Testimony - William Nuttall

God gives us a free will. Sometimes we get to the lowest point in our life before we surrender to His will. Such was the case with William Nuttall, better known as Will.

Born in Wilmington, Will attended Catholic elementary school where he was a good student, well-liked by the teachers. In the ninth grade Will transferred to public school where there was a great deal of racial tension. To fit in with his peers, Will began cutting classes, drinking and smoking pot. He only felt comfortable around people when he was drinking. Due to the party lifestyle he was leading, Will did not graduate from high school.

At home there was a lot of tension in the family. Both parents died in 1994 within a year of each other due to alcoholism and liver failure. After their deaths, there was a rift between Will and his younger brother over Will’s drinking. Although he had witnessed the decline of both parents, Will didn’t think he had a problem with alcohol.

By age 30, Will began to feel the effects of his years of drinking. His employer knew he was drinking because he was having tremors. The alcohol was not having the desired affect on Will so he drank more to get satisfied. Then he began to have grand mal seizures from withdrawal if he didn’t drink enough. Will then realized that he had a problem, but he was still in denial and thought he could manage his life by his rules. As Will states," My life disintegrated at this time.”

At age 32, Will was homeless even though he was making $3,700 a month. He was evicted from his trailer and began life on the streets. He bounced around for the next 8 years going in and out of six rehab facilities. At times, he slept under bridges.

Will states, “I always believed in God, but I thought He was so far above and I was so insignificant. I didn’t think God was interested in individual human lives and that He wouldn’t get involved in my life.
“I couldn’t make it in AA programs because I couldn’t turn my life over to the care of God. My life was pretty miserable. The rehabs were basically a place to live, but it did give me a break from alcohol.”

Will also knew he would drink again when he left rehab. He did pray, but couldn’t understand why things went so wrong in his life. Often he would ask, “Why me?”

Will eventually wound up in Rehoboth Beach, with little money and nowhere to go. He wandered up and down Route 1 for seven days not knowing what to do. He wore a pair of boots that were too small for him. Soon his feet were blistered and bloody and walking was extremely painful. He slept in the cemetery at night on the ground. Will truly felt hopeless at this point. On July 4th he went to a church where they attempted to find him a room, but, as Will points out, “There was no room at the inn.”

It was at this juncture in his life that Will surrendered to God and prayed. He walked into the police station and told them he had no place to go. The police called the Seaford Mission and then escorted him to Georgetown where the Seaford Police then transported him to the Mission. Will could barely walk into the Mission when he finally got there.

Will now says, “My thinking since that time has changed so dramatically. Six months ago, when I came to the Mission, we would begin each class with reading from Proverbs. I had read them many times before, especially at the Salvation Army rehab program, but it never had any meaning for me until I came to the Mission.

“Now I have a powerful faith in God. I know it had to be God who delivered me from the lowest time in my life. I had seriously thought about walking into the ocean to end my life. I was in darkness because I couldn’t see the snares in my life. It’s so obvious now, but back then I couldn’t understand what I was doing wrong.”

Will now gives of himself to others and he has more patience and tolerance.

“It’s so different from the way I was before,” he says, “I don’t react to situations the same way. I’ve grown in the six months at the Mission. God’s word has had an impact on me and it has taken on new meaning for me. Pastor Whaley helped me to literally believe the Bible which I hadn’t done before.”

“This is the day that the Lord hath made, I will rejoice and be glad in it”