Testimonies: Current Residents
Jim
My name’s Jim. I’m 32 years old, and I’ve been a drug-user for 32 years. Behind my mom’s back my dad was slipping drugs into my bottle to get me to sleep through the night. Before I came to Teen Challenge, drugs were literally all I knew. But when I got here, the people here didn't seem worried about what I had done. I got a clean slate and for a guy like me a new start is a powerful thing. This time I've found the power and strength to live drug-free.Kelly
My name’s Kelly. I thought I had to starve myself to have the perfect body, and that I could only get people’s approval only if I were thinner or looked like pictures in a magazine, but deep down I couldn't even get my own approval. I thought no one could love someone like me. Eventually I gave-up and started getting high or drunk just to make the pain go away. But when I came to Teen Challenge, I got clean and sober and started to see that I don't need to be perfect. I can have a great life..drug-free.
Mary
My name’s Mary. One minute I was a wife and mother dabbling in prescription pills…the next I was handcuffed to a steel bench in a holding-cell. Drugs took me on a ride that ended in twelve felony charges. When I came to Teen Challenge, I never thought my life would change so radically or that, I’d still be drug-free after a year and a half, but here I learned how to trust God with a childlike faith…and that’s kept me from going back and its made me new.
Craig
My name’s Craig. When I was smoking meth, I barely had a conscience. If robbing someone meant I had a way to get high that was fine by me. Prison, treatment…nothing made a difference. When the DA recommended Teen Challenge, he told the judge he was tired of sending me to jail, because I came out worse every time. But Teen Challenge isn’t just a drug program it’s a discipleship program. Because of God, I have new heart…and I don’t ever want to hurt people again.
Lloyd
My name’s Lloyd, and the last time I got arrested, I was actually relieved. I grew up thinking violence and drugs were just part of life. My parents even helped me get started selling drugs…and even before I turned 30, that lifestyle cost me 5 years behind bars. I seriously needed help. That’s when I came to Teen Challenge and my whole world turned upside-down...well, really it turned right-side-up. I never knew a turn-around like this was possible. I'm drug-free but best of all, now I know how to stay that way.
Ashley
My name’s Ashley. Just like every little girl, I had big dreams for my future…I wanted to go to college, see the world, do something really cool. But when I started using drugs at 12, I lost all my dreams and my role models totally changed. I got in deep trouble…fast. But a friend told me I should come to Teen Challenge…and I am so glad she did. My whole life is different now because here, I met Jesus…and it was really Him who gave me back my future.
Travis
My name’s Travis. After my wife died, I took a nose dive and my kids paid the price. Now their only living parent was addicted to drugs. When my dad showed-up with court orders giving him custody of my kids, with tears in his eyes, he said, when I graduated from Teen Challenge he’d gladly sign the girls back over to me. I When I came here, I was a wreck, but this program helped me get back on my feet. I saw that I needed to get clean not just for my kids, but for myself.Brooke
My name’s Brooke. As a secret drug addict, teaching seemed like a goldmine for prescription drugs. I’d swipe whatever pills the students were taking. Eventually I upgraded to street drugs, lost my teaching license and ended up in a methadone clinic. It was a far cry from the life I'd imagined for myself.
But I came into Teen Challenge as a final attempt to make a change in my life. I'd tried every other kind of program there is, but something about this one opened my eyes and I got a real change...a lasting change. And I am so grateful!
