Participants:
Series Code: UBR
Program Code: UBR000244A
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00:01 Stay tuned to meet a man who shouldn't be alive
00:04 to tell his story. 00:05 My name is Jason Bradley 00:06 and you're watching Urban Report. 00:32 Hello, and welcome to Urban Report. 00:34 Today my guest is Kyle Brodhead 00:37 and he has a very powerful testimony to share with us. 00:41 Welcome to Urban Report, Kyle. Hi. 00:43 It's good to have you here. Thank you. 00:44 So I wanna go into... 00:47 I like to start with your background. 00:49 You know, I read an article on you 00:51 and your testimony is extremely powerful. 00:55 But I want our viewers to know where, you know, 00:57 where you grew up and how you were raised, 01:00 those type of things. 01:02 So where did you grow up? I grew up in New York. 01:05 Kingston, New York, is my hometown. 01:08 And, you know, that's where my family 01:13 and pretty much almost everybody I know lives. 01:18 Okay, okay. 01:19 So you grew up in Kingston, New York. 01:20 Where you raised in the church? 01:23 I wasn't born into the church but, you know, 01:27 pretty much since I was around eight years old, 01:30 I was in a church. 01:32 Okay, now so before you were eight though, 01:36 there was, there was a situation 01:39 where you were removed from your home, correct? 01:41 Yes. 01:42 Tell us a little bit about that? 01:44 There was a traumatic experience 01:46 that had happened and as a result, 01:50 me and my two younger brothers, 01:54 we were actually taken from our home 01:56 and placed into foster care situation. 02:02 So that's pretty much what happened on that part. 02:06 Okay. 02:07 And how did that make you feel? 02:09 Like, how did you feel about that whole situation? 02:13 That situation left me with a lot of questions. 02:17 Basically, I wondered why I was in this. 02:21 You know, we, me and my brothers, 02:24 why were we not living with our family, you know, 02:27 like a lot of the other kids were. 02:30 They had their families, you know, 02:32 and I will look around and I would see 02:36 other kids with their father and mother 02:39 and I would think, "Well, 02:40 why don't I live with my parents?" 02:42 Yeah. 02:44 So did you feel a sense of abandonment 02:46 or, I mean, what... 02:49 Would you say that that's what it felt like? 02:52 Yeah, there was a sense of abandonment. 02:55 There we're a lot of conflicting emotions. 02:58 You know, there was some anger, there was a lot of sadness and. 03:03 You know, there was also confusion 03:06 mixed in there too, you know. 03:08 Yeah. Yeah. 03:10 And did you see, you know, as a result of that, 03:13 did you see any of those feelings 03:18 having an effect on your life or your behavior, 03:21 like did you act out as a result of those feelings? 03:25 Oh, yes. 03:27 In school there were a lot of situations 03:30 where I would act out and, 03:33 you know, just try to get attention. 03:35 Actually, I was pretty much the class clown in school. 03:39 Okay. Yeah. 03:41 And I would do some things that interrupt class 03:43 just so I could get a laugh 03:45 from the other students and stuff. 03:46 And, you know, 03:48 the teacher wouldn't put up with it, 03:49 so she would kick me out and then I would still be out, 03:54 look through the little window and the door 03:57 and I would still try to get the kids 03:59 to like look out and see me, 04:01 make faces in the window, 04:03 and eventually she would just get fed up 04:05 and send me to the principal's office. 04:08 Okay, okay. 04:09 And I wanna go into 04:12 a little bit about your foster family, 04:15 because there were some things that, that they did that was, 04:20 I would say, instrumental in your life. 04:23 So, how were you brought into the church? 04:26 Because you weren't raised, you know, 04:28 you weren't born into the church so to speak, 04:30 but how were you brought into the church? 04:33 Well, how I was brought into the church is interesting. 04:37 I remember the first day of me 04:39 walking into the Seventh-day Adventist Church. 04:44 My earliest memory is walking in and, you know, 04:47 I was just thinking like, 04:49 "Wow, what is, what's going on here?" 04:51 You know, I, I thought everyone goes to the church on Sunday, 04:56 you know, it's Saturday and I'm going to church. 04:59 So the lady who, we were living with, 05:03 who I call my gran, she brought us to church 05:08 and I just remember that it was different. 05:11 It was different from, you know, what I was used to, 05:14 because like I said, from that, up until that point, 05:18 I thought everyone goes to church on Sunday. 05:22 So she brought us in and even at home 05:27 she would teach us a lot about like Bible stories 05:30 and stuff, you know. 05:32 My biological parents 05:34 didn't really teach us about the Bible. 05:37 So I would say this was initially 05:40 where I started hearing about, 05:42 like the "stories" and stuff, 05:44 like Adam and Eve and Noah's Ark 05:46 and all of that stuff. 05:48 Wow! 05:49 See that's a huge blessing that, you know, 05:51 even though that you were removed 05:53 from your biological family, 05:57 you ended up with a foster family 05:59 that brought you into the church 06:01 and instill principles in you. 06:06 And so how did you take to that, 06:09 like with them teaching you about the Bible 06:12 and, you know, telling you about Bible stories? 06:15 Well, I liked it, I really loved it, 06:18 because when I heard these stories, 06:21 you know, they were interesting. 06:23 They were really... 06:24 I used to hear the stories about Moses 06:27 and, you know, and Elijah 06:29 and I would think like, wow, like, 06:31 what if something like this happened with me, you know. 06:34 What if like, God was able to use me in this way? 06:38 You know, even at a young age I wanted to like 06:41 be a part of like God's work and stuff, you know. 06:45 And there was a Bible worker that would come to our home 06:50 every Friday night 06:52 and she would teach us like about, 06:55 you know, a deeper study. 06:57 Now I look back at it, 06:59 I was gaining like a deeper knowledge, 07:01 and she would always make sure 07:03 we were memorizing our Bible verses 07:06 and, you know, certain passages like 07:08 the Ten Commandments we would study. 07:11 And, you know, 07:12 I started to learn more and more. 07:14 And as I grew and learned more, the more exciting that became 07:19 and more personal it became to me. 07:24 So you spent more time in the word pretty much? 07:28 Yes. Okay, wonderful. 07:30 And what other issues did you face 07:34 or struggles did you face as a young man growing up? 07:37 Some other struggles that I faced was, 07:40 I was kind of living a double life. 07:44 And what I mean by that is that, 07:47 when I would go to school I wouldn't really act like 07:52 how I was acting at church. 07:54 You know, at church I was pretty much like, 07:56 everyone knew me as a good kid 07:59 and when I would walk into the church 08:02 and down the aisle, people would always say, 08:04 "Oh, here comes Kyle." 08:05 "He's gonna be a preacher man," and all the stuff. 08:08 And back then I didn't want to be a preacher. 08:12 I would tell them, "No, don't say that about me. 08:14 I don't wanna be a preacher or anything." 08:17 And when I would go to school, 08:19 you know, I was the class clown and I was, you know, 08:21 getting into a little bit of trouble and stuff 08:25 and, you know, they would call home to my parents, 08:28 you know, my gran who was taking care of me. 08:31 And, you know, so I had like, to deal with that issue of... 08:37 Pretty much I didn't really want my friends to know 08:40 that I was going to church really, 08:43 I was into this God stuff. 08:45 So you're basically afraid 08:46 of what they might think about you. 08:49 You didn't feel that it was "cool" so to speak. 08:52 Yes. Definitely. 08:54 So you were living a double life 08:58 and what did that consist of? 09:02 Well, as I got older, 09:05 my double life changed 09:06 because I would, I would go to school 09:12 and I started to hang out with different people. 09:16 You know, at first I would just hang out with the people 09:18 who were in the sports and as I got older, 09:23 I started hanging out with people who... 09:25 They were considered like the druggie crowd. 09:29 Older around, what age? 09:32 This was in high school, so probably about 15, 16. 09:37 And when I started to hangout with this different crowd 09:42 and I started to, you know, do different things, like, 09:45 we would go off campus. 09:48 And there are certain periods and we would engage in like 09:54 smoking and sometimes drinking, 09:58 but then we would come back in the school 10:01 in the middle of the day and, you know, 10:03 we would just pretty much act like nothing happened, 10:06 and, you know, but sometimes the teacher, 10:10 he could see through it and he would call us out on it 10:12 and he was just, you know, 10:14 we would get in trouble and, you know, 10:18 as a result my parents found out about this stuff 10:21 because they would call home, you know, 10:24 and pretty much let them know what I was doing. 10:27 And what did your parents do when they found out? 10:30 My parents wasn't having it at all, 10:32 they were not, 10:34 they were not proud of what I was doing, 10:37 they didn't want me to continue doing it 10:40 and you know, they had a lot of talks. 10:43 We had talks about... 10:49 whether or not I was gonna be 10:51 able to continue doing sports, you know, 10:55 because that was a privilege. 10:57 And a lot of times I would tell them, 11:00 "Hey, you know, this is gonna stop," 11:02 but in reality I didn't stop any of those things. 11:06 I just tried to hide it more. 11:10 And so what things ended up being implemented 11:15 to move you more towards stuff and besides just the sports. 11:20 Did they take, 11:22 did they take some of your other privileges away 11:24 or, or what happened? 11:26 Yeah. 11:27 They took a lot of stuff away, you know. 11:29 This was around the time where video games like 11:33 the newer ones like Xbox and Playstation 11:35 started coming out. 11:37 So they would take my Xbox, 11:39 they would take TV privileges away, 11:42 you know, I couldn't watch TV. 11:44 I had a little Game Boy 2 that I would try to hide 11:48 under my pillow 11:50 and they found that and, you know, 11:52 I used to get grounded a lot. 11:55 So, you know, those things started to be taken away 12:00 as well as like, I couldn't go over to friends' houses 12:03 and stuff and all of that. 12:05 Which was probably for the best at that time 12:07 considering the type of friends that you're hanging out with, 12:11 you know, during that time. 12:14 So, you know, that article as I was going through it, 12:18 I saw some similarities in my own personal life. 12:22 Oh, yeah? Yeah. 12:26 But I wanna, I wanna go to the part 12:28 where you were entering into 12:31 such a dangerous lifestyle. 12:35 And elaborate... 12:37 Tell us, tell us about that. Okay. 12:40 So, as I told you already, 12:44 I started to get into a lot of trouble 12:46 in school and at home. 12:49 Eventually, there came a point where 12:54 there was a decision for me to make. 12:57 My home, my parents, they really... 13:01 This is after I got adopted. 13:02 So I was living with new parents. 13:06 They wouldn't put up with what I was doing. 13:10 So there was a lot of confrontations with me of... 13:15 "If you're gonna continue to do this in our house, 13:18 then we're not gonna put up with it. 13:20 You should probably think about, you know, 13:23 leaving or move into a different situation." 13:27 And then in school, you know, even though I would pass 13:32 and get decent grades 13:35 and, you know, kind of just get by, 13:37 stuff really wasn't working there either 13:40 because I wasn't really planning for the future. 13:44 So I started to get a little more rebellious. 13:48 Okay. 13:49 You know, as a result of the friends 13:51 I was hanging out with and, you know, 13:53 the activities I was engaging in. 13:56 So I remember I used to go to parties at night. 14:00 I used to sneak out of the house 14:02 and I would go to parties 14:04 and I would come back early in the morning 14:06 and sneak into the house. 14:08 So one day, I went out to the party 14:11 and this particular night I had fun 14:15 and, you know, I went back home 14:17 and I planned on just sneaking in 14:18 how I normally do. 14:20 This time when I went in and I opened the door, 14:23 all the lights just popped on 14:26 as soon as I stepped foot into the house. 14:29 Oh, they were waiting for you? Yeah. 14:32 So I'm just shocked and I'm surprised 14:35 but, you know, it was my parents 14:37 and they're just sitting there and they were thinking, 14:40 you know, just, they were sad, you know. 14:45 The expression on their face just... 14:48 I just knew like, I was... 14:50 First of all I was caught and second of all, 14:54 I knew I was in trouble. 14:55 Yeah. 14:56 And, you know, my father, 14:58 he just, he told me to just flat out, 15:01 the next time that you decide to do this, 15:04 then don't come back. 15:06 Wow. So... 15:08 So what did you do? 15:10 What I did is, you know, I didn't... 15:13 Really, I was rebellious, so for some reason 15:17 I was actually waiting to hear those words from him. 15:20 You know, I wanted to leave my home, 15:23 I didn't want to be there 15:24 because there was too much rules, you know. 15:26 You wanted to do what you wanted to do, 15:28 when you wanted to do it. 15:30 Yes. 15:31 So the next time that I had snuck out, 15:35 instead of going back home and getting caught, 15:37 I decided to not go back home 15:40 and that's when I pretty much 15:43 started to engage in a different lifestyle. 15:47 Going to that lifestyle a little bit 15:50 because this is where, I mean, 15:53 the drugs and the party and the alcohol 15:56 and all that stuff, that is a dangerous part. 16:00 But there's an even more dangerous part 16:02 that you got involved in as you kept making those... 16:08 Like your habits got worse and worse, 16:10 so going to that dangerous part of your testimony. 16:14 So when I had left home, you know, 16:18 I had a little plan, 16:20 I thought it was gonna work. 16:23 And I said, well, since I have a job 16:25 and, you know, I'm in school... 16:28 I can make it. 16:29 You know, I'll just save up some money 16:31 and, you know, in a few months I will be set. 16:35 I have my own place and everything 16:37 but I didn't have a place of my own, 16:39 so I started living off of people. 16:41 You know, I would stay at different friend's house, 16:44 sleep on their couch 16:46 and I continued to do what I wanted to do. 16:51 Anything that I felt 16:54 that was gonna make me feel good, 16:57 that's what I did. 16:58 I started doing more drugs, more hardcore drugs, 17:04 I started drinking a lot more, and you know, 17:08 engaging in different activities, 17:11 sexual activities and, you know, 17:14 just the party just never stopped for me. 17:16 Yeah. 17:18 And I said, "Well, as long as I'm able to 17:24 just make my own choices for myself, 17:27 this is, this is what I want." 17:29 You know, I was stubborn, I was rebellious 17:32 and I was naive. 17:35 Now, see, you said something very interesting there. 17:37 As long as you were... 17:40 As long as you made choices for yourself... 17:42 Yeah. 17:43 See when we make choices for ourselves 17:46 without, without God, 17:49 our choices are, 17:51 they're not good as we've come to realize. 17:56 So, you know, your spiral a downward spiral, 18:01 and you're getting into more hardcore drugs, 18:05 you're outside of your parents' home at this point, 18:08 sleeping on couches in various places. 18:13 But what, what took place with some of these drug dealers? 18:18 When I would do certain drugs, I became more dependent on them 18:24 because the more you do drugs, 18:27 the more your body gets used to it. 18:29 So I would to... 18:31 I would try different drugs. 18:33 And you know, I pretty much like I would try anything 18:36 at least once to see how, you know, what would happen. 18:40 And there were times where I would, 18:45 I would sell drugs to other people 18:48 or buy drugs from people. 18:50 And a lot of times there was, there were situations that, 18:53 you know, we would call a sticky situation where people 18:58 would try to, like, steal from you, rob you, 19:01 beat you up, and all those things. 19:03 There were times where 19:05 I would do those things to other people. 19:08 I will, you know, steal from them. 19:11 And a lot of times, as a result, 19:16 friends that I thought were my friends, 19:19 I would quickly find out that, that wasn't the case. 19:22 Yeah. 19:23 And, and that is why I said 19:26 in the beginning of this program, 19:27 you know, that it's, 19:29 it's amazing that you're still here. 19:31 God has spared you for a reason and for a purpose. 19:33 And I wanna go and move into 19:37 the deliverance portion of your testimony. 19:40 You know, how did you... How did you... 19:43 You know, because we want to, 19:45 we want people to know where you came from 19:46 and your past. 19:48 We also... 19:49 The main part, the meat is the deliverance. 19:53 So how were you delivered out of this lifestyle? 19:58 Well, this is my favorite part. 20:02 I told you that I was doing a lot of drugs. 20:05 And there was one particular day 20:07 where I was contemplating on suicide 20:11 and taken a bunch of pills 20:13 and, you know, just ending everything. 20:16 You know, I was, at this point 20:17 I had gotten expelled from school. 20:20 I lost my job. 20:23 A lot of friends had left my life, 20:25 you know, and I was just really lonely. 20:28 And, you know, I was sitting in my room 20:31 and I had a bunch of pills on a table 20:35 and, you know, as I was sitting there 20:38 and contemplating that, 20:41 I heard a voice that told me to get rid of the pills. 20:46 And I was thinking like, you know, "What? 20:50 I was thinking like, what, I can't do that. 20:53 You know, I need these pills. 20:54 I need... 20:55 I can't live without these things." 20:58 But it said again, you know, just throw them away, 21:02 flush them down the toilet, do something. 21:05 You know, and for some reason I did that 21:08 and I just flushed all the pills. 21:10 And then I got to thinking like... 21:14 I used to pray, I used to read the Bible, 21:16 I used to go to church, 21:18 and why don't I do any of those things anymore? 21:22 And I had a, I had a Bible with me in my room 21:26 that I don't even remember 21:28 the last time that I opened it 21:30 and, you know, for some reason I just opened up the Bible 21:33 and started reading. 21:35 And then as I was reading, 21:38 you know, how there's promises in the Bible, 21:41 I was going through a particular promise, 21:44 and I don't remember the exact one. 21:47 But as I was reading it, my life was like so dark 21:50 and in despair that when I read it, 21:53 it didn't like come true, it didn't feel like it was true 21:58 and I heard of another voice that said "This isn't for you. 22:03 The passage that you're reading isn't for you 22:06 because look at all the stuff you did. 22:08 You left the church, 22:10 you're out here doing all this chaos and nonsense. 22:14 This promise isn't meant for you." 22:17 And only thing I could do was just drop to my knees and pray. 22:20 Yeah. 22:22 Because I was like paralyzed with fear. 22:23 Yeah. 22:25 And as soon as I prayed, whatever that presence was, 22:27 it just left. 22:29 So I got back up 22:31 and I started reading the Bible 22:32 and I started to, you know, ring true for me. 22:36 Yes. 22:38 And then I think, maybe that same week 22:40 and I decided to walk back into the church. 22:44 And as I walked back into the church, 22:47 like I thought the whole church was gonna like, 22:50 just like condemn me or something. 22:53 But when I walked in, it was the exact opposite. 22:56 People were just like welcoming me, loving, 22:59 and they are just asking me like, 23:01 "Kyle, where've you been?" 23:02 Like, "We haven't seen you in so long." 23:05 And, you know, 23:06 the deliverance process started. 23:08 And another part of that was, I got into recovery 23:13 from drugs and alcohol 23:15 because that was one of the hardest... 23:17 Like NA meetings, AA meetings, that type of thing. 23:19 Yes, I attended AA, NA. 23:22 I had to go to drug counseling, you know, from the court. 23:26 I had to go to a lot of places like that, you know, 23:32 and I was also on probation 23:35 and I had to go through a lot of stuff with the court 23:39 because I had gotten in trouble, 23:41 you know, from doing drugs and stuff 23:45 and in trouble with the law, going to jail. 23:48 So a lot of times when I would be in court, 23:55 I would just think to myself like, "Why am I here? 23:58 I'm not... I'm not supposed to be here." 24:01 You know, I was in the church. 24:04 You know, what if everybody knew I was here right now, 24:07 what would they think? 24:09 So a lot of times I would just, there would be times 24:12 where I felt like God was like, He was reaching out to me 24:15 and He was trying to just wake me up 24:18 from what I was doing. 24:19 The Holy Spirit was working on your heart. 24:22 You know, I love that verse in the Bible that says, 24:25 "Train up a child the way he should go, 24:27 and when he grows old, he won't depart from it". 24:30 Yeah. Because it's so true. 24:33 You know, it doesn't mean that, 24:34 you won't veer off the path perse 24:39 but you will remember what was instilled in you, 24:43 the principles that your parents instilled in you 24:46 since you were young. 24:49 So I'm thankful for the fact that you were brought back. 24:53 And, you know, when you are a kid, 24:55 you didn't want people to call you pastor 24:58 and think that you are gonna be a pastor and say, 25:03 you're gonna be a pastor and all that. 25:04 But what are you doing now? What are you in school for now? 25:09 I'm actually in school now at Atlantic Union College 25:12 and I'm studying Theology, 25:14 which means pretty much I'm gonna become a pastor 25:18 in two years, you know. 25:19 I'm now in my second year. Look at that. 25:22 Yeah, I realized I had a calling. 25:25 And when I came back into the church, 25:29 this time it was for me. 25:31 And I... 25:33 There was times where I just, I had to get to church. 25:36 There was, there was nothing... 25:38 There was nothing that was gonna stop me. 25:41 And when I would go, I would hear the pastor preach, 25:44 and the message was for me, it was essentially, 25:48 it was speaking, God was speaking to me 25:50 through the, through the voice of the preacher. 25:53 And someone in the church asked me what I wanted to do 25:57 and I told him, you know, I think I wanna be a pastor. 26:00 I think I wanna, you know, 26:03 go into ministry and he said well... 26:05 He asked me what am I doing about it? 26:08 And I told him, I don't think, I'm not doing anything, 26:10 you know, I'm just kind of just here. 26:12 So he said, "We as the people of the church, 26:15 we're gonna be behind you. 26:17 If you're gonna do that, 26:19 we're gonna help you move forward." 26:20 And I decided to choose to go to Atlantic Union College 26:24 to pursue that course of action. 26:28 Wow. 26:29 So that's such a blessing and it goes to show that, 26:32 you know, God wants to save us, 26:37 He wants us to be saved. Yes. 26:39 And, you know, He can... Yes, we might go through. 26:43 You know, even as Christians we go through trials 26:45 and tribulations and stuff like that, 26:47 but He has that big picture in mind 26:52 for us to come back to Him. 26:55 He wants, He wants to take us home, 26:57 He want's to save us. 26:58 Amen. 27:00 And now you're in school to become a preacher, a pastor. 27:05 Yes. That is a huge blessing. 27:08 So what advice, in the short amount of time 27:14 that we have left, what advice, 27:17 I want you to look into this camera here, 27:19 in 15 seconds, and tell our viewers 27:24 if they're struggling with anything 27:26 where can they go? 27:29 If they're struggling with anything, 27:31 just first of all just pray and talk to God 27:34 and, you know, 27:35 ask Him to give you direction in your life to 27:39 where you should go next. 27:41 And when you do that, 27:43 the Lord is gonna surely answer you 27:45 because He answered me. 27:47 And when I asked Him what I should do next, 27:50 He told me and continued to lead me 27:53 to that path that He wants me to be on. 27:56 Amen. 27:57 Thank you so much for being here with us today. 27:59 Welcome. 28:00 And thank you for being here with us. 28:02 Join us next time, and remember 28:04 it just wouldn't be the same without you. |
Revised 2018-01-03