Adrian A.
I came from a good family. I have two brothers and two sisters. My parents were divorced. I lived with my mom because my dad was on meth. I started drinking when I was 14 years old. I would go to school buzzed all the time. I stole the alcohol from my mom’s liquor cabinet. I used to numb myself. I was hurt because my dad was not around. It would help me forget about the problems in my life. I had no one to help me with them. At Teen Challenge I want to change my life around and get to the root of why I feel I must drink. I want to reconnect/strengthen my relationship with God. I was at rock bottom, now I want to figure out why I use substances in the first place.
Favorite Scripture: Ephesians 4:32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
Alfred E.
I grew up in a broken home. I found myself in the streets early in life. I was 13 when I started doing weed, that jumped to crack and then pills. By 17 I was a heroin addict. I used because I did not want to hurt, and I wanted to put a wall between my heart and everyone around me. I need help to get over the things I have done to myself. Here at Teen Challenge I hope to learn to let the Lord restore everything I have lost. I must stop trying to do it on my own. I need a strong relationship with the one true God. I want to build a strong foundation in Christ Jesus.
Favorite Scripture: Psalm 116:4 Then I called on the name of the Lord: “Lord, save me!”
Anthony S.
I grew up in a Catholic family with a loving mother and an alcoholic father. They divorced when I was seven years old which led to a lot of my acting up as a child. At the age of eleven I was smoking cigarettes and drinking, by twelve I was smoking weed every day. What started off as something that I used to cope with my feelings, eventually left me hopeless and not wanting to live anymore. I didn’t feel like I had a purpose in life nor a will to keep living, I tried to take my life in a failed overdose. By the grace of God and His love, He brought me here and has begun to show me my purpose. By being here I hope to gain a firm foundation and relationship with our heavenly Father.
Favorite Scripture: Matthew 10:16 “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore, you must be wise as the serpent, and harmless as doves.”
Bradley P.
I can honestly say that I had a pretty good life growing up, but as the same with all men I struggled with sin. My addiction began after the loss of my leg, and continued because of how much I enjoyed abusing substances. My addiction continued to get progressively worse until I used meth for the first time that lasted for almost three weeks. This event was what I needed that left me realizing that I needed help, and as a result came to Teen Challenge. I know my purpose being here is for more than just getting clean, but to truly get to know our great God and get closer to Him. At the end of all of this, I want more of God, and less of me.
Favorite Scripture: Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans that I have for you says the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.”
Bryan O.
I had a good childhood. My mom and dad worked all the time and unfortunately they fought all the time. They divorced when I was 16 years old. I am closer to my dad and his family, but I love my mom. I started smoking weed when I was 14. It was my gateway drug. My life started to get turned upside down from my addictions. I used drugs to push the hurting inside of me down. I wanted the drugs to help me with my screw ups in life. I want to follow Christ. I want to really give my life over to Him. At Teen Challenge I can get close to the Lord, and work towards restoring my relationships with family and my children. I want God to soften my heart.
Favorite Scripture: I Corinthians 13:11 When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things.
Charles H.
It was hard for me growing up. I lost my dad to a drinking and driving accident at a young age. Without him around I fell into the street/gang life. My addiction started when I was 14 years old. I learned to use needles through my stepdad. I believed that using drugs and alcohol were normal things in life. I need a place like Teen Challenge to help stop believing the lies I was taught about myself and my life. I hope to find my calling here. I hope to draw closer to God here. I want to learn more about Jesus so I can be able to trust in Him.
Favorite Scripture: Jeremiah 33:3 ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’
Christopher S.
I had a very blessed childhood, my mother and father worked very hard to give my brothers I everything we needed. I started experimenting with drugs after I graduated from High School. I used to fill a void of loneliness, never expecting to become an addict for the next ten years of my life. I came to Teen Challenge to finally gain a relationship with my heavenly father. After years of running from Him, I grew tired of running from my purpose and calling in my life. I hope to receive the knowledge and tools necessary to preach the Gospel and share my testimony with those who need to hear it.
Favorite Scripture: Ephesians 5:14 This is why it is said: “Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”
Daniel P.
I was the black sheep and outcast in my family. I was bullied in school and by my relatives. Growing up, I was always surrounded by bad influences. I started using drugs as an occasional weed smoker when I was 14 years old. I started drinking at the age of 23. The alcohol was easier to get, so that became my main addiction. I drank to help with all the trauma in my life. I have been spiritually and mentally broken for a long time. Suicidal. I lost everything. Then I started using meth and heroine. I want a better life. I want to be influenced by God. I want better thoughts. I am hoping to find that at Teen Challenge. I do not want to be influenced by evil spirits anymore. I hope to get a purified heart here. I want to be a skillful, positive, and Spirit filled man.
Favorite Scripture: I Corinthians 2:11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
Ian M.
My life growing up was isolated, but I spent a lot of my time being involved in sports. After high school ended I was no longer involved with sports and began hanging around the wrong crowd. The desire to belong to a group and fit in with the wrong people is what first led to me using. Eventually my opiate use led me to getting in trouble with the law and I ended up in legal trouble and being on probation. I came to Teen Challenge to begin seeking the Lord, and to be in a place where I can learn structure, and begin to renew my mind.
Favorite Scripture: Philippians 4:13 “I can do all this through him who gives me strength “
Jacob S.
Growing up, I was surrounded by a loving family but I always felt alone. I was home-schooled so I didn’t really have anyone my age to hang out with. My addiction began my freshman year of high school, although it wasn’t with drugs or alcohol, it was with women. I came to Teen Challenge to get my life straight and to gain a strong bond with Christ. Throughout this program, I hope to accomplish centering my life around Christ. I also hope to gain life skills and to learn from others mistakes so I do not go down the same road they did.
Favorite Scripture: I Chronicles 28:20 David also said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the Lord is finished.
Julian S.
As far as my family life went, I was very fortunate. I had amazing parents who were there for all my needs, and set me up for a very successful school life. In 2017 I began using while in the Marine Corps as a way of wearing a mask and hiding my true emotions. When my health and relationship with my family began declining greatly, I finally decided to come to Teen Challenge. Now that I’m here I know that I really need to change my life, and this can only be done by following Christ. A strong relationship with Christ is all I’ve ever needed and I know all the rest will fall into place.
Favorite Scripture: Philippians 3:13 “Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead”
Malcolm S.
Overall I had an okay childhood, but my father wasn’t around. I started smoking pot when I was in third grade, at the time it seemed like a normal thing to do. By the time I was in seventh grade I was selling and using cocaine, crack, and crystal meth. By the time I was 21 years old I was a heroin addict. I ran from God for so many years until I finally surrendered and came into Teen Challenge. While I am here, I hope to develop a relationship with God and to learn about myself. I want to learn how to trust God and to be an example of His love, grace, and mercy.
Favorite Scripture: Psalm 119:33 Teach me, Lord, the way of your decrees, that I may follow it to the end.
Michael D.
Life for me growing up was good. I grew up out in the country in Tennessee, in a Roman Catholic house, with three brothers and two Christian parents. There were no drugs or alcohol around. My addiction began after an accident in my senior year of high school where I was in an accident, and as a result of which was put on morphine drip. This was the beginning of my opiate addiction which only progressed after that, I began using drugs as a part of my alternative lifestyle of having fun which led into needing substances to be able to function. I came to Teen Challenge because I had gotten to a point where I had lost everything; my relationships with family and friends, homeless, and I was suicidal. First and foremost being here I desire to learn to live as a sober adult, and want to begin to dive into a deeper relationship with Christ.
Favorite Scripture: I Thessalonians 4:11 And to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life; you should mind your own business and work with your hands.
Michael V.
I grew up in a very conservative family. We went to church on Sundays. Both my Mom and Dad were present in my life. I feel I had a very privileged upbringing. I started using drugs recreationally when I was 18 but started using Meth when I was 30. I believe I used because it gave me a sense of freedom from responsibilities and just made me feel good. I want to overcome my addictions and grow closer to God. I want to create new and healthy habits. I came to Teen Challenge after release from jail. The path that I was on was leading me to prison or death. I hope to gain a more intimate relationship with Christ here at Teen Challenge. I hope for restoration with my family. I want to be stronger than my addiction.
Favorite Scripture: Romans 10:9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Richard I.
I have been on the streets since I was 15 years old. I had already been in my addiction for two years when my mom kicked me out the house. It was devastating because I felt she chose her boyfriend over me. I would get high and stuff just to fit in. I also got high to cover my pain. I wanted to be tough and not let the pain of my broken family take me out. Teen Challenge has given me the opportunity to look at myself and see the damage and to see who Jesus is and what a relationship with him looks like. I want my old lifestyle to be over. I do not want my old neighborhood anymore. God’s purpose for my life is what I desire. I want to get there.
Favorite Scripture: Proverbs 3:1-2 My son, do not forget my teaching, for they will prolong your life many years and bring you peace and prosperity.
Richard R.
My life was easy going while I was growing up. I played sports and was around my family a lot. I started using cocaine and drinking in my 20’s and eventually that led to methamphetamine use. I was engaging in sinful activities and behaviors without being aware of the damage I was causing others and myself. My addictions blocked out my past hurts and caused me to be emotionally destructive. Now, I want to be discipled, increase my spiritual awareness and walk a righteous walk with God and Christ.
Favorite Scripture: I Thessalonians 4:11 Make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands, just as we instructed you before.
Robert M.
I came from a broken family full of gangs, alcohol and drugs. I started drinking when I was 8 years old. I started using drugs early in my teenage years. I had a lot of reasons for using, but I started just for social reasons. Then for any reason I could think of. I know that I need God to help me with my troubles. I want to live my life for the glory of God. Teen Challenge is helping me get over my past. I am getting closer to God and finding restoration with my family. I am learning to love God and myself.
Favorite Scripture: Ephesians 4:22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;
Ryan B.
Growing up I had a lot of fun and had a great childhood. I was exposed to a lot of sinful things early on, but I had a loving family. When I was 16 I started to smoke weed and drink alcohol, which progressed into a harder substance use. I enjoyed partying but when I got older I couldn’t stop using. I came here to Teen Challenge for legal reasons, but now I realize I want to be closer to God and have a better life. I hope to achieve not only sobriety, but a closer relationship to the Lord.
Favorite Scripture: I Corinthians 13:13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Tahj H.
I grew up without a father in the house. I was raised by just my mom. I had no discipline or ethics. I had problems learning in school and abiding by the rules. When I was 19 years old, I started smoking weed. By 23 I was doing meth. I had no self-control, and I was acting from impulse. I would try to numb my mind and thoughts to escape myself. I had disappointments, depression, misery, loneliness, and failures. At Teen Challenge I want to obtain a peace of mind and learn about God and His ways. I want to be disciplined and have good morals. Becoming a faithful Christian is my desire.
Favorite Scripture: Proverbs 28:9 If anyone turns a deaf ear to my instruction, even their prayers are detestable.
Tanner G.
Life growing up for me was good. I was active in sports, did well in school, with an over- all comfortable and structured home life. My addiction began when I was fourteen when I was influenced by an older group of friends who set a bad example. It started as an escape from reality and continued to be a coping mechanism I used for everything for the rest of my life. I came here from Tennessee to truly change my life. I sincerely don't feel that I have many more chances left and hope that by being in Teen Challenge I will accomplish more than just being sober, but truly deepen my relationship with Jesus Christ.
Favorite Scripture: Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, the whole earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.”
