Who Is Liam Husband?

Who is Liam Husband?

Liam Husband is the minister at HOPE Community Church, Winton (formerly: Centrepoint Elim). His testimony reveals a life that had been a spiral of running away from home, living on the streets, and a future with no hope in sight. But God stepped in, turned his life around, and called him to be a pastor, and administer His grace to people. He is now a happily married father of four, with an unashamed passion for Jesus. He describes himself as 'a trophy of Gods grace!'

Liam was born in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk in 1980, but moved to Askern, a small pit village near Doncaster in South Yorkshire, at very early age. His father worked on the offshore oil rigs as an engineer in the North sea so was away much of the time on contract.

In fact, his father only returned home once each month for a week at a time, and therefore the family only saw him 12 times a year, and then "he was down the pub for most of the time as he was a drinker", says Liam. These times were difficult. It was his mother therefore who raised Liam, and his older brother. The small community they lived in was a close-knit community surrounded by fields and orchards where the young lad played and spent most of his time. He loved being in the great outdoors.

However, life was hard for them all with his father away so much, and one day when he was seven he recalls his Mother going to the shops and not coming home again. This left Liam and his brother at home alone waiting for his father to return from the Rigs. A few weeks later his mum was found unconscious outside Sheffield train station after suffering a complete breakdown, and failed suicide bid.

Life at home became very unsettled and his parents were soon divorced. This period of time was extremely unsettling for the boys as they moved with their dad to live with a lady he had been having a affair with down the pub, and her children. The new family moved to Intake, a suburb of Doncaster, but things remained difficult, increasingly so. Not long after Liam's older brother was put in care leaving him on his own in a family he never wanted. Liam was just ten.

A Slippery Slope:

chavs button image [120x120] Life away from the home was far more attractive than staying in a place he didn't want to be in so he spent most of his time in the local park hanging around with the older kids. Whatever they got up to Liam wanted to do, their affirmation was more important to him than anything else. Gradually their influence started to rub off and he found himself on the slippery slope of drinking, inhaling gas and smoking cannabis. It didn't take long for this to spiral out of control, yet to him it was like being in a protective bubble which sheltered him from his home-life, where his Dad had become increasingly aggressive and physically abusive. As he grew into a teenager school became a mere distraction from his appetite for drugs. By the age of 13 he remembers having tried most drugs and had an increasing dependency on them.

Kings Lynn:

Kings Lynn map Thirteen brought another big change to his life as his dad moved back to Norfolk and settled in Kings Lynn. Now it was just the two of them. Life escalated out of control and the downward spiral saw the rebellious teenager arrested for shop lifting. However, this didn't stop his craving for drugs and his self medication continued. By the age of 16 Liam had been kicked out of school with no qualifications and a bleak future. He just couldn't see that there was any hope in life! Not long after his half sister collapsed and died. The relationship with his Dad fell to pieces. Eventually Liam tried to kill himself and was sectioned for 8 months. His drug use continued.

Aged 19, Liam was banned from Kings Lynn and bailed to a hostel in Norwich awaiting trial for robbery and kidnap. It was here he first tried Heroin which later took over his life. Three prison sentences later, and after seven years of Heroin and Crack Cocaine abuse, Liam didn’t think his life could get any worse so again tried to kill himself by overdosing on all the heroin he had - injecting it directly into his arm... everything faded to black.
Little did he know this was going to start a journey that would change his life.

Willowdene Farm:

When Liam awoke, he had questions: "Where am I?", "Dead? Alive?", "Why am I still alive?", "What was life about?", "Why had he lived?" He determined that day to find the answers to that last question, and the first thing to do was to get himself clean so he could think.

He enrolled in the methadone program, and a few weeks later his chemist handed him a leaflet about a Christian drug rehabilitation centre in Shropshire called Willowdene Farm ^1. Unbelievably alongside getting clean, they were offering a chainsaw course and tip to South America! That was the clincher! He decided to enrol! A few weeks later aged just 26, he walked into Willowdene Farm.

At that time God simply wasn’t on the agenda for Liam, he was more interested in the chainsaw course! He had always loved the great outdoors, to him it was heaven and a place to get away from it all. The course he enrolled in promised that after nine months of training you could have that chainsaw licence and get that trip abroad to the rainforests of Guyana, in South America, where he could use his new found skills. That was his focus!

Liam admits that he fell out with everyone at Willowdene because he was such an angry young man. Yet there was one man who was there who had been a drug addict for over 30 years and who was clean - plus there was something different about him. Something that he couldn't put his finger on. So one day he asked him what it was, as he wanted it. "It's Jesus" he was told. Liam realised that this chap had what he had been searching for all his life and decided to start going to church with him - even though he wasn't ready to commit to anything. Little by little things began to change.

Salvation's Plan:

In late 2006 Liam listened to the international speaker and evangelist George Miller preach. Miller spoke about the story of the 'thief on the cross' - and at the end of the sermon he gave an altar call to which Liam responded. Liam tells us what happened:

"I'd seen enough and done a few Alpha [course] to know that I was ready, there and then, to give my life to this fella called Jesus. I was sat down in a place like this, a church, and I fell to my knees and gave my life to Jesus that day! That was in September 2006 and I was baptised in Guyana in April 2007!"

Liam got his trip to the rainforest in Guyana, it was an eye-opening time, and one of real revelation. He was out in the wild, where he loved to be, up and down trees, and wielding his chainsaw for a good purpose. However, whilst there God started to speak to him about his life and calling; He started to reveal the answers to some of those questions he had been asking himself when he woke up after his overdose not that long ago - how far he had come! God revealed to him that He hadn't 'simply' allowed him to gain his chainsaw licence to 'simply' chop down trees - he had called him to so much more than that! He had called him out of the mess of life, so that he could go back in and save others who had no hope for the future!

Redcliffe College:

On his return to the UK, Liam spent time searching for, and visiting, bible colleges; and Redcliffe Mission Training College ² in Gloucester seemed to tick all his boxes. Not long after, Liam started his theological training - which was a miracle in itself seeing he had left school with nothing - and began to learn more about his faith, his God, and himself!

In His second year he met his future wife Hannah, who was a first year student. The following year they married and Liam chose his close friend - the man from Willowdene, who had led him to Jesus, to be his best man. After finishing Bible school before moving back to the Willowdene Farm rehabilitation centre to work.

"[Recliffe] was the best three years of my life, God did more work in me as a person, than He did academically wise. I left school with nothing, I was kicked out of school a month before everybody else finished, but God turned my life around and gave me a loving wife and now a family too! And I love Jesus with all of my heart!"

Liam served at Willowdene Farm for the next couple of years and then started his ministry training with the Elim Church. Once he completed his agreed three years Rehab, He and Hannah moved to Riverside Elim Church in Bewdley, where he became Youth Pastor for two years. Both Liam and Hannah felt the gentle nudge to explore moving to take up their first senior roles and after a season of waiting agreed to lead Centrepoint Elim Church in Winton.

Bournemouth Bound!

Lian Husband Family Man Button Image Liam and Hannah moved to Bournemouth in 2015 and are passionate about the local church fulfilling its call within the community. He loves to breathe life into other peoples and see the people of God equipped to serve the broken and brokenhearted.

In early 2019 Centrepoint changed its name to reflect the hope we have in Jesus. Its new name is Hope Community Church ³. Liam unashamedly loves Jesus and loves to share the gospel with those around him.

Liam and Hannah have four children. Samuel aged eight, Zachariah aged seven, Elizabeth aged four, and Beatrice aged one. Away from ministry Liam is a passionate England and Gloucester Rugby fan. As a family they love to be out doors, and being around a table with each other - as a family; now that is precious!

Liam has been free from addiction for 12 years now.

Ed.

From an interview with Brian Edgeley