Being around these people that cared for me got me off the drugs
It was the evening of the Grand Opening of our premises at 90 St John St, Launceston, about 50 guests had been mingling, delicious food being served by the young people from our Hope Cafe, acquaintances old and new being made and now the formalities of the evening were underway.
I was giving an insight into each of our ministries and where available asked a young person from within each program to share from their own perspective what the program was like, how it may have helped them and what they would say to someone that was thinking about joining the program.
J agreed to share his experience within our Connections Mentoring Program:
“When I first joined the program I was like, this guys ok but he’s not as cool as the other mentors the other students had, so I sort of didn’t want to continue, but we stuck it out for a while. Then I started to get to know him and he was a really great guy. I was a very angry little man back then in year 7, I didn’t have a Dad in my life and I couldn’t handle school very well.
Jamie showed up each week and helped me a LOT. We got on really well and I could manage school after we spent time together. When I changed schools I was really worried about the change but most of all because I thought Jamie was going to have to stop seeing me, but then he was able to come with me to the new school and that meant a lot to me. It was a BIG help.
I finished school and went into University and Jamie would still touch base and check in on me, he’s like a friend now.”
Then J was asked if that was the end of his connection with Teen Challenge Tasmania:
“I would see Tanya & Peter sometimes and at the church that my Mum started going to. But to tell you the truth I had been using weed in High School and was drinking and smoking weed to calm down and not think about stuff.
When Tanya offered me some shifts in the Hope Costumes & Thrift Store, I had dropped out of University, I was using drugs and was hanging out with some not great people. The more I went into work I was looking at the people around me and the positive environment I was in and then looking at my life outside the shop and I started to want to change. I mean working in this place that helps people and me doing what I was doing wasn’t right. Being around these people that cared for me got me off the drugs.
I ended my connection with some bad people and at work they had some hard conversations with me that I needed to hear. I started working in the Hope Cafe and I really love it. I don’t do drugs anymore and I’ve changed a lot in my life. I’m so thankful for having Teen Challenge in my life and I can’t say enough about it.”
I have to admit I didn’t expect J to be as open about his circumstances as he was with everyone that night, people he didn’t know and his openess brought a tear to my eye. However, what it showed me was the growth that is occuring within this young person, they are not the same person they used to be. Sure there’s still some things they’re working on but aren’t we all? They’ve come a long, long way.
This young man now regularly opens Hope Cafe, getting there at 6am to set up, make sandwiches, set up the cabinets with stock and open the door at 7am. He’s back in University studying hard and right now working on getting his Drivers License, so he can get a car and take the pressure off his mum driving him to work (he wakes her up to get to work I’m told).
This was a great reminder of the importance of building relationships, walking alongside young people through the good and the bad and for the long haul too, this is the core essence of Teen Challenge Tasmania. Through relationship and the trust that comes with that it gives us the opportunity to speak the truth into lives when needed and many times it’s heeded. The full circle our journey has taken from Connections Mentoring commencing in 2013, the commitment of Jamie as a mentor to this young man, like many of our other mentors do every day, to the opportunities given today in other aspects of our ministries and social enterprises when possible and the journey together from there. We are excited to see where this young man will be and many others like him in the next few years.
If you would like to support Connections Mentoring or be involved in any of our programs please connect with myself via email tanya@teenchallengetasmania.org or if you would like to financially contribute a tax deductible donation you can do so via PayPal here.