Christian Life Ranch Students

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!”

I grew up in a wealthy family that was extremely strict. My parents fought day and night, it was a very unhealthy environment. My dad was always checked out yet continued to be mentally and emotionally abusive. When I was 16, I started using weed and alcohol and quickly moved on to hard drugs. I was trying to numb myself of my emotions because I did not know how to handle them. It seemed as though it was all fun and games. Now I am going to be a father soon. Fun and games are over. I want to be the man that God has created me to be. I want to be a good father to my child. I want to learn the ways of Jesus and get rid of my selfishness.  

Favorite Scripture: James 1:2-4 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

I grew up in a very good home. Everything went well. I would make things hard for myself. Finding trouble and rebelling, I started to smoke weed at a very young age. By the time I was 12 years old I was using hard drugs. I used drugs at first because it felt good, but then it became my way of hiding my emotions. I have come to Teen Challenge to change. I have kids and they need me to be their father. I want let God to lead me in the right direction. I need a solid foundation to start on.

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.

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.’

I grew up in a Christian household and things were generally good. As I got older, I started to rebel. I started getting high when I was about twelve years old. When I started using drugs it was just for fun, but before I knew it I was a drug addict. I came to Teen Challenge to finally break free from the chains of addiction I have been under for so many years. I know that it is only through Christ that I can overcome my addiction. I hope to grow in Christ as I go through this program.  

Favorite Scripture: John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Favorite Scripture: Ephesians 5:14 This is why it is said: “Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

My life was good, I come from a good family. My parents took care of us, so I would say I had a pretty normal childhood. I began using drugs around fifteen, but my addiction really escalated after an injury took away my baseball scholarship. At first it was to feel that same sense of euphoria that sports gave me from the adrenaline rush and to numb the feeling of sadness about losing my dream. I am here because I want to have a real relationship with God. I want to take my life back after being locked up in jail and everything I’ve done. I just want to be normal again. My goal is to become the man and leader I was born and raised to be.  

Favorite Scripture: James 1:12 Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

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.

I grew up in a Christian home with my mom, dad, two brothers, and a sister. We were involved in church events all the time. We went to church every time the doors were open. Unfortunately I began using cocaine and drinking in 2013. Two years later, I was using meth. It started in the party scene, then over time became my lifestyle. Teen Challenge has given me the chance to get back to my roots. To live my life as a Christian and restore my relationship with Jesus Christ. I hope to build my character up to be the man of God I should be, and the man of God Jesus died for. It’s time for me to be the spiritual leader of my home. For the sake of my wife and son.  

Favorite Scripture: 3 John 1:4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

I was raised by my father because my mother was incarcerated. I rebelled a lot and got into fights. I always seemed to hang out with the wrong crowds. I started smoking weed when I was thirteen years old and started using fentanyl at the age of twenty-one. I just wanted to numb my past pains and anxieties. I have always been emotional. I want a relationship with the Lord. I want to be delivered from my addictions. I am ready to change my life to a life in Christ. I have character flaws. I need Jesus to build my life and help me to be the man I was created to be.    

Favorite Scripture: 2 Timothy 1:7 For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.

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.

Favorite Scripture: Psalm 119:33 Teach me, Lord, the way of your decrees, that I may follow it to the end.

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.

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.

Life was good growing up. I kept busy by playing sports my whole life, but crime and poverty were all around me and I couldn’t escape either one. My addiction began around the age of 13 years old. I used drugs to mask my pain and to cover up my problems. I came to Teen Challenge because of legal trouble, but now that I am here I truly want to turn my life around. I want to learn and have the tools necessary to live life without drugs. I hope that through Christ, that will be possible.  

Favorite Scripture: I Peter 5:8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

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.

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;

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.

I grew up in foster care and moved a lot. It was very difficult and structural for me. When I was 13 years old I started smoking cigarettes and marijuana. I started to get high to numb my pain and simply for the pleasure of it. I came here to Teen Challenge of Arizona to develop an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. I want intimacy with Jesus and deliverance from my bondage. I also want to develop a love for people and myself.  

Favorite Scripture: Romans 5:9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!

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.”

My life growing up was difficult. My  father was absent. I was exposed to drugs and gangs early in life. Through all this I always felt a calling on my life. I know God has always been in pursuit of me. Back in 2000 I tried to help a friend get off meth but that was when my addiction started. I used it to numb the pain I had been carrying from childhood. I have a deep desire to find purpose in my life, to be useful and of service. Teen Challenge has given me the opportunity to surrender. To get things right. I want to live my life in Christ dedicating my life to His will. I desire freedom through Christ.  

Favorite Scripture: John 15:3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.