we went through this incredible apprenticeship , and we saw the miraculous . I think a lot of people are in church , but I think it ’ s not all of them , but for some a bit like church is a lovely club .
And I think I was guilty of that the first half of my life , but the second half having had everything taken away , I now tell anyone who ’ s prepared to listen that I was given a gift . And so I find myself now at my age , a lover of the church and trying to be the church to friends and associates just like church was to me . When the Word Records deal fell through , we were supposed to get a $ 10,000 advance . And as you remember in the movie , after hearing the news that the deal had fallen through , I couldn ’ t get out of bed . Now that ’ s true . It was only for a day though , but in the movie , it ’ s exaggerated . But Steve Green ’ s songwriter , a guy called Jon Mohr , heard about the issue , and gave us $ 10,000 . I was feeling pretty weak at the time . My self-worth was probably at an all-time low and I said , “ I ’ ve got to give you something back .” So , I gave him back half of Rebecca ’ s publishing and over the next 10 years he went on to be a missionary in Ukraine . He felt called to do that and I felt he was called over the next 10 years that made him somewhere in the vicinity of a quarter of a million to 300,000 bucks !
I just think that it was just a reminder of God ’ s economy . So one of the things that I talk to my sons about , and anyone who ’ s prepared to listen ; the record label , the booking agency , whomever … is , “ Hey , what ’ s the God ’ s economy answer to this difficult commercial question ? What ’ s the Jesus answer ?” And it all comes from those years of hardships . It was funny at the movie screening you were at our pastor Darren Tyler was there . He used to manage Cutlers ( a restaurant chain ) and he ’ s a good lad and we were talking afterwards and he said , “ You only see the miraculous when you live on the edge . I didn ’ t want to live on the edge . I wanted the comfortable life in Sydney , in the real nice house , and it was all taken away to really offer me something better .
[ WM ] Yeah , that ’ s wonderful . Well , there was one particularly powerful moment in the film ( and there are many ) is when the family goes to Eddie DeGarmo ’ s home to collectively do the yard work . Do you ever drive by that house just to recount what God has done for you in the years following ?
[ David ] We haven ’ t driven by , but I need to tell you , whenever I see Jonathan Jackson playing Eddie in the movie , it just brings me great joy and a lot of times , I ’ ll call him up afterwards and I say , “ Eddie , I just watched again .” It just makes me laugh because Jonathan plays him pretty flamboyantly , and he was . Eddie was a little flamboyant , probably one of the , as you know Alex , one of the major players in our industry ( he was an interesting cat ) because he understood business and he understood A & R . So normally , as you know , the guys that used to run Capital Christian , one was business and one was A & R . It was one plus one equals three ! Helen and I just went out with Eddie and his
wife and had dinner . It was just terrific .
We were celebrating their wedding anniversary . And man , the crazy thing is , I think it was another God thing . I think if Eddie hadn ’ t signed us , we would ’ ve gone back to Australia . We would ’ ve called up our parents . One part in the movie , which is true , is that during the second year we were here , we had seven kids and we weren ’ t doing well . Helen ’ s Mom in Australia would call every once a month in tears saying , “ It ’ s time to come home , Helen , it ’ s not working .” And the unsung hero , Helen , my beloved , she never faltered and had she faltered , a nervous breakdowns run in both sides of the family . My Mom had one around that age in early forties , Helen ’ s Dad had one and had Helen given up on me during that hard time , I think I would ’ ve had a nervous breakdown .
So the crazy thing , Alex , is that those hard times made our marriage stronger ! We were facing the challenges of life together in conjunction
24 May 2024 Subscribe for Free ...