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Kyle's Testimony
My
name is Kyle and I am 29 years old. My
problems with drugs and alcohol started
when I was
about 14 years old.
 It started out
harmlessly enough--a few
beers on
the weekend and maybe smoke a little pot. I did not
know it but I was actually opening the door for an addiction
that would dominate my life for the next 14 years. The trouble
started immediately. By the time I was 17 I had been kicked out
of two different high schools and was settling for a GED. I
would later try to pursue a college education and fail seven
different times, always due to my problem with drugs. When I
was 20, my mother died from breast cancer. I quickly stopped
caring about anyone or anything. I started experimenting with
other drugs and finally tried crack. Once I tried crack, I was
hooked and this took my addiction to a new level. I was willing
to do anything and give up everything to feed this habit.
For the next eight years I battled off and on with this
disease
that was destroying my life. The addiction had taken me out of
my son's life. The rest of my family had given up on me as
well. I had spent every penny I had, lost every possession I
owned and was living out of my truck. I can remember the day
that I saw what my family saw, and I then understood why I was
not welcomed. I was standing in front of a mirror and taking a
real look at myself. I was 120
 pounds and my eyes were sunk
into my head. I had burn marks on my lips and hands from the
pipes, and I had track marks up both arms from the needles. It
was scary. What was even scarier was that over the next few
months I realized that I could not stop. As much as I wanted to
quit hurting myself and the people that loved me, I couldn't. I
went to sleep at night hating myself for what I was doing but
could not help but get started again just as soon I was awake
the next morning. At one point I can remember thinking the only
way to end it was to die. The thing that kept me
from doing this
was the fact that I had a son, and one day he would hear the
truth-that his father was a helpless addict and was found dead
in his truck with a needle in his arm.
I did not want to be remembered that way.
I eventually came to a place where I knew I needed help.
I
passed
a Teen Challenge car wash one day and I turned around and talked
to the guys there. They told me about the
program and prayed with me. The following Monday I checked in as
a student myself. There I learned discipline
and work ethics. I learned how to give love
and to receive it. Most importantly
 I was
fed the Gospel daily. Not only did I hear it
in the classrooms, but I also saw it lived out in the lives of
the staff members. I now know that my
sobriety and success in life lies only in a strong relationship
with Christ. I have surrendered all of my
life to Him and trust in Him alone.
Jesus is the Lord of my life now. I have a
joy and peace
that
does not really make sense knowing where I came from.
Relationships from my past are being restored.
Where I once went to bed at night scared of what tomorrow
held, I now look forward to the future and what it holds.
I feel called to the ministry and gladly accept that
calling. I want the chance to carry the same
message of hope to those who are still lost in the hopeless
cycle of addiction. I want to share the
victory of Christ with them--the same victory Teen Challenge
shared with me.
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