Steve Davies: How Forgiveness Healed a "Trainwreck Life"

You've seen the Red Frogs at Schoolies, festivals and uni O-Week - the crew handing out lollies, walking people home, being the calm in the chaos. You might even know that Taylor Swift's team has called them in for support, or that Allen's donates 24 tonnes of frogs to the cause. What you don't see is the story behind one of the people who's helped build it and why he spends his life helping teens!

In this episode, Karl Faase sits down with Steve Davies, whose childhood was, in his own words, a "trainwreck life." Steve speaks with raw honesty about a home marked by violence and fear, the grief of losing the men who made him feel safe, the discovery that his biological father had taken his own life, and the years he spent trying to numb a broken heart. It's also a story of an almost unthinkable forgiveness - of a stepfather, a mother, and ultimately himself! What's remarkable is that it was a Bible courageously thrown across a room that set all of this in motion. This is a powerful conversation about pain, faith, and what it really takes to re-build a life after hurt.

Listener note: this episode discusses childhood abuse, family violence and suicide. Please take care while listening.

Steve Davies is the General Manager of Red Frogs Australia - a national charity working to safeguard a generation by providing peer-to-peer support. He has also worked in business, ministry and politics.

Key moments & highlights

Red Frogs today: 27 years on, from Schoolies and O-Week to concerts - plus the Taylor Swift call and Allen's 24-tonne lolly donation

A childhood of conflict, gambling and never feeling safe

Losing his father, then his beloved "Pop" and retreating into himself

Longing for a dad when everyone else had one

Stepfather Bob: favouritism, rage, violence, and being a "second-class son"

Praying in a cupboard and the dark turn into becoming a bully

Discovering his biological father had died by suicide