Teen Challenge Exposed!

[Michael Kincheloe]

A former Teen Challenge student unmasks this abusive Christian drug and alcohol program. The site includes Shafter and Riverside pages, and an email address for feedback.

http://www.teenchallengeexposed.com

[John Rapier]

MY NAME IS JOHN,
I AM 5 YEARS SOBER. I AM A STAFFER FOR TEEN CHALLENGE. GOD HAS GAVE TO ME MUCH FAVOR IN MY LIFE, AND A SECOND CHANCE. I DON'T DRINK, SMOKE, OR DO DRUGS.
SINCE TEEN CHALLENGE MY LIFE HAS NEVER BEEN MORE REWARDING. I APPRECIATE LIFE MORE AND THE AWESOME PURPOSE IT HAS FOR ME. I WORK WITH STUDENT WHO ARE FROM ALL DIFFERENT LIFE-STYLES AND BACK GROUNDS. THE REASON FOR TEEN CHALLENGE IS TO HELP CHANGE LIVES, AND GO ON TO BE SUCESSFUL LAW ABIDING CITIZENS.

[Michael Kincheloe]

I'm glad to hear it, John. I've been told that not all of the Teen Challenge locations are as bad as the two that I was at.

I've been emailed by former TC students (or parents of students) about bad locations like Midland, TX, Pensacola FL, and Sanford, FL. Let's hope the good locations outweigh the bad ones.

Thanks for your feedback.

Michael Kincheloe

[Jennifer Barfield]

My husband graduated from Pensacola Teen Challenge and now is employed there. He went there drug addicted with his life in shambles and he came out a new creation in CHRIST!!!! The director in Pensacola is a great man of God who God uses everyday to lead hurting men to Christ. I love this program and I thank God everday for it!

[CDR]

Teen Challenge like any other program is what you make it.
those that make it think it is a great place.
those that don't whine!
Staff - I think TC is doing a better job in training them, we still have along way to go.
I'm sorry you had a bad experience there, let me aske are you off drugs now?

[Michael Kincheloe]

CDR wrote:

Teen Challenge like any other program is what you make it.
those that make it think it is a great place.
those that don't whine!
Staff - I think TC is doing a better job in training them, we still have along way to go.
I'm sorry you had a bad experience there, let me aske are you off drugs now?

Yes. Alcohol was my drug. I got drunk the day after I came home from TC. I've been sober now for 27 months by following the principles of A.A.

Thanks for asking, by the way.

[Lisa]

I am a 14 year Graduate of Teen Challenge. I got my GED went to Bible College, and graduate study. Where am I now...looking at being staff again for one of the many centers in the USA over the years I have not lost my love and appreciation for the program...your experience is not typical as you make it sound. Anger , seems to be a rough issue for you. Realize life is 95% perspective and some times what we think we have witnessed is our view of it and is colored by our past. I hope and pray you come to a place of healing. Which as Teen Challenge showed me can only truly come in Christ, not Teen Challenge but Christ.

[Michael Kincheloe]

The two Teen Challenge locations that I was at don't use Christ to heal, they use him like a pit bull on a leash. Jesus was never meant to be used to scare the [bleep] out of someone. Look how he treated the adultress. TC staff out here would have hounded her her entire stay, never letting her forget, let alone forgive. We, naturally, cannot be Christ, but we certainly can do our best to follow his example.

Anger is a normal emotion. Jesus wasn't real thrilled with that bunch that he threw out of the temple, was he? Legitimate anger is not sinful, but abusive anger is. The Shafter and Riverside TCs use abusive anger way too much. If you ever met the detestable Paul Montoya (Riverside), you'd understand waht I mean.

Congratulations on your fine education. I went from being a homeless drunk on the streets of downtown San Diego to being a student at a four-year university (Fresno State) by doing one thing: I stopped drinking. Staying clean and sober is absolutely necessary, whether through prayer (TC) or accepting that you're a drunk and always will be (AA). There is no life for people like us when we fall prey to those substances.

Take care.
Michael Kincheloe

[alexander]

i went to the tc in sanford. i was there for 5 months and left the program. i just cant see how someone can work for free and have all of their liberties taken from them for a whole year. i went into a federal program for veterans and now have a good job. had i stayed there god only knows where i would be today.

[Rene]

I was at Teen Challenge in Nashville, and I can honestly say that I left because I felt as if I were part of an infomercial for Teen Challenge to receive money. We were guests at many churches in and around the area and each time we were all hearded to the front of the church and without choice and whether or not we were okay yet we were to tell our story of how the program had completely changed our lives,even if we had only been there for two days. I can understand the God part of it because I do know that he is the only one that can completely heal us of our addictions,but come on....once you get out of there you need to have been taught the skills to live in the real world and not the world of teen challenge where each and every move you make is monitered and punished. You cannot force someone that has no christian background to stand up in a church and praise God and beg for money to help others like themselves if they haven't even gotten the help they need yet. It is like Bible College and Military Bootcamp all rolled into one and for someone who may not even know who they are yet it can be so overwhelming. I do know it helps some people, because I have seen it, but I also know that it can drive some people right back to the world they came from because if you feel that it is not the place for you and discuss leaving with them you are given the third degree and told by EVERYONE you come on contact with on your way out that you are making the worst mistake of your life and that you will never make it. You will die if you leave there because satan will attack you so hard that you cannot possibly survive. That IS NOT what an addict who is really trying to get better needs to hear. You cannot scare someone into getting sober. It is a hard thing to do in the first place and to me compassion and love go a lot farther than bullying someone into becoming a "Robot " for the sake of Teen Challenges survival as a program. Let time be the proof, when many who have been helped simply let others know that Teen Challenge may be what they need, because it helped them. If you have more people dropping out of the program then staying and "Graduating" then there is obviously a problem.

[rex]

Mike, i really have a problem with your comment that using prayer to treat addicition is like eating soup with a fork. It is very unfortunate that you would choose that line of reasoning in your tirade against Teen Challenge. Of course there are issues at various centers, that stands to reason since they are staffed by human beings. Prior to TC I went through seven secular programs only to relapse during or just after completion. While at these various programs i met several staff members that were subpar in there performance. In one federally funded program my counselor consistently fell asleep during our sessions. In modern slang, "It is what it is." It greives me that you had such a sour experience while at Teen Challenge, but I can say without reservation that it saved my life. As to Rene's comments concerning Nashville, I graduated from that center and my experience was wonderful.

[Bill]

Jennifer Barfield wrote:

My husband graduated from Pensacola Teen Challenge and now is employed there. He went there drug addicted with his life in shambles and he came out a new creation in CHRIST!!!! The director in Pensacola is a great man of God who God uses everyday to lead hurting men to Christ. I love this program and I thank God everday for it!

I know the Director as well. Ask him about using T.C. petty cash to buy furnishings for his new house. Ask how he and his wife of convience eat out almost every night on T.C. money.

[Bill]

I know the Director as well. Ask him about using T.C. petty cash to buy furnishings for his new house. Ask how he and his wife of convience eat out almost every night on T.C. money.

[rex]

Bill, come on guy, you're accusing someone of theft on an internet msg board. Now, who wants to throw the first stone?

[JJ McDade]

it does not matter what company it is. it can be disney or mcdonalds, you will always have somebody that had a bad experience. i'm a graduate of sanford teen challenge. it has been 2 years now and i am still sober by choice and have a great relationship with christ.

[TC supporter]

I think that those who are running Teen Challenge down should be ashamed of themselves. What if one person changed their minds about going because of these people who obviously just have a personal thing against TC.Micheal says he quit,but if the truth were known he was probably kicked out and thats where the anger comes from -Rejection,failure---- Seems like he spends alot of time and effort on his revenge.If you want to help someone go out on the streets instead of spending your time running down TC who really does,and has, helped thousands Seems odd to me that of all the thousands of people that have went through the program ,there are only two or three that are running it down.Seems to me that says ALOT about TC.You gripe about the fact that you had to hear about Jesus.Well,guys ,its a christian based program.If you dont want to hear about horses dont go stay at a dude ranch--if you dont want to hear about Jesus -dont go to TC. Chow,my movies on!!!

[TC supporter]

I think that those who are running Teen Challenge down should be ashamed of themselves. What if one person changed their minds about going because of these people who obviously just have a personal thing against TC.Micheal says he quit,but if the truth were known he was probably kicked out and thats where the anger comes from -Rejection,failure---- Seems like he spends alot of time and effort on his revenge.If you want to help someone go out on the streets instead of spending your time running down TC who really does,and has, helped thousands Seems odd to me that of all the thousands of people that have went through the program ,there are only two or three that are running it down.Seems to me that says ALOT about TC.You gripe about the fact that you had to hear about Jesus.Well,guys ,its a christian based program.If you dont want to hear about horses dont go stay at a dude ranch--if you dont want to hear about Jesus -dont go to TC. Chow,my movies on!!!

[Michael Kincheloe]

TC supporter wrote:

I think that those who are running Teen Challenge down should be ashamed of themselves. What if one person changed their minds about going because of these people who obviously just have a personal thing against TC.Micheal says he quit,but if the truth were known he was probably kicked out and thats where the anger comes from -Rejection,failure---- Seems like he spends alot of time and effort on his revenge.If you want to help someone go out on the streets instead of spending your time running down TC who really does,and has, helped thousands Seems odd to me that of all the thousands of people that have went through the program ,there are only two or three that are running it down.Seems to me that says ALOT about TC.You gripe about the fact that you had to hear about Jesus.Well,guys ,its a christian based program.If you dont want to hear about horses dont go stay at a dude ranch--if you dont want to hear about Jesus -dont go to TC. Chow,my movies on!!!

I quit? There was a picture of me in the Riverside Press-Enterprise sitting in the front row on graduation day with six others who had completed the yearlong program! Bush administration drug czar John Walters was the guest speaker that day.

The word is "ciao." And "Christian" is always begun with an upper-case "C". Jeez, is there anything you can do correctly? When they were passing out the brains, you weren't at the end of the line, YOU WERE ON VACATION!

[Tammy M - Florida]

Even Bad publicity is good publicity - the important thing is you are sober - no matter what it took or what program it was under. For you Teen Challenge did not work - for my fiance' it is working - he has been at the Pensacola FL TC for 8 months - and it was what he needed to get his life back together. And the changes in him are all positive - and yes! God filled - which for me and for our families that is the key. You should just be satisfied that something worked. As I read your "expose'" I have to ask what you were looking for at Teen Challenge? Penthouse suite? Chocolates on your pillow? Because as a future wife of someone in the program for drugs, I can tell you I did not care what they said to him or how they said it to him - as long as he got it and stopped using drugs. So while I get the fact you did not enjoy the program, the staff, the methods or God himself being involved in your sobriety - I still thank God that you are here and you are sober.
And please keep this going - some people do not know about Teen Challenge and there are people who are out there and they need help from God and from a staff of people who have to deal with real problems and not "someone yelled at me and it hurt my feelings." Good luck with your continuing success on your sobriety.

[rex]

the sad reality is that Teen Challenge is often the last stop for someone in the downward spiral of addiction. You get to Teen Challenge after you've visited all of the Ritz-Carlton rehabs, after you've exhausted every resource and burnt every bridge. Most people come to us with nothing and what we offer is the Holy Spirit's power to transform lives. As for Mike, well, he needs prayer. His life must be very empty to be so full of hate. Yes, his experience at TC may not have been what he wanted it to be, but why expend so much energy trying to tear it down. The reality is that Teen Challenge has helped thousands of suffering people, myself being one of them. So what's his motive? Even though it didnt help you, why work do hard to injure the program that is helping others? I just wish you would apply your malicious work ethic to trying to improve the world, rather than slandering people that are.