Jodi's Testimony
Teen Challenge

Jodi’s Testimony
I grew up with what you would call a dysfunctional family. My mother being a church going woman and my father was a drinker as well as one who liked to run around town with who ever would have him. This caused my mom to become extremely stressed out and eventually ending up having a nervous breakdown. My father lost both his parents very young and my mom grow up in a very large family so both my parents were lacking communication skills which made it hard on all of us kids to communicate. My parents always seem to be mad at us or each other and that effected on how us kids were raised. Dad worked at Oldsmobile and mom worked off and on but her main concern was keeping the family together the best way she knew how. Dad had tried his best to show us love but didn’t really know how and mom was so busy with all of us kids as well as trying to work we ended up being raised by my oldest sister Merry. So needless to say when she moved out of the house I felt abandoned.

When I was thirteen I started experimenting with drug and beer. Because mom stopped going to church to try and save her marriage us kids went wild. They divorced about a year or so later and us kid were basically on our own. My three older sisters all got pregnant and I really felt alone then so I started running away from home and hanging out with bikers. I was smoking cigarettes and doing drugs on regular bases. I thought people always looked like they were having fun when they were parting so I started trying to fill that void that only God could fill. Well one thing led to another and I found myself hitchhiking to Florida. At the age of seventeen alone again I hooked up with this guy from Mexico got pregnant then married him thinking I was in love. After a couple of years of him using me as a punching bag I left him and tried to go back home. That didn’t work out so I bummed around for awhile and got right back in with the bikers where I got introduced to cocaine and crystal meth. While all this was going on I lost my son and bad got worse I got all strung out and ended up back down in Florida again this time I was taught how to smoke crack. Well it wasn’t long when I lost everything and I was living in a tent in the palmettos. Well I was working enough to support my habit when I met this guy who told me I could move in with him so I did. Shortly after moving in with him I found out I had cancer with only six months to a year to live. That was in1988, so my mom and sister Merry came down to Florida and got me then took me to Missouri were I underwent chemotherapy. When I came thro that (only buy the grace of God), mom and I couldn’t get along so I moved back to Michigan to live with my sister Merry. While living with Merry I went right back out and started parting with my old friends again trying to fill that void that only God could fill. You see if you want to stop playing you have to change your playground.

Finally at the age of thirty-nine I found myself strung out so bad I lost everything and everybody that I ever cared about or that ever cared about me. And if that wasn’t bad enough this time I screwed up so bad I was facing some hard time in prison for some crimes I had committed while getting high. That’s when I learned about Teen Challenge. Not only was it a year long program that would help show me how to get clean and stay clean, but it was Christian based and that’s what I needed. When I went to court the judge sentenced me there with the understanding that if I left I would serve the full term of my sentence. Well it was the hardest thing I ever did in my life but it was the best thing I could have done for myself. As soon as I realized I had sinned against the creator of the universe it finally sunk in. All I had to do is confess my sins and turn from my evil ways and God forgave me. But let me tell you change did not come easy. I was so use to doing things my way its taken years to try and get it right. I thank God He’s a patient God because man would have given up on me years ago. I’m still under construction but I’ll never quit quitting (to God be the glory). God has to work on me day and night but that’s okay because I’m a new creation the old is gone and all those sins are cast in to the sea of forgetfulness never to be remembered again. So if you or someone you know is struggling with addiction contact Teen Challenge it’s not for teens it’s for adults. There are five locations in Michigan alone and it’s a nation wide organization that focuses on your main problem “sin”. You’re the one who has to want a serious change in your life and what it takes is commitment and total surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ. So make the call and start living free today. If God can change me He can change anyone.
To God Be The Glory Jody Holtz

Interview with Jodi:
1. What do you think is the greatest challenge young people face in society today?
 Pure pressure

2. What do you think is the greatest accomplishment you faced in teen challenge and how did you overcome it?
Submitting to authority was the hardest thing I ever had to do but with Gods grace I came through.

3. What is your favorite bible scripture and how has it influenced your life?
Jeremiah 29:11 & Proverbs3:5&6 God knows the plans He has for us so if we trust in Him with all our heart He will direct our path.

4. What do you hope to encourage young people with today based upon your experiences at Teen Challenge? Never give up. Life is to short so enjoy every second of it.Don't make the same mistakes I did it is'nt worth it.

5. How do you feel teen challenge influenced your life as a young teenager?
When I was about 10 my mom took me to see David Wilkerson and he was permoting the book "The Cross And The Swichblade".He talked about this young man named Nicki Cruse and how he was in a New York gang ,well Nicki tried to kill David and by the time it was over Nicki had given his heart to God and thats how Teen Challenge got started.Never in my wildest dream did I think I'd end up there 30 years later.

6. What was the greatest thing you learned in Teen Challenge?
I learned that God was the creator of the univerce and I was a sinner headed straght to hell if I did'nt change my ways.

7. What do you hope to portray in your family today based upon what you have learned in Teen Challenge?
I want them to see Jesus in me.

8. How do you feel you can be an inspiration to other young people dealing with the problems you h ave experienced in society?
With the words of my testamony I've been there I know how it is out there

9. Who is your greatest Christian mentor and how have they influenced you in your walk with the Lord?
Joyce Meyers because she's been there and God brought her out of darkness into His wonderful light.

10. How do you feel the Lord helped you in Teen Challenge?
It was the hardest thing I ever did but God showed me life's to short and there's hurting people out there how needs to know the truth.

For more information on Teen Challenge check out their web site at Teen Challenge

Contact webmaster - Jackie Lackney