VAUGHAN
When Pharaoh let the Israelites go, God did not lead them directly to the promised land. Instead, He took them on a longer journey, allowing them to face many trials along the way, teaching them to trust and depend on Him. Exodus 13:17 ‘if they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt”.
“My life began in the small town of Gore in Southland. My Nana was in the church from an early age till the day she died in her 80s, and my great grandfather was a Presbyterian minister. My parents were involved in church life and our family with just one older sister always knew the Lord.
When I was as young as 18 months I would have febrile convulsions. I was put on medication for epilepsy, but this was the wrong thing to do a I was incorrectly diagnosed. I was slow at learning so going to school was difficult and I was bullied a lot. It caused a lot of damage to the way I felt about myself.
When I was 9 a visiting evangelist came to our church and picked me up from my seat by my arms and prophesied over me. ‘You are an evangelist and have a heart like David in the Bibe’ he said.
At 14 I started smoking cigarettes which caused some drama in our house. I was trying to find out where I might fit in. Dads’ family were farmers and at 17, I moved to the Bay of Plenty to stay with my aunt and uncle and start a farming course. Six months later my parents moved up as well and I began dairy farming but found I didn’t like it. I pulled out of that. I liked being outdoors but did not like the dairy farming.
Although I believed in Jesus, I had a foot in the world as well and started smoking and drinking alcohol. At 19, I tried to lead one guy I was hanging out with to the Lord. He started coming to church and brought 10 of his mates along but they got put off and never came back.
When I turned 21, I decided to stop being silly and began a one-year night study at church. During that time, my finger got caught in a router machine and was severed. At lunch time on the day it happened, I heard an audible voice I believe was God, telling me to be careful. I didn’t listen to it and next thing my finger was sliced off.
After I recovered, I went to a six-month evangelism course at Bible College and saw some amazing miracles. One old guy died and was brought back to life. People were delivered from addictions; possums fell out of trees – it freaked me out!
I was invited to go to Japan and decided to save some money and head over there and have some fun. I saved for the ticket but didn’t have enough for spending money there. My dad pulled me aside and after he gifted me some money asked, ‘are you prepared to speak’? No way I said. ‘’I’m going for a holiday nothing more. He nodded but said ‘I think you will end up doing a lot of stuff you might not expect’.
The people who met me off the plane told me I was to be preaching on Sunday to a small church. In the following 6 weeks, I preached, prayed and evangelised.
Once I arrived home, I wondered what I was to do next. I didn’t feel settled, and a friend suggested I went to Auckland. One day later I blacked out whilst driving and causing a massive accident. This was the first blackout since I was a kid.
I had a head-on with an SUV and my vehicle came close to going over a cliff. I was not aware I had put my foot on the brake and prevented this. I broke my arm, but thankfully the occupants of the other vehicle walked away unharmed. I had my work gear in the back and a dagger like piece had broken off a cabinet and was flung straight towards my back. Somehow it didn’t happen! I took full responsibility and had written off my vehicle. I had nowhere to go but the youth from the church I had gone to, helped me out until I recovered and found a job. I was lucky to be alive, not just from the head on but also from the wooden dagger flung at my back with great force.
Later, I met my future wife Ruth at a conference. We have now been married 23 years and have 3 kids. Although I continued attending church, I struggled with depression which led to a dependence on alcohol. This became a real problem for me spiritually, personally and in our marriage.
I was trying to work and provide for my family, but every day was a struggle. My truck blew up; I went from kiwifruit work to another job where I broke my ankle. Life sucked and I was going downhill.
My wife was taking the kids away for a couple of nights, so I phoned a mate and asked him to drive me around town so I could go drinking. I went hard out.
I blacked out at one stage and my mate who was driving, freaked out and took me home. I was in a bad way but still moving around When we got home, I got out of the car and fell backwards and smacked my head on the concrete. I was unconscious and the First Responders had to revive me. I came to in hospital and had no recollection of what happened. I was there several days, and it was all a blur.
My wife told me I needed to give up my addictions or lose the family. Although I heard what she said, I was in such a bad place that I couldn’t take it in and remember where it fitted in. I was so angry and had reached a point where I just wanted to give up.
As I recovered, I would go walking as an escape so I could vape in secret. But one day I woke up and realised I hadn’t been doing that anymore. I hadn’t had a drink either. It had been a month since I even smoked a cigarette. I’d also walked away from church, so I knew this wasn’t something that had come from there.
One evening I overheard the family talking about going to a new church and I said I would go too. Where did that come from?
At church that night we all went, I felt tears stream down my face. I hadn’t cried for so long I had forgotten what it felt like. We decided to keep going there as a family and welcomed young adults in our home.
It had been a year since the accident, and for the first time I could see how much my life had changed.
During one service, a visiting Pastor called me out and said, ‘the devils tried to take you out 2-3 times, but he has not succeeded because you have a massive calling on your life’. He prayed for depression to leave and it stopped.
From there my wife and I got more involved with church work. There have been many highs and lows, but I know that without God strengthening me, I could have easily slipped back into my old ways.
God has been changing my attitudes, mindsets and heart stuff. The Bible has come alive for me, and I am daily learning more of God’s truths. I can see how God is using what I have been through to help others. I’m continuing to grow as He transforms me from the inside out.
I’ve had to learn who I am in Christ; despite the mistakes I’ve made and the hurt I’ve caused. As I lay things at the feet of Jesus, I can see God’s hand on my journey and how He is blessing me as I learn to trust Him.
I don’t have to fix things on my own, He has the power to break the strongholds in my life and help me become a different person.”
Romans 12: 2 “do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – His good, pleasing and perfect will.