TeenChallengeUSA.com

Dan

I was raised in an abusive home and I started using alcohol at a very early age to cope with hating myself. After completing high school and having several alcohol related arrests I ended up joining the United States Marine Corps, like two of my brothers.

Shortly after enlisting, I was deployed to Iraq, which turned out to be one of the most intense deployments any unit has encountered there. We lost 35 men total and had about 450 injured - everything from ruptured ear drums to missing limbs. I returned home messed up and angry.

After another deployment, I got heavier into drinking. Upon getting out of the Marine Corps I knew I was heading down a dark path and began receiving help at the VA Hospital. Then after the loss of a good friend in Iraq I started slipping a bit. When another friend I served with killed himself, I slipped even further. When I thought things could not get any worse, my brother (also a Marine) hanged himself.

At that point I went off the deep end, became depressed, got a divorce, ended up in jail and treatment, and eventually tried to kill myself. Finally, I found myself at the bottom of a jail cell with no hope and nowhere to go. The first thing I heard after posting bail was a Teen Challenge testimony on the radio.

A week later I checked myself into Teen Challenge and my life completely changed. I went from a morally corrupt and miserable person to someone who loves God, other people and myself. I have three children I dearly love, am married to a beautiful woman, and have been blessed with so many opportunities. I was able to tell my story to the Senate, Congress and to several of the members of the National Religious Broadcasters. I want everyone to know the miracle that God has done in my life.

Jason

Arrested for the first time at age 14, I was on the road to destruction. I turned 19 in the state prison and by 24 I had been arrested too many times to count. I mixed alcohol and Xanax and fell asleep with the cruise control set on 90. Read more ...

After the crash, my parents were told I had a 20% change of survival. I was in intensive care on life support for three weeks with a lacerated liver and all of my ribs were crushed. God spared my life and I was released from the hospital after a month. This wasn’t enough to get me to change. I started using more drugs and could not distinguish reality from fiction. Soon I found myself facing the possibility of a 20-year prison sentence. It was at this time I truly learned all things are possible with God. I was released to Teen Challenge the same day. I expected a rehab center, but I found something different -- Jesus Christ. My relationship with God brought freedom I had never experienced.

God called me to help others be free from their addictions. Today I am a state certified drug and alcohol counselor, a certified minister, and one year away from having my bachelor’s degree in behavioral science. My driving privileges have been restored and I’ve been promoted to program director of the Teen Challenge where I’m helping men work toward new lives in Christ. Words cannot describe the wonderful journey that God has taken me on since I surrendered my life to Him. When I think back 5 years ago to that young man in the jail cell and look at where God has brought me now, it only makes me want to praise Him more!

Sally

Before coming to Alabama Teen Challenge, I was taking three psychiatric medications just to be mentally stable due to a deep depression caused by the abuse I was forced to endure as a child and the guilt of my rebellion as a teen. Read more ...

Mary Beth

I am NOT an alcoholic nor am I a drug addict! 6 years ago I couldn't say that. 39 years of my life were plagued with wrong decisions, and major drug and alcohol addiction. I lost everything I held dear, including my children. I was homeless and miserable, and begged God to let me die. God doesn't always give us what we ask for. Read more ...

At Teen Challenge I learned to take responsibility for my actions and not to hide from life through drugs and alcohol. I will always be grateful to the ministry of Teen Challenge, but also to those who have prayed and supported Teen Challenge.

Julie

Addiction came in many forms in my life -- drugs, alcohol, and men. At 16 I became a meth addict, and at 20, a full-blown alcoholic. At Teen Challenge God has taught me the true definition of love. For the first time in my life I have hope!

Jeff

I am so thankful for the attention and love that was poured out on me while I was in the Teen Challenge Program. I could never fully put into words the impact that God has allowed it to have upon my life. Since completion, I have re-established a relationship with my nine year old son, married a wonderful woman, and rejoiced in the birth of our beautiful daughter.

Billy Graham

I've believed in this ministry since its very beginning. And I continue to support it. I consider it a real privilege to endorse this work. Thank God for Teen Challenge!

Ruth Graham

We have long been aware of the tremendous ministry of Teen Challenge. I consider it a real privilege to endorse this work. Thank God for places like Teen Challenge that not only understand the problem, but know God, who can set young people free and transform them into whole, useful, caring people.

Charles Colson

The Teen Challenge program succeeds when all of the government programs have failed.

Ronald Reagan

Not only does Teen Challenge help our young people deal with their substance abuse, but is also gives our kids something to live for -- a relationship with God, a healthy self-esteem, and a direction in their lives that finally leads somewhere.

It’s going to take the all-out commitment of concerned citizens like you and me to help turn the tide of drug abuse among our kids, but for Teen Challenge to help we need your help now more than ever. A wise person once said that God’s reward for a job well done is that He always gives us a bigger job to do. We have that bigger job, and with your generosity we’ll help more of America’s youth than ever before.

I sincerely appreciate your efforts to reach and rehabilitate the many young people who have, at present, no hope in life. The ministry and dedication of Teen Challenge deserve the commendation of every citizen.

Dr. John A. Howard (Former Member National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse)

Of all the drug programs reported to the Commission, the most successful is the religiously based program conducted by Teen Challenge.

George W. Bush

Too many young [people] have already lost their lives, and too many others have suffered serious injury for us to ignore the problems of juvenile alcohol and drug abuse. Programs such as yours [Teen Challenge] work to change young people's lives by changing their hearts. I commend you for your work with young men who are addicted to drugs or alcohol." (See President Bush's comments on YouTube)

John Ashcroft

I believe in the work of this great organization. A government funded research project concluded that Teen Challenge has the highest success rate in helping people move from substance abuse, off substance abuse. The ministry of Teen Challenge International, USA has helped countless individuals through its 40-year history. Teen Challenge changes the world one person at a time, by offering hope and direction to those with problems that are ruining their lives.

Check us out on Facebook.com/TeenChallenge and Twitter.com/TCUSA, to find more stories about lives that have been and are being changed by what God is doing through Teen Challenge.