It all started as I ventured to school. Due to the ability to read and write I was put down and treated differently by some of the other kids. As I went through Primary school so much was so easy to the extent it became boring, and I started to lose interest. High school wasn't much better. I was more interested in hanging out with the wrong crowd because, at the time, these people were the ones who really cared and accepted me for who I was. The only real motivation I had whilst in high school was to play first eleven cricket for the school, which all the sports teachers knew I was good at. After playing in two successful competitions for the school I was invited to play cricket for the Sturt District Cricket Club. I played four B grade games. The week after, I was playing A grade district at the age of 14. From that day forward my life changed. The majority of my time was taken up with developing the talent for the game that so many people believed I had. The pressures, commitment, and time required were incredible. It seemed like the only thing I ever did. People were telling me how I could make a career out of the game if I really wanted too. Coaches and my family were turning a game I loved into an obsession. Surely there is more to my life than this?

It wasn't long before enough was enough. I wasn't coping with life. I didn't know why I was here or who I was. I was living day by day with no real direction. I packed my bags and left home, looking for something that would erase the thoughts of days gone by. Living on the streets was a whole new experience; often wondering where you were going to sleep, where your next meal would come from. You learnt to trust no one in the quiet streets of Adelaide where people believe that nothing exciting ever happens. What a joke. But I was one of the lucky ones.

When you’ve had put downs all your life; ...
when people don't really give a damn about anyone but themselves; ...
when they’re not frightened to put the boots in when your'e down, the first person who shows the first bit of concern or interest to you, you do think all your birthdays have come at once.

I met a guy by the name of Sandy who, at the time, was just what the doctor ordered. Within two weeks I was commissioned into the Hells Angels bikie group. I wore the colours proudly. There’s not a lot I haven't been guilty of when I was in this group. This group was my family. And what we did we did together; from prostitution, to stealing, to drugs, violent assaults. You name it, I've done it. I became selfish and out of control. Nothing else mattered for I was with my family and I knew I was happy. For four years I went through a path of self destruction. No one could tell me anything. I believed I was untouchable. Then it happened; the consequences of living in the fast lane. I was struck down with cancer. As I went through the trauma of dealing with the cancer, for the first time in ages I felt so alone. My world was falling apart again and I started to realise what my so called family was doing to me. The reality was this: change my ways or continue with the life I was leading and it would eventually kill me. I didn’t know it at the time, but this was God’s way of preparing me for what he had in store for me. I knew it was time to dry out so I spent six weeks in drug rehab. This was the longest six weeks of my life; the pain the suffering was almost unbearable. When I moved out of rehab I moved into a one bedroom flat to deal with the issues that would help me with the cancer. It was so hard and there were no guarantees that I would ever beat this. The only real contact I had was a friendship I had formed with two people living in the same block of units where I was staying. These people (now I come to think of it) were what you could call real friends; non judgmental, willing to do anything for you. It was these people who reminded me that I had come successfully through drug rehab and that the pain and suffering I went though to achieve that would be nothing compared to beating the cancer.

This support reignited the passion for medicine I had earlier as a kid. I started to recall what I had learnt earlier regarding the disease process. I learnt as much as I could about the treatment of this condition, as well as the drugs and the effect they had on the body. No stone was left unturned. I even looked at the natural therapies. Within two years the condition had gone. It was time to move on. Yet it still wasn't easy to let the past go. The two friends, that had stuck by me for the last three years and showed me there was more to life than what I knew, wanted me to join the ambulance service where I could meet new people and form new friendships and interests. This was also the time I got married. So together the three of us joined the ambulance service. For the next 10 months most of my free time was taken up doing first aid courses, recruit training courses, advanced patient management, and emergency care and transport. Within 12 months of starting training we all graduated to became Ambulance Officers. I thought I’d seen it all and was dealing with many situations I had been around before. But this time it was my responsibility to save their lives. Murphy's law states that if anything can go wrong, it will. And you could bet anything the first job in a shift would often be the worst. We all developed a thick skin. It was hard to deal with a lot of this trauma. So we used to push it down inside of us. And every time the trauma wanted to surface we would push it down again This is how we coped, for if you didn't, the next time the phone ran you would be useless. We all had other ways to cope when a shift was over. Some of us would go home and drink. Some would go home and cry themselves to sleep. I would go home and beat my wife. For the next three years I lived a Jekyll and Hyde existence and would not admit I had a problem. It's funny how I lived a double life. By the time I realised I was having a problem with domestic violence I was education and training officer for my Ambulance division. I was too blind to the way I was hurting the people I now loved. If I had only acknowledged the violence. But, no, God wasn't ready for me to deal with that yet. While all this was going on I was sensing it was time for a new challenge so I went back to study full time for a two year Diploma of Remedial and Sport. I was given a work provider number to treat work and sport related injury. I was working with many sports related injuries and passing on what I was taught in a college environment. I have enjoyed this work immensely. But it still didn't address the problem which I held in my days on the streets or the traumas of what I dealt with on Ambulance.

Three years ago I had something happen to me which up until then no other person had had the guts to do. God stood by the woman I was with and gave her the strength to do what no-one else would do. She pressed charges for assault. I had hit my partner once too often and she did me the biggest favor of my life Why did this do me a favor? Because I believe that this was another wake up call from God to prepare the way for some thing better. It’s amazing how you keep searching for happiness but never really seem to find it. You experience a void or a feeling of emptiness. And when you find what you once thought would fill that void, and you think, “Well this is what life is all about,” only to come down to earth once again and realise that you’re still missing something. But you don't quite know what it is. How frustrating and demoralising that can be. You may start to question am I really good enough as I continued to struggle with this issue. As part of the overall recovery process I attended an organisation called Grow. This is where for the first time I came into contact with the word "God". I used to attend a group on a Wednesday morning and got to know a guy by the name of Colin. He is now what I call one of Gods instrument in my life because every time I saw him, no matter where it was, he use to say, " Wayne you need the power of the All mighty God in your life.” I always found this amusing because Colin was one of the most messed up confused people I had met to that time. And it seemed to me that if what he was telling me was true why wasn't the God almighty he talked about setting him free. It was a Monday night when I was returning from Port Adelaide when I experience a need to call in and see him on the way home. As I got to his home and sat down to have a cup of coffee with him he walked over to his book shelf and pulled out an orange covered book entitled The Basics of Christianity. This book had questions, Bible verses, and points to think about. This book could change your life. He told me take it home and do what it says and watch your life change. So I took the book with me and put it on my desk and there it stayed for three days. When I finally decided to pick it up and have a read I started to find out that what I thought was a load of rubbish wasn't that at all. It ignited a desire to want to know more and I use to talk to woman who was working with at the time about it often. And on the 8th August 1998 I was invited to NEVC and did an alpha course weeks later. It was two weeks after the start of alpha that I knew the true meaning of what Colin had been saying to me all that time.

My friends I know what it is like to have the so called creature comforts of this world, comforts that a falling world believe will bring happiness and fill the void. Let me tell you now something that many of you will already know, and if you don't know at least consider what I am about to say seriously. There’s only one way that will bring you true happiness. There is only one true way to fill the void and take away the emptiness in your life. There is only one way to be truly set free. And the awesome thing about it is it is available to us at anytime regardless of what we have done if we only call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. For he took a pathetic violent, drug addicted, no hoper and turned me into ...someone with a purpose, a mission, ...someone who coaches kids cricket and helps these kids reach there full potential, ...to being an accredited state cricket umpire, ...to being involved in the alpha program. But most importantly, he has used my past to help me help others who have similar problems. And he gave me the gift of evangelism to continue to let his good news be heard and to bring people to his kingdom. No I am not perfect. In fact it is safe to say I am far from it. But he knows what I need to do, and it is God’s will I seek. Knowing he is always there I look forward with enthusiasm to what he has in store for me in the days, weeks, and years, to come.

GLORY BE TO THE POWER OF GOD.