2023 annual report final WEB - Flipbook - Page 25
THE POSITIVE IMPACT OF FAITH & FOODCARE
This real life story was shared with one
of our local Global Care operations.
Names have been changed to protect privacy.
My name is Amanda*. I’m married with
three kids.
My husband and I grew up in Christian
homes and met through church. We
have travelled and lived in many
different places, attending a lot of
churches. In doing that, we have
seen some awesome stuff but also
witnessed some horrors and with that
and COVID, we stepped away from
church and from God.
My husband is a builder and had a
venture that didn’t work out, which put
us in massive debt. He became severely
depressed and started drinking. I took
a full-time job to help ease the financial
load, but it wasn’t enough to pull my
husband out of his depression fog. I
spent the best part of a year wondering
if today was the day I would get a call
to say he had killed himself and would
pray God would bring him back each
night. I had no family here, working full
time, trying to be both mum and dad
for my kids and keep my husband alive.
I have never felt so alone. I couldn’t tell
anyone how bad he was (he had asked
me not to), so I was trying to act like
everything was fine.
He hit rock bottom, with suicide on
his mind every minute of every day,
drinking to try to escape that and the
feeling of failure.
Some friends invited us to church
as they had something special on.
While we were there, a speaker talked
about an alcoholic recovery program
they were about to start. My husband
signed up that day, quit drinking that
day, found a counsellor that week,
and said to God, ‘well, this is it. Either
do something and help me out of this
mess, or I’m done.’ God did.
Over several weeks of the recovery
program and counselling, and no
longer drinking, he started to get better.
I, however, still felt so alone. Why did I
have to go through all that? Why did I
have to be the strong one? That week
we decided to try out church again...
During the service, I felt God tell me He
was going to show me His love; he was
going to pour out his love on me like I
have never known.
We went home and went about our
week. My husband had had a very
slow month of work, and we couldn’t
pay bills. He had come so far with the
counsellor, 8 months sober, but I knew
we couldn’t afford to keep paying for
counselling, let alone the other bills.
But again, I felt God telling me to
keep him going there as he still really
needed it. That is when I discovered
the local foodcare (Global Care). I met
Christy*, who saw me with tears in my
eyes, filled me up, and sent me on my
way, saying, ‘Please come back next
week!’ I was too proud to admit defeat,
but there I was, humbled and helped.
I did go back, and after a particularly
bad week with more financial strain,
wondering how I would pay for my
child’s specialist appointments, I was
met by Rebecca*, who filled my car
overflowing far beyond my requests.
‘Hey Mumma’, she would say, loading
my car up.
I drove away that day, pulled over and
broke down (emotionally). All I could
hear was God saying over and over, ‘I
told you I would pour my love out on
you. You are not alone. I am here, and
I love you.’
It is a humbling thing to have to ask
for help. I’m not good at it at all. It’s
really, really hard, especially for a
proud person like myself. I often think
there are many more people so much
more deserving than I, but this is why
I wanted to tell my story. I can’t give
anything back for what I have received,
but I can share my experience.
I appreciate that it’s a hand up, not a
hand out too! And I can still have dignity
in paying for what I can afford.
So, from the absolute bottom of my
heart, thank you for all you do. I will be
forever grateful (especially for Rebecca
and Christy, who showed me love and
light in dark times.
*names have been changed for privacy reasons
Foodcare for my family means:
• A husband who is alive because we can pay for the counsellor he needs
• Children who can see their specialists
• A family who can eat veggies & something other than cereal for dinner!
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