Kyle and Israel have very different backgrounds yet found themselves in similar circumstances in desperate need of life change.
Kyle grew up in a religious home with loving parents. Israel grew up in a home with an abusive father. Both Kyle and Israel fell in with the wrong crowd. To find acceptance in a friend group Kyle got in with the drug crowd. Israel found the father figures he longed for as a member of the local gang in a lifestyle of violence, drugs, and alcohol that rewarded him with a nine-year prison sentence.
Eventually both young men found their way to the Teen Challenge Recovery ministry, Kyle through his mother’s influence, and Israel through a loving servant of God ministering in the local jail. Jim Cosley, showed Israel a better way. He went to court with Israel to plead for the judge to let Israel go to Teen Challenge for a year program instead of prison for nine years. God did the rest and Israel found a healthy father figure in Jim, his new mentor.
Kyle and Israel both found Christ at Teen Challenge. They both found recovery and life transformation. They both graduated. Now they both work full time for TC in different capacities. Kyle is their Media Communications Coordinator and handles both graphic design and videography. Israel oversees the facility at the TC Institute in Southgate where he grew up. He used to graffiti the same walls he now protects from graffiti. He is an evangelist to the local gang members on the same street where he literally escaped bullets not too many years ago.
Kyle and Israel are now roommates. Deed and Truth turned their house into a home this past week with the help of one of our ministry teams from Pacific Crossroads Church in Santa Monica. We also provided desks and purchased a new computer and supplied printers and a large monitor so both Kyle and Israel could work from home and pursue classes in preparation for future careers. Kyle wants to continue to grow in his field while Israel is studying to fulfill his dream of becoming a drug and alcohol counselor.
Please pray for Kyle as he is working on restoring family relationships. Israel asks for prayer to stay focused on Christ so he can balance his job, his street ministry, his education, and being the loving father he never had to his three children who stay with him every other weekend.
Thanks go out to the dozens of people who provided furniture; household items, décor, financial donations, and the generous gift of their time to turn Kyle and Israel’s house into a home. Thanks to all who support this ministry.
