Meg Loney, once the drummer of the folk-rock group Wildwood Kin, has taken an unexpected turn in her journey, finding her calling in a place she hadn’t anticipated.
In 2022, Meg began working with YMCA Exeter, a Christian organization dedicated to aiding young individuals facing homelessness.
Her mission now involves supporting at-risk youth, a path shaped by her own complex spiritual experiences and personal struggles.
Raised in a churchgoing family, Meg’s attendance faded at 13 amid her parents’ marital issues.
Seeking refuge in drugs and truancy, she hit rock bottom by 17 after a toxic relationship, feeling isolated and unable to trust.
“Everyone was just using each other to get money for drugs. I felt like I had hit rock bottom,” she said.
An unexpected encounter with Pete Greig’s Red Moon Rising marked a turning point.
“I’ve always loved to read. I’ll read anything,” laughs Meg. “There was a book lying in our house that my Dad was reading. I think I’d run out of anything else to read, so I picked it up and started reading it.
“It was amazing. I started reading about people who were following Jesus, living selfless lives, focused on prayer and experiencing miracles. It was honest. Gritty. God was changing lives. It made me start to believe again that maybe the world can change through God.”
Inspired, Meg revisited her youth Bible, finding relevance and peace in its pages.
“As I began to read, I found there was life in the Bible and it was relevant,” says Meg. “I began to feel a sense of peace that I just didn’t understand.”
Her spiritual awakening deepened at a 24/7 prayer meeting with her father.
“I remember getting to the 24/7 prayer room and walking in,” says Meg. “People were lying on the floor. Some people were crying. Others were playing tambourines. It looked like the house parties I was used to, but no one was on drugs, instead, there was this overwhelming sense of love and peace.”
During the meeting, elderly women prayed for her, sharing prophetic words.
“They had never met me before and there was no way they could have known anything about me,” says Meg.
“But they started prophesying that I would make music that would go out to the nations. Something in my spirit resonated with their words.
“I began to think that if God is speaking to them about my life, he must care about me. That was the start of my return to Jesus.”
As her faith grew, she distanced herself from her past life, gradually embracing a new path.
Forming Wildwood Kin with her cousins, what began as a hobby turned into a professional career with international tours.
However, tragedy struck in 2016 when her brother’s suicide cast a shadow over her life.
“It was incredibly intense and hard,” explains Meg. “I think the music industry is quite unforgiving to grief. I carried on for another four years in the band but began to feel more and more unsettled.”
The 2020 lockdown provided an unplanned hiatus, allowing Meg to grieve and pursue a theology degree.
In 2021, she returned to Exeter, working at St Basil’s Church, where she discovered a passion for aiding vulnerable youth.
“I thought God was going to put me somewhere else. Ever since I was 18 I’d been saying to God that he could call me anywhere but Exeter!”
Her time at St Basil’s Church deepened her commitment to young people.
“I just felt so sad that there are young people in this world who haven’t been told they’re loved and cared for,” says Meg.
“I would constantly pray that God would bring people to serve these young people. Two months before the job came up at YMCA Exeter I found myself crying every night for young people in Exeter.”
At YMCA Exeter, Meg’s role as a support worker aligns her ministry with her passion for youth engagement.
She sees divine purpose in her journey, despite it not being her original plan.
“When I got the job, I knew it was God’s doing. Pastorally, this role is very similar to a youth worker. But I felt God clearly tell me this would be a stretching time and it definitely is,” she says.
“I love how the support here is so people-focused and led by the residents. It’s all about adapting to the needs of residents, listening to them and understanding what interests them.
“When I hear what residents have been through it amazes me to see their resilience and hear them bravely share their stories. You see incredible breakthroughs in young people’s lives as they begin to open up and trust again.”
Meg’s story is one of redemption and hope, and she aspires for the youth she mentors to experience similar transformations.
“My testimony was finding safety in the Holy Spirit and my hope and prayer is that residents get to experience that too.”
This article was originally written by www.christiantoday.com
