Teen Challenge Graduate Recognized
Chad
Ireland is a June, 2000 graduate of Teen
Challenge of the Midlands. He lives and
works in Ankeny, IA. Chad attends
Heartland Assembly of God, where Rev. Dave
Olson, also a Teen Challenge graduate, is
pastor. Chad continues involvement with
Teen Challenge, where he helps mentor men
who come from hopelessly addicted
backgrounds.
Hunsbergers Visit the Oval Office
Washington D.C.
The
Summer of 2002 at Teen Challenge has been
marked by two very meaningful events. Both
events were milestones for us here in the
Midwest, but both events took place on the
east coast!
In
June, we participated in the Teen Challenge
International Conference in Brooklyn, New
York. The conference was held on the campus
of Brooklyn’s Pratt Institute, just a few
blocks from the birthplace of Teen
Challenge. Teen Challenge staff and families
from around the world attended the three-day
conference. It was encouraging to hear many
encouraging testimonies and meet so many
people who are called alongside us in
reaching to hurting people with HOPE in
Jesus Christ! In addition to many
informative workshops on Teen Challenge
related topics, we experienced a powerful
move of God in an evening worship service.
The service was held in an old Episcopal
church across the street from the conference
facilities. Don Wilkerson, the brother of
Teen Challenge founder David Wilkerson,
preached a powerful message and many were
still at the altars an hour after the
service ended.
The
conference concluded with a banquet,
featuring the testimony of Lt. Col. John
Melendez. Melendez recently retired from the
United States Army, concluding a career as a
chaplain that included several combat tours
of duty. A former gang member in New York
City, he was saved after calling Teen
Challenge in Brooklyn desiring freedom from
his addiction to heroin. Nicky Cruz, a staff
member and former gang member himself,
answered the phone and ended up leading John
to the Lord. After completing Teen Challenge
Melendez graduated from Bible school and
went on to seminary prior to entering the
Army.
After
the conference concluded, our Executive
Director Warren Hunsberger and his family
traveled to Washington, D.C. for a family
vacation. They spent the week of
Independence Day in the nation’s capitol
and visited many of our nation’s memorials
and museums. On July 2, as they were exiting
the subway, they received a phone call from
President Bush’s private secretary who
invited them to a private meeting with the
President the next day! Imagine nine
Hunsbergers (three over six feet tall)
getting showered, dressed, and blow dried in
one camping trailer! After traveling in 95
degree weather through Washington’s subway
system, the entire family had to clear
security at the gate to the White House
compound. After receiving security
clearance, they were directed to the West
Wing (and this wasn’t a sitcom on TV!).
President Bush received them in the Oval
Office and spent about half an hour with
them. After greeting the family, he
explained the history of the Oval Office and
the furnishings. He also gave them a tour of
the Rose Garden, adjoining the Oval Office.
President Bush STILL has GREAT things to say
about his visit to our Colfax Training
Center and the people he met while at Teen
Challenge. During the Hunsberger’s time
with him in Washington, he remarked,
“I’ll never forget listening to a former
drug addict share his testimony of being
saved and changed by Jesus Christ.”
Just before leaving, the Hunsbergers joined
hands as a family with President Bush and
prayed for him. After this time of prayer,
President Bush added, “Thank you for
praying. The single, most important thing any American can do for me is PRAY.”
top
