Russia — Teen Challenge Siberia

When my father, David Wilkerson, began working with drug addicts on the streets of New York in the 1950s, he had no idea how far-reaching and life-transforming that humble ministry in Brooklyn would become. Today there are well over 1,000 Teen Challenge centers in 80 nations.

World Challenge has helped to pioneer, support and advance the powerful Teen Challenge ministry for more than five decades. The results have been overwhelming, and testimonies come to us from around the globe. I’d like to share with you a powerful letter from a ministry leader in Siberia, Russia, whom our ministry supports. I trust you’re as blessed as I was by hearing about the amazing work God is doing there. He wrote:

During the 74 years of Soviet rule, the teachings of Communism were strongly taught in schools. God was declared dead or nonexistent. People were imprisoned, beaten and sometimes killed for their belief in a living God. Fear, despair and hopelessness crept into the lives of those who lived under this oppression. People without God tried to find happiness through alcohol, drugs and immoral living.

God has allowed us to be a part of turning this tide, one person at a time, through our ministry in Novokuznetsk. One of our first miraculous testimonies is the story of Misha. He had served 12 years in prison for murder. After his release he became a desperate alcoholic and his wife evicted him. For several years he lived on the streets, squatting in vacant basements to escape the freezing Siberian winters. His body began to deteriorate, and in pain and desperation he decided to end his life.

That was the night that, by God’s grace, our paths crossed. Misha was dirty and covered with sores from a skin disease, but he recalls that I hugged him. We told him of God’s love and invited him to church. Shortly after that meeting, Misha received Jesus as his Savior, and we sent him to a Teen Challenge center in Kazakhstan. A few years later Misha returned to Novokuznetsk and helped us start Teen Challenge Siberia. Today, Misha is a director at one of the Teen Challenge centers and God uses his testimony to restore others.

Fifteen years ago, our ministry team stood on a street corner with nothing more than a guitar and a burden for the city of Novokuznetsk. As we preached the Gospel, we were shunned and endured false accusations born out of a deep mistrust of non-Orthodox Christians. With God’s help we persevered, and people began to accept Christ. A small congregation started to grow in spite of growing allegations that forced us to move numerous times. For two winters, in temperatures of -30˚ to -40˚C, we met in a concrete building without heat or running water. We could see our breath as we sang, yet people bundled up in fur hats and coats raised gloved hands in worship!

Students at Teen Challenge Siberia

Today over 1,200 people attend three Sunday services, and the congregation is helping to support seven additional church plants throughout the region. The Teen Challenge program includes six centers for men and two centers for women. The Source of Life Children’s Home has just opened its first apartment for orphaned children. Through much prayer and fasting, the Lord has melted government resistance and provided various opportunities for us to bless the city. We have conducted citywide seminars for doctors, firefighters and ambulance workers, facilitated by American and Canadian Christian volunteers. Christian sports teams regularly come to compete and share their faith. It was a landmark event when 150 sets of new hockey equipment were donated to our city.

Every year over 100,000 people in Russia die from drug overdose and alcohol poisoning. Children become orphans because their addicted parents have died or are incapable of caring for them. But hope is kept alive through Teen Challenge and Source of Life Children’s Home. There are currently 200 students in the Teen Challenge program and approximately 50 staff. Over half of the students are unable to pay for their room and board while in the program. We’re so thankful to God for the financial help that comes through World Challenge, which greatly helps to cover the costs of ministry to a desperate and dying generation of young people in Russia. We continuously thank God for you!

I join with our brothers and sisters serving Jesus in Siberia to thank you for your continued support. With your help, the flames of compassion continue to burn, and the fire of the Gospel is spreading to multitudes. Thank you for your participation in this ministry, which remains committed to the powerful work in Siberia and others like it throughout the world.