 David was born in 1925 the year The Great Gatsby was first published. His father had run a small poultry holding, and the young David enjoyed learning about farming from his father. He found school work totally uninteresting and left grammar school with no qualifications to join the Home Guard at the age of 15.
Just before D Day at the age of 17, David volunteered for the army. He trained as a heavy vehicle driver in Glasgow and learnt how to build Bailey bridges. He served with the Americans in the Battle of the Bulge, and the subsequent push to Bremerhaven. When he was demobbed in 1946 David returned to England to assist with harvesting. Eventually he was offered the job of Farm Bailiff/Manager
on the Balcombe Estate, a post he held for 40 years until his retirement in 1990.
After his first hip operation in 1990, (he’s had five in all), David was forced to adopt a less strenuous lifestyle and started going to adult art classes. He never realised he had any artistic talents but soon discovered that he had a gift for painting which he enjoyed and which brought pleasure to others. He has also sold his paintings to provide money for the local church.
David’s wife suffered from extremely high blood pressure and he slowly took over all the cooking especially cake making. He started entering cakes in local flower shows etc and began to take prizes, to the chagrin of some of the local ladies! The local WI even asked him to bake cakes for the local weekly market.
David had always believed in God, but spiritual things came into sharper focus when he lost his wife. He remembers a conversation with a friend, who said he couldn’t believe a God of
love could reject anyone from entering heaven. David surprised himself by saying, ‘you have to believe in Jesus and ask for forgiveness’. As he spoke those words, God confirmed them to his heart and he realised afresh that Jesus really was Lord of his life.
he realised afresh that Jesus really was Lord of his life. 
God’s timing is perfect and by making cakes and giving them away, together with a suitable card, David soon realised that he had found a very practical way of speaking to others about the greatest gift of all, Jesus. When he gave his cakes away folk were always surprised ‘at something for nothing’,
folk were always surprised ‘at something for nothing’,
which enabled David to speak more of God’s great love. God reveals our gifts at the right moment.
David also helps at a weekly outreach, ‘Food for Thought’, which is organized by several local churches and provides soup and sandwich lunches together with a word from a local minister/pastor.
In God’s perfect timing, David’s gifts for painting and later, cake making have been revealed and both have provided opportunities to explain to others what it means to believe in God and to discover that Jesus really is the person who can help us make sense of our lives.
David is a member of Outlook, which links retired people together and encourages them to share their experiences of what God is doing in their lives. Through the fellowship of Outlook, many people are being encouraged to share their faith in new and exciting ways. To find out more write to David Heydon (The Director), Outlook Trust, The Wycliffe Centre, Horsleys Green, High Wycombe, HP14 3XL or telephone 01494 485222
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