MR & MRS MCLEOD

Derek McLeod

As a teenager, however, Derek began running in the opposite direction. He became involved with drugs and alcohol and rebelled against the faith he had grown up with. On August 4, 1990, he had an encounter with Christ that changed the direction of his life. He returned to church, became involved in worship and ministry, but his journey was far from finished. For years he found himself moving back and forth between following God and returning to old ways.

Over time, Derek began to understand that some of his deepest struggles were rooted in wounds of rejection and abandonment that he had carried since childhood. God began exposing things Derek had learned to hide, including religious pride and his struggle with pornography, and teaching him instead to live honestly before Christ and allow Him into the places Derek had spent years trying to overcome in his own strength.

Derek doesn’t tell his story as someone who has always gotten it right. His testimony is about the faithfulness of a God who continued pursuing him through rebellion, failure, brokenness and restoration—and who is still teaching him what it means to surrender his life completely to Christ.

Sonia McLeod

But the years that followed were incredibly difficult. Growing up around alcohol, violence and deep personal wounds, Sonia eventually ran from home and found herself caught in drugs, alcohol and a dangerous life on the streets of Toronto. Her life spiraled to the point where hope seemed almost gone.

Yet God continued drawing her back to Himself. Sonia began seeking Him through prayer and Scripture, memorizing His Word and learning to obey Him one step at a time. The change did not happen all at once, but as she surrendered different areas of her life to Christ, the woman she had been began to change. In Sonia’s own words, she “fell completely in love with Jesus.”

That journey eventually became Rise Up My Beloved, Sonia’s autobiography. She later founded 100 Days Walking By Faith and wrote the accompanying journal, a journey that has been joined by hundreds of women.

Sonia carries a particular heart for people who feel broken, rejected or without hope. Her own life has convinced her that circumstances do not have the final word. She believes that intimacy with Jesus Christ can bring healing and restoration even when everything else appears to be falling apart.

Derek & Sonia McLeod

Their marriage would test that belief.

Things Derek had carried for years did not simply disappear when they married. His struggles with rejection, religion, pornography and pride came into their marriage with him. Sonia found herself fighting for a marriage that at times seemed to be coming apart. Their journey forced both of them into places of prayer, repentance, forgiveness, vulnerability and surrender that neither had anticipated.

It was out of that battle that Teach Me to War was born—their account of a marriage being confronted by what had been hidden and of God’s work of redemption and restoration in their lives.

Today, Derek and Sonia don’t share their story because they believe they have marriage, family or following Jesus completely figured out. They share it because they have experienced what God can do when people bring their brokenness into the light and surrender it to Him.

They have ministered together in churches, First Nations communities, through radio, teaching, writing and wherever God has opened a door. At the centre of it all is the same conviction that has increasingly shaped their marriage and their lives:

Jesus Christ is enough.

And after everything they’ve walked through, they’re still learning, still growing, and still putting one foot in front of the other.