In 1985, in the early days of the Alabaré Christian Community, we moved to Wilton and established an ecumenical House of Prayer. We had not been around very long when we received a phone call from the local Baptist minister asking if we could provide accommodation for a homeless man.

My first reaction was one of total surprise and I was lost for words. I recall asking, “Why us?” The response came, “Well, you are a Christian Community, aren’t you?” This had never been a part of our vision but we wanted to be truly ecumenical and work with the local Christian churches so I heard myself saying “Yes.”

My wife came alongside and started asking me questions, so I enquired a little further. To my horror, I discovered that this homeless man was an alcoholic man of the road. I immediately retorted, “Well, aren’t you a Christian Community?” – meaning his church – and he said, “Well, yes, but we have all tried these past two years, and no one else is prepared to do any more”. You can imagine I felt even worse about what I was committing my family to. I immediately began searching for excuses as to why it was not suitable.  We had three young children, all under five. We were both working full-time. We had no experience in this area.

In the end, we took Bob in to live with us – on the one condition: he would not drink while he was with us. Bob spent two years with us, on and off, and became a great friend of the children. We discovered he was just another man with a fist full of problems. On a good day, he was great; on a bad day, it was difficult. Eventually, Bob moved on to a treatment centre.

Within a week, we were asked to take in an expectant mother, Mary, whose husband had been sent to jail. And so it continued until we felt we could do no more. Our jobs and our family were too demanding to afford the time that was necessary. After a year of prayer and reflection, we embarked on an appeal to raise the funds to buy a home in which we could accommodate these referrals. That was the birth of Alabaré Christian Care Centres, which later became Alabaré Christian Care & Support.

Had we known at any stage along the journey what was in store for us, we would certainly have said no at every step. Why? We would not have felt qualified. We would not have the time. But looking back, God has journeyed with us every step of the way, and we can see his hand at work in the lives of so many people whom we have helped – and who have helped us.