Bob’s Story

Hello my name is Bob Emery, I am a committed Christian. I live locally in Watford and go to Watford Community Church, where I have been an active member for 8 years.

I was born 56 years ago with a very rare congenital disorder called Moebius syndrome which to date has no cure; this affects the 12 cranial nerves of the brain.

The main features of Moebius are determined by the absence of the 6^th and 7^th cranial nerves which control facial expression. You can imagine for a child growing up who could not move or blink their eyes, or to have any expression in their face was literally a nightmare.

Growing up in the 50s was not easy, especially as a young child trying to fit into school life, and making friends, so not only did I find learning hard I also found making friends quite difficult, but one thing I did have was the resilience to keep trying and never give up!! Over my teenage years and onto adulthood, I had a deep passion for cooking; I inherited it from my Grandmother!! I went to work in a London West End Hotel as an apprentice chef, which after 4 years I received my apprenticeship qualifications in Hotel and Restaurant business.

My love for cooking came first in my life apart from good old fashion Rock music, I have travelled around mainland Britain and through parts of Europe working in Hotel and Restaurants gaining experience and knowledge and most of all status. This way of life has followed me most of my working life up till the late 80s and by then I was working long hours and using drink and drugs to satisfy my need, it got to a point when my marriage was breaking down and I was using the long hours to escape my miseries. A young man came to work in my kitchen as a porter I found him to be hard working and a caring sort of chap, this I found annoying as he always had a smile on his face.

One day he turned to me and said, do you know that God loves you, I had to ask him again as I thought I heard him wrong, he said it again to me, I thought he was winding me up and I walked off, over the next few days this stuck in my mind, and I asked him why did he say that to me? And over the next day and beyond he started to share God's love to me, in February 1987 I committed my life to Jesus and accepted Him as my Lord and Saviour. Since then life at times is a struggle and I still get things wrong and make mistakes, but I know I have a Father in Heaven who loves and forgives my sin. He has shown me through the years how to except myself, and be confident in who I am, though my condition will never get better or go away, but He has allowed me to not only be trained and equipped at a university over in Hawaii with YWAM, but He has allowed me to travel across Europe, Americas and Asia reaching out to many people and indigenous people groups and also to serve Him here in the UK working with the homeless in London and Watford and supporting children with special needs.

He has given me strength and a desire to reach out to others in similar circumstances and to bring hope into their lives. Looking back to those dark and uncertain days, God had a wonderful plan for me, but at the time I did not know that, and even when that young man came to work for me, God new that I was going to call out to Him, little did I know that His plan was not only going to prosper me, but to give me a wonderful hope and a guaranteed future, and the amazing thing is over these last 21 years His hope will never disappoint me.

Bob