Anybody Have Any Experiences With Teen Challenge/victory Outreach?

[Vomit Comet]

I used to be enamored with Teen Challenge and I wanted really badly to go and work for them. Well, a bunch of shit happened that caused my disillusionment. (Particularly regarding Orange County Teen Challenge. I don't wanna spill too much as you never know who's lurking out there.) But for a while there I really, truly thought they were the greatest Christian ministry in all of North America. Victory Outreach, too. I really thought they were the bees knees. Every time I heard stories about some hardcore Mexican Mafia assassin who killed 100 people with his bare hands or some shit and now was an evangelist saving thousands upon thousands of souls in order to make up for it, I would practically melt.

 

I was only very peripherally involved in gang culture when I was a youth. Well, let me put it this way. I only have one close friend who was murdered by (a) gang member(s), whereas someone that was truly involved would probably need both hands to count them, maybe more. So yeah, I really didn't have any extraordinary amount of street cred. So I admit there was a great deal of vicariousness going on there. God, I feel like such a tool, looking back on it.

 

Can anybody relate?

[Etchison]

Reminds me of a book I read when I was a kid called "Run Baby Run," (Nicky Cruz) and another book called "The Cross and the Switchblade." (David Wilkerson) Oh my god, remembering those books now ... makes me feel like a tool too. I can't believe I remember the author's names. They made very deep impressions on me when I was a lad.

 

There was definitely some gangsta vicariousness going on, even though the word "Gangsta" didn't exist back then.

 

Are you in the OC VomitComet? I'm in Long Beach, working in Irvine.

[Vomit Comet]

Are you in the OC VomitComet? I'm in Long Beach, working in Irvine.

 

I was born and raised in northern L.A. County, where the sun roasts and the mountains keep out the ocean breeze.

 

I've been in Las Vegas for the past four years.

[RevOxley_501]

One of the ministries I was involved with visited Teen Challenge...we had a small impromptu exorcism at the one in Dublin GA (i think it was that one) once. I used to give them cash and such...my dad was a director at a place similar to Teen challenge...he got saved there...currently he is probably passed out on cheap booze and oxy contin...

[curious]

Teen Challenge (as well as all the other behaviour modification schools out there) that claim to be based on christian beliefs only have one true christian belief. That belief is that all deserve punishment. These places are a disgrace and it is shameful that they exist in America. Obviously I have ~some~ experience with one of these places. Teen Challenge seems to be the most widely known and recognized. But I guess when looking at it from a deconversion standpoint....there may be no better way to deconvert someone than to send them to one of these places. They will deconvert....but they may find themselves with a load of other issues.