Testimonies: Graduates
Gina - A Prodigal Comes Home
After years of drug addiction, crime, and prison, Gina Snider had lost her three children, Danielle, Christopher, and Hagen. But God never lost sight of his child.
When Gina Snider's daughter Danielle was only three, she had Gina's mother write a letter from her to her mom in prison. "You disappeared again," the letter began. "It was like she had this little girl idea that I just vanished into thin air. And I had, for so many years," Gina said.
The vanishing act began when Gina was fifteen, and her mother discovered a sheet of acid wrapped in tinfoil in an Advil bottle in her purse. She told Gina that when she came home off the bus from school, they were going to deal with it.
Gina never came home.
"I rode my bike, then walked down the railroad tracks from Wyoming to Forest Lake, about three miles, no socks on, wearing an old, ratty leather jacket, lost in the moment," Gina said. "I always thought if I was going to write a biography, it would be with me on those tracks, the sun coming up on my left, and this thought just coming into my head: 'Where have I been?' You could take that thought a hundred ways, like, where has my life taken me, or a parent asking you, Where have you been?' Or God, calling to me, saying, 'Here I am for you. Where have you been?'"
The runaway child
In her early teens, she was involved in school as a diver, a basketball player, a gymnast, but a move from St. Paul to Wyoming, Minnesota, placed Gina in a different circle of friends, and she began doing drugs to be accepted. By fifteen, she was a different girl, dealing acid at school and smoking marijuana on a regular basis.
After becoming a runaway, Gina's life changed dramatically: she began moving continually, lived in a crack house, and started using cocaine. But already, people were beginning to try and reach out to save Gina. "There was this police officer Scott Dexter, who made it his mission to find me," Gina said. "He was the cop in Wyoming, and he came to this crack house and found me, sixteen years old, with scabies, smoking crack. And he asked me who I was. I just rattled off a lie."
But Dexter didn't believe her and made a return trip to Wyoming to get pictures of her. Knowing she would flee if left alone, he had area police keep her there until his return. The photos verified her identity, and Gina was sent to a juvenile detention center in St. Paul, where Gina went into long term treatment, a foster care home for chemically dependent girls led by Bob and Lee Heinz.
She started flourishing within that structure, but after leaving the home was awarded a $12,000 accident lawsuit settlement. The money tempted her to return to drugs, and she capitulated.
After having her first child, daughter Danielle when she was 19, Gina was arrested for possession of meth at 22, and in prison at 23. Danielle went to live with Gina's mother, and when Gina's prison sentence was over, she returned to drugs, disappearing for weeks at a time. It was a vanishing act that was becoming the norm for her life.
By 26 she was a mother again, with a son, Christopher, born positive for meth. Gina was still bound by addiction, committing crimes like check forgery, which led her back through the prison doors when Christopher was only two months old. After being released, she again returned to drugs and didn't see her son until he was almost four. "I was manufacturing meth, counterfeiting money, doing whatever I could to support my drug habit," Gina said. "I would go to bed with meth right near me, so I'd have some to get going in the morning. I was selfish, and I was stuck."
Preparing a heart
Finally, after giving birth to her son Hagen in 2002, Gina admits that she made "the first decision in my life that was for someone other than me." She put Hagen up for adoption.
"I felt like such a loser, though. I felt hopeless, like I was going to die a drug addict." At the same time, Gina's mother had decided to put Gina's older children, Danielle and Christopher, up for adoption as well, saying that she "wanted more for them than what she could give. And she was right."
When they were adopted with the stipulation that Gina have no contact with them until they were 18, Gina saw that she had lost her children, but there might be a chance to start over, to recover a chance at life. In retrospect, she saw that God was preparing her heart for the events that followed.
Imprisoned in 2003 for auto theft after a high speed chase, she met volunteers through Prison Fellowship who encouraged her to grow in her faith. "I saw something in them, a joy and a certainty that I'd longed for my whole life. I kept reading the Bible, really wishing I could believe what was in there, and said to God, 'If You're really real, You need to show yourself to me.'" And God made himself visible to His prodigal child.
On Mother's Day, 2002, she called home and found out that her children had been returned to her mother; after 11 months, the adoptive family deciding not to parent.
"I sat down, felt the Holy Spirit fill me with life, and I knew something in me was over. I said, 'Mom, it's okay.' I was crying, my mom was crying, and I think she took it the wrong way, that I was sad because of what this was going to do to my children. I never thought in a million years that I would get the chance to turn my life around, to be able to be a mother to my kids. And I said, 'Mom, I'm not crying because I'm sad, but because I'm happy. My babies are back.'"
God comes near
In the days and weeks that followed, Gina kept praying for God to come near. "And it was right at that moment that God decided to show Himself to me," Gina said. "It was so strange, like everything I had been reading in the Bible were suddenly real, suddenly so true to me. That I was a new creation, I was a child of the living God, I was forgiven."
In her year of transformation at Teen Challenge, Gina began the learning process, seeing others live out their faith, and found a mentor in Tammy Donner, "It's one thing to read about what God expects, or have teachers tell you, but when you meet someone who's really walking in their faith, that helped me in so many ways."
But the process didn't come without challenges. Her mother went into a coma following a staph infection, and her father felt the stresses of taking care of her children, finally asking Gina to leave Teen Challenge and come home.
"I was in prayer about it, and felt like I had to follow through, finish what God had started. And I realize that I would have never been able to do this if I had left the program."
After graduating from Teen Challenge, Gina, now 32, was asked by Executive Director Rich Scherber to come back to start a prevention program. "I was so excited, I went into my car and just squealed," Gina said. "I've known in my heart that God had a plan for me, that I hadn't gone through all the trials in my life for nothing, that it was to help others. My life was not in vain."
Gina's realization that she had walked far away from God before walking back into God's plan has made her a firm believer in what God can do. "If you don't believe in your heart that God can do anything, you put Him in a box. I lot of people think that you can't be delivered from addiction, but there is power in words. We can claim a blessing and healing and deliverance, and what you believe you are is what you are."
Listening to Gina talk about deliverance makes you realize why she goes into schools to talk to teens. And MNTC's prevention program, "Know the Truth," has given Gina the opportunity to show young people the visible consequences of decisions. "I need them to make that connection between seeing the pain that making decisions like I made can cause, and that the decisions they make everyday do count," she said. Know the Truth brings Teen Challenge students into the classroom, and, along with her testimony, Gina sees how each of them brings a testimony that connects with different students. "They really take them seriously," Gina said. "We have so much power in our words. And I feel like God has brought me through all my past for such a time as this, to send me out, this child, to bring other children the truth."
Kevin
There's a verse in Proverbs that says,"As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly." That sentence sums up the last twenty years of my life. The dog, well, that would be me, and the vomit was my heroin addiction.
Even after twenty-two treatments, twenty times in jail, and two prison terms, I still went back to heroin every time. I knew it was killing me, but I was helpless. It kept pulling me under like a tidal wave and then thrashing me against the rocks until my life was a battered mess.
But God came to my rescue at Teen Challenge. He didn't just throw me a life vest, he dove right in and pulled me to safety! A year ago, I couldn't even imagine a life without drugs, but now, I'm actually living free!
Christy
Christy graduated Teen Challenge in September of 2005.
Click here for a brief video clip of her speaking at her graduation.
Nathan
"Hi I'm Nathan. It's been 2 1⁄2 years since I graduated from Teen Challenge, and my life is a walking miracle. I was abusing alcohol since junior high school and I was a full blown alcoholic by the time I was 19. And I went the full gammet of this addiction. The blackouts, the DWIs, the rollovers, the depression, the suicidal thoughts. I've been to psych wards, treatment centers and support groups, but my addiction only got worse. The freedom I was searching for only came when I met Jesus Christ and invited Him to take over in my life. And that has made all the difference. He has given me my life back. I now hold a steady job. I'm active in my local church. I'm involved in one on one street ministry. And I'm living out my Christian faith every day. I'm a walking miracle.
Liane
"Hi, I'm Liane. Having my baby die from SIDS was my worst nightmare. Then add all that to a psychotic husband's abuse and what was left in the wake of that was many years of drug addiction. I can't tell you how broken my heart was. But after going through the Teen Challenge program, Jesus has truly set me free from my addictions and has healed my wounded heart. And now I have no desire to use any drug. Jesus is so real in my life. He has allowed my parents to have complete trust in me again and has fixed all the broken pieces in my life. I am actively involved in a women's bible study at church. I'm also working full time and getting my masters - and 'm getting married to a wonderful man who treats me like gold. God's healing power has completely restored my life."
George
"My name's George. Serving God is the best thing that ever happened to me. I just can't stop talking about what God's done for me. It's hard to believe that I was a hopeless crack addict for 15 years. I lost my wife, my home and was facing deportation after I ended up in federal prison. I thought my whole life was over. But instead of being deported, the Lord brought me to Teen Challenge and that is where God set me free from the addictions that imprisoned me. Now every time something goes wrong I turn to God for counseling and not to drugs or alcohol. I'm holding down a steady job, I'm a small group leader at my church and I never get out of bed in the morning without reading my bible and connecting with God. My new life is a miracle."
Randall
"My name is Randall and I was homeless for 12 years. Because of my drinking, I lost my job and my 10-year marriage. I lived with friends until I finally ended up on the streets of St. Paul. I slept and ate in shelters and worked only enough to get money for cigarettes and alcohol. I thought I was free, but the truth was I was using alcohol and drugs to avoid feelings of guilt and shame. Teen Challenge was my last shot. Now I'm free from addiction and reconciled with my family. My mom knows I'm changed. She never used to kiss me. Now, she kisses me on the cheek with a smile." Randall graduated from MnTC in the spring of 2003 and is now living with his brother and working for a construction company in the area.
Sheri
"Hi. I'm Sheri. I used drugs for more than 20 years. I rode in motorcycle gangs and lived that whole biker lifestyle. I manufactured drugs, sold drugs, and committed crimes to make my living. My ex-husband was physically violent towards me, and we were in constant punching matches, which I would always lose. My eyes were often black, my nose was broken twice, and the only way he found he could keep me from going to work was to break my fingers. Eventually, he broke all of them. I lost countless jobs, and found a way to make money by selling drugs. One night during his violence, I stabbed him with a pair of scissors and fled for my life. But, even after leaving him, I found that the drugs still controlled my life. My brother kept praying for me to come to Teen Challenge, and finally I did. I am a life that has been changed, and I am experiencing God's unconditional love." Sheri graduated in the spring of 2003 and is now working at Illinois Teen Challenge.
Audrey
"Hi, I'm Audrey. For my entire life, I've felt unloved and hopeless, until I met Jesus. A victim of sexual abuse and rejection, I spent my childhood looking for love and freedom but in all the wrong places. As a result, I had 25 years of drug abuse, police arrests, jail time, and was in two abusive marriages. When my son drowned, I hit rock bottom. Suicidal, I cried out to God to intervene in my life. I went to Teen Challenge where I found Christ as a personal friend. And even though my life seemed worthless, I gave him everything anyway, and he started putting the pieces back together for me. He's broken the addictions in my life and he has given me a love and a hope I never had before. I have been free now for four and a half years, I've earned my GED and I've graduated from a Bible Institute."
Brianna
"Hi. I'm Brianna. High school was a lonely time for me. I looked for acceptance with a group of friends who introduced me to drugs. I started cutting my wrists and overdosing on drugs. I ended up in the emergency room for suicide, and was sent to a crisis center twice. After being sent to various alternative schools, my drug use only escalated, and my whole life started to revolve around it. My parents intervened and sent me to Teen Challenge. I was really angry about that. At first, I was rebellious, but then I started praying a sentence to God here and there. Soon, Christ led me to make a commitment to Him, and my life changed wonderfully. My drug use has been gone for two years now. I'm studying studio art at Northwestern College, and I have a passion for missions. When I look back on my life, I am convinced of God's faithfulness. That's why I'm going to serve Him for the rest of my life."
Kathy
"My name is Kathy and for 20 years I used any kind of drug I could get my hands on. I went to jail multiple times for forging checks, heroin possession and robbing stores to get money for my drugs. My four kids did not trust me because I constantly lied. They would find me passed out in different rooms around the house or even in the sink. I was in several car accidents and was hospitalized for overdosing three times. I tried five treatment centers but nothing worked." Finally, in 1998, Kathy's husband Craig divorced her.
"I came to Teen challenge, because I had no other hope, but hope is exactly what I have found through Jesus Christ. Not only am I free from drugs, I am able to take off the mask of deception I've worn for 30 years." On November 26, 2003 Craig and Kathy were remarried in the Teen Challenge chapel. Kathy says, "Craig would have NEVER married me again if it wasn't for the change he saw in me. Our children can now see the miraculous example of God's healing power in marriage. Thanks to Teen Challenge, we are now a complete family again."
Marty
"Hi, I'm Marty. I was almost beaten to death in a drug deal gone bad. My teeth were knocked out and my face was totally unrecognizable. This is what 20 years of using meth, cocaine, and alcohol had to offer me. I tried to stop, so I entered a 30 day rehab program, but I was out using in a couple of months. My life completely changed when I came to Teen Challenge in January 2001. Since graduating in the spring of 2002, I've been totally free from all my addictions, successfully held down two jobs, and I've completed my first year of Bible college- Woo Hoo! And I'm currently being deployed to Bosnia as a medic in the infantry. I am thrilled at the opportunity to give my life and service to God and to other people. And I am forever grateful for God's grace in reaching down and rescuing me."
Todd
"Hi. I'm Todd. I'm living proof of what God can do. For 23 years, my life had been a total disaster. My addictions to crack cocaine and other drugs stole my wife, my children, my professional career, and my dignity. No one knew if I was alive or dead. I was homeless, and lived out of my car. I got a job as a door man at a crack house. And because of that I was shot at, pistol whipped, beaten up by gangs, and arrested twice. Then I came to Teen Challenge and Jesus changed my whole life. It wasn't easy but it was so worth it. 12 months in this program helped me to overcome the destructive behaviors that I began when I was 11 years old. I've been drug free for 4 years now, my home life is blessed, I'm active in my local church and I have a healthy relationship with my wife and children.
