From Darkness to Destiny: A Journey of Hope and Healing
If there’s anyone who understands what the Diamonds are going through when they arrive at Destiny Haven, it’s our Co-Founder and CEO, Janine Epere. She and her husband, Lewis, have walked the journey themselves.
The daughter of Christians in full-time ministry, Janine is a talented songwriter, and by the age of 19 she had landed herself a contract with EMI’s publishing division, Castle Music. It was during this time that she started to dabble in drugs. By age 24 she was addicted to heroin and had started to sell heroin to fund her habit. When she was 30, Janine met Lewis in a hotel where they both sold drugs.
After their first child was born their drug use continued, and their relationship began to deteriorate. Janine and Lewis both started to feel completely hopeless and trapped. It was then that she recalled Sherwood Cliffs in Coffs Harbour, a place that took in families that needed help. The rest, as they say, is history. During this season of life, both Janine and Lewis committed their lives to God.
“When Lewis and I spent a year in a residential program for addiction to drugs, our lives were turned around,” Janine explains. “All we wanted to do was help others live without using drugs and discover that our incredible Creator wants a personal relationship with each of us that is life transforming.”
The couple decided to head to Bible College to complete a Bachelor of Intercultural Studies, and during their degree, spent time working at a drug rehabilitation centre in Spain. The next step: studying for a counselling qualification in preparation for opening their own rehabilitation centre. Janine says, “We always had a passion to one day establish a similar centre, especially catering for women to regain their life.”
Janine and Lewis chose a focus on women as there are so few places in Australia that support women solely, and they recognise the substantial benefit of single-gender programs in successful recovery.
A local minister offered the couple the use of a church-owned property at Clarence Town. The property was originally a residential centre for developmentally-delayed men, but had been unused for five years. The church withdrew from the project after a year, and Destiny Haven now stands on its own as a charity.
From the very start, Janine and Lewis stipulated that the centre was to be established as a faith ministry and that all staff were to be volunteers.
“There is a reason for this,” Janine explains. “The women who come to Destiny Haven know that the staff are there because they want to be, not because it is a job. Broken people are very perceptive. They know if they are loved unconditionally or ‘put up with.’”
Janine works with our Diamonds 24/7 with an amazing resilience, passion, understanding and unconditional love. Her door is always open. Her passion, of course, is shared in partnership with husband Lewis and a team of incredible volunteers.
“I will never be ashamed of my story because when I finally overcame addiction, I know that my story has given me a much greater capacity to empathise and love unconditionally,” Janine says. “I also know my story gives others hope that change is possible, because the woman I was when I was a heroin addict was not a pleasant person at all! I know the depths in my own heart and I know the healing touch in my life of a God who never gave up on me, who never fails me and who gave me another chance at life that I will never take for granted.”
Janine and Lewis consider it an absolute privilege to do what they have been doing since February 2007.
“Our greatest joy is watching every woman journey towards freedom. The journey cannot be fast-tracked (though many wish it could be); but day by day, we watch as women let go of their pasts and grasp the truth of who they are; they come to know their worth and value to God. They truly begin to love and embrace the person they were created to become.”
Janine’s story is a powerful reminder that no matter how broken a life may seem, there is always hope for restoration — and at Destiny Haven, that hope is brought to life every single day.
