with Billy Tallas
How a skateboarder reaches out in a way that others can’t …
Not everyone would consider a severe injury a blessing. Billy Tallas did not share this opinion either. But the young skateboarder was forced to refrain from his lifestyle for six months after an accident. And through this he experienced God’s greatness.
Billy grew up on the Rough Rock Reservation in northern Arizona and his childhood wasn’t easy. When he was in eighth grade his family moved to Phoenix. The change from living in a small community of 400 to a huge city was a great culture shock for the teenager.
Both his parents were alcoholics and neither had a stable job. The family was in and out of homeless shelters throughout their time in the city. Sometimes Billy didn’t see his parents for periods of time because they were in jail, or because he was out skate-boarding with his “homeys,” or was forced to live in a group home.
During high school Billy became depressed and developed feelings of hate. He tried to look for other avenues to fulfill the void which made him sad. His idols became girls, and skateboarding – a new hobby that turned into an obsession. Skateboarding can be a very self-centred activity and part of a rebellious culture which often defies authority, he says. He learned to perform his skills pridefully and, although he did have friends, he always thought about himself first.
Nothing Else to Look Forward to
Being on a skateboard became like a drug for him. It was his tool to escape reality, even if just for a couple of seconds, and he relied on the comfort that skateboarding gave him. A local skateboard shop began to sponsor Billy. He was given free stuff and regularly entered competitions. If he was not skateboarding, he had nothing to look forward to.
Concerning his relationships, he felt the same. Every time he broke up with a girlfriend, or every time skateboarding did not seem to work out, Billy felt broke. He did not have anything or anyone else to turn to besides himself. He became depressed and it was a dark time for the high school student. So dark, he sometimes wished to die, and came close to attempting suicide.
One day when he was skating, Billy had an accident and twisted his ankle. For six months he was limping. He lost his sponsors and could not practice his skills. He was back to stage one.
It was a difficult time for Billy until he realized that God was speaking to him through this incident. When he was younger, his brothers had taken him to a Vacation Bible School at their cousins’ place. One evening after the VBS, Billy came up to the pastor and asked him if he could accept Jesus. He remembers: “Ever since then, I was like, ‘Oh, wow, I’m a Christian now.’ But I didn’t really know what a Christian looked like, because of what I grew up in and because my parents were alcoholics.”
From his accident Billy learned that he had to stop seeking skateboarding as an avenue to escape his problems. He gave it up, humbled himself before God, and put it in God’s hands.
Back to the Reservation
Because his dad did not find a stable job, and his parents could not afford their apartment in Phoenix anymore, they moved back to the Reservation. This meant that Billy was separated from skateboarding and from the girls and lifestyle he used to live in the city. Although he wanted to run away from Rough Rock and move back to Phoenix, he remembered verses from the Bible which call us to honor our parents (Exodus 20:12, Deuteronomy 5:16). Instead of pursuing his rebellious lifestyle, he asked his parents for counsel on whether he should move back to the city. When they told him to finish high school first, he decided to stay in Rough Rock.
A high school teacher on the Reservation praised Billy his efforts. This impacted him because previously his teachers had hardly ever spoken encouraging words to him. So he worked hard in class to get the best grades he could. He discovered his passion for science and biology. After high school he gained an associate degree in science, and then went to Arizona State University to study pre-medicine. Without a good foundation in study habits, though, he had some tough times as a student, but graduated with a health science degree in 2018. His plans are to attend medical school, and he has also enrolled in seminary studies.
During his university years Billy began to seek Christian fellowship and discovered Roosevelt Community Church. “Having that church is a huge tremendous blessing … and it’s been so good for me to be there,” he says. He also found out about ministries on campus and heard about a missions trips to Mongolia and Montana. He was late in starting to raise funds, but by the end of the summer he had raised the necessary amount – several thousand dollars.
Billy says these trips showed him how total reliance on God was so fulfilling, and his heart was filled with a longing to serve. He learned what it meant to proclaim the Gospel. He shared his testimony with Mongolian kids at a skateboard park. “I think that I can reach certain people that other people can’t reach, because skateboarding has a culture of its own,” he says. This has also enabled him in reaching certain college students.
Since our interview, Billy married Brianna in December 2018. He gives God all the glory for bringing him to this point in life. “Just how God is working right now, I have no words for it,” he says. “God is good and just amazing.”
And maybe, if he isn’t at a conference somewhere, learning from and being encouraged by other Native American leaders and pastors, you just might meet him and see him skateboarding somewhere in downtown Phoenix!
Check in weekly to meet more First Nations whose lives have been changed by Jesus Christ. To view this or other previously aired testimonies, go to: tribaltrails.net/videos and put their first or last name in the Tribal Trails search.