In 1958, a Pennsylvania preacher named David Wilkerson was thrown out of a New York City court room after asking to speak to a group of teenage gang members who were facing convictions for the murder of a crippled boy. Despite the embarrassment of the moment, Wilkerson still felt called by God to reach out to drug addicts and gang members, so he and his younger brother Don founded Teen Challenge. The ministry first began at 416 Clinton Avenue in Brooklyn’s Clinton Hill Historic District. The program soon found success and to date there are 1,400 Teen Challenge Centers (now known as Adult and Teen Challenge) throughout the world.

Southeast region director Zac Stokes shared the challenges of helping adults and teens who are battling addiction. “Addiction is very rarely the root of what it is. It’s almost always a symptom of some other issues that are going on that they simply mask or try to numb through substance abuse,” he said. The program lasts 12 months and offers a structured environment to keep participants from the triggers and temptations that brought them into addiction. The program also aims to find ways to help participants afford tuition for the program. It’s also open to anyone. “We don’t require you to be a believer or a person of faith coming into the program. But our hope is that the authenticity of it sticks and it pushes you to give it a shot and pursue it,” said Stokes. The program focuses on life change. “The product of a changed life is probably the greatest modern-day miracle we have.”

Back in Brooklyn where it all started, Brooklyn Adult and Teen Challenge Executive Director Paul Burke emphasized the program’s focus on discipleship. “We focus more on the discipleship part, less on the addiction part,” he told The Christian Post in 2020. “[We believe] the addiction part takes care of itself when somebody fully embraces their walk with the Lord. I always say sobriety is a byproduct of a healthy spiritual person.” Burke struggled with addiction for 18 years before graduating from the program in 2009. Pastor Michael La Pietra, who oversees the center’s public relations, is also a graduate from 2016. “I was going through secular programs over and over and they weren’t working for substance abuse. I was using prescription pills, drinking, smoking pot, the whole nine yards, it wasn’t having much success with my life.” Adult and Teen Challenge isn’t just for men either. Adult & Teen Challenge Mid-America recently announced it would be opening a program for women. Despite having graduated from the program, Burke acknowledged the need to keep up his spiritual life. ““I have to be as intentional about my own spiritual life and recovery as I was while I was a student in the program,” he said. “And seeing these guys and the brokenness that they come in with, it keeps me broken before the Lord, knowing that that would have been me if it was not for the Lord.”