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I am always amazed at how God plans out our steps even when we don’t understand where He is taking us or why. But when He reveals Himself, we have that light bulb moment, and we see clearly.

Let me explain…

Over three years ago, I was approached by my father, Don Wilkerson, about writing a book about the legacy and founding of Teen Challenge. Immediately, I felt called to write it even though none of it made sense. There were several reasons why I questioned it:

    1. What about the bestselling book, The Cross and the Switchblade that catapulted the ministry? That book has reached millions with its powerful story of my uncle’s calling to New York City and the establishing of the ministry of Teen Challenge. Why would I want to compete or even take away from that in any way?
    2. Was it relevant? Adult and Teen Challenge just celebrated its 60th Anniversary with over 1400 programs in 125 countries. Why go back to the beginning days? God has given each program its unique calling and thousands upon thousands have found freedom from addiction.
    3. Would people think I am writing this book for personal gain? I struggled with even using my maiden name on the cover of the book, which is not my legal name. I have never been a name dropper but how do I tell this story without acknowledging my family connection?
    4. Did I have the knowledge to write about a ministry that I only knew through my upbringing? I grew up in Teen Challenge, but I have never worked in the ministry.
    5. Could I write a book? The fear of accomplishing a task of writing a book was daunting.

 

Even with all my questions, I knew God wanted me to write this story but why?

I cried every time I talked about it. It was as if there was this well of emotion inside of me that I couldn’t explain, but the Holy Spirit kept nudging me—Write It!

Several months after the release of Giving Hope An Address, I still doubted. I received wonderful reviews and comments about the book, but I still questioned the book’s purpose. After struggling through promoting the book, I complained to God, “Why did I devote all that time to write the legacy story of Teen Challenge? What was the purpose?”

I kept coming back to that undeniable Holy Spirit nudge not to question but write. Despite the whispers of doubt and all my fears, I knew God wanted the founding story to be told again.

I now understand why I felt that nudge.

A Story For A New Generation

Recently, there have been decisions made that are compromising the original purpose and mission of Teen Challenge. There is a shift that is veering away from the ministry’s founding.

I am not here to write about the details of those compromises; I am simply sharing why God wanted me to write Giving Hope An Address.

There’s a new generation God is using at Adult and Teen Challenge programs worldwide. They have the same burden—as previous generations— to reach those bound by addiction.

But this new generation needs to understand the beginning days of the ministry to point, once again, to the source of the success of Teen Challenge.

The book is a reminder of what God did through David and Don Wilkerson— and countless others— in establishing Teen Challenge in the heart of New York City.

It’s a reminder of the power of prayer and how prayer brought my uncle to New York City. How prayer established Teen Challenge and how prayer built and sustained thousands of programs worldwide for over 60 years!

The story tells the humble beginnings, the financial struggles, and the way God provided for every need of the ministry.

Giving Hope An Address is a Holy Spirit nudge to a new generation that Teen Challenge was not founded on a man-made method of drug rehabilitation but by the gospel of Jesus Christ.

With over 1400 programs in 125 countries and countless testimonies of those who found freedom from their addictions, God has done the miraculous!

And at the center of that miracle is the saving power of the Cross—the foundation of the ministry of Teen Challenge!

The success of the ministry—to spiritually and physically heal those trapped by addiction— was what David Wilkerson coined as the “Jesus factor.”

There are 60 years of miracle stories of freedom from addiction and the “Jesus factor” is at the center of each one of them.

Don’t compromise God’s calling and purpose for Adult and Teen Challenge. The message of the gospel has to be the driving force of the method in treating addiction. If that is compromised in any way, then it is no longer the Teen Challenge method.

As long as the Cross remains at the center of the continual Cross and Switchblade story, God will keep blessing what He ordained!

Keep the Cross Central!

Know the history of Teen Challenge.

Read The Cross and the Switchblade.

Read Giving Hope An Address.

Be a generation that holds tightly to the founding mission.

Don’t let a ministry drift away from the purpose God miraculously set in place sixty years ago!

 

 

“I am confident of this: He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it and more till the day of Jesus Christ.” Philippians 1:6

 

 

 

 

 

Giving Hope An Address is available at these retailers:

   

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As soon as I said it, I knew it wasn’t the best way to promote my book.

I was being interviewed about my recent book, Giving Hope An Address and I was asked the question, “What do you hope is the most important message readers will takeaway from your story?”

I answered, “That in the greater scheme of things my story is not that important.” I back peddled my words quickly because even the interviewer looked a little perplexed.

I tried to restate with more clarity, “What I mean to say is what I have written is just a small fraction of the story of the ministry of Teen Challenge. But God has written a greater story that no writer will ever be able to capture about what Jesus Christ has done in the lives of people who have found hope through the doors of every Teen Challenge program.”

Phew! That was better and cleared up a few things for the interviewer.

My answer to that question was a lesson God had recently taught me about what it means to be followers of Christ and to serve in ministry.

You know that saying, “There is no I in the word TEAM.” Well, here is the thing. When God calls you into ministry: be it a church ministry, non-profit organization, or the mission field. There is no “I” in the word gospel. In other words, it is not about you!

When God calls you to reach others with the gospel message, you have to leave your pride at the door. You have to lay down the world’s ambition of success, popularity, loyalty, and recognition.

In other words, it’s God’s story. You are not the author.

Let me use my own family’s story as an example. Through my family, God used individuals to start a faith-based rehabilitation ministry to reach those addicted to drugs, alcohol, and people broken with life-controlling problems. Then God called others to build onto that ministry. He used the faithfulness of not only my family but many others who were called to reach those lost in addiction with the message of hope.

That single ministry grew exponentially for sixty years through thousands of people, each with their individual stories. The Adult and Teen Challenge ministry is now in 125 countries and directed and led by leaders all around the world. And guess what? Today if you ask many staff and residents of a Teen Challenge program, they have no idea where, how, or even who began the ministry of Teen Challenge.

Why?

Because the author and sustainer of Teen Challenge is God, it is not my family, it is not any director or leader of any program, but through the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ who transforms lives and sustains the message that brings hope.

Now as a family member connected to the founding of Teen Challenge, I take great pride in knowing my family was used by God to begin a ministry that is now throughout the world.  It is why I wrote my book so that I could tell a new generation the founding story.

But here’s the lesson; we are not called by God to write a ministry story that we take credit for. We are called to give him the authorship of all of it.

Now, this is easier said than done. We are all human. We work hard in the kingdom of God just like in the business world. And we like recognition for our efforts even on behalf of God. But our objective as followers of Christ is to always point to a bigger story. The gospel story. The “author and perfecter of our faith.” (Hebrews12:2)

In my book, I quoted my uncle David Wilkerson who founded Teen Challenge. He said simply, “Give the ministry away.” He didn’t mean to let go of the calling on your life that brought you to your particular church or ministry. What he was implying was not to hold your ministry vision so tightly. If you release control and allow people to feed into your ministry with their gifts and talents, God will grow your ministry exponentially.  

So if you are feeling rejected, tired, overwhelmed, or unrecognized in your particular calling, remember that you don’t own the rights to the gospel message. It’s not up to you to write your ministry story. You will never properly serve people with the message of Jesus Christ if you are continually looking for self-recognition or feel it is all up to you.

To keep using the writing analogy: stop self-publishing!

The story has already been written. You are called to bear witness to that story of who the Author is. It’s only by God’s grace that He will sustain and grow your ministry through the people you serve and who serve along with you. The pressure is off. Your only responsibility is to promote God’s message faithfully. Let Him write the bigger story through you and beyond you.   

Don’t ever fall into the trap of taking credit for a ministry that was never yours to begin with. Then maybe one day, you’ll have the privilege of writing a book where you realize your name is on the cover, but God is the true author of that ministry story.

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Let me set the scene for you regarding this photo.

I was sixteen years old on a mission’s trip to Germany. It was a bike tour from Bingen to Bonn where we stopped along the way at different towns and ministered in the streets through pantomimes. Our faces painted, no words just gestures, and sharing our faith through action. A crowd would gather around us, and after our pantomime act someone would speak and share their faith testimony.

I have never enjoyed being in front of a crowd. My fair skin will often reveal my nervousness with red blotchy patches of embarrassment. However, this time there was a sense of comfort hiding behind that white face paint and only having to express actions and not words.

But then one day on our mission tour, I was approached with the most interesting question by one of the leaders. He asked me, “Would you share your testimony today after our street scene?”

I honestly answered him, “I don’t have a testimony!”

He looked a bit puzzled and questioned me, “Julie, are you a follower of Christ?”

I nervously laughed, “Um, yes but I don’t have a story. I have never done drugs, been involved in a crime, and I made a decision to follow Christ when I was about five years old. My life is pretty boring. I don’t have a testimony!”

You have to understand my frame of reference here. I was raised in a ministry called Teen Challenge. It’s a faith-based drug rehabilitation program that has ministered to many men and women with life-controlling problems. It’s a ministry that I have recently written about in my book titled Giving Hope An Address.

At sixteen years old, all I understood about sharing a testimony was that it somehow had to include a former life of drugs, abuse, crime, prostitution, and maybe even a prison sentence. That was all I knew about sharing what Jesus Christ had done in a person’s life.

When you grow up listening to residents in a Teen Challenge program tell their testimonies of amazing transformations of God’s saving power from addiction, your own somewhat sheltered life looks a little dull in comparison.

But I’ll never forget the words the youth leader said to me after my naïve proclamation. He looked into my eyes and pointedly said, “Julie, you have one of the most powerful testimonies. You have been caught in the grasp of God’s hands at an early age, and by God’s grace YOU ARE KEPT.”

I still choke back tears remembering his words to me. I will never forget them.

Even when I feel like I don’t live up to the life I am supposed to live as a follower of Christ, I still remember— I am kept.

When life is hard—I am kept.

When I experience pain—I am kept.

When I feel unloved—I am kept.

When obedience is difficult— I am kept.

God’s promises are true whether we fall in the grasp of His hands at five years old or fifty years old.

One of the reasons I wrote my recent book was to express my gratitude for all those who walked through the doors of Teen Challenge and were willing to let God transform their lives as testimonies of His grace and mercy. Their life transformations and their willingness to share their stories, sealed in my heart a devotion to Christ that has kept me. I am always learning and growing in the knowledge of who Christ is in my life, but I can STILL say with confidence that I AM KEPT.

 

Never underestimate the power of your testimony, friends!

Share what God has done in your life no matter how boring or how tragic you think your testimony is. Never let embarrassment or shame keep you from sharing your story with others. We are called as Christians to share the light of Christ to the world.

It would certainly be easy just to share my faith through actions and not words. To hide behind a painted face and not reveal who I really am. But I can’t do that no matter how difficult it is to express myself with spoken words and with blotchy skin.  Because when you experience the powerful testimony of being kept by the hands of God, it’s a place you want others to experience with you.

Share the hope of being KEPT. It’s a testimony that never gets old.

 

 

Note:

My blog is changing. I want to use this platform to share other people’s stories and testimonies. Today I started with my own.  From time to time, I might share another person’s story with you through a blog or interview format. So stay tuned by subscribing to this blog.

And in case you missed it, here’s another powerful testimony by my friend Kelly that I shared last year.

http://www.theradiancefoundation.org/eva/