arithmetic, I began to tinkle the ivories.
In later years as Chris moved from Birmingham to Lincoln, I had to find a new tutor.
I have clear recollections of visiting an old lady – Mrs Faithful.
Each lesson in the old lady’s front room in Scribers Lane, became very intense – as I and her piano became completely enveloped by begonias, geraniums, cacti and numerous kinds of potted plants!
What’s more, most of the time slot allocated for piano lessons became aggravated by either feeding the old lady’s rabbit, weeding her garden, or mailing letters in the post box at the end of her lane!
Accordingly, although I learnt much about people skills, my keyboard skills saw little progress!
However, after an especially long delay – my keyboard skills improved somewhat, when my parents sort the assistance of a professional piano tutor – Mr Arthur J. Williams.
By this time, Deborah had long since given up on the piano. Somewhere along the line, she had started to show great interest in playing the guitar.
It was now my younger sister Alison who took up the exciting and creative challenge of learning to play the piano.
In teenage years I finally reached grade five in theory & practical.
What a journey!
3 All the same, it became apparent later in my life that the graphic arts field would become my really big interest and, ultimately, a great ambition for me.
After leaving the sixth form at Pitmaston School, Hall Green, I enrolled in a two-year diploma course in graphic design at Bournville School of Art.
Today it’s different from then. Now students, who pass the Higher National Diploma in the graphic design programme, automatically progress to the second year of an appropriate degree course at the University of Central England in Birmingham, where career pathways include advertising, freelance illustration, graphic illustration, and technical, medical and editorial illustration.
4 However, for me time moved on, and after qualifying in 1982, I began work in an offset litho commercial printing studio in the back streets of Birmingham.
Little did I realize as I methodically carried out this irksome job as a black and white paste-up artist, that things would change for me. God had a plan far greater in store for this little guy from Hall Green. And I praise Him!
After only nine months striving to meet the requirements of both client and studio manager, I suddenly found myself confronted by a daunting fact. I was faced with unexpected termination of the use of the printing studio. The company had to use its assets to discharge its liabilities. In other words, the company had gone bust! I found myself without a job!
5 Episodes of unemployment in the early eighties became quite common. Many people found themselves going through such difficulty. Having a job in the graphic art field at that stage was truly an asset, but keeping that job was a different story.
Anyway, I did semi-skilled employment, such as delivering milk, and I spent a lot of time doing that. Was I fully conscious that God, during this time, had greater plans for me? Perhaps not. Likely I was too busy driving my neighbours mad by my incessant piano playing!
6 Time was moving on, and eventually I found myself following a path which would lead me in a totally different direction. Quite unexpectedly, I found myself getting ready to study at the Mattersey Hall Bible College, which is the main training centre for Assemblies of God in the United Kingdom.
Today, virtually all of the studies at Mattersey are validated by the University of Wales.
On entering Mattersey Hall in 1984, the objective was to complete a three-year course in Theology. Yes, that was the plan for me.
7 It seemed, however, that God had another plan: The last academic-term spent at Mattersey Hall was to have an effect which would be nerve racking, yet exciting, and it would prove to be pivotal in my Christian walk.
A particular theme kept arising in my mind, which, in turn, caused a battle in my spirit. Actually, I wanted to run from such a challenging issue. It reminded me of Jonah’s battle! Yet, I was not unaware that it was He, God, speaking to me in a way that would chart and plan my footsteps for years to come.
His voice wasn’t audible, but circumstances of the day seemed to play out according to His divine blueprint for me. Scriptures jumped up from the pages, booklets and magazines with emphasis on the same theme – friends and associates with Welsh connections – and even summer evangelism in a small Yorkshire village-immediately reminded me of the Welsh coal mining field.
Dreams would awaken me in the night! The dreams, though simple in content, were powerful in pointing to a specific plan. His plan! A road sign with a red backdrop or wall paper with yellow Helvetica bold font or typeface would declare its destination, BLAENAVON.
Blaenavon translates “Where the river flows in the Upper reaches of the valley.”
Still, after so very many times, I tried to ignore God’s voice! I ignored Him, that is, until the summer of 1985 when I was assisting in pastoral work on the east side of Birmingham.
I had been assigned by the Bible College to complete a summer pastorate in Chelmsley Wood.
Have you ever thought you could ignore the voice of God? Don’t!
Pastor Bill Hopley decided one day to have a moment away from pastoral duties. And I accompanied him on a visit with another colleague in Nuneaton, Pastor John King. What an experience! As I entered John’s study/vestry in the Pentecostal Church, I was invited to sit in the chair facing John at his desk. I cannot recall any other words of the conversation between Bill and John because immediately behind John on the wall was a large poster-that put my life in focus!
Three words that would be pivotal for the next few years, three words which were challenging, yet so few was their number, these words that would humble me into submission! It seemed as though I were suddenly listening to the whisper of God. All the while, the conversation between my senior colleagues continued as I sat there empowered by words given to me straight from the heart of God. They would resonate in my being for the next few years. They were challenging, powerful and humbling.
LORD, REMEMBER WALES.
Perhaps those words should have announced, “David, remember Wales?
Then just twenty-two years old, with one year as a student and a Mattersey Hall qualification in Theology tucked underneath my belt, I began to listen anew to God’s voice and follow His leading.
Bible Words:
Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; He’s the one who will keep you on track. – Proverbs 3: The Message.