Travis Hall
I can remember a time in my life when the word HOPE was not in my vocabulary. 18 years of drug addiction had completely devastated my life and the last thing I could imagine was hope. It was at that moment that God stepped in and the promise of Jeremiah 29:11 became a reality as He led me to the doorstep of Youth Challenge. At a time when I had burnt every bridge in my life through years of lying, cheating, and stealing to support my addiction and had nowhere else to turn, Troy Collier and Youth Challenge took me in.
I grew up in a good home with a loving family. We attended church regularly and I had actually accepted Jesus in my heart at a young age. I remember as a child saying that I was going to be a Pastor when I grew up, and at age 12 sensing a call of God on my life but not really understanding what it meant. As I grew older and reached High School being popular and accepted by my friends became more important to me than any call on my life. I started going to parties, drinking, and smoking marijuana. I never had a clue where those choices were going to lead me. All I was interested in was having a good time. I never intended to become nor could I ever imagine myself as a drug addict. I was just having fun and could quit anytime I wanted to.
As the years progressed, so did my drug use. I was now not only smoking marijuana, but selling it. I had also progressed to using cocaine and LSD. My addiction started to get out of control early and my parents had me admitted to a drug rehab at age 16. I’ll never forget the look on my Dad’s face, as he looked at me weeping and saying, “Son, please don’t hate me for leaving you here. I am doing this because I love you and you need some help.” The sad part is it didn’t help. I committed my first robbery at age 18, and became a common thief to support my habit. I never got caught and managed to join the Army in an attempt to change my life. For the next 17 years, I lied and manipulated my way through life. After the Army, I was able to get a job on a local Fire Department. However, my addiction continued to escalate through the years when ultimately crack-cocaine completely destroyed my life. My career as a Firefighter was over. Years of trying to get it right and failing and years of promising to change only to continue using, left me empty and alone.
In 2000, I entered Youth Challenge and my life changed. I now have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Instead of knowing about Him, I know Him. Since graduating from the Youth Challenge program, I had experienced the true meaning of hope. My family that had lost all confidence in me, now completely trusts me. I have a beautiful wife, beautiful children, and am for the first time in my life truly happy. After leaving Youth Challenge, I went to work for a Fortune 300 company in an entry level position and within 2 ½ years became District Manager with 13 retail stores and 250 employees under me. After 7 years with that company, I felt a call of the Lord on my life to come back to Youth Challenge and am now the Program Director of the very program God used to change my life.
