For over 35 years you have been helping us change lives. Together, we have been able to Reach, Redeem, Transform, Restore, and give Freedom to thousands struggling with addiction. Throughout 2022 you’ll read about Sean, a current client, and see how your generous financial and time donations have changed his life every step of the way.

REACH

“Reach” is the way we push into communities and let people know we’re here for them. Whether it’s a church, hospital, AA group or counseling center, you’ve helped us create relationships across the state that build easy-to-navigate bridges to sobriety. Because of you, we can give someone who has nowhere else to go, a safe place to heal. 

Hi. My name is Sean and I’m an alcoholic. I had said those words so many times and been through so many treatments only to be living on the street in downtown Minneapolis for over month. I was struggling with grief and loss and drinking whenever I could to numb my pain. Three years ago, my life turned upside down. I tragically lost the love of my life, Hadley which began years of addiction. Then God stepped in. I went to an evening Sunday service at Breakthrough Ministries and my life changed. While I was enjoying a hot meal before the message, two women sat down with me and told me their stories. They both talked about how addiction had taken everything from them, and they could see that I was in the very same place. But…there was hope for me. Through the course of the conversation they made me promise to go get an assessment at MnTC, even though it wasn’t going to be easy because I had to get all the way across town. I managed to get a bus token, but then got off of the bus too early and wandered around. God intervened again. I stumbled across a building with the MnTC logo and even though I got here early, I stayed and waited because of the promise I made.

REDEEM

“REDEEM” and redemption are such a strong words throughout drug and alcohol treatment. The idea that the past is behind and the future can be without guilt or shame is how cycles of addiction are broken. With your help, we give men, women and teens like Sean the Grace that he desperately needs to forgive himself and move on in life without the crutch of alcohol.

This is the part of my story where I’m blessed with the kindness of a stranger. I didn’t think much of myself after all of the mistakes I had made, but the woman at the front desk talked to me like I meant something. First, she offered me lunch and although that seems like a small thing, chicken nuggets and mac and cheese were more than i had eaten in a long time. Then, she somehow convinced me that my life was worth me staying for both an assessment and an initial interview. Initially, I had had no intention of staying here for treatment, but after feeling so welcomed in those first few hours, I decided to give it and a new life, a chance. My first few days were tough, although not as tough as they should have been with withdrawals. I really felt like God was helping me through this time so that I could see his Grace firsthand.

TRANSFORM

“TRANSFORM” is becoming completely reborn and new. But it’s not easy. Our clients go through a year of hard work on themselves, their past and their relationships. Changing their total outlook on life and who they are to God is only possible with your help.

I used to be a completely different person. I drank to just to not go through the devastating withdrawal period I knew was waiting for me. I remember one time specifically when I went to the E.R. because I had quit drinking about 8 hours prior and I knew that it was going to get bad. I needed to be admitted, but I didn’t have any of the symptoms yet to be eligible to be admitted. I went back outside and the next thing I remember, I was being woken up in an ambulance.

It turns out that my mom had been looking for me and she knew that I had gone to the hospital. But since I wasn’t admitted anywhere, she was going from ER to ER and she found me passed out underneath a bench. When I woke up in that ambulance, I knew that something had to change, or I was going to die.

After I had been here in the short-term program for eleven days, I was sitting in the chapel praying and I felt a peace I hadn’t since Hadley died. I felt like God was saying “You’re going to stay here for awhile.” And I knew that this is what those ladies at the church had been talking about. I went through a 30-day treatment a year ago without God, it was completely secular and I left there sober, but I relapsed almost immediately because nothing changed. This time, I’ve learned that I can’t do it without Jesus and that if in everything that I do, I seek to follow Jesus then I don’t have to worry about sobriety because drinking just doesn’t have any part of my life.

I’m not naive enough to think I don’t ever have to think about it, but I don’t have to white knuckle it because I know that a life in Christ is just without alcohol.

A typical day when I was homeless was, you know, trying to find a safe spot to rest and trying to find enough money to get more alcohol because once you start coming down and you start feeling sick, you know that it’s only a matter of time before you know, you’re really in a bad spot. So really, that was it. You’re always tired and depressed, and worried about getting sick and staying sick. But now, everything has changed. I went and got the full blood work and the full everything from my doctor then I had them recheck me six months later and I’m healthy. My body has healed itself. My cholesterol’s great. I can run three miles. I can do things that I never thought I could do after how much I abused my body.

RESTORE

“RESTORE” is what happens when someone truly changes, and are not only forgive for their past, but are seen for who they are now in Christ and not who they were in addiction.

I had a good relationship with my family growing up, you could say we were standard Midwest family. When the love of my life Hadley, passed away suddenly, my family were my lifeline and helped me through the worst of my moments. Not long after I came back to Minnesota, I moved into my own apartment and was employed and sober. My only brother, Jeff, was really the one who pushed me out of my initial alcohol addiction because he had been through it himself and knew what I was going through. We bonded through recovery and spent most of our time together, and then tragedy struck again. My brother lost his fight with mental health and addiction and ended his life without warning. I was inconsolable. I pushed my parents, away in my shame of drinking and not being able to handle the grief. We didn’t speak for months at a time, when I was homeless and lost. And I know they felt that they didn’t just lose my brother, they had lost both of their sons. I had sent them a suicidal text message at one point, and then turned off my phone. Scaring my mother to death.

It had really been years since I had spoken to them with a clear head, but I called them after being in the program for a few days. My mom said that was one of the happiest nights of her life knowing I was safe. They came to visit a few months in and I apologized and assured them that I was ready to be sober for good. I was excited to have them visit. I took my first family pass in September and spent 4 days with them. We’re not perfect, but they’ve seen me change over the last 7 months. I’ve proven my commitment to change and they feel like they’ve gotten their son back. I’ve since graduated the long-term program and I’m a student at the Teen Challenge Learning Institute. They were so happy to watch my graduation ceremony and be a part of my future.

FREEDOM

One of the words we use most within our walls, is Freedom. Our mission is to help men, women and teens in Minnesota find freedom from life-controlling substances and we couldn’t do it without you. Every client needs support from the moment they make the decision to come into treatment, to the years following their graduation. With your help, we can give them the counseling, grace and relationship with Jesus that they need to stay free from addiction for the rest of their lives.

As you’re reading this, we’ve come to the ending of my story, but certainly not the end.

I have always felt called to ministry, and for years, I searched for a way but could never make it a reality.  Here, this dream is being fulfilled.  With the help of scholarships and a special arrangement between TCLI and Minnesota School of Ministry, I am currently taking classes to earn credentials with the Assemblies of God.  For the first time, I am looking to the future: finding ways not only to help myself, but others as well.

MNTC gave me the tools to become free from addiction, but that’s just the first step in true freedom.   Now, I’m designing the rest of my life to be free in ALL areas.  For example, they helped me get my driver’s license, birth certificate and social security card back.  This may not seem like a big deal, but these are critical to starting a new life.  Additionally, I am consciously making new friends, and deliberately choosing healthy relationships that I want to cultivate moving forward.  Between faith, employment, relationships and education, I’m finding true fulfillment for my soul, and the next chapter of my life.

THIS IS WORKING

​After graduating the long-term program at Teen Challenge, I enrolled in the Teen Challenge Leadership Institute.  This allowed me to further develop my relationship with Jesus, while really focusing on what my new life would look like.

While taking classes here at the school, I have developed my ministry skills and learned from some of the best instructors around.  But what is even more important is that I have developed a network of lifelong friends who are walking this journey with me.  I continue to take courses through the Minnesota School of Ministry (MNSOM), and am on track to be a fully certified and licensed pastor by the end of 2023.  I have become an active member in my church, participating in small groups and serving on their “service team.”  Also, I will take my first missionary trip to Costa Rica in March, when we will help Costa Rica Teen Challenge further develop their own facility.

There have been so many blessings made available to me only through Adult and Teen Challenge Minnesota.  I listed some of these above.  The opportunity that most excites me, however, is that Teen Challenge hired me full-time, effective February 6, 2023 as the administrative assistant for TCLI.  In June, 2021, I walked through the doors of Teen Challenge homeless, addicted and utterly without hope.  Over the next 20 months, Teen Challenge filled me with love, hope, faith, and the skills to start my new life in Christ.  Now they have also given me the place to do that.  I am excited to start this new phase of life.  It is my turn to be a blessing to those around me, and to share the love and hope that I once though was only imaginary.