Teen Challenge
"Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee."
Teen Challenge of TX
I have a personal testimony that involves Teen Challenge. But even if I didn't, this would be a ministry that everyone should know about because they are really making a difference! Their purpose is to provide people with a solution to life-controlling drug and alcohol problems. The solution they provide is Jesus Christ and the Christian life! I know this may sound like "bible-thumping" but believe me, it is the only rehabilitation program I've seen that works on a regular basis.
I know lots of people, as I am sure that you do as well, who have had problems and had to go to a rehab facility. You can read it in the news every day where some celebrity has to go into rehab. Life is tough these days and drugs and alcohol are easy "solutions" to ever pressing life problems, so they seem. Anyway, most of these rehab centers just don't get good results! Their programs aren't long enough, they are too expensive, they don't offer life changing solutions and they just don't stick when they are successful. Teen Challenge never even mentions drugs or alcohol during their 13 month program. The residents are simply immersed in Jesus! They are taught to discipline themselves and rely on God to help them ease their pain and control their addictions. They go to work everyday; helping people in and arround their communities, cutting grass, repairing furniture, painting homes, etc. They learn to fall on each other for accountability and they depend on each other and the staff for support. But the best part is that the success rate hovers around 85%! After the program, most of them stay off the drugs! That is astonishing!
A few years ago my son became addicted to meth and the drug "lifestyle". He ultimately laid waste to his whole life. He had graduated college, had a good job, but he chose to give it all up, including his parents and the rest of his family, all for the love of meth! We were devastated! We thought Daniel had a good future laid out in front of him. To watch him just cast it into the ditch was heartbreaking. And to hear him say that I was the main cause of his problems was a crushing blow. Finally, Daniel just disappeared. We didn't know if he was alive or dead. We couldn't take it. In our despair, we went to the only place you can go when you hit bottom. The Lord sustained us, brought us through the fire! We could not have made it emotionally without Him leading the way.
About a year after he disappeared, something happened to Daniel that scared him enough to call us and ask to come home. Thank God! We brought him home, forgave him, fed him and loved on him, then turned him over to the local police. We were not allowed to bail him out and the judge was about to give him 8 years in prison for all his "doings". But through God's grace, and with the help of a few friends that loved him, he ended up in Teen Challenge. They took him in and never asked us for a dime! I couldn't believe that! But this ministry really relies on the Lord to provide for them by "poking" you and me to give to them! Anyway, they took him in and the rest is history! They helped him see that the Lord had been trying to reach him. 13 months is a long time to the person who has to live through it, and there were a few bumps along the way for Daniel. But he finished the program, surrendered to the Lord, and then to everyone's delight, he decided to stay with them to pass the blessing on to other individuals!
Now, several years later, Daniel is still there! He works full time for Teen Challenge and is now serving as part of the process that God used to give him a new life! This process not only changes individual lives, but rebuilds families and communities by the grace of God!
But this whole thing has been a life lesson for all of us. We have all grown closer to each other and closer to the Lord in the process. I, personally, came to realize that Daniel had been right about me being the cause, even though I didn't want to admit it. Just as Eli the priest set a bad example and allowed his sons to "run wild" (see 1 Samuel), and many others I could cite, I had done the same! And God held Eli and myself accountable! He just used Daniel's voice to "call me out", that's all.
But, as I stated earlier, God brought us through the fire. He has delivered Daniel completely from the drugs that had attempted to take his life for good. He is now completely dedicated to God and to Teen Challenge. Only the Lord of Glory could have done that! Praise Him!
If you have money to give to ministry, I pray that you would consider the ministry of Teen Challenge. And if someone in your family needs deliverance from addiction, I am here to testify that this is the place! They are a nationwide ministry. Read about Teen Challenge USA at their website - www.teenchallengeusa.com.