Richard Handley-Riding the Waves of Redemption: From Homeless to Healed

Everyone has experienced dark and troubling times. But because we are Christians, we have Jesus Christ to rely on to make it through those rough times. I attended a Presbyterian church as a child but stopped when I left home at 18 years old. I was married for 25 years - a seemingly happy marriage - with a wonderful and intelligent wife and beautiful daughter. I was working as an agricultural land manager and had a great salary. But in the midst of this happy life, I began experiencing a series of illnesses - it started with body pains, headaches, sleeplessness, and I became very ill. This lasted nearly 10 years.Then in 2010 my wife left me, I was fired from my job, and I became homeless and was living in my car. And then curious things began happening. One day wandering around on the beach I found a page of biblical scripture lying on the sand. And then a little later I found a Christian message of hope printed on a little card.About this time, I was parked at the beach when a homeless friend of mine introduced me to a Christian surfer. He told me about a church called the Harbor Church and invited me to go with him the next day. I felt really down and out, it was the lowest point of my life - having to seek help at a church. This church had a homeless food program. They served breakfast and lunch 5 days a week to several hundred homeless people in the city where I was living in California. The homeless program also had a daily bible study group and a prayer group that I joined on that very first day.And so began my slow road to recovery through the power and glory of Jesus Christ. After the first week I became a volunteer in the homeless program. I started out by mopping the floors in the dining hall and cleaning the bathrooms. Gradually I moved into the kitchen where I helped the cook and the other volunteers prepare the two daily meals, frying pancakes for up to a 100 guests, preparing fruit and vegetable salads for lunch, serving the meals and then cleaning up all the dishes.One day during our prayer hour a small group of the disabled guests came in with their care giver to join us. The care giver, an Hispanic woman, sat outside our little circle of prayer. I was leading the prayers that day and at the end of the prayer time I asked if anyone wanted us to pray for healing for them. When I asked the care giver if she needed prayer said she had been experiencing back pains. So, we all laid hands on her and prayed for the pain to go away. A few days later this same group came back into prayer and the care giver said, “I don’t know what happened but after you prayed for me the pain went away and hasn’t come back.”I stayed with the program for 2 1/2 years and completely recovered my health. At the end of my time at the homeless ministry I began going on short term mission trips to Mexico. Looking back, I could see God’s hand in all this, guiding me to where he wanted me to go. He turned the worst situation in my life into the greatest blessing. He renewed my faith and gave me a calling to serve the Aboriginal people of Australia and that’s why I’m here now.https://aucd.academia.edu/RichardHandley