Robert’s Story

How Everything Got Started

I was born Robert Engel in 1955 in Brooklyn, New York, into a neighborhood that was controlled by the Gambino Crime Family. Back then, the Mafia was generally respected and appreciated by the people who lived there. They protected and took care of the neighborhood.

As a kid, I wanted their flashy lifestyle. The wise guys always had lots of money, respect, pretty girls and nice clothes. My parents bought me a new suit once a year for Easter, and it was one of my favorite things I looked forward to. I loved parading around in it and basking in my friends’ admiration.

In the meantime, I hated school. I wasn’t good at it, and I was always getting into trouble. The Mafia guys weren’t bothered by that, though. I started working for them when I was a teenager, and I found out I was good at the things they were asking me to do. Pretty soon they started introducing me as their “up-and-coming star.”

In my twenties, though, I started using the cocaine we were moving. It wasn’t much at first — just a little here and there as a social thing.

But within a few years I was addicted. And, eventually, it became the only thing I cared about.

In my thirties, I lost all my money gambling and buying drugs, and people started referring to me as “Robert the Crackhead.” The Mafia guys were embarrassed by me. Over time, I pushed all my friends and family away, and I even walked out on my newborn daughter.

I got arrested for the last time when I was 42. I was desperate for somebody to help me get out of prison, but the Mafia wouldn’t help me get out of the charges, and my family probably thought I was safer off the streets.

One day I was talking to my 4-year-old daughter on the phone. She started crying and asked why I didn’t come visit her. And that broke me.

I slammed down the phone, ran to my cell and fell on my face. I said, “God, if you’re real, either help me or kill me.”

I honestly thought the second option was more likely.

But God began to do a transforming work in my heart. Pretty soon I started reading the Bible for hours every day. It changed the way I think. I learned about the way He wants us to live.

And I started feeling peace and joy and freedom, even though I was still behind bars. I attended several prison Bible studies during this time and was able to get baptized at one of them.

I went into the Witness Protection Program and changed my name to Robert Borelli after making a deal with the government. But I couldn’t stay in the program once I married my wife, Patricia. She’s from New York, and people figured out where I was when she moved across the country to marry me.

It was worth it, though. I thank God for the gift He gave me when He brought Patricia into my life. And now that I’m not under Witness Protection, I can speak freely about my story.

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What I’m Doing Now

God has given me a unique story and a powerful message: if He could save me, He can save anyone. Because of my past, a lot of times I can connect with people in a way that others can’t.

Today, I speak at churches and organizations, sharing my story or talking about other topics appropriate for the audience I’m speaking to. Always bringing it back to the hope of Christ.

For some reason, people like my Brooklyn accent. And by the grace of God they can understand it. I would love to share my story at your church or organization—I bet they haven’t heard this one before.

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Where I’m Heading

I want to share my story with a lot more people. There are so many hopeless people in the world, and I can only reach so many at a time when I speak at churches and organizations.

But using modern forms of media, I can share the hope of Christ with so many more. Especially the ones who would never set foot in a church.

My ministry team is helping me to move toward that goal, and we’re looking for others to join us. Would you prayerfully consider helping us reach the lost?

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