<< PREVIOUS | 1 | 2 | 3

At 19, Williams began boarding off and on for the next 10 years with a Christian family where he learned a different family environment. ''I learned to pray first and take problems to the Lord. I learned the Christian perspective."

Except before that Williams said he also learned the alcoholic perspective. "I attended church and Bible studies while trying to drink privately. There were lots of things I had to deal with. Dealing with my parents, forgiving the past and moving on with my life."

Williams joined a six-week drug and alcohol program in Victoria in 1985 to help deal with his problem drinking where he dentified some of the issues that made him want to drink chronically: The counsellors felt he hadn't forgiven the Williams for the severity of his upbringing and rejecting him for his Christian faith. He says he learned new techniques for dealing with problems rather than reacting with anger or running away.

Later, on a street corner in downtown Nanaimo, Williams experienced the second epiphany of his life. "I was sitting on a bench on a Friday night and people walking by kept asking me for the time, directions, stuff like that. And it clicked, 'I'm a people helper!' " Williams packed that idea into a briefcase ministry, counselling street people, lobbying on their behalf with police and lawyers and representing them in court. The erstwhile deaf, dumb, crippled and retarded boy spoke out on behalf of the helpless and disenfranchised. "Some of them couldn't talk for themselves; some didn't understand the legal system ....''

By 2000, Williams felt it was time to find a roof for his church. The first location was in a storefront on Commercial Street in downtown Nanaimo. The church was getting established when the building was sold to a new owner who had other uses for the property.

Williams and his new wife, Sylvia, then set up an apartment in the basement of an old church building on the corner of Victoria and Milton.

Williams says, "As a Christian I've learned the rocky roads and learned to operate by faith. We lived here the first six weeks with no running water and no heat. And we owned nothing but boxes of personal effects and some papers and files.

"It has been difficult for my wife, too. Sometimes she says we should just walk out these doors and forget Nanaimo together. At times I've felt that way, too, but we've been drawn here because of the high need of help. That's what makes us stay."

Williams says he now wants to expand his operation into a derelict house next door to the church. He's looking for volunteer carpenters to help him renovate it so it can be turned into a shelter for the homeless.

Street Life Ministry is holding a public picnic at the Bowen Park picnic shelter Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

To donate picnic supplies, contact Williams at streetlifeministry@hotmail.com.

Darrell Ohs is a Nanaimo writer.