My name is Justin Robertson. I am 29 years old and was raised in Nipomo, California in a Christian household. As a child, I grew up playing sports. Sports were everything to me and they were a way for me to express myself. My dream, like most kids, was to play professional baseball. After my senior year in high school, it seemed like my dream was going to come true. The San Francisco Giants drafted me. I was so excited for my career to start. However, shortly after that, I injured my arm badly and, for the first time in my life, I didn’t have baseball. I felt like I didn’t have anything else to offer, no way to express myself anymore. I had a huge hole in my heart and I turned to drugs to fill it. After that, the next nine years of my life were full of pain, heartache, loss, destruction, disappointment, and failure. My addiction took me into a place of complete darkness. I was so lost and broken and felt so alone.

Six months ago, I was arrested and was looking at several years in prison. I thought my life was over. I felt so alone in that moment. At that time in my life, I didn’t ask God to get me out of the situation that I was in. Instead, I asked Him to give me strength to endure whatever consequence I was to face and left it in His hands. I now see that God was watching over me the whole time. He pulled me out of the darkness and into His light. He brought me to the mission and made me a new creation through His son Jesus Christ. From the first day I was here, I have experienced love in a way that I have never experienced it before. God’s love has nourished me back to life, and He has filled my heart with love, hope, joy, and peace. The mission has changed my life and is showing me how to become a mighty man of God. I give God all the glory.