home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
CD ROM Paradise Collection 4
/
CD ROM Paradise Collection 4 1995 Nov.iso
/
edu
/
alco21.zip
/
TEEN.DOC
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1995-07-16
|
3KB
|
44 lines
CHAPTER 3
THE CURE: TEEN CHALLENGE
I have had but two visions in my lifetime. The first
came to me in 1958, when a vision of God took me from a
little town in Pennsylvania to New York City to work
with teen gangs and drug addicts. That was not a false
vision. Now, years later, its reality is shown by the
youth centers [Teen Challenge] spread all around the
world. Gangs and addicts have not only been converted,
but many are even preaching the gospel as ministers and
missionaries. [David Wilkerson, THE VISION (New York:
Pyramid Books, 1974), p. 11].
These words by David Wilkerson chronicle the start of a worldwide
movement now called Teen Challenge.
Teen Challenge continues thirty-five years after its
inception. It has a 70 percent cure rate of drug addicts. This
contrasts with a 4-15 percent cure rate of most other programs.
The federal drug-rehabilitation program at Lexington, Kentucky
was closed because of its 4 percent cure rate.
The 70 percent cure rate gained the attention of the
National Institute on Drug Abuse, which did a study to determine
if Teen Challenge's 70 percent figure was exaggerated. Catherine
Hess, M.D. headed the study. Her findings are shown in her
research summation. [Catherine B. Hess, M.D., MPH., RESEARCH
SUMMATION: H.E.W. STUDY ON TEEN CHALLENGE TRAINING CENTER
REHRERSBURG, PA (Springfield, MO: National Teen Challenge,
n.d.)]. The study was limited to heroin addicts and conducted in
1975. Seven years after leaving Teen Challenge, 86 percent were
still not using heroin. Since the Teen Challenge standard is to
be drug free, and some of the former heroin addicts were using
alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, etc., there was a 70 percent cure
rate using these standards. Dr. Hess stated concerning Teen
Challenge, "IT WAS PROBABLY THE MOST EFFECTIVE REHABILITATION
PROGRAM I HAVE EVER SEEN--AND IT STILL IS." (David Manuel, "Teen
Challenge: Conquering Drugs," THE SATURDAY EVENING POST, December
1987, reprint).
END