Once Unwanted, Now a Daughter of the King

Unloved. Unwanted. That was Amber Lynne’s childhood reality.

“My sisters and I were always a burden to my parents,” she said. Drugs were more important to her parents than their children were.

At age 14, Amber Lynne numbed her own pain with drugs.  “I wanted a life that was different from my parents…but I became like them instead.”

But Amber Lynne had a praying aunt. At a Teen Challenge BBQ her aunt learned about Teen Challenge’s addiction recovery ministry—she had been praying for Amber Lynne and her sisters.

Two years later, Amber Lynne reached her breaking point. She called her aunt, who called Teen Challenge, and shortly after, Amber Lynne entered Teen Challenge of Southern California.

At Teen Challenge she discovered she was loved. And wanted. And God created her for a purpose.

Amber Lynne went on to graduate from Teen Challenge and then TCMI. Today she is using the ministry skills she learned at TCMI in her position of Teacher/Advisor at Ventura Teen Challenge, helping other women.

The estimates are that 10% of the 26 million people in our area—from Fresno to the Mexico border—are addicted to drugs. More than two and a half million people in Central and Southern California wake up, every day, craving their next fix. The number who struggle with alcohol is even higher.

Teen Challenge has the answer for the addiction plague. We want to show every Amber Lynne that they can have freedom in Christ. We want a better life for them all, so that addiction is only known in distant memories.

Amber Lynne is loved. She is wanted. She is a daughter of the King. That’s her new reality. Thank you for helping make it possible.