Abundant Life Academy

I am currently working at a Christian therapeutic boarding school, an "Early intervention for troubled teens".  I really never knew that these schools existed until God placed me in one as an employee, but to be more accurate, a ministry worker.  We are not behavior modification, where the focus is only on the behavior and punishment/rewards are delved out accordingly.  We are constantly looking for opportunities to speak truth and extend the love of Jesus in a non-judgmental atmosphere. When our students mess up, and they sure do, the last thing we do is flip out, and the first thing we do is use it as an opportunity to extend grace. We do have "choice and consequence" as well as "positive solutions" when sin occurs, but these young people will never be able to walk away from this place not knowing their sin patterns and the destruction that it will cause because they are confronted with these issues daily.  Whether a student decides to choose Christ or not is their decision, and at our school it always will be theirs alone.  The students that are most successful when they depart are the ones that have opened themselves up to a relationship with Christ.    

When I was a teenager I was doing all the things that these teens were doing before their parents made the difficult choice to send them away.  I was sneaky, I was on drugs, I was completely lost.  I remember having a dream when I was 17 years old and living with my much older boyfriend. I dreamed I was at an outdoor concert , similar to Woodstock in the hippie era, or Lollapalooza, which a younger generation may remember.  Basically a gathering of music, sex, drugs, and rock n' roll.  I was standing near a tree and was looking out over a grassy field as hundreds of teenagers sat together on blankets.  All of a sudden the landscape of young people turned into an ocean and all I could see were hands reaching up out of the water for help.  During the time of this dream I professed belief in "Jesus" but didn't know the first thing about having a relationship with him or knew that one even existed.

I could have used a school like Abundant Life Academy back then. Sometimes young people can be so angry, so rebellious, that putting them completely out of their comfort zone and stripping them of everything that they took for granted in a controlled, safe environment can be a very good thing.

But I hit many brick walls in my young years and made many far reaching mistakes until the age of 23 when God did that work in my heart and I gave my life to Christ.  So now 17 years after the dream I remember so well I find myself working in the midst of a generation of young people.

When working at ALA there are not too many dull moments. There are also many self-reflecting experiences for not just the students, but staff as well.  It really takes a special kind of person to work in this industry. I think I have seen the most successful staff are the ones that are willing to love unconditionally, forgive, apologize, search their own hearts for faults, and repent when necessary.

Recently God had been showing me how much my flesh really controlled my life. How self focused I had become. He took me through a process of showing me how to control my emotions. Once that was accomplished I was able to see so clearly how self focused I really have been. I found myself complaining a lot even though God has given to me so much of what I have prayed for. I literally spent many years in prayer for something and I have now received it.

I then began to ask God to change me. To help me be more like I was when I first became a Christian.  I was always asking God spirit who I could bless and opportunities to snatch someone from the fire.  The very next day he answered my prayer.   At ALA he brought about a situation with a young man. He needed freedom and God set a course in motion for him.  I was so blessed that God answered my prayers so quickly. Matter of fact I spent most of the day with the kids, speaking life. My paperwork is always stacking up and when I got to my office I only had two hours to work. It was the most productive two hours I ever had in there! If only I can be about God's business with his heart leading me I could accomplish so many eternal things with each 24 hour period I am given.

"I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of hell."
-C.T. Studd on evangelism outside the church