Patricia

A couple of years ago my husband Donovan lost both of his parents on the same day. His mother died of cancer, and his father committed suicide. His grandfather and then grandmother died soon after. This tragedy overshadowed everything in his life: Donovan felt devastated, lost and abandoned by God. I felt powerless to do anything to help him as he distanced himself from God. All I could do was pray.

At the time he was working for a security business while I was studying full time, so he was the only one bringing in an income. Donovan hated his job. His boss bullied him into working extra hours with no overtime. He often failed to pay Donovan at all, and when Donavan complained his boss started making threats. He would send text messages to frighten us. One of them even said that I should leave the country or something might happen to me. Meanwhile, we were struggling to find enough money to get by.

Finally, Donovan’s boss agreed to give him the last three months’ pay he was owed. He told Donovan to meet him and to drive to a certain street, and on the way to collect a parcel for him from a friend’s house. Donovan did as he was told and sat in the car with the parcel waiting for his boss to arrive. The boss didn’t turn up. Donavan began to worry and phoned me.

‘I don’t know what to do!’ he said.

Neither of us knew what to do, so Donovan waited.

He hadn’t prayed for months, but as he sat in the car he said ‘God, help me – I don’t know what to do!’

Straight away he felt that God was saying, ‘Throw the parcel out of the car!’

He got out of the car and threw the parcel into some bushes.

He carried on waiting, and suddenly police surrounded the car. They ordered him to get out, and searched the car thoroughly, finding, of course, nothing.

‘We’ve had a tip-off that you’re carrying illegal goods,’ they said.

Donovan was in shock and didn’t say a word. Eventually, they had to let him go.

At this stage I was desperately trying to call Donovan but could not get through - so all I could do was to say, ‘Lord, please keep him safe’.

Donovan came home at midnight as white as a ghost and told me what had happened. To this day we are not sure whether or not the boss set him up to be arrested. Donovan never did get his wages, but we prayed together, something we hadn’t done for ages.

After that incident he turned a corner. The fact that God was there to help him when he cried out to him made it easier to accept the loss of his parents. Although they were gone, he finally realised that God was looking after him.

Donovan is now working for a different company with better pay and has already been promoted.