180 Ministries

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August 2007

I loved doing them. I loved being so proud that I would walk right past police in NYC, smoking a blunt, laughing.  I would often use drugs out in the open to let people know that I was a messed up Club Kid and didn’t care who knew.
 
My life involved sniffing Special K, smoking dust and heroin or eating 10 or more hits of X and a bunch of LSD all in one night, at least 4-5 times a week. The rest of the week I speed-balled and smoked herb. I lived at raves and clubs in Manhattan and raised hell the rest of the time.

But growing up, I had a perfect life. I had the best Christian parents a boy could have. My mom and dad where so awesome and they raised me right.

So enough of the negative; get a load of the rest of the story.  So I get all crazy on Heroin and I am working at this famous bar in Manhattan. Tons of famous people are coming into the bar, people like Puff Daddy, Smashing Pumpkins, Val Kilmer, Jerry Seinfeld and more.  So I think I have the best job in the world and I am partying all the time, but the thing that I didn’t see was the darkness swallowing my life.

I got to a point where I was strung out, broken and totally addicted to heroin and ready to just totally check out of life.  I made one call to mom and dad and that’s when the miracle I had been hoping for happened. My parents set me up and sent me to a Teen Challenge center in Ft. Myers Florida.

I realized on my first day at Teen Challenge that this was the craziest place on earth, but that is exactly what I needed.  By crazy I mean that staff members like Ed Dedmon and Greg Hammond would be crazy enough to love a lost man like me, crazy enough to speak point blank into my life and challenge me even dare me to chase my dreams once again.

After a month or so in the program nothing was happening and I wanted out, but one of my friends told me to go into the chapel and give Jesus one more chance before I packed my bags and left.  I simply told him that nothing happened in a month and nothing will happen now, but I went into the chapel any way.

After two minutes I began to beg this Jesus for help and was literally arguing with the sky and then “IT” happened.  Jesus, The King of Glory literally stepped into my life that night.  I was in utter awe and fear and yet at perfect peace.  After that night I have never looked back and never left the cross.  I have made mistakes since graduating almost nine years ago, but nothing that would steal the love of my Savior from me.
 
  Me, Daniel, After Teen Challenge/180 Ministries

The past years have been so amazing, I met the most intoxicating, precious, strong and on fire women named Alyssa.  She not only saved a once broken heart, but became my loving wife.  Alyssa soon gave birth to a little baby boy named Gavin Zion who in a lot of ways taught me how to live even more free than I was before.  He has a Mohawk and is so cool I can’t believe it.

Way back in Teen Challenge the staff member Ed that I spoke about told me that God told him that one day I would be in the mountains leading men to Christ, I simply laughed at him.

I have a great spiritual connection with snowboarding. Riding is the greatest way for me and Jesus to communicate and a great way to leave a stressful life for a day.  I figured God would send me to Africa or something, but he gave me the desires of his heart and mine.

Today I am the Director on 180 Ministries of Teen Challenge of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado and every day I get to see the toughest, most lost and confused drug addicts weep at our altar and give their lives over to Jesus Christ.  Wow--snowboarding and leading the lost to Christ; if I knew it would be this awesome I would have sobered up a long time ago.

My deepest heartfelt thanks to all the people in my life who loved unconditionally a crazy messed up club kid from New York City.  Thank you to the real heroes who dare to challenge men, to the soldiers fighting a fight others run from, to the bravehearts who never will know defeat to Greg Hammond, John and Susan Petruska, September and Michael, Greg & Cheryl Edens, even E.R., Mr. & Mrs. Pennington {both sets} Allen Turley,  Chuck Redger, Joe Colon, The Mitchell Family, Alyssa and Gavin. I literally owe you all my life, thanks for never giving up on me.

Jota's Testimony

Being raised in a Christian home and going to church I knew about God, but as a child some things happened that were detrimental to me.  From that point on I entered a state of depression.

When I was ten years old, pot introduced itself to me and I encountered my first thoughts of suicide.  At the time, I felt that God did not want me, that He had rejected me. I hated myself and I hated God for making me this way. So I decided to rebel!

I started using drugs on a regular basis and quickly became curiously fascinated by the dark side of the supernatural.  I explored the occult, dabbling in Satanism, practicing rituals, casting spells, sacrificing animals, and so on.  I found myself exploring the realms of LSD, PCP, meth, and heroin, whatever I could find to escape or alter my reality.  I also found myself involved in “Black Magic”, which I believe is the most powerful and horrifying forms of satanic worship.  I had reached a point where I had literally lost my mind as well as my will to live.

In a world of tangled fallacy, I attempted suicide by swallowing over 120 prescription pills.  I would have succeeded but I was rushed to the hospital where my stomach was pumped.  After a few days of intensive care I was put into the state’s custody and directly into a mental institution where I spent my time lost in my own living hell, a world of abstract insanity full of hallucinations and demonic oppression.

Eventually I ended up in a halfway house where I met Jesus at the age of 17. God accepted me as His own son and gave me a peace and a joy that I never knew existed. The Lord delivered me from the bondage of Satan and the people I was involved with. He gave me a new life filled with hope and a future, a life with meaning and a purpose to know Him and live for Him.

A few months after I was back on the outside, I lost sight of Jesus and began to abuse drugs again. I justified my lifestyle for 18 years, while crossing the bounds of reality with DMT, 5 MEO, and others, opening doors that I shouldn’t have.  I was afraid of not coming back and permanently losing my sanity for good.  Deep down I knew I belonged with God.

He was calling me back to a life with Him.  He eventually led me to Teen Challenge to get my life right with Him.  He had rescued me again from a life of sin.  He has restored my mind and has shown me a new way to live.  I have had over 4 years of sobriety and am so happy to be on the other side.  I am confident that with God not only can I stay clean in this world, but He can use me to impact those around me. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.  

After Teen Challenge I spent over 2 years living and working within a Christian home for men, counseling men who are struggling with addiction. During this time I also went to a private college to earn an Associates degree in the medical field.  I then married a young woman of God who inspires and challenges me to be the man of God he wants me to be, and a leader within ministry.

I was offered a position at Teen Challenge and I feel it is God’s will for me to teach and counsel men I can relate to.  I strongly desire a long term career in ministry to further God’s Kingdom and disciple others to live a radical Christian life.  God says to me, “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” Romans 9:17