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The Greatest Challenge- A life dedicated to healing histories of addiction

David Wilkerson was one of those people that had no reason to leave. He was a young pastor in rural Pennsylvania, with no need to upset his gentle life of ministry...

The Greatest Challenge – a life dedicated to healing histories of addiction

An Article Featuring a Caregiving & Counselling Internship

            David Wilkerson was one of those people that had no reason to leave.  He was a young pastor in rural Pennsylvania, with no need to upset his gentle life of ministry.  But one day in 1958, as he looked at a photo in Life Magazine of seven New York teens charged with murder, Wilkerson took a risk.  And off he went to New York City, to begin a ministry to these gang members that were really only children.  Of course there were barriers – you can’t expect this kind of thing to work flawlessly.  But one of the many positive results of Wilkerson’s adventurous move is Teen Challenge – now one of the most successful drug rehabilitation centers in the world.

            It was this history of risk and adventure that David Dyste stepped into two years ago.  Now a graduate of Columbia’s Caregiving & Counselling program, Dyste first encountered Teen Challenge when required to fulfill his internship credit.  “I wouldn’t have started there if it wasn’t for the necessity of the internship,” Dyste recalls.  And then he adds with a smile, “I wouldn’t have taken the huge pay cut.”

            Teen Challenge Canada doesn’t actually work with teens.  Here in Canada, the organization works with young men and women ages 19 to 45, extending a pathway out of drug and alcohol dependency.  They use a combination of spiritual, social, physical, emotional and educational training to empower individuals to join society again as a Christian citizen.

“Teen Challenge believes is that addiction is caused by a love deficit,” explains Dyste.  “So we teach them to grow in a relationship with Christ that will fill that love deficit to replace their addiction.”  And how does Teen Challenge go about that process? 

“Part of it is teaching them about the Bible, about God, leading them in worship in Chapel, and working with them during counseling settings looking at those underlying reasons about where they’re looking to fill that need for love.”  But the life of the average Teen Challenge member is a more holistic experience.  The year spent living at the Teen Challenge site is one of a complete person overhaul.

“There are two phases, and both of them are six months long.  During the first phase, an average day is generally chapel in the morning, then class, lunch, and then more class.  This is only for half the week.  For the other half of the week, they have work detail for the day.  So they do landscaping or cleaning, painting, whatever it is that we need to have done.

“For the second phase, it’s much the same thing.  There are four days a week of work, and one day a week of class.”

In this way, Teen Challenge equips its members to become strong in each area of their life.  They realize that the fibers of addiction go deep and can spread very far.  As the organization is apt to say, Teen Challenge is about helping the whole person, not just the substance abuser.

Dyste has been working full-time for Teen Challenge since the completion of his internship.  He spends his days teaching and counseling, as well as attending classes at the ACTS Seminary to continue his studies in counseling.  As we wrap up our time together, I ask David how working at Teen Challenge has been good for him.

“I’ll use my wife’s words. The man who comes home from Teen Challenge is a much happier man than the one that came home from his other job at a lumber yard.  It’s so much more fulfilling.  I’m constantly learning more… it’s my passion.”

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