Christian Life Ranch Students

I grew up in a large home. I am the fourth child out of 11. I was homeschooled my whole life and very sheltered. The home I was raised in was a Christian home and I had both of my loving parents. At around 18 years old I started smoking weed. In the next five years I tried most drugs and ended up with a crippling cocaine addiction and alcoholism. I started using drugs and alcohol to fill the void that I had in my life and to fit in in a small town where friendships were built on drug and alcohol use.  I came to Teen Challenge to find new purpose and direction in my life and to build a relationship with God, to become a better father, son, and brother. My hope is to become more than sober and find the calling that God has put on my life and to walk it out.

Favorite Scripture: Romans 6:19 “I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness.” ‭‬‬

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!

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!

Growing up I did not know my biological father. My biological mother committed suicide from drug addiction and depression. I was adopted by one of my uncles and his wife along with my older sister. They raised us as their own and they are mom and dad to us. My dad is a pastor and my mom is in HR. As children, we were given opportunities to do what we wanted in music, sports, church or almost whatever we wanted. It was a home filled with the presence of God, focused on loving us and teaching us how to live Biblically righteous lives. I came to Teen Challenge to strengthen my relationship with God and spend time reading His word, including prayer and being discipled. I hope to resolve relationship issues with my wife, and continually grow in my relationship with Jesus.  

Favorite Scripture: Isaiah 49:16 Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your walls are continually before Me.

My parents were separated at a young age and by the age of six I had been molested by two different women. For me addiction began when I was young. By 14 I was already smoking, drinking and popping pills. My early adult life consisted of intravenous drug use and addiction to meth and heroin. Struggling in life, my marriage was also suffering. Near overdose while driving my wife’s vehicle, I lost control and crashed it. Drugs nearly took me out! Facing almost 4 years in prison, I came to Teen Challenge to make a change. My hope is to learn life skills that will help me to be a godly husband and father. I want to grow closer to Jesus and learn how to turn to the Lord and rely on him for everything.

Favorite Scripture: Romans 8:28 And we know [with great confidence] that God [who is deeply concerned about us] causes all things to work together [as a plan] for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to His plan and purpose.

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 life growing up was kind of rough and different than most. My brother and I were adopted by my birth mom’s social worker. My birth mom died when we were very young. I remember thinking drugs were more important than myself at a young age. I don’t know who my father because my mother was a prostitute. My addiction began at 13 when I was a freshman in high school. It started with alcohol, weed, and evolved into cocaine. That led me deeper into harder drugs. I believe I used drugs and alcohol to numb the pain of feeling worthless and I was trying to fit in with people. I would do anything to not be abandoned again. The recent crisis that brought me to Teen Challenge was methamphetamines. My birth mother was a meth addict. My mom always told me to never try any drug because it was in my genetics (but of course I didn’t listen). I promised myself I would do any drug but meth out of respect because it caused my mother to choose it over her kids.  I broke my own heart when I  used meth for the first time. I felt like I was nothing. While I’m here, I hope to do some deep cleaning that I haven’t done ever and look at my major issues like trust and abandonment and work on a relationship with the Lord that I need.  

Favorite Scripture: Psalm 27:10 “When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up.” 

I couldn’t ask for a better childhood growing up. I had everything I needed. For me addiction didn’t begin until the age of 26. Mostly I was bored, and I turned to alcohol. Recently though I had been experimenting with meth and I knew I needed help. My hope is that I will no longer live an addicted life and I’ll be able to get back to work and have a place to live.

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.

I grew up with a fairly normal family but we lived in an area that was known for gangs and drugs. For me addiction began after the passing of my mother and depression from my career in law enforcement. Alcohol for me was a way to fill the void in my heart. Recent separation lead me to binge drinking and because of this I had to turn down a new job offer in a different state. My hope at Teen Challenge is to allow Jesus to fill my heart with relationship and to grow as a Christian leader.  

Favorite Scripture: Daniel 3:18 “But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” ‭

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.

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.

For me growing up I moved around a lot, staying with relatives on different Air Force Bases. Addiction first began as a teen in the form of alcohol. Later in life in my 30’s it grew to an addiction to narcotics. Before coming to Teen Challenge, I was on a binge and ended up in a place of complete loss and felt suicidal. I came to Teen Challenge to submit myself to Jesus and to let go of Mike-isms. My hope is to find a life of service, learn how to love others, and to develop a complete lifestyle of following Jesus.

Favorite Scripture: Philippians 2:3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves.

My childhood was simple at first until my parents divorced at the age of 12.  My father who I stayed with was an alcoholic, and I pretty much took care of myself. I started smoking weed around this time because of the large amount of free time I had and began experimenting with other substances such as pills and coke. By the age of 17 most of my friends had graduated to using meth and harder stuff. At the age 18 I lost my best friend to an overdose, who I considered a brother, and for some reason it brought me to really dark places. I began taking prescription pills a lot more than I used to. I pushed most of my family away and was living a life of violence and just didn’t care if I just gave up on life. This past year I lost another friend to drugs and just decided I was next. I ended up overdosing on fake pills and somehow made it out alive and finally came to accept that I needed help. My mother found me a 30-day rehab and while I was in there told me she wanted me to come to Teen challenge.  I accepted the fact God wanted me here and not dead. Now being here, I realize that I do have a heart and I am ready to be the person that God sees I am and not this perception I created of myself.

Favorite Scripture: 1 Timothy 6:6 Yet true godliness with contentment is itself a great wealth.

I grew up in a good household with caring parents. As I got older, I started to rebel. I began smoking weed for the first time at fourteen years old. I abused drugs and alcohol to mask the pain I had of feeling never good enough or that I would never amount to anything in life. I came to Teen Challenge to finally break free from the chains and torment of addiction I have been under for so many years. I hope to break free from all of the lies being told to me, and become a Godly man of Christ who can walk in integrity.

Favorite Scripture: Micah 6:8 He has shown you, O man, what is good and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justly to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

I had a great childhood growing up. At a young age I was saved and encountered by the Holy Spirit. In my teens I began experimenting and learning the drug trade because of a desire to fit in with an older crowd. Since being delivered in 1987, I’ve had years of success and lived a faithful life to the ministry. Like many, there have been moments in life where I have struggled and have fallen, but have gotten back up. I came to Teen Challenge of Arizona from New York to be a part of a dynamic support system that has been so caring and loving and to further work and illuminate the hazards in my life that are keeping me from success. I will complete Teen Challenge; all glory be to God.  

Favorite Scripture: Acts 2:42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

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 parents divorced when I was one.  Throughout the years I was physically abused.  Addiction for me began at the age of 22.  No longer wanting to feel abandoned, I turned to abusing substances.  It helped me to fit in and to feel accepted.  Recently I relapsed and came to Teen Challenge because they have one of the highest success rates of all programs in staying sober.  I am here to get closer to God.  

Favorite Scripture: Jeremiah 24:7 I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.

Growing up I had a great childhood and I always remember having everything I always wanted. Sometimes having everything is not enough though. Around the middle of my high school years I started experimenting with drugs and alcohol. Hopefully through Teen Challenge I can figure out what made me start using. Maybe it was to feel better, maybe there’s a deeper root issue I haven’t yet discovered. Earlier this year I got arrested, again, and even though it wasn’t for drugs this time I had been using again and letting everyone down around me that loved me or had anything to do with me. I was told about this program, Teen Challenge, from someone I was in jail with. I was able to get in contact with a man that was able to get me into the program. I’m hoping while I’m here to learn a new way of life centered in Christ and to be set free from addiction.

Favorite Scripture: 1 Corinthians 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

My life growing up was pretty good. My childhood was one with great parents, and two younger brothers. From the outside looking in it would seem I had the “perfect childhood”. What could go wrong?  At age 14 I found out I had more thoughts, and anxieties than I wanted to deal with on my own so I turned to methamphetamines, and alcohol. For the next 19 years my addictions spiraled out of control.  I no longer knew who I was without being saturated in a cloud of substance’s. Because of many lost jobs, and failed relationships I realized I needed a better life. Through a relationship with a local pastor, and my mother counseling me and through fervent prayer, they convinced me I needed to travel from Tennessee to Arizona to this place called Teen Challenge so I could find my purpose in Christ. While in Teen Challenge I hope to build a foundation in Christ that sustains me forever without worrying about tomorrow.

Favorite Scripture: Proverbs 27:1- Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.

While I was growing up I was bullied physically, mentally and sexually. I did graduate high school and even though I have been married twice, various addictions took their toll on my life. My first addiction was to pornography at the age of 13. I took a magazine from my neighbor’s mailbox. My addiction evolved into drug and alcohol use while I was still in high school. For many years of my life I have struggled with addiction in one form or another. Recently I came to Teen Challenge with the hope of restoring my relationship with Jesus Christ. I am tired of doing things my way and I have an honest desire to see what God has in store for me. I understand that my hope comes from the Lord, so I trust that he will help me accomplish his work that he started within me while I diligently stay plugged into this program and be led by Him in areas of ministry.  

Favorite Scripture: Ezekiel 3:10 Moreover, He said to me, “Son of man, receive into your heart all My words which I will speak to you and hear with your ears (listen closely).

I grew up in a normal Christian household. When I became a teenager I did the whole school thing, graduated and everything. Fast forward to the present, in May of 2022 I overdosed on fentanyl pills. I’m here at Teen Challenge to get the help I so desired and need. Praise the Lord our God, for He is good. In all of this I should have known that my addiction to the pills was making God jealous.  I went to fentanyl instead of God for comfort. This is a life changing event for me. I know Teen Challenge will help and get me through my addiction and off the pills.  I believe in my heart I can start fellowshipping with my brother’s in Christ and be able to lift each other up in prayer when we feel down.

Favorite Scripture: 2 Corinthians 10:3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh.

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!