Founder Bio

Thank you for visiting our site here at Hope’s Harbor. My name is David Bradley, though I prefer to go by Sam (a nickname I’ve grown fond of). I recently founded Hope’s Harbor in obedience to God’s leading to do so. It is with amazement that God would use someone like me that I want to give some background on how this ministry came to be.

I was born in the southern part of the United States, Atlanta Georgia, a while ago, quite a long time ago actually. Memories of growing up in a family that split apart when I was 7 or 8 are painful to recall. My mother remarried a man who was bitter, vengeful and at times very violent. Until I left home at 18, fear was my constant companion.

I married at 19, had 3 children, and over the next 10 years sowed the seeds for the destruction of my marriage which would bear the bitter fruit of divorce just after the 30 th anniversary.

The initial marital separation and eventual divorce left me reeling. Years before I had become a Christian but never lived the life of a godly man as required by the Word of God in the Bible and therefore, when my life fell apart, I had nowhere to turn (so I thought).

Through the crucible of brokenness a choice became apparent as I questioned why God had allowed this awful thing to happen to me. The choice became either: turn further away from God… or turn toward God, try to draw near, and learn from the pain.

I chose God because I had nothing else left. Not very noble, is it? But in the process of searching for answers and trying to find relief from the pain, I discovered that God exist outside the boundaries of formal Christian religion (as well as within it).

During the next several years while living alone, I explored the depths of God as He is revealed in His word and discovered how deep (fathomless) His love is for us and… how this love is expressed in and through and by Jesus. There is not enough space here to tell of just how much tenderness and mercy are contained in the Heart of Jesus.

Jesus surpassed all my expectations and gave me more in the way of healing and restoration than I ever hoped for. And yes, the pain eventually passed.

Since my restoration, God has blessed me with a desire to serve others who are on the path of brokenness and pain by offering this ministry of hope and encouragement as means of surviving the deep wounds left by suffering, whatever the cause.

There is promised healing for you who have been struck down, a sword thrust through your soul. Join with me and others here at Hope’s Harbor who have walked the broken road, and as we travel this path together, we’ll share the burdens and, prayerfully, pass on lessons learned in the crucible.

D. Franklin Bradley – Founder – Hope’s Harbor Ministry