Phoenix Center Students

Growing up, my life was OK. I had two loving parents that shared their love differently. They worked and they provided for me. Addiction for me began at the age of 11. I first started using marijuana and then drinking which ultimately led to everything under the sun. I started using to feel accepted and loved and worthy of love. I graduated from Teen Challenge in 2020 and thought I had it all together, but I still had reservations in my life. I fell deeply back into fentanyl and crystal methamphetamines. No hope, faith, self-worth, trust, and I blamed God. I came back to Teen Challenge so that God could finish the work that he started within me. I will be a father and provide for my daughter's mom. My hope is restoration with the Father, The Son and the Holy Spirit, and to understand His will for my life.

Favorite Scripture: 2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.

I had a pretty typical childhood growing up. I experienced good times as well as not so good times. I would say my childhood was guarded by the Lord himself. My testimony is somewhat different in a sense that “life happened.” In a lot of ways, I think of myself like the prodigal son returning home. I came to Teen Challenge to renew my life in Christ and to step back into full-time ministry. I have an opportunity to renew my life with Jesus Christ and to live in the light, and as to live as the apostle Paul.

Favorite Scripture: Hebrews 13:2 Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it!

I grew up in a Christian home with my stepbrother, half-sister and stepdad. I started smoking weed in sixth grade. By the time I was about 17 or 18 years old, it turned into cocaine, psychedelics, and benzodiazepines. At first, my use was because my friends did it and I thought it would bring me the satisfaction that I so desired. Recently though, I allowed weed and alcohol to cause me to stumble, so I came back to Teen Challenge to reset my relationship with Christ. I have hope now in my relationship with God

Favorite Scripture: Galatians 2:20 My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Life for me growing up was good. I had a fun loving family and wouldn’t trade it. My addiction began in Detroit with Xanax and Codeine. When I moved to Arizona I began to use meth. It was a time in my life where I thought nothing bad of people using it because that was what I expected and thought that was the norm, especially in Detroit. I came to Teen Challenge because I really wanted to absorb the experience here and what it offers. I now have hope in my future and in my present.  

Favorite Scripture: Hebrews 13:2 Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it!

I grew up in a home with divorced parents who backslid. I started experimenting with drugs and alcohol in my teens. By the age of 18, I was drinking daily. I would abuse substances to numb the pain of all my feelings and not wanting to live. I would black out daily and I had lost control of my life. I came to Teen Challenge to develop a relationship with Christ and to learn my identity in Him.  My hope is that I will learn to truly trust in the Lord.  

Favorite Scripture: James 5:16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

My Mom and Dad battled with many things during my childhood, but they were still very nice to me and loved me through their struggles. I grew up around smokers, so my addiction to cigarettes and weed began when I was 12 years old. I wanted to experience what everyone else was doing and my addiction led my life with no purpose. Doing drugs for so long, I became lost and homeless wandering the streets “blind”. After going to CBI, I was taken to Teen Challenge where I decided I wanted to become more like Christ. My hope now is to be set free from the chains of addiction.   

Favorite Scripture: Philippians 4:13 I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength.

I had a beautiful life growing up with loving supportive parents and family. For me, addiction began as a senior in high school. I believe I used drugs and alcohol to numb the feeling of stress and also not really fitting in. My recent overdose and divorce brought me to Teen Challenge. I came to Teen Challenge to establish and cultivate a relationship with Jesus and find freedom from bondage of self. My hope is to learn how to put God first in everything I do.  

Favorite Scripture: Romans 15:13 I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.

My early childhood with my father was strict. I didn't have any real positive guidance in my life, so I fell in with the wrong crowd. However, I was a happy kid. I love my Grandma. I had a good sense of humor, a strong work ethic, and a real positive mindset thanks to Jesus. My addiction began in 2008 with marijuana and gradually developed into a desire for harder drugs. I believe I used drugs for temporary happiness. After making a decision to use methamphetamines and pornography, I came to Teen Challenge. I am here now to grow spiritually and emotionally. I hope to accomplish victory and sobriety.   

Favorite Scripture: Philippians 1:20-21 I will not be at all ashamed but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ and to die is to gain.

Growing up, life was a little rough. My parents were physically abusing each other and me. My dad would leave my mother, my siblings, and me. When my Dad got drunk, I was abused. I was only three years old the first time my dad started giving me weed. In the end, drinking on my own at the age of 15. By the age of 21, I was drinking hard liquor every day. I was using and drinking to numb the pain. Over the last two years, I’ve nearly died several times from alcohol poisoning and overdosing. Before coming to Teen Challenge, I had ruined almost every relationship I ever had. I’ve come to Teen Challenge to be renewed in my mind and get to a place where I fully know God. I feel the calling to be a youth pastor and to serve God and lead others who are astray back to the cross. I have faith in God that I will be restored to my family and be the better man that I was intended to be.

Favorite Scripture: Mark 10:27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”

Growing up I was constantly getting suspended and kicked out of school for acting out. I was adopted by my biological aunt from my father's side and was in foster care from the age of 3 1/2 to 7. I began drinking and smoking weed at the age of 13 and began using harder drugs in my late teen years. I used drugs to relieve the pain in my heart and to fight off the depression. Before coming to Teen Challenge, I was hospitalized for cardiac complications as a result of my drug use. Teen Challenge is giving me a place to seek God, restore my faith, humble myself and to make my family proud while finding purpose in my life. I hope to find discipline, sobriety and a firm foundation in my faith.  

Favorite Scripture: Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

My parents were very hard-working and I came from a good home. My father was going to college and my mother worked graveyards growing up, so I was alone a lot of the time. I went into the Marine Corps and was married and music was a big part of my life. As part of a local band I would smoke pot to fill the boring spots in my life. When my band started to get popular, I started using meth to be able to keep up. A woman I fell in love with took me down a crazy path. Drugs eventually took me to homelessness. I came to Teen Challenge to develop a relationship with Jesus. My hope is to become a worship leader in my church and realize the call that God has put on my life.

Favorite Scripture: 2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.

I grew up in Seattle Washington in a family of four, with one brother. At the age of 14 my parents divorced. When I was 17 years old, I had seven people that were close to me die in over a year and a half period.  I was running from the call of God on my life and I was very angry. After a recent separation from a longtime girlfriend I came to my breaking point, finally coming to Teen Challenge. I know I’m where God has called me to be and I’m looking to grow my relationship with Him and to be who he created me to be. My hope is to have the identity in God that he has called me too and to give back to his kingdom here on earth.  

Favorite Scripture: John 3:16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

My life growing up was supported by two loving parents. My Dad was a pastor and my Mom ‘s ministry and life was devoted to foster care. We had over 100 kids in and out of the house. I started getting suicidal thoughts in fourth grade, doctors said I was manic depressive and started giving me drugs I thought I had to use drugs to be normal. Multiple treatment centers said that I had a 2% chance of ever getting clean off of heroin. I had multiple drug overdoses, suicide attempts, and drug induced psychosis. I was hopeless. After much thought and prayer with my wife, the Lord kept bringing up Teen Challenge of Arizona. I’ve never been to Arizona, but God wouldn’t let me shake it. Since coming to this program, God has already begun restoration with my family relationships, with my wife, and my parents. I no longer feel depressed about life and I have hope again. The love that I feel from the Lord is so overwhelming that I want to tell the world!

Favorite Scripture: John 10:10 The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.

I was raised with good morals and high standards. Our family never struggled financially and I was always given good counsel. When I turned 21, I dove deep into drinking and it took a grip on my life. For me alcohol was a way to fit in during my time in service in the Marine Corps. I’ve tried to do this on my own including going to AA thinking that it would be my savior. I came to Teen Challenge for a genuine relationship with God, and for my heart to be healed. My hope is that I will grow in the plan that God has for me.

Favorite Scripture: Romans 12:2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

I was born into a broken home. I never knew my father until I was 13 years old. My addiction began when I was a freshman in high school. The promise of false love, respect and friendships, and fitting in is why I started using. I found nothing but trouble later in life. DCS involvement with my niece and nephews is the wakeup call I needed to come to Teen Challenge. I’m here to get myself right with God, myself, and my family. My hope is to grow and come closer to God.  

Favorite Scripture: Philippians 4:13 For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.

Growing up for me was kind of a struggle. My mother was a single mom raising four children so we didn’t get all the things we wished we had. For me, addiction began roughly when I was 25 years old. I believe the reason that I used drugs was to numb the pain, depression, and anxiety that I thought I had. Recently life became too much and I came to Teen Challenge to find Christ as well as myself. I hope to learn to stop running and embrace what God has for me.  

Favorite Scripture: Luke 6:37 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.”

I was adopted at the age of 6 and was happy with my family. Addiction for me began at the age of 12. I used drugs to numb the pain and the thoughts of suicide. Before coming to Teen Challenge I was homeless and hopeless. My hope now is to be clear minded, and have a relationship with Christ.

Favorite Scripture: Romans 6:6 Know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin.

I was raised by my grandmother, my mother was in prison and I never really knew my dad. My addiction for me began at the age of 14 smoking weed. Later in life by the age of 17, I started using harder drugs. I used drugs to numb the pain of heartbreak and feeling abandoned by my parents. My addiction cost me everything including my job and relationships. I knew I was going nowhere in life. If I kept it up, I would be dead or in prison. I came to Teen Challenge seeking a relationship with the Lord, I know through God is the only way I can get to the root problem and overcome my addiction. I hope to strengthen my relationship with my creator and truly build a firm foundation with God that I can apply to the rest of my life.

Favorite Scripture: Psalm 91:4 He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection.

For me, addiction began in high school. I grew up in a divorced household. I used drugs and alcohol to mask the pain and bad memories in my life and to forget about everything. Recently I found myself homeless and my life became unmanageable. I came to Teen Challenge to learn structure and the tools I need to have a stable life. My hope is to finish this program and to learn how to make meaningful relationships with others.

Favorite Scripture: Revelation 3:20 “Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.

My life growing up was fulfilling. I was loved and everything I needed was provided for. I had a great education with a family that supported me. My addiction began when my biological mother supplied me with opioid prescription painkillers and muscle relaxers. Then it spiraled out of control when she abandoned my father and brother and me in the midst of her addiction. I continued to use substances to deal with the emotional pain of not having my mother around me anymore. In search of the love I so desperately strived for that I missed from my Mom, I came to Teen Challenge. I am here now because God met me right where I was and took me right where I needed to go. I hope now to re-learn how to endure hardships in a healthy manner.  My goal is not just sobriety, but an emotional and spiritual recovery too. 

Favorite Scripture: Ecclesiastes 1: 17 then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom and also of madness and folly but I learned that this too is a chasing after the wind.

I grew up in Chicago. My mother had me at 16. My mother married my stepfather at the age of 18, he was very mean to me. Growing up I was closer to my grandparents. As a teenager, my addiction began with marijuana the gateway drug and that led me into drinking. I was in my thirties after a separation from my wife of 11years when I began to use methamphetamine and crack cocaine. The divorce put me into overwhelming depression. Growing up I felt unwanted like an accident. I tried to go to another Teen Challenge, God closed doors and only opened the ones at Teen Challenge of Arizona. I can feel the high calling of God in my life and I’m here to bring myself into the will of God and the high calling he has placed on me.

Favorite Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!