Testimonies

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My Testimony
Hi, my name is Robert Hylton, I’m 32 years of age and I live in Richmond, Virginia. I am
an only child and I grew up in a small town in Eastern Virginia. My family by no means was wealthy, but I don’t remember wanting for anything as a child. I attended church regularly and was around religion as a youngster, but never introduced to a Jesus of relationship. Being Christ centered was not the life-style of my family. I think for the most part because they weren’t taught this in the pulpit.
At the age of about six, my life was plunged into darkness through reoccurring sexual abuse. I was afraid and lost. I felt like it was my fault since I hadn’t told anyone. The devil immediately came to confirm my self-hatred and thoughts that God would not accept me because of these events in my life. Alone and in pain I acted out in violence, lying, anger, and other behavioral problems. I remember crying a lot as a young boy.
Looking back, I now see other things that were going on around me; for instance, a lot of prescription drug abuse in my family - pills always sitting around the house. Sickness plagued my family. My emotional health, along with my spirit continued to plummet. I started trying to hurt myself at about age 11. I was used to hearing how you were supposed to keep family problems quiet and I didn’t want to stir-up anything. I felt like a time bomb waiting to explode. That’s when I found my answer to all of it and it came in liquid form. I took my first drink when I was 12 and it took the pain all away. After that day I spent my time searching for things to kill the pain, it was my passion from the beginning. Trouble and treatment centers followed me for the next 20 years. The voice that I now know to be the still voice of the father was silenced long ago and was replaced by the passions of my flesh. I was driven on a daily quest to fill the gash in my heart and the hollow hole in my soul. Pain and depression were the norm in my life. I went to ten treatment centers, numerous detox centers, and I’ve been incarcerated 13 times in the past 4 years – staying in jail any where from a day to 6 months. I have had more than 80 jobs. Psychology, AA and other religions, without the power, (Jesus) were presented as band-aids. Nothing held my attention long, only the voice inside, (the devil) which said, “You’ll never change, just face it, it’s too late for you, you’ll never be anything.”
In March 2002, my wife of 4 years had finally had enough. All the tears she had shed, the abuse she had taken, and the thought of having to live the rest of her life in misery, drove her to make a crucial decision. I’d like to say, during this time my wife was a prayer warrior and she stood by me when everyone else ran for cover. She kicked me out for the last time in March 2002. Broken and tired she could do no more. I spent the next month shooting heroin in my veins and hoping to die. Unemployable and close to death, I awoke one day, packed my clothes in the only thing I had left - my car, and headed to a hospital. I told the caseworker that I was going to kill myself so she called the police. They put me in handcuffs and shackles and hauled me away to another hospital. Straight through the front doors I went. The main waiting room where I sat was packed. Everyone staring at the skinny, scroungy guy in handcuffs and shackles. I remember seeing the faces of those people staring at me and that’s when it happened. My head dropped like a rock into my lap and I wept with a sorrow that I’d never felt before. It seemed like time stood still. I had called out for God’s help many times before, only wanting to change the mess I was in or get out of trouble. I knew it was too late for me. At that moment, with no promises made or negotiating to God the terms of my life, He just came. I felt Jesus come down and put me in His arms like a little child and He spoke, “It’s over; you’ll never be the same again. It’s finished.” That whole day is a blur, but some how so very clear, for it was that day that changed the whole course of my life. All this time I ran, trying to fill my life with things. Never being satisfied. A chain of miracles has taken place since that day. Ono the first miracles brought me to a place of refuge. TEEN CHALLENGE . After all the treatment centers and jails, Teen Challenge wanted to give me a chance. I wish you could feel the warmth in my heart toward the people that presented Christ’s love to someone like me and others just like me. I found comfort, correction and most importantly, people who truly cared about my eternal well being. I found a passion for Christ’s knowledge burning inside me. It was fed, nurtured and directed by the staff and Directors at Teen Challenge. My wife attended Marriage and Family once a month, it was the catalyst that brought us into a deeper understanding of our roles as husband and wife, plus started the healing process.
Today, I’m back in my home with my wife. We own a cleaning business and it is doing very well. I work at the YMCA part-time as a trainer, do landscaping on the side, (got my experience from T.C) and I am enrolled at Liberty University. I stand on these words, “It will never be the same” when you ask Jesus in your heart.

LOOK WHAT THE LORD HAS DONE

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