Teen Challenge marks 40 years of faith-based help

It's old news to any parent that teenagers can be a challenge. But despite what its name suggests, Teen Challenge is not a support group for parents at their wits' end, nor is it a program aimed exclusively at teenagers as they struggle through adolescence.

"Teen Challenge is a faith-based drug and alcohol recovery program," said Dr. Jack Smart, executive director of Teen Challenge International of Mid-America, which celebrated its 40th anniversary Saturday at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau. Smart said that 70 percent of the men and women who have entered Teen Challenge remain drug free, something he attributes directly to the core focus of the Teen Challenge program; the cultivation of a direct relationship between the students and God.

Originally Teen Challenge was based in New York City where it began outreach services to inner city gangs. But it did not take the group long to discover an underlying issue -- substance abuse. Today there are about 225 Teen Challenge centers in America, with an additional 1,100 centers in 82 different countries worldwide.

Chris Huerta said by the time he was 19, he had already been through several 12-step rehabilitation and inpatient programs designed to treat people with addictions, but nothing worked.

After dropping out of college, Huerta said his life continued to unravel. He said he reached his lowest point the day he realized he had been living on the streets of Dayton, Ohio, for more than six months. At that point Huerta knew he wanted to be free from his addiction, but after already having tried so many different rehab programs, he didn't know how.

"Eventually I made my way to Teen Challenge, and it was the most significant and life changing experience of my life, " Huerta said.

Huerta said that since his graduation from the program in 1990, he has been drug free and has since started a family and enjoys a successful career.

More than 550 area men and women attended the event, and although the testimonies of drug addiction and recovery varied from person to person, one theme remained constant, as Smart summarized, saying: "True freedom from drug and alcohol addiction can only be found by surrendering your life to God."