02/17/2026
🔥 Testimony Tuesday 🔥
My name is Jason, and I am a 2017 graduate of Teen Challenge. Following my graduation, I was blessed with the opportunity to serve in full-time ministry. During that season, I committed myself to serving both the ministry entrusted to me and the Lord with dedication and gratitude.
However, over time, pride subtly began to take root in my heart. What initially seemed like small compromises gradually became easier to justify and more frequent. I once heard it said, “What we call compromise, hell calls an open door.” I have come to understand the profound truth of that statement. Where compromise was permitted, relapse eventually followed.
In my brokenness, I reached out to a trusted friend at NYATC, and his simple yet powerful words were, “Come home.” On October 24, I returned to ATC, where I was received with grace-filled, judgment-free, open arms. In that season of repentance, the Lord brought me to Acts 3:19:
“Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.”
This verse became both an invitation and a promise.
The past several months have been deeply refining. I have had to look inward with honesty, surrender fully, and yield every area of my life back to the Lord. Though challenging, this season has been marked by restoration rather than condemnation. I am profoundly grateful for leadership who have walked similar roads, who now walk beside me in prayer, offering godly love, wisdom, and accountability.
Through daily mentorship and the faithful service of outside speakers who volunteer their time to equip us with the Word of God, I am growing in ways I never anticipated. In this place, I have not experienced shame for my relapse; instead, I have encountered love, guidance, and unwavering direction toward Jesus. There have been no fingers pointed in accusation—only hands extended in grace and hearts that consistently point me back to Christ.
Teen Challenge has been a tremendous blessing in my life. The structure, accountability, mentorship, and Christ-centered environment have helped restore me in ways I cannot fully put into words. This program does not just address addiction — it restores identity, rebuilds faith, and points men back to Jesus. I am living proof that restoration is possible.
If you would like to help men like me find hope and freedom, please consider sponsoring a student through our Dollar-a-Day Student Sponsorship program. Your support makes stories like mine possible. 🙏
👉 Sponsor here:
https://www.newyorkadultteenchallenge.com/dollar-a-day-student-sponsorship/dollar-a-day-resident-sponsorshiprochester-mens-center/
