We are happy to announce that the iTeenchallenge.org website now has a language-translation tool. This means you can choose to view the website in 20 different languages. Just go to the language bar in the upper right to choose the language you would like to use to navigate the website. iTeenchallenge.org, our staff training, curriculum and resource website, has well over 3,000 items available for free download. We currently have items available in 19 different languages. One of the most popular items on our website is the GSNL Group Studies curriculum translations. The most recent course available is the Growing Through Failure course in Vietnamese. Take a few minutes and check out the amazing content on our website. If you have any questions or suggestions, contact our Curriculum Director, Gregg Fischer at [email protected].

By Gregg Fischer, Curriculum Director, Global Teen Challenge It can be very distressing to hear of students that did not complete the program, or one that completed, graduated and then relapsed. What could we have done differently?  I want to address the importance of having Training Phase Group Studies (months 5-12) to prepare our students for success after graduating from the program. A Little HistoryWhen I first started working with Teen Challenge, most centers operated as induction centers where they would receive students and disciple them for 4-6 months before sending them to a training center where they would continue another 8-10 months to complete the program. The first 4-6 months, the induction phase, is where the students would go through the 14 GSNC/GSNL classes as well as several basic contracts of the PSNC/PSNL material. In the training center, they had a strong, developed curriculum to continue the discipleship process and prepare the students for a successful life after the program. What Happened?As new centers opened and others transitioned to a one-year program model, the training phase curriculum has not always transitioned as well or has been phased out altogether. As a result, students are missing much of the valuable…

What can you do for your loved one when they don’t want help? A father came to me recently with great concern for his daughter. “She is 23, living in our home, working a job, and using drugs. She has refused our advice and rejected our offer to get help with her drug use problem. What can we do?” I’d like to share with you what I told this father. Many others have asked me the same question. Call this my open letter to all family members that are faced with the challenge of a loved one who is using drugs, but doesn’t want help. Personalize the letter to your own situation as you read my response to this family. Let me say first of all, that you and your wife are possibly the two most influential people in your daughter’s life today. Even though she is unwilling to seek the help you believe she needs, you can be part of feeding her problem, or you can be a key part in bringing positive change into her life. You cannot make her change. You cannot change her attitude toward drug use, nor can you change her behavior. One of the most basic steps for anyone to get help…

MYTH 1: Overcoming addiction is a simply a matter of willpower. You can stop using drugs if you really want to. Prolonged exposure to drugs alters the brain in ways that result in powerful cravings and a compulsion to use. These brain changes make it extremely difficult to quit by sheer force of will. It takes something supernatural to help empower people to overcome addictions. People need help from God and from people around them in order to get off drugs successfully. MYTH 2: Addiction is a disease; there’s nothing you can do about it. Most experts agree that addiction is a brain disease, but that doesn’t mean you’re a helpless victim. The brain changes associated with addiction can be treated and reversed through therapy, medication, exercise, and other treatments. God can help people overcome any addiction and any disease. Jesus came to heal our diseases and people can overcome addiction by coming to Jesus Christ! MYTH 3: Addicts have to hit rock bottom before they can get better. Recovery can begin at any point in the addiction process—and the earlier, the better. The longer drug abuse continues, the stronger the addiction becomes and the harder it is to treat….

People who struggle with personal problems have usually done so over a long period of time.  Many times they have tried to change or to stop what they’re doing, only to fail repeatedly.  They become very discouraged.  They may desperately want to change, but they see no way that they can because of their history. You must never give up hope, because truly there is help.  What many people don’t realize is that it’s not that we just need to change our behavior.  But we must see ourselves as we truly are.  It is the nature of the human person to want to solve problems on our own to find ways where we can manipulate our lives and make our own selves happy. You may struggle with the problem for many years, making every effort to overcome it. All of this results in despondency and often drives you deeper into the very problem you are trying to escape. There really is hope for you.  Real change can come to you.  It happens in an environment where you can experience the combination of the working of the Spirit of God, the people of God  and the Word of God. Living Free…