Kim VanAntwerp
Program Coordinator
I was born and raised in Southern California by a middle class family where drugs and alcohol were not a part of my upbringing. I was raised in the church throughout my childhood, and I always knew and loved the Lord.
At a very young age I began skipping school, and by twelve years old I was experimenting with drugs and alcohol. A year later I was a full blown addict; trying to fill a void I could never fill. I was suicidal most of my life and ran to everything I could get my hands on to try and become the person everyone else told me I should be. I was a functioning addict, maintaining good jobs and appearing to be the model mom and wife to the people outside of my house doors.
I tried to quit several times over the years but it was always on my own strength. Twenty-five years into my addiction I couldn’t take the depression and the dependency of drugs any longer. I literally fell to my knees and begged God for help. “If you are the God they say you are, I need you right now to come into my life and save me from myself, or I am checking out.” I felt a peace I had never felt before, and I clearly heard him say, “Now go to church.” I did and never looked back.
God not only gave me a sense of purpose, but has shown me that I am worth loving! My heart’s desire is to give that back to those who are at the same place I was. In 2007 God brought me and my husband, Terry to Teen Challenge to work with those in the same bondage we faced for twenty-five years. I am honored and blessed to serve God in this ministry. I look forward to years of raising men and woman up to be embraced by God’s love! There is hope from addiction.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4
Gary Bennett
Education Coordinator
Gary has been an educator for over 20 years. He has been pastoring and mentoring men for nearly as long. Gary has a passion for men to be healed and made whole. Teen Challenge has given him the opportunity to share God's word and his promises to men who are searching for truth and healing.
Since the early "Promise Keepers" movement in the 1990's, Gary has served and committed himself to various areas of ministry such as Church Administration and oversight of large Seniors and Singles ministries. Gary and his wife have also been hosting and attending "Home Group" ministries for many years- always being blessed far more than they are able to give.
Ty Richards
Intern/Intake Coordinator
Without the Teen Challenge program and Jesus Christ, I would more than likely be dead by now. I was confused at a very young age because my biological mother gave me up for adoption because heroin, cocaine and alcohol were more important to her than I was. I was tossed around from foster care homes to orphanages, finally finding love and a stable home environment with my Uncle and Aunt.
They raised me in the church and we rarely missed a Sunday or Wednesday service. I got a lot of head knowledge in those years but I never let the knowledge seep into my heart. I was going to church to make my parents happy, and my so called relationship with Jesus wasn't real. At age 18 I got kicked out of the house due to my drug use and constant manipulation.
I moved to Lake Tahoe and preceded to party, rebel, and try any drug that was offered to me. After injuring myself snowboarding, my dreams of becoming a professional snowboarder went down the drain. I started using heroin and that drug took over my life for 6 years. Because of my addiction, I lost everything material that I owned, got arrested multiple times, and was now homeless on the streets of Portland. I thought I was going to be a heroin addict for life and gave up on trying to change. God had a different plan though.
I was arrested by a police officer in Portland who told me about Jesus and that I needed to get help and that I couldn't do it alone. I detoxed in jail and finally called my parents who I hadn't talked with in months and I asked them for help. They told me about Teen Challenge and that it was a Christian program. I was a little hesitant to enter because it was a year long. Entering the program was the best choice that I had made in my life.
I graduated from Teen Challenge Oct 28, 2011 and gained a real relationship with Jesus Christ. God has delivered me from the strongholds that had controlled my life for 20 years. I have come a long way and am committed to sobriety and serving Jesus for the rest of my life. I am now an Intern with Central Oregon Teen Challenge and I focus on the Outreach opportunities. My goal after completing my internship is to follow God's plan for my life and go through the doors that He opens. I have so much to thank God for and am looking forward to serving Him forever.
My life verse is 1 Tim. 4:12, "Let no one despise you for your youth, but set an example to the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity."
Charlie Williams
Intern/Food Service
I grew up in the typical dysfunctional American Family, my mother was an addict, my father was an alcoholic, and occasionally my mother or father would take their frustrations out on my little brother and me. My mother and father divorced and I can remember life at home being the ever revolving door of chaos, my mother being with a different guy every other day, and not knowing where I was going to live on a daily basis. It was during this time that I developed the first method of coping with life I grabbed my little brother and we ran as far away as we could. At the age of 14 I drank alcohol and smoked marijuana for the first time which excelled into other drugs because of curiosity and what I found was that their where many like me trying to escape their problems and I could win their love by selling them the one thing that they desired more than anything cocaine, heroin, meth etc. My addiction started taking a toll in my late 20’s after I had spent two terms in prison, countless trips to jail, a series of broken non intimate relationships, and an out of control drug habit that I sought as a method to obliviate my reality. I was sitting in a jail cell when I first received information about Teen Challenge. I did not know God and really did not believe that there was one. However, the guys in the information pamphlet looked a lot happier than I so I took a chance and asked, “If you are up there prove to me that you exist, give me a new life, and I don’t ever want to see the inside of these walls again.” And even knowing how selfish that prayer was God did those very things for me. I have not seen the inside of a jail cell since I have entered Teen Challenge; He healed me of an ailment, and gave me a new opportunity in life, a new perspective if you will. I am now currently involved in the internship program of Teen Challenge and have relationships with others that are not built on motives but on authentic love of one another. God has truly held to his promise in my life.