Adult & Teen Challenge is a ministry of little lights. Carrying with us the Holy Spirit’s eternal flame, we connect with dark places and people to illuminate them with the light of Christ.
Aaron was one such person. By age 15, his life was cloaked in sin’s shadows. Before he was old enough to drive, he was already using and dealing drugs.
“I was rebellious,” Aaron recalls. “I fell in love with money and social acceptance, which led me to fighting, jail, and ultimately hurting my family.” Unfortunately, four years later, his life got even darker.
“At the age of 19, I was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia,” Aaron shares. “It is a form of cancer that caused my bone marrow to stop producing red blood cells and rebuilding white blood cells . . . I was dying.” The disease was so bad that doctors found pieces of Aaron’s heart in his bloodstream. Despite this intensely dark period, God broke through to Aaron.
“I remember one day, I was alone in the hospital, crying out to God, ‘Why is this happening to me?’ No sooner had I spoken these words when I felt this blanket of warmth wrap around me. I instantly went from being completely and hopelessly sad to full of peace and happiness.”
Shortly after this miraculous encounter, Aaron’s cancer went into remission. Although he was miraculously healed, Aaron fell back into his old ways, once again cloaking himself in the darkness of his drug addictions.
“I found myself back on dope and pain pills,” Aaron remembers. “I tried secular treatment, but I ended up becoming an IV drug user. Eventually, I overdosed. I was unconscious for three hours before my dad found me.” He received hospital treatment and was transferred to another program, where he graduated in February 2020 and went right back to drugs.
“I was using heavily and living in complete hopelessness. It wasn’t long before I overdosed again. I stopped breathing, and it took two doses of naloxone to bring me back,” Aaron says.
Following this near-death experience, God intervened in Aaron’s life through some church friends, who brought him to an Adult & Teen Challenge center. While in the program, Aaron was finally filled with the light and hope of Christ.
“I have learned to take my identity out of the world and put it in God,” Aaron joyfully shares. “I am able to stand firm in the truth of the gospel. Now, I walk in complete freedom because of what God did when He sent Jesus to die for my sins.”
Thanks to your giving, Aaron experienced the warmth and peace of relationship with Jesus. And the story doesn’t stop there! After filling him with the flame of the Holy Spirit, God is now using Aaron to shine His light into the lives of others with addictions.
“I’m attending the Teen Challenge Ministry Institute in California,” Aaron says with great enthusiasm. “I’m excited about what God has in store for my life. I want the Lord to use me to help others caught in the same addiction I once had.”
Thank you for your generosity toward this ministry. Your gifts shine God’s light in and through the lives of many Adult & Teen Challenge graduates and attendees. Thank you for being a light for Christ in this dark world!
