The Story of How God Provided for Destiny Haven
“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realise how close they were to success when they gave up.” Thomas A. Edison
Did you know that Thomas Edison failed more than 1000 times before he invented the light bulb? If he had given up on any attempt before that, there is a possibility you would be reading by candlelight right now… and not on a smartphone or a computer, either!
What would you have attempted in life if you knew you would not fail? Unfortunately, moving towards an impossible dream will always come with risk. However, If the dream is from God it keeps you going, hanging tough through difficult, often seemingly impossible circumstances to see the dream come true.
Have you heard the story of how Destiny Haven came to be?
The church that originally owned the property where Destiny Haven resides gave us six months to vacate or buy it. The selling price was $1,000,000—and we had $0.
However, God had planted the dream in Janine’s heart way back in 1994 when she and Lewis were in residential rehabilitation. Janine vividly remembers sitting in the lounge room at the rehab where she saw a vision: she was surrounded by broken women on a rural property who had come to find healing from their life controlling issues.
It would be 13 long years until Janine and Lewis finally arrived at Destiny Haven, and then, after only 18 months they were facing eviction. It didn’t make sense. So Janine and Lewis began praying for a miracle.
Within a matter of weeks, the first $100,000 came in the way of a gift from a precious woman who wrote that this was the seed of what would come. Over the next four months we saw smaller amounts arrive to add to this. However, we knew that if God wanted Destiny Haven to exist (and we knew He did!), then He would have to make it happen.
With weeks to go until the deadline, we were still $200,000 short of the amount the church agreed to sell it to us for. Was it scary? Yes, but Janine and Lewis had walked the journey of living without a wage and seeing God come through time and again. So they stood firm, with many others believing with them for the impossible.
Janine and Lewis approached banks for the remainder, but no one wanted to take such a risk on a couple with no collateral at all! Until they shared at a Rotary Club attended by the manager of a local Building Society, that is. He encouraged them to apply with his bank. It was at 4.58pm on the day of the deadline when he called to tell us the loan was approved. And today, after almost 20 years of operation, Destiny Haven has helped hundreds of women completely change their lives.
Janine still believes that one day Destiny Haven will own a property close to our current location, where women can come and stay with their children. She has had an architect draw up plans for a chocolateria on-site where one day women can be employed after they complete the program… and the list goes on.
What are you dreaming for in your own life?
There will be obstacles. There will be doubters. There will be mistakes. But with hard work, there are no limits. As Laura Ingalls Wilder said, “No one has ever achieved anything from the smallest to the greatest unless the dream was dreamed first.”
