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As eight-year-old David Taylor ran from the burning beach café, his life of crime had begun.
David and his brothers had broken in to smoke cannabis. But a fire lit for fun burned the building down.
“I was a product of my environment,” he says. “All I’d experienced was violence from my father, my mum being broken and my brothers being into drugs and crime.”
The downward spiral escalated. By ten, David was smoking cannabis after school and thieving to buy it.
And when meningitis nearly killed him, the experience fuelled his addiction.
“I realised I needed to live because I wasn’t promised a tomorrow. But instead of taking that positively, I began to take more drugs.”
At 13, David tried ecstasy. When he was kicked out of school he began selling cocaine, then crack, then heroin. At 16, he went from dealing to using.
He fed his habit through burglaries and robberies, stacking up a lengthy list of convictions.
But as he was released to a bail hostel after one prison sentence, God stepped in.
“Jesus changed my life”
One evening, David walked into a Christian meeting with other lads from the hostel. Two girls were sharing their stories.
“They kept saying ‘Jesus changed my life’ and that they had been heroin addicts just like me. They were healthy and dressed smartly. This was the first time I’d seen somebody get away from the life I was living.” David had no idea who Jesus was, but he wanted to know more.
“I thought if this man can change their lives, I need to meet him.”
He agreed to attend a Christian rehabilitation centre.
“There were people with their hands in the air praising God. I thought, ‘I’ve come here to get off drugs and they’re on more than me.’
“But they had something I wanted – joy. They said they’d been drug addicts and prisoners but had been saved by Jesus and were free.”
David battled through withdrawal and gave his life to God.
“I said, ‘I believe that not only can you change me but you can lead me into a new life and wipe my slate clean.’”
David went on to launch Emerge Ministries, and for the past nine years he has shared his story in prisons, schools and churches.
“We offer an opportunity for people who need hope to change, or at least to take steps in the right direction.
“God stepped into my life and not only did he change and transform me, but he set a fire in my heart. It still burns brightly and has led me to where I am today.”
