| From shifting sand to Cornerstone |
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David Phillips runs a successful Christian bookshop – but his life was once very different, writes Ian White A man delivered from gambling and alcohol addictions after suffering a nervous breakdown is marvelling at divine providence as his ‘God-given’ shop celebrates its silver jubilee this month. Seventy-three-year-old grandfather David Phillips said it was a milestone for Cornerstone Christian Bookshop in Llanelli, South Wales. He was on sickness benefit when God challenged him to set up the business back in the 1980s, and he doubted its viability. Yet despite his bank ‘laughing’ at a £1,000 loan request, he managed to raise the cash and the venture was born. Twenty-five years on, he’s never owed his bank a single penny. David became a Christian in 1977 on crying out to God in sheer desperation, He’d had to give up work because he was completely unable to cope – he couldn’t even keep a steady hand to sign for benefit payments. His addictions began after he changed jobs and started working in a copper works where “everyone” gambled and drank. They lasted for 10 years. He recalls, “I was working 60 hours a week to keep my family, drinking and gambling. But it was a continuous vicious circle which finally wore me down. “I couldn’t cope with life any longer and was prescribed valium, first valium two, then valium five and eventually valium 10. Having never been a tablet person, I was now on three a day. “That’s when I cried out to the Lord and my gambling stopped straight away and my drinking stopped as well.” David was knocking back up to 25 pints at a weekend, as well as daily gambling just for the thrill of it; if horses weren’t running, he would try the dogs; if the dogs weren’t running, he would bet on the election or anything going. “It just grips you; you tell people about winning one, but don’t mention losing 99. It’s a very big hold,” he admits. But such was his dramatic U-turn that his wife Jean also became a Christian, and they attended their parish church. But it was another decade before David was healed of valium dependence. On responding to a call for prayer for someone described as “timid” at a Wales for Christ meeting, he felt an “elastic” grip released from his hands and hasn’t taken a tablet since. Previously David always found his enforced childhood experience of church “boring and dead”. He said: “I was the youngest of three children when my mum died and my dad remarried. Brought up in a very big family of 11 children, I was sent to the church but it never did anything for me and I never went again when my National Service started. “After marrying Jean I concentrated on family life. We had two daughters and I never really gave God a thought.” But David distinctly remembers his eldest sister Mair praying for him in her bedroom years ago and firmly believes these were answered on his conversion. Now attending the Word of Life Church, he finds church totally relevant. He says, “We were helped tremendously in those early days by a church curate who took time to explain the services. “Then my Bible knowledge started to increase when I got involved in the Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship International.” It was at one such meeting that David, who had wholesale experience, finally submitted to God’s call on him to open a Christian bookshop. Arguing with God He said: “It was the only time I’ve argued with God as he’d told me to open the shop some time before. I heard the Holy Spirit ask when I was going to say ‘yes’ and gave in.” Then, invited to a Christian exhibition in London but not really sure what to anticipate (half-expecting a range of dog collars!) David returned across the border with two carrier bags full of “everything needed to open it”. He also used a scheme started by Margaret Thatcher to receive cash for starting business, and the shop opened, initially just outside Llanelli, in 1985. Run by David and Jean and their youngest daughter, Jill Bates, 45, it’s now based in the town centre. Healing Jill, who became a Christian shortly after her 21st birthday, helps needy people as they are counselled on what has been christened “the anointing chair” and has seen folk healed and grow in faith. They’ve certainly come through an awful lot in the last quarter of a century. Early on, David learned to further trust God when faced with “significant” debts. “We decided to pray and fast, the latter being very new for me. Within days we received cheques and envelopes with enough over for food. “This experience drew me to my knees and I now totally rely on prayer.” The family are planning a big celebration night on July 8, with a special service at the town’s Presbyterian Hall, starting at 7.30pm. |
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