Ashley
I have always been a church girl. My parents were very strong in God and following His ways. When I lost my mom to cancer at 15, I was mad at God and turned to drugs and alcohol to cope with my pain. About eight months later, I lost my dad in a car accident, and things for me got worse.
My sister sent me to Teen Challenge to find a safe place where I could get the help and healing I desperately needed. I have been in the program for four months now, and God has been working in my life in many ways. He is healing and restoring my heart and my relationship with Him is growing strong.
Brittany
I was raised without much Christian influence, and I was a very troubled child. I was destructive and attention-seeking. Deep in my soul, I yearned deep for acceptance, and I became extremely emo. I began getting involved in unhealthy relationships and doing very bad things like being promiscuous and smoking.
When I came to Teen Challenge, I accepted Christ into my life. Through my time here, I have learned to cope with my emotions in healthier ways and to communicate better with my family. I have grown socially, emotionally, educationally and spiritually. After graduating Teen Challenge, I want to go to Masters Commission and attend Taylor University.
Emily
Growing up, I felt like the black sheep in my family. I felt that I was always being compared to my older brother, but I could never quite measure up. To avoid the pain and frustration I felt, I turned to drugs and alcohol. Life began to spin out of control, and eventually, I asked my mom for help.
I came to Teen Challenge willingly, with a desire to change. At TC, I learned that I am not alone and that I can achieve anything I set my mind to. I accepted Jesus into my heart and I am working through the issues that took me down the wrong road in the past. I am the happiest I have been in a very long time.
kate
All my life I have struggled with acceptance. I was raped by a girl at a very young age, and my father was always in and out of my life. I took my first taste of alcohol at age eight or nine, and have been drinking ever since. I started smoking cigarettes and using illegal drugs at age 12 and continued drinking alcohol. I became promiscuous at age eleven and longed for attention from a male figure because of the lack of father figure in my life. I struggled with low self-esteem and self-worth since my rape. I used drugs and drank to hide and numb the pain I felt inside. I never knew who I really was.
When I was 16, my dad committed suicide. After his death, my usage of drugs and alcohol escalated. I found help by coming to Teen Challenge, where I have grown and strengthened my relationship with God and put everything in His hands. I intend to finish the program and perhaps school through TC. Im not sure what God has planned for me, but I know I am called into some type of ministry.
Kristen
My parents got divorced when I was two or three. Since the divorce, my mother has been involved in very abusive relationships, abusing not only herself, but me and my sister as well. I went to my first counselor at the age of four because of the divorce and the abuse that was introduced into my life. Because my mothers house was dangerous, my sister and I lived with our dad. He had us actively going to church every weekend and attending youth group regularly. After about thirteen years, my dad met my step-mom. When they got married in June 2006, I accepted my new brother and sister, as well as my step-mom and this new life. I had a really good relationship with my dad and step-mom.
I went into high school, I really wanted to be accepted by other people. I would do anything to get attention from anyone, even if it was negative attention. I began failing my classes and seeing my friends as more important than my family. I was surrounded by the people who drank, smoked, and skipped school. I dated a boy my freshman year and kept it a secret from my parents. I got too involved emotionally and physically. Since then, I became promiscuous and ended up barely passing my freshman year.
My sophomore year was no different, except that now I was skipping school. My grades would fluctuate and I would be grounded on and off. Because of the strict groundings and guidelines my parents had on me, I never wanted to be at home. I would do anything to get away, often lying and manipulating my way out. During this time my mom was going through her second divorce and the abuse was getting worse. She met another guy who wasnt any better. He was very verbally abusive and liked to make threats. I began seeing my mother cower in fear because of the ruling he had over her and I told myself Id never end up like her. The abuse I received made me a very angry person. I began closing up. I would often go off on people who didnt deserve it but made me agitated.
I managed to get my grades up just in time at the end of the year, letting me pass. Near the end of my year, I met a guy who I thought was different than all the rest, but he turned out to be just the same. In front of our parents we would act like everything was great, but when we were alone we were fooling around and getting as close to the line as we could. We talked about sex and agreed that it would make our relationship better. We had sex but didnt tell anyone about it and kept it a secret.
Throughout all this, I was going to church and playing the part of having it all together. I learned how to manipulate my parents to get everything my way. I lied about everything and if my parents found out about one lie, I lied again to cover it up. I didnt want them to know how I was actually acting, and how bad I let myself end up. I didnt want them to see how out of control my life was.
My parents found out about me skipping school and having sex. They sent me to Teen Challenge in October 2009. I didnt think that I needed any help and that my parents didnt want me at home anymore. They would tell me that they cared but I didnt believe them. I did enough to get by until coming back from Christmas break. I began applying myself and working hard. I also realized that I needed God to help me and that I couldnt do it without Him. I think that my relationship has grown with God, as well as with my parents and the rest of my family. I now plan on graduating with my class and going to college. I want to move someplace warm and sunny and start my life.
Kyla
I grew up in a Christian home with my mom, but my father was never really in the picture. I have had trouble with trust, and I have used boys to feel loved or comforted. Over time, I became an addict in order to hide the pain I was feeling inside. I knew things were out of control when I found myself in a juvenile detention center because of my negative choices.
I came to Teen Challenge the day I got out of JDC and have learned so much. I have accepted things that were difficult and know regardless of who may or may not love me, God (my Father) always loves me for me. Learning to follow Gods ways wouldnt have happened for me without Teen Challenge. Christ is now a huge part of my life, and I plan to keep it that way when I go home to my family.
Lauren
A one night happening, a marriage doomed from the start, a father who left his vows at home, and a mother trying desperately to make ends meet for a daughter she hadnt planned on; that was me from the womb, born into a beautiful mess. My father left for another woman when I was two, leaving my mom to fend for us alone. My mom seemed to find a way to provide every mile marker of the way and life as I knew it, wasnt so awful. I was too young to know much of the father who never was. I was an honor roll student through school, I played all the sports, & I said my pleases & thank yous. It seemed I was on the right track, but there was far more than met the eye. At eleven, I lost my best friend to cancer, my mothers best friend was dying of liver failure, my father never returned my calls, and my mother was desperately trying to make ends meet in the midst of a chaotic life she didnt handpick. I felt very alone, which turned into quiet anger, waiting to erupt.
Just as I hit the emotional roller coaster of an age, we picked up and moved states, my father reemerged, and my mother began to work twice as much as before. This all happened far too fast for me. I gave up sports, and my grades began to take a tumble. In 8th grade, after wrecking my fathers car, I was suffering from mild depression. This led me to sleep meds, doing anything I could to avoid being aware. Once I hit high school, I began to pull through, my grades were decent and I started to make friends. I soon got involved in smoking marijuana, which didnt take long to become my new every day perk. I began to date a guy I was head over heels for and became promiscuous. We eventually split up, which led me quickly into the arms of anyone who would have me, and to the front door of every house party. I was extremely mischievous, doing anything to be away from the isolation I felt at home and to satisfy my thirst to be loved.
Eventually this led me to a hospital bed, in Cincinnati Childrens psychiatric ward. My mother feared for my life. By now, I was 17 and terribly self destructive. My mom realized the severity of the path I had been on and she saw that she had ten months before I was off on my own. Speed kills, and at the rate I was going, death was inching my way. I had plans, and no means to get there. I was lost, and in denial of any real problem I had. I came to Teen Challenge on January 18th. Reality came crashing in on me; I was so consumed with all of my failures and expectations, I needed help.
Teen Challenge turned out to be exactly what I needed. God met me where I was, bent & broken, and has extended his merciful hand to mold something wonderful out of me. I know the Lord has wonderful plans for my life, because he has wonderful plans & purposes for all of his children. I have mended relationships with my family, Im going to graduate high school early, and Im praying over where I go from here. My life is looking up and I have the staff of Teen Challenge and the grace of God to thank. Without this miraculous intervention, Im not sure where Id be. Im happy for the changes that have taken place here, they are changes that Ill hold forever.
I wasnt really raised in a Christian family. My dad was always gone and I found out that if I tried hard enough, I could get whatever I wanted. During middle school, I was always made fun of, so I became insecure. With that I started to do drugs, smoke cigarettes and quickly became addicted to alcohol.
Drugs made me into a monster; into someone I never thought I would become. When I came to Teen Challenge, I was angry, but God softened my heart and made me realize I can live a better life. I am working through my anger and addictions and restoring relationships with my family. My relationship with God is growing strong, and I now want to go to Bible College to become a youth pastor.
Rinnah
tosha's story
I started my life out going from home to home, no attachments, just people I didnt know. When I was four years old I had been in the Knisley family for almost two years and I was adopted along with my older brother. In time I grew to like my new family, I went to church every Sunday without a fuss. I got a little older and one night my parents decided to go somewhere. They got us a babysitter; he was a church member and a friend of the family. That night he raped me. I was confused and petrified and I chose to remain silent about the situation. In the following years I stayed as far away from him as possible. Finally, it got to the point where I ignored his existence.
When I was in Middle School I became fascinated with the boys. I thought I had to have a boyfriend, it became an obsession. It got worse as I went into high school, I would do anything to get a boyfriend. I wanted to fit in and be the one that was popular, I thought I needed acceptance, when really I just wanted it. Close to my sixteenth birthday my current boyfriends step-dad molested me, he got arrested and soon enough the whole school knew the story. I was called names, made fun of, and talked about. I got really tired of what people were calling me and just started acting like the names they were calling me. I went to parties, had sex with a lot of boys and drank my life away.
Near the end of my sophomore year I missed a lot of school and got really into the party scene. I started dating a guy and he introduced me to pills and snorting them. Id end up going to parties instead of school just to be with him and Id do all kinds of different things. In the end it all led to a disaster, I was going to a chorus meeting with my mom and I was not in my right mind at all. I fell asleep and didnt wake up so I went to the hospital, my mom was really scared. I threw a book at the car windshield and broke the mirror, my mom called the cops on me. I got arrested on the spot and went straight to JDC. I got out after 6 days and waited 2 months for my court date, once I went to court they court ordered me to Teen Challenge.
