Malvern Elim member Joshua De Lisle has taken the way less travelled to become an award-winning blacksmith commissioned to craft a gift for the Queen. He told Direction about his journey…
Joshua De Lisle’s childhood reads like a set of government statistics. An only child whose mother worked long hours to provide for the two of them, he missed the influence of his dad. Throw in Joshua’s dyslexia and the bullying he faced and you’ve got all the ingredients for a tragic hard luck story.
“I’m a lone child, and it was just me and my mum,” Joshua remembers. “Throughout school, I certainly struggled a lot. I had quite severe dyslexia and my mum worked a lot of hours most of the time and had a lot of animals to look after. I spent a lot of time by myself and developed kind of ‘antisocial’ skills if you like, and that meant that I got pretty much bullied in school also. The thing about not having a dad is that it does really affect you. There is something missing – a part of upbringing and teaching that I didn’t get. I developed a kind of depression and stuff, and things weren’t really going well. There wasn’t really any hope because in school I was failing everything.”
More at home honing his bushcraft in the Malvern countryside, horses are a recurring theme in this story. Joshua’s mother ran her own stable and poured her life into one particular horse.
“Her one horse, that was the pinnacle of her life got sick and died,” Joshua explains. “She remembers screaming to God in anger and asking, ‘How could you do this?’ But she believes the audible voice of God replied to her and said, ‘You had made that horse your God, and I want to be God in your life.’ That blew her mind!”
With mind blown, the pair began attending church. “I was a bit rebellious and angry as you are when you’re a damaged child,” Joshua explains. “But one thing that did grab my attention was that the church said God is God the Father. I turned around and had a private quiet moment with God and said, ‘If you do love me and you did make me for a purpose, I need your help. I will commit myself to you if you help me.’
“Since that point, God has changed my life around. The amount of serendipity and coincidences – there’s so many it just has to be God. After school, even though I failed all my subjects, I said, ‘Look Lord, I don’t know what to do.’ The idea of a blacksmith came along, and I thought, ‘That’s cool.’ I did a week’s work experience and it was fun and I was able to get into college without qualifications by showing them a portfolio of some creative stuff I did.
“I decided, ‘The Lord has given me this opportunity and I’m going to work hard at it.’ By the end of the year, I received the award for outstanding achievement. I just praised God and thanked him.”
Receiving awards was a feeling Joshua was going to have to get used to. Having left college with some of the highest possible marks, he again found himself wondering where to turn. Again, he leant in to God.
“Coming out of college, I said, ‘Thank you God for this opportunity, but I’m not quite sure what to do with it now.’ What happened was that God provided a workshop with all the kit I could need for a very modest rent.
“For the first half of the first year, it was quite depressing, because I had no work coming in and no business sense. It was very stressful to have all these bills to pay with limited experience. I sat down with God and said, ‘I am thankful, but I’m not really using the skills I’ve been taught.’” Again, the answer came straight from the horse’s mouth.
Joshua with wife Hannah outside “They Way” gates he designed for Richmond Park
“At this point, I started to go out with Hannah, who is my wife now. She used to look after a horse, but had to leave him to go to university. After six years apart from her first love, she found her old phone and found the new owner’s phone number. She decided to phone her and they asked her to look after the horse again. I built a stable and the horse came and stayed at my mum’s yard.
“I was just making polite conversation with the husband who was bringing the horse over telling him about how I was a blacksmith. He turned around and said, ‘I’m the park manager at Richmond Park in London. The funny thing is we’re looking for blacksmiths to enter a competition. You probably won’t get through, but if you do some designs at least that swells your portfolio.’ I went away and did some designs and – lo and behold – they chose my work for Richmond Park!”
The gates that Joshua designed not only won the competition, but now stand in Richmond Park, and gave his reputation the kind of boost he could only have dreamed of.
“Since then, I was able to present the Queen with a gift on behalf of the royal parks. After that, I’ve gained more clients and I’ve been given the opportunity to make the best work that I could do. I’m always trying to persevere in creating top quality work. It reminds me of the parts in the Bible about the building of the temple. My attitude is that I’m working for God, not just for people, and I’m going to do my best.”
At the tender age of 23, Joshua has received the diploma of merit and is an Associate of the Worshipful Company of Blacksmiths – recognition of his competence and excellence.
Even though he has a burgeoning reputation, Joshua is not tempted to rest on his laurels. “Now I’m trying to develop ways of using my testimony and my business to help people who feel like they’ve been failed by the education system or haven’t had the best start in life – maybe they’ve gone down a wrong route and need a new lease of life.
“I’m hoping to teach them some of the skills I’ve learned. I’ve found that my journey as a blacksmith has drawn me closer to God – he is a creator God who designed us.”