On Sunday, November 3, a group from the MN Adult and Teen Challenge (MnTC) program will be coming to Baptism River Community Church, ELCA in Finland for the 10 a.m. service. “The visit is in support of their mission and presentation of the fine work they are doing in our communities with individuals,” Pastor Michael Poeschl of Baptism River said.
The MN Adult and Teen Challenge members will be singing as a choir and “clients will be sharing testimonies of transformation,” according to Karen Strother, Development Coordinator for Northland MN Adult and Teen Challenge. The representative for MnTC Duluth will share “a little of our history and a video containing a brief overview of a day at our campus as well as events our donors can attend and further support our clients,” Strother added.
Teen Challenge was founded in 1961 by David Wilkerson, an Assemblies of God pastor, author of The Cross and the Switchblade, and founder of Times Square Church. In 1958, Wilkerson left a rural Pennsylvania pastorate to work among teenage gang members and socially marginalized people in New York City. Teen Challenge’s first residential program began four years later, in December 1962 in Brooklyn, New York.
The MN Adult and Teen Challenge was established in 1983. In 1993, Rich Scherber became Executive Director and opened the first home with six clients. In the 31 years since then, MnTC has expanded to 18 campuses: teen boys in Buffalo; adult men and women in Minneapolis, Rochester, and Brainerd; women and children in Mankato; and men in Duluth.
Today, Adult and Teen Challenge has over 200 centers in the United States and 1400 centers worldwide. “The staff and volunteers of Adult and Teen Challenge are helping people find freedom from life controlling issues,” Karen Strother shared. In a video testimonial, former client Brianna shared how she went through 10 treatments before coming to MnTC, battling drug addiction. Today Brianna has a stable job and gets to see her daughter regularly. Former clients Collette and Ryan also shared in a video testimonial of how they went from incarceration to raising their two children (born after their graduation from MnTC) in a stable household.
The visit coincides with Baptism River Community Church’s “Casual Sunday”, defined by Pastor Poeschl as a time “where we meet and share our own thoughts and ideas while celebrating our unity in Christ”. Pastor Poeschl anticipates for the program to be “beneficial to families in Finland, MN, and our North Shore Community”. To find out more about Teen Challenge visit teenchallengeusa.org or in Minnesota mntc.org.
