Staff

I was raised in a good home by a single mother who taught me right from wrong, and worked hard to ensure I had everything I needed growing up. Despite all that I started using drugs at the age of 14 as way to fit in. As the years passed they became an everyday habit. At 16 I was smoking marijuana and taking LSD almost daily. My increasing abuse led me to drop out of school. At 19 I began to experiment with meth on the weekends.

I was lazy, unemployed and uneducated; I dropped out of trade school in 2001 and went to work as a computer repair tech. As my addiction worsened I started stealing from my employer and eventually was caught and fired. After my mother was left paralyzed by a stroke in 2003 I began a path of self-destruction that led me to rock bottom. I lost my apartment, my possessions, my fiancé, and all hope. As things became worse I became more hateful, more depressed, and more indifferent; I didn’t care about anyone or anything, especially myself. I was sleeping in a 6’x8’ storage unit during the day, and living out of my car at night, stealing whatever I could from whoever I could to feed my addiction. I ended up in jail facing a minimum of 3 years in state prison for a long list of charges including possession, forgery, and commercial burglary.

In jail I met a man who told me about Jesus and a good church I could go to once I got out. By a miracle I was released from jail and assigned to a drug program. After my release I walked into the church that man told me about and began to attend almost daily, scrubbing floors, cleaning restrooms, washing windows, I did whatever I could to stay off the streets and off of drugs. But it wasn’t enough, I fell right back into my addiction a short time after my release from jail and found myself again living out of my car and struggling to feed an addiction that was sucking out what little life I had left in me. At my lowest point, I found myself in a box behind a dumpster as I cowered in the corner getting high. I had separated myself so far from my family and friends that most never wanted to see or hear from me again. The pastor I reported to at the church, Patrick Manzow, then told me about Teen Challenge.

I came into Teen Challenge in 2005. I was broken, desperate for change, and had no hope of ever being the person I once was. It is now going on 5 years later and I have come to discover that I was right for never hoping to be the man I once was. I’m now a new man, with a full time job in the TC ministry. I’ve gone back to school and I’m working on various technical certifications and an A.S. in computer science. My family has been restored to me, and the friends who knew me then can’t believe who I am now. And it gets better; I met and married my beautiful wife Wendy, who is also a TC graduate, in May 2008. Through the ministry of Teen Challenge God brought me closer to Him, showed me how to live for Christ, and gave me the foundation I needed to continue building my relationship with Him. God saved and changed me through Teen Challenge. (Jason C., staff & graduate, as is his wife Wendy)

All my life growing up, I had problems with my self-esteem. I always wanted to fit in with a certain type of crowd. I saw myself as more of a follower than a leader. When I decided to move to Los Angeles in 1998 I thought that I was making a good decision. But I came to realize that I was slowly going down a path of degradation. I got involved with the wrong crowd of people and soon after that my drug usage began.

From the occasional marijuana smoking my addiction slowly progressed up to cocaine, popping pills and then methamphetamine. The one thing I thought I would never do had become a normal routine for me. I started shooting up crystal meth.

Things only started to get worse from here. I started to rob and steal from my family and friends to support my drug habit. I would do whatever I had to do to get my next fix. I slowly but surely began to lose everything. First, I lost my family and friends, soon after that I lost my career, finally my self respect. Soon I found myself homeless and living in the streets of Los Angeles. I moved from motel to motel for shelter. I began dumpster diving for food, which started to be a normal routine for me. I started to get in trouble with the law and went in and out of jail several times.

The people who I thought were my friends were no longer around because I had no more drugs to offer them. When I finally got arrested in April 2006 I came to a point of complete brokenness. I was tired of running from the law and going through dumpsters for food. I was ready for a new life. I had nothing left. I knew I needed help.

I cried out to God in the LA County Jail and asked Him for help. I knew that I could not do this by myself anymore. I promised God that if He were to help me change my life, I would never go back to the life I was living. When I went to court a few days later, I was facing 4 years in State Prison. But instead, God answered my prayers and the prayers of my family. I was given a second chance to change my life and go to Teen Challenge.

On June 21, 2006, I entered the doors of Los Angeles County Teen Challenge. Four days later I rededicated my life to the Lord. Ever since that day I no longer worry about having to fit in or about my self-esteem issue because I know that God looks at what’s inside my heart and is not concerned about the outside appearance.

I no longer sleep in the streets but in a comfortable bed. I no longer go through dumpsters to find food. The Lord has also restored my relationship with my family and I now have true friends. I now have a sense of peace and true happiness that I did not have before. I am a new creation, a true miracle. I am no longer afraid of what people think of me. I have a wonderful relationship with God that no one can take away. After all, if God is for me who can be against me? He has not forsaken me and I know that He never will.

I also have the privilege of working for Southern California Teen Challenge. I work in the Accounting Department and 2 nights a week, I am in charge of a ministry we have at Riverside County Juvenile Hall. It is amazing to see God’s work in progress. I thank Him everyday for saving my life. I thank Him for dying for me so that I can live a resurrected life. (Adam E., staff & graduate)