WINNIPEG—A daylong golf marathon is one of the most fruitful fundraisers of the year for Teen Challenge Central Canada. Now in its 10th year, the 50-hole event raises an average of $40,000 for the ministry.

The money is put to good use. Teen Challenge is not funded by taxpayers, and so relies heavily on donations to operate the ministry that helps men struggling with drug and alcohol dependencies.

Teen Challenge came to Central Canada in 1993, and eventually developed a 12-month residential treatment centre in Winnipeg where staff offer spiritual, academic and vocational training for men 18 and older.

The Central Canada ministry also has a number of satellite centres under development in Brandon, Flin Flon and Thunder Bay, Ontario as well as plans for a First Nations centre in the Sioux Lookout area.

The needs are great, says executive director Steve Paulson, especially considering the abundance and strength of drugs on the street and number of people who fall for their allure.

“It’s like a plague that’s come over us in the last couple of years. The potency of the drugs is so much more concentrated now than it was, so much more addictive. We’re seeing so many more lives destroyed and hurt,” he says.

“Awareness and intervention are the things I’d like to be able to spend more resources on, but we’re just doing so much with recovery and restoration.

“If there was no limit with what we could do, the burden of my heart is to do more evangelism and outreach. I’d like to be able to go into where the crack parties are and just let people know they don’t have to be in a place where they’re so bound up with the drugs.”

But, he adds, the Teen Challenge experience isn’t only about getting clean.

“Our program is really discipleship, teaching people biblical principles and how to live their life, and then giving [the students] the opportunity to apply the principles they’re learning in a social setting that’s positive,” he says.

At the end of the 12-month program, “most of the guys want to stay longer,” he says. “They’re at a place, finally, where they’re at peace with themselves and at peace with God; they’re feeling safe.”

After graduation, students can take part in a six-month re-entry program, living at Teen Challenge while integrating back into society and the workforce.

Pastor David Wilkerson launched Teen Challenge more than 40 years ago in Brooklyn, New York. Today there are more than 600 centres serving men and women in 82 countries worldwide.

The ministry’s goal, says the Central Canada website, is to “develop and nurture the transformation of restored individuals into useful, productive, law abiding citizens, committed to Christian faith, values and living.”

For more information about Teen Challenge and the upcoming golf tournament, visit www.teenchallenge.mb.ca.