A Godly family influence changed everything for me
A Godly family influence changed everything for me
Jason McDonald (left) with Commissioner Robert Donaldson at Rockingham Corps.
When I came to The Salvation Army, I was a fairly broken man, definitely in spirit, but also emotionally, mentally and physically. I’m now 47, but I was out on the street on my own at the age of 14. From the age of 17, I became one of those blokes going in and out, in and out of prison, just as William Booth (Salvation Army founder) once said. Some of my time was spent in maximum security prisons and, you know, I was just hurt and broken.
My first contact with The Salvation Army came through a friend I was travelling with at the time. That friend required some assistance and I was basically just tagging along but, I believe now that it was God drawing me to The Salvation Army. That was the start of my long recovery process with the Salvos. Over the years, I spent a lot of time in Salvation Army rehabilitation centres, five times actually, in and out, in and out. I could never complete the program. I was normally thrown out for being aggressive and violent. I have also stayed in homeless men’s shelters with The Salvation Army all over Australia.
Then I came to Rockingham in Western Australia, and it was the turning point in my life. Essentially, there was something strikingly different going on to what I had seen before. I got some accommodation and across the road there was an organisation, a Christian organisation, and they had a house there. A married couple ran it, and they basically invited people into their home. It thoroughly impacted me. Here I was, disenfranchised from my own family and these people invited me into their home, and they loved me and cared for me. The bloke that was heading up the house, he introduced me to Jesus Christ. It was amazing.
It was an overnight change. Seriously.
I had heard about God before, but when I finally experienced God and his love for me, that changed things in an instant. I made a vow to never be in a place again where I’m separated from where God is at work, in my life and those around me.
Church was the next step, and I started to go to Rockingham Salvos that was open every day across the road. First thing in the morning I would pray to God that I’d have the opportunity, somewhere over at The Salvation Army, to share what I was learning about God, maybe just to be a gentle ear for someone in need. It was awesome.
From the start, Rockingham Salvos has essentially loved and supported me and encouraged me. Jesus invites us into a family, and that’s what’s been shown to me at the corps, through the people there, and I think it’s definitely a way of living, loving and fighting, just like that vision statement for the Army says.
I’m studying theology and volunteering three days a week with our corps outreach ministry. I also attend the Rockingham Pallet Ministry Men’s Shed. It’s a gathered community of believers getting around others. And this year our Discipleship House opened, and I am a lead tenant. My vision is to eventually move into chaplaincy – I’m thinking definitely around prison ministries and working with people that are in and out, in and out, of prison.
As told to Lauren Martin.
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