My name is Andrew Robinson. I am twenty-one years old and I’m from Gulf Shores, Alabama. I come from a broken home; my parents divorced when I was two years old. As I grew up I did not have a father-figure in my life to show me how to be a man so I learned from music videos and what the world says is “tough”.
When I was fourteen I joined a gang called the Insane Gangsta Disciples. That soon became my identity. I wanted everyone to think I was insane and I wanted to be known. My wish came true and even the police knew who I was. They had me on a Top Ten Most Wanted List at one point and by the time I turned eighteen I started going to jail regularly. I rose to be one of the leaders of the gang and my big thing was recruiting new members.
Now I regularly speak out against this gang. I still love the people in it, but I hate the gang lifestyle. Through high school and afterwards I sold a lot of drugs like Ecstasy and Xanax and I smoked pot on a regular basis.
One night, when everything had come crashing down around me, I found myself homeless, addicted and strung out. That’s when I went to Christian Life Church (in Orange Beach, Alabama) and found Officer Billy Berrey and told him that I wanted out. Now, Officer Berrey and I were not exactly friends at the time. In fact, we were confirmed enemies, but he helped me anyway and soon he got me out to Youth-Reach Houston.
The Lord really got a hold of my heart at Youth-Reach and I burned my rag (gang colors) that I had kept on myself for over five years. At Youth-Reach I was taught how to really be a man. I learned that my identity was not in any gang or drug or girl, but that it was in Christ alone. I started seeing old friends of mine following me out here to Youth-Reach and I realized that the same gift I used to recruit gang members was the gift that the Lord was going to use to further His Kingdom. During my stay I would often get calls from Officer Berrey telling me how a friend had died or how another was going to prison and it always bothered me to know what was happening to them. I started feeling led to give my life to do something that would make a difference. I thought of the biggest influence on my life and I quickly remembered the impact of the counselors here at Youth-Reach. I wanted to have an impact on people the way they impacted me.
I was told that before I could do that I had to get more schooling and discipleship training. I attended Master’s Commission in Lafayette, Louisiana and it was a time that God used to make me more confident in who I am in Him. I wouldn’t trade my experience there for anything in the world. I learned to depend on God completely because when I went I had no idea how the $5,800 for tuition would be paid. But thank God that I came from Youth-Reach Houston where I am looked at as a son and not as just a resident. Youth-Reach paid my tuition in full, gave me a car, and helped me to get it on the road safely.
After graduating from Master’s Commission I returned to Gulf Shores for a short vacation. Unbelievably, I stayed at my old friend Officer Berrey’s home while I was there. Now I just call him Billy. I have a key to his home on my key chain right now, and to think that two years ago he would have been nervous just to know that I was in his neighborhood.
Youth-reach is different from any other program that I have ever heard of because the people there don’t just send you away when you complete the program. They are in it with you for the long haul. From Billy Berrey and BroDon Park in Alabama to the staff here in Houston, these guys have stepped up to play a role in my life that needed to be played.
I’m now a staff member here at Youth-Reach and I have the opportunity everyday to look a young man in the eyes and tell him, maybe for the first time in his life, that he is valuable and that his life matters. I don’t know what I did to deserve all of these blessings, but God sure has poured them out abundantly and I’m excited about the future!
