Joylson, 28, from Brazil, has had personal “hell” experiences and has come out of it to become an evangelist in the Brazilian slums.
In preparation for the World Synod of Bishops on young people to be held in Rome in October (2018), the Italian bishops' daily SIR published testimonies of young people about their behavior. submit to Christ. The first witness is from Joylson, 28, from Brazil. He has experienced personal “hell” and has come out of it to become an evangelist in the Brazilian slums.
Drug Abyss
Joylson shared: My name is Joylson, 28 years old, Brazilian. Since I was a child, so many things have happened to me. I was abused when I was 10 years old: they took away my innocent childhood; then people gave me adult newspapers to teach me relationships that made me feel bigger and stronger and able to forget the emptiness I had when I was a weak child … Around the age of 12 or 13, I became a street child with the desire to feel happy. On the street, older teenagers gave me drugs and I enjoyed everything they did: take drugs, have guns, rob, roam the streets and rob, do things. bad thing; Just like that I feel strong and forget the emptiness and evil that I carry in my soul.
I remember one day, when I was in the square, a boy about 10 years old wanted to smoke marijuna; this annoys me sometimes, I told him not to smoke, I felt my life was destroyed and I don't want his life to be like that.
From there, I began to suffer from very severe depression; I look back at my past, my life and I don't see anything done; I found myself enclosed in a circle, in a prison where I couldn't stand a day without drugs or without being around teenagers to rob. Until a moment, I couldn't take it anymore and I asked my mother to help me one more time. She no longer lives with me and my father, she left us because she couldn't stand our way of life.
Community "New Horizons"
Through a friend, my mother found out about the association “New Horizons” and a month later I joined it. As soon as I got there, people like me, who had lived the street life, welcomed me with an embrace and here, for the first time, I felt in my heart a strong love. strong and don't even know what it is. Then, slowly, with the help of activists, I discovered something of myself; in the second phase the community began to give me responsibility for various activities of service; so I can learn many things and most of all I can really discover who I am. In the eyes of God and Jesus, I am truly a gift, I am a person desired, not for exploitation or to feel superior or to oppress others;
All my journeys in the community have helped me live this wonderful experience: dying in the mud, not seeing anything in your life and in a moment, in a moment, in a step , you grow up, you feel loved and revived! The journey was long and painful but it allowed me to choose who I am.
Today I have been married to Valentina for a year and we decided to dedicate our lives to God. I currently live in a "New Horizons" community facility in Fortaleza and I help the young people we welcome who come from the same weakness as me; we go to the slums under the Coracao program, preach the Gospel in the streets, listen and bring smiles in the hospital, visit the people in prison. In my little effort, I want to give others the same love that I have received!
Hong Shui - Vatican