- I excel in physical activity

such as running, running track,

some basketball, some soccer.

Everything I did as a child

I identified in my abilities.

- [Male Narrator] Those natural abilities,

and growing up in a foster home,

gave Schwartzen Precileverything he needed,

confidence, attention and love.

Then at eight yearsold he was hit by a car

and ended up on crutches.

While a minor injury,

it revealed just how muchthose abilities meant to him.

- I just had negative thoughts

shortly after the car accident,

and these negative thoughts had me

act out some anger.

I just felt like it was a mark of shame.

It's not being able to run,

not being able to jump around,

to play sports,

and it just felt likeI had lost my identity.

- [Male Narrator] Thencame a devastating blow.

After investigating the accident,

social services took Schwartzen

away from his cherished foster mom,

and put him in a group home

with an abusive foster dad

Schwartzen called the warden.

- The first day he justhit me upside the head.

And I ended up falling and I cried.

He said "men don't cry here.

"Real men don't cry."

So I was conditioned fromthat point to not cry.

- [Male Narrator] For thenext six years Schwartzen

was the target of physical

and mental abuse by the warden,

and the other kids at the home.

- I'm now acting out.

I'm now, you know, being angry,

showing frustration,

punching things, breaking things,

being destructive.

- [Male Narrator] Each Sunday

the kids were sent off to church,

but to Schwartzen the idea

of a loving God seemed like a joke.

- How can you tell me that there's a God

who loves and shows mercy

if I'm being assaulted at home?

If I'm going through trauma at home?

If I'm not getting enough to eat at home?

It doesn't make sense.

- [Male Narrator] There was only one place

where he felt accepted.

- The basketball courtbecame my sanctuary.

I felt free from the negative thoughts.

I felt free from depression.

Basketball was an opportunity for me

to channel my emotions, my anger,

and use it towards something that I loved.

- [Male Narrator] In ninthgrade he made the varsity team,

but the warden wouldn't let him play.

So at 14 Schwartzen ran away,

and took his anger to the streets.

- I was stealing, I was fighting,

I was lying.

I had trouble with the law.

I felt free.

I felt like the gang was my family.

I felt more accepted by them than I did

in the home that I wasjust in for six years.

- [Male Narrator] But thatfreedom was short lived.

Soon Schwartzen was arrested for robbery,

and sent back to the home.

The next year the warden became ill,

which opened the door for Schwartzen

to try out for thevarsity basketball team.

Finally, he found where he belonged.

- So basketball did helpme change how I saw myself

because it was somethingthat I was able to see myself

be successful in.

- [Male Narrator] He wenton to three stellar seasons,

and led his team to NewYork City's Elite Eight

for the first time inthe school's history.

- It made me feel above the world.

It made me forget about my problems.

Just being in the fourlines off the court.

It helped me channel,

helped me focus, helped me set my goals.

- [Male Narrator] Schwartzen was thrilled

to earn a college scholarship.

But now, at 17 and in a new town,

new school and surrounded by new faces,

his feelings of isolation

and rejection returned.

- Outside of basketball I still felt

very nervous, very depressed,

from being away fromsomething I just built

in my home city,

and I would have to travel

and build something all over again.

And so I turned to alcohol and marijuana

to help me forget about those thoughts.

- [Male Narrator] Towardsthe end of his freshman year,

the drugs and alcohol weren't enough.

- I thought awful (indistinct),

there's no way I could get awayfrom these negative thoughts

of no one cares about you,

no one loves you,

you're not good enough.

And I went into my dorm room,

and I saw the blade on the sink,

and I picked it up,

and I thought, you know, this was it.

I'm gonna kill myself, no one would care.

I picked up the blade,

I put it to my throat,

and I said "God, if you're real,

"show me that you're real.

"If not, I'm gonna kill myself."

And I cried out,

and I felt my body trembling.

And as I looked up,

I felt the toxins,

the effects of the marijuana

and the alcohol starting to leave my body.

And as those things are leaving my body,

it was like a supernatural experience.

All those feelings,

the depressed feelings,

the anxiety, it went away

and I started to read the gospels.

And I realized who Jesus spoke to.

And I was able to identifywith individuals in the Bible.

- [Male Narrator] Hestarted attending church,

and a few weeks lateraccepted Jesus into his life.

- Accepting him as my Lord and savior,

it made me feel whole.

It made me feel like I lacked nothing.

It made me feel accepted into his family,

as his son.

This was the first timeI identified myself

as someone's son, a child of God.

- [Male Narrator]Schwartzen found a mentor

who helped him forgivethose who'd hurt him,

and develop his relationship with God.

He finished college,

and played two years as a pro in Europe

before retiring for good.

Now he works as a director

at a Boys and Girls club,

helping kids who feel broken

and abandoned find hope in Christ.

- No matter how hard life is,

there's still a God

who cares enough to come after us.

He'll leave the 99 for the one.

Take that leap of faith.

Take that chance, that opportunity

because he's always waiting.

He's always waiting.