Q: Why is Teen Challenge one of the most effective drug recovery programs in America for individuals of all ages?

A: We have created a framework that challenges people to reach their fullest potential; Spiritually - Socially - Educationally - Occupationally.

Robbie's Story

My mother and father had me in church at a young age, and I always knew that there was a God. However, I did not truly have a personal relationship with the Lord. When I turned 18 my life started getting out of control. I made the decision  to live my life as I saw fit, and it soon lead me down the pathway of destruction. I was an alcoholic, drug addict and most of all I was spiritually dead. I wandered through life seeking and trying to find out who I really was. I was so lost and desperate that my desperation caused me to do things unthinkable and to hurt the people who loved me the most. I became my own worst nightmare. My own family did not even want to be around me. My life was so out of control that I never believed it was
possible for it to get any better.

However, the Lord made Himself so real to me. I was literally on my hands and knees crying out to God to say my life because I was about to die. The Lord touched me that night and my life has never been the same. The next day my father brought me to Alabama Teen Challenge. It was during this intense one-year discipleship program that the Lord began to clean me up from the inside out, and deal with all the issues that drove me to use dugs and alcohol. I found the love and acceptance in Jesus Christ that I was so desperately trying to find in the world, and that was what truly changed my life.

I completed the ATC program and went to the Teen Challenge International Ministry Institute in Jacksonville, Florida. It was there that the Lord really began to do a deep work in my life. He brought me to a place of true brokenness and surrender. I then returned to Alabama to serve as a staff member of Teen Challenge, giving back to the very ministry that the Lord used to save my life. The Lord has restored my relationship with my family. To complement all these blessings, the Lord gave me a wonderful Godly woman (a Florida Teen Challenge staff member) to share the rest of my life with in marriage. The Lord has also placed a strong desire in my heart to further my education. I am attending Southeastern Bible University in Lakeland, Florida. The Lord has restored my life to me and done exceedingly far more than I could have ever imagined. The scripture that has impacted my life is John 10:10 - "The thief cometh only to kill, steal, and to destroy, but I have come that they may have life and life more abundantly". I am experiencing that abundant life and it amazes me every day.

Robbie
Class of 2003