Thankful People: Freedom from drug addiction through Teen Challenge ministry

EDITOR'S NOTE: Thankful People is a group of stories put together every Thanksgiving by the Southeast Missourian that focus on local people who have special reasons to be thankful.

Jason Stricklin is thankful for a second chance.

After the Arkansas native struggled 15 years with drug addiction, last night he was scheduled to graduate from the Teen Challenge International of Mid-America program.

Teen Challenge is a faith-based, long-term residential program that ministers to men with life-controlling addictions.

"I'm thankful my situation will change," Stricklin said. "This is the first thing I've completed since high school."

According to the Rev. James Bolin, executive director of Teen Challenge in Cape Girardeau, this is a major accomplishment for Stricklin and other graduates.

"To reach graduation is a milestone because the students know they've done it," the Rev. Bolin said. "It's an intensive program and gives them a sense of self-accomplishment through the Lord's help and represents a new beginning."

For Stricklin, the new beginning is returning to his family, free from drug addiction and with a renewed sense of self-worth.

"Teen Challenge exposed me to the fact there is a power greater than any drug addiction or notion of self, and that is Jesus Christ," he said.

Stricklin, 39, said his addiction began at age 24 after having wisdom teeth extracted. He said although he had tried alcohol and marijuana, the painkillers provided his first encounter with opiates.

Before entering the Teen Challenge program, Stricklin described himself as a defeated failure.

"I was a failed son, soldier, citizen and student," he said. "My family gave up on me, and I gave up on myself. My failures wiped out any optimism for a future. Nothing good came out of me."

Stricklin lived in North Little Rock, Ark., on minimum-supervision probation. During his senior year of college he found himself falling into destructive old habits. His pastor recommended Teen Challenge. Stricklin spent four months at Teen Challenge in Hot Springs, Ark., and came to the Cape Girardeau campus in January.

Students generally spend four months at one location and finish with 10 months at the Cape Girardeau facility. They spend time in Bible studies and chapel meetings and attending weekly community church services. Mornings are spent studying, and students gain employment skills through the campus thrift store, wood shop, lawn-care service and more.

Teen Challenge has been part of the community for more than 40 years. The national organization was founded by the Rev. David Wilkinson in 1958.

The Rev. Bolin said the program addresses spiritual, academic and vocational needs. He said there currently are 170 students, each with a story similar to Stricklin's.

"Many students in the program would tell you they would be dead without it," he said.

According to the Rev. Bolin, the Teen Challenge organization is thankful for what God does for students such as Stricklin, and for the support of the community.

"We are blessed," he said.

Stricklin said he is thankful for the Rev. Bolin and his staff, other students and the community.

"My dad said I could not have landed in a better place. It's neat to see a community that invests in people's lives that others have given up on," Stricklin said.

Stricklin made some lasting connections for which he is grateful. The manager of the thrift store where he works is a Teen Challenge graduate. He also has a roommate who, like him, had been discharged from the military.

Stricklin said he and his cohorts laugh at the smallest, silliest things.

"We were starved for laughter," he said. "What a wonderful thing to be able to laugh and cry and be inspired. We get to be part of the human experience."

Stricklin described the experience as being able to give back to others what he has experienced, and to share a spiritual connection. He is thankful for his family and to "be back in the game."

"I am ready to pursue the highest calling a man can pursue," Stricklin said. "And that is serving God without shame and fear. It's a privilege; despite my failures, God has said he still wants me. I am most thankful for what I'll be able to give."