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 For fifty years, the LORD has used Teen Challenge to transform the lives of men and women, breaking the cycles of drug addiction, alcoholism, gang-life, and other life-controlling issues.
Teen Challenge started here in Brooklyn, New York in 1958 by Rev. David Wilkerson. Wilkerson was a young country preacher pastoring a church in eastern Pennsylvania. One February afternoon, Wilkerson read an article in LIFE magazine about seven teenagers who were on trial for murder.
During a gang fight in Manhattan, these teens beat a young man to death. Troubled by what he read in the article, and sensing God wanted him to do something for the teens, Wilkerson made a trip from his hometown in Philipsburg, Pennsylvania to the urban area of New York City.
Some time after this, Rev. Wilkerson resigned his church in Pennsylvania and moved to the New York City area to work full time with teenage gang members. This new work was eventually called “Teen Challenge". Soon, Teen Challenge began to also offer help to those addicted to drugs and alcohol.
During these early years, a large home was obtained at 416 Clinton Avenue here in Brooklyn. A year-long residential discipleship program was started in this facility and we are still helping people change their lives today! Due to its success, residential Teen Challenge centers began cropping up in cities all across America.
 The rest of the story of Teen Challenge is told in the best-selling book, The Cross and the Switchblade. This book has sold tens of millions of copies and has been translated into 35 different languages. Another exciting book that is available, Run Baby Run tells of notorious gang member Nicky Cruz who was one of David Wilkerson’s early converts in New York City. Beyond the Cross and the Switchblade and The Cross is Still Mightier than the Switchblade also detail important early history of Teen Challenge.
With a 70-86% success rate and more than 200 centers in the United States and another 450 centers in 93 countries, Teen Challenge has now become recognized as one of the most successful addiction recovery programs in the world, earning multiple endorsements from prominent world leaders like Billy Graham, Chuck Colson, and three U.S. Presidents.
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