CHANGING LIVES

With little fanfare and recognition, Mid-America Teen Challenge continues to change the lives of wayward young men. Tucked away in the hills of northern Cape Girardeau County, there is nothing pretentious or particularly impressive about the center, except its success rate.

Law enforcement officials and judges say the Christian organization produces some of the lowest recidivism rates of any program aimed at rehabilitating young lawbreakers and drug and alcohol abusers. To some, Teen Challenge's success is a mystery. The organization eschews more sophisticated, modern rehabilitation methods in lieu of the straightforward: the life-changing power of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Sheri Rose Shepherd understands that power. On the surface, Shepherd -- a beauty queen and winner of the 1994-95 Mrs. United States of America pageant -- appears to have it all: a beautiful model, with a husband and young son.

But at the 11th annual Teen Challenge fund-raising banquet held recently at the Show Me Center, Shepherd told of being an overweight, unhappy child in a dysfunctional home. A drug user by age 9, Shepherd described drugs as her constant companion while growing up. Often depressed, she contemplated suicide many times. After the drugs came compulsive behavior of another kind: She suffered from bulimia.

What changed Shepherd is the same thing young men in the Teen Challenge program learn can change their lives as well: the saving grace of Jesus Christ. Mike Roussell, another speaker at the banquet, told the same story, but with a different plot and characters.

A drug and alcohol user, Teen Challenge introduced Roussell to a better life through Christian faith. A 1993 graduate of the center, Roussell now is a student at Central Bible College in Springfield, Mo.

Such stories are common at Teen Challenge, which is trying to raise $500,000 for capital projects and programs at the Cape Girardeau County center. With its successful track record, the money raised is money well spent by contributors.