The following story mentions suicide and suicidal feelings, which can be unsettling to read about. If you or someone you know is struggling, please consider reaching out to an appropriate individual or organisation for help.
Alessio, 23, was working out in the gym when he overheard something that made his heart race with anxiety. “Some guys were talking about someone they knew who had just taken their own life,” he recalls. “I immediately remembered the pain on Jack’s face when I last saw him.”
Alessio and Jack had been friends in high school. Though Jack seemed quiet and rather solitary, he opened up to Alessio and they would have deep conversations. Their paths diverged after graduation, Jack starting a job in IT and Alessio studying computer science at university. They lost touch but Alessio often thought about Jack.
A couple of years later they bumped into each other in town. Although they greeted each other warmly, Alessio was worried by the encounter. “I could tell that Jack was suffering,” he says.
A short time later, overhearing the discussion in the gym about suicide, Alessio reached for his phone.
So relieved
“My heart was pounding when I called Jack and I was so relieved when he answered. I asked him, ‘How are you? Do you want to hang out?’ He said yes, so we started spending time together.”
Alessio had just begun learning about Alpha through his priest, who wanted to introduce it to the parish. He liked its informal and welcoming culture, and how it brought people together. He thought of Jack, who was really struggling, and invited him to attend his church’s very first Alpha with him. Jack agreed.
“It was quite difficult at first because he was really critical,” recalls Alessio. “He’d get annoyed and say things like, ‘Why am I doing this? I know about life, and it’s bad.’ But things slowly started to change as he realised he was being listened to and that these were important conversations.”
Turning point
The turning point came during the Alpha weekend.
“Just months earlier he had no friends and now people were praying for him and with him. He experienced love and the Holy Spirit. He started seeing this love in the people who were helping him with his problems. I saw his faith growing and growing. He became a believer.”
We started to hang out and do Alpha together and that changed everything.
A year later, the two friends were at an Alpha summer camp with hundreds of other young people when Jack shared something with Alessio that shook him to his core.
“He asked me, ‘Do you remember when you called me that day? I was deciding when to kill myself but then my phone rang and it was you.’ I felt shocked, I had goosebumps,” Alessio shares.
“He told me that he had no friends, no purpose but then I called him and we started to hang out and do Alpha together and that changed everything. He still finds life difficult but he’s not wrestling with it alone. He has friends and faith and things to do, including helping out with our church’s Alpha Youth.”
Alessio was deeply affected by this experience, too. “When I’ve found myself suddenly thinking about someone, I now always send a text or call them to find out how life is going for them.”
He also now serves as an Alpha leader at his church – something that he gets a lot out of.
I’ve seen the transformation
Alpha is like a second evangelisation and I’m so
glad to be part of it.
“I’ve learned that it’s not about teaching people doctrine but listening and asking questions, keeping the conversation going. I’ve seen the transformation this can bring in people’s lives.”
And Alpha is also transforming his church.
“Sometimes parishes feel they should be doing a lot of different activities but my priest has simplified things and we just do Alpha. It’s about hospitality and conversation, and helping people experience God. Our parish is changing and a lot of people are finding their purpose and calling. Alpha is like a second evangelisation and I’m so glad to be part of it.”
