My name is Jason Freeman.  I was born In Poplar Bluff, Missouri in 1982 and I was raised in Dexter, Missouri.  I have an older sister and an adopted brother and sister. My childhood was what I would consider normal.  I went to a Baptist church and I played all sports but was especially good at baseball.  When I was 13, I stopped going to church and started experimenting with drugs and alcohol.  In no time, I got in trouble for bringing drugs to school.  I got put on probation and...

My name is Kenna Cashion.  I am 32 years old.  I was raised by a stay-at-home mom and a truck driver dad.  I was always called a “miracle” baby. I was the first child of their marriage and came later in their lives. We always thought our family looked a little like the Brady bunch.  My mom had 4 children from a previous marriage and so did my dad. Being a “miracle” baby, they had given me to the Lord in their hearts before I was even born. The enemy has always been out to get me...

Hello, my name is Dezirae Russell. I call Missouri home, but I’m originally from Akron, OH. I came to Freedom House when I was 27 years old, I am now 34. I
spent my life looking for something or someone to fill the void I felt inside. I listened to the lies from the enemy that I was depressed, rejected, had PTSD, and
needed psych meds to fix all my problems, this only made things worse. By the time I was 20 I was introduced to opiates, which temporarily eased my pain.
However, in...

      My name is Whitney Burnette.  I am 29 years old from Wynne,...

My name is Mike Shepherd. I’m 64 years old and from St. Louis, MO. As a kid I knew exactly what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wanted to be a professional
soccer player, and I played a lot. When I got to high school I got hurt and my dream ended. I had difficultly handling this and resented the other guys who got to
play. I felt “less than” because I wasn’t playing, but my grades remained good. I started drinking when I was a junior. This took away any shyness or social ...

My name is Stephanie Ballard.  I am 25 years old and was born in Paragould, Arkansas.  Growing up I did not have what most children had growing up.  I was born into addiction and with that I witnessed more than I should have.  My mother got shot in the neck over a drug deal gone wrong.  I was only 3 years old and I was in the back seat sleeping.  I watched my parents do everything in front of me and I felt a sense of responsibility to keep them safe.  I started doing drugs at the age...

My name is Dezirae Starcher.  I’m 27 years old, I’m from Akron, OH.  I...

Hi, my name is Michael Skiles, and I am 34 years old. I was born in St. Louis Missouri. I was raised in a good, hard-working family. We went to church every Sunday. When I was 14, at church camp, I started to feel the conviction of sin and got saved. A few weeks later, I believed I wasn’t saved and started going out with friends and experimenting with alcohol. It wasn’t long before partying on the weekends turned into an everyday thing. I went...

My name is Morgan Schmidt.  I’m 25 years old and I was born in Tupelo, MS.  I have a beautiful, 4 year old little girl named  Khloe Beth.  I grew up in a split home due to divorce.  I lived with my mom, but she had a problem and seemed to choose her addiction over being a other most of  the  time.  My  dad  wanted  the  best  for  me and felt  like  he   could  be a better parent so they ended up  fighting over me.  I  can remember how DHS would come to check on me...

My name is Robert Jones.  I am 36 years old from Jackson, MS.  My life has been hard from the very start.  I was born with a hole in my heart and 2 ruptured hernias in my abdomen; I am told that during this time, I contracted scarlet fever.  I was a very sick baby.  I survived this only to be abandoned by my father at age 2, and I was physically and sexually assaulted by someone close to me until age 8.  My mother  re-married during this time to a man who would adopt me, but again I...

My name is Trey Hollins.  I’m 24 years old rom Poplar Bluff, Missouri.  I had a good childhood.  I was raised by a single parent, my mom.  My dad came around from time to time, but he had 8 other kids and I always felt like he just didn’t have time for me, his oldest son.  I started working when I was 16 years old.  I complained about it until one day my mom told me that there was a time that she had to pick up trash just to provide for me and my sister.  Hearing that changed my...

My name is Kenna Chenoa Cashion. I am…a child of God. I could tell you about how I was married with kids or how I was teased as a kid, how my family was poor and broken or even how I was abused but all of these things are so small but necessary parts of my life. See I am now a 34-year-old divorced mother of 3 whom after being married and without a husband and home of my own, struggling to become a single parent lost my way, myself, my children and my life. No, I didn’t die physically but...

My name is Courtney Freer. I am 29 years old from Piggott, Arkansas. Growing up, I had a good childhood with 2 siblings, and we were raised by a single mother. My mom tried to make sure that we always had everything we needed. I was raised up going to church, but I just never developed that personal relationship with Jesus that I needed. I started smoking pot in the 6th grade and continued until I was 17 years old. I
used to dream about going to college and making something of my life...

My name is Brittany Marie Brewer.  I am 34 years old from St. Louis, Missouri.  My mother worked really hard to raise me and my sister.  I was in beauty pageants and dance classes.  All of that changed in my early teenage years when my father introduced me to methamphetamines. This landed me in and out of several rehabs over the years.  In 2008, I found myself in an extremely abusive relationship.  One day in 2014, we were both high, arguing and driving down the road at 90 mph.  I...

My name is Shannon Wayne Kender and I am 41 year old from Joneseboro, AR.  I’m no stranger to God’s love, grace and mercy.  This is my 3rd season in Mission Teens and each time He brought me out of my mess was nothing short of a miracle.  I have the best parents anyone could ever ask for they taught me to know right from wrong and shown love and discipline equally. I was saved when I was 12 or 13 years old and even though I know He genuinely came into my heart, I only asked Him so that...

My name is Bo Sandefur and I am 23 years old. I’m from a small town in the hills of Kentucky called Horse Branch. I grew up in a good family. We always went to church, until I was 11 years old. At that time I fell out of a tree stand and I injured my back and was prescribed pain pills. That’s where my addiction began. In a very short time I learned how to synthesize methamphetamine and how to steal the ingredients for it, and I learned how to make moonshine and grow marijuana. I quit...

My name is Melissa Jones.  I am 46 years old.  My life has never been what some call “normal”.  My dad was in prison until  I was around 12  years old.  Then when he  came home,  he was a  drug dealer  which  was   my introduction to cocaine, meth, marijuana and even the needle.  By the time I was 15, I was injecting cocaine and meth daily and had dropped out of school.  My dad ended up back in prison which left me with my mom who basically could not control me.  I ran...

Hi, my name is Justin Finley and I am 33 years old. I was raised by my grandparents, which is a decision my mother made due to her addiction. I was raised in church and taught right from wrong. Whenever I visited my mother, I would get molested by her boyfriend. This led to anger and depression. I was bullied to the point where I had to change schools. I started to hang out with the wrong crowd, they accepted me with open arms. They introduced me to witchcraft at the age of 13 and by the age...

My name is Marissa Lesley.  I am 43 years old from Dexter, Missouri.  I have been on and off drugs since I was 12 years old.  I never really      felt like I fit in anywhere and I’ve always struggled with low self-esteem issues.  I came from a good family.  My parents divorced when I was      young, but they were both good and loving parents.  Neither one of my parents ever had addiction problems. I started hanging out with the      wrong crowd in school and that was my...

 My name is Amy Shook.  I’m 41 years old from Booneville, MS.  I could go into my testimony and share all of life’s disappointments, rejections and events that led me to where I am today, but I will fast forward past the broken home as a child, being messed with sexually as a young girl, feeling abandoned from split parents and failed marriages.  Those are real life issues that the enemy used to lie to me and tell me I would never amount to anything and deserved all of life’s...

My name is Krista Bates-Duncan. I am 29 years old and live in Malden, Missouri. As I was growing up I went through many traumatic events that led                         up to my addiction. I lived in fear most of my life and did not have a clue as to what real love felt like. I didn’t understand what the word “love” even                              meant or what love looked like. As a child I was burned by boiling water at the age of three,...

My name is Skylar Matheney.  I am 35 years old.  I  am from Piggott, Arkansas.  I am a single parent of a 13 year old son,  his  name  is Devon.  He is the light of my life and beside’s God, the source of my strength.  I started off on drugs at the age of 14, mainly  drinking and then that turned into marijuana. I was introduced to meth at the age of 16  and  started on  my  downward spiral.  The last few years were terrible.  I was terrible in a lot of ways.  I  was...

My name is Jordon Daniel Rogers.  I am 26 years old, and I am from Puxico, Missouri.  My parents got divorced when I was young, and it really affected me.  They both got remarried, but it was still never the same.  I put all the hurt deep inside and turned to drugs instead of dealing with it.  By the time I turned 18, I was an active meth user.  The devil had me right where he wanted me.  I lost family relationships and burnt every bridge I came across. I got “clean” for a while,...

My name is Brandon Lee Norman. I was born in Missouri in 1994. My mother was an alcoholic and had several abusive boyfriends when I was growing up. She loved me the best she could. I ended up getting put into foster care. My mom passed away when I was 12 years old. I didn’t know how to cope so I began stealing, smoking and drinking. I went to juvenile detention and when I got out, I had the opportunity to go to college for construction engineering technology. I ended up dropping out...

My name is Bradley Wince. I am 35 years old, from Paragould, AR.  I had a fair childhood.  When I was in the first grade people made fun of me because I had a patch on my eye because a pit bull bit me in the eye and my eye had to be put back in. I was never the same after that.  A month before I graduated high school I lost my dad and 4 of my close friends. I was supposed to be with my friends that night, but I got sick and didn’t go out with them.  They were partying and drinking and...

My name is Cameron Collins. I’m 28 years old and I was born and raised in Mount Ida, AR. I have a brother that’s 2 years older than me and                            parents that got divorced when I was 4. I really don’t have many memories of them together. Both of my parents got remarried and my brother and I                          stayed with our aunt and uncle as well as my grandmother. I was raised in church until I was about 14. At the age of 14 I...

My name is Katelyn Walker. I am 22 years old. I am from Belden, Mississippi. I had a little bit of a rough start growing up. From the time I was born I was exposed to drugs. My biological mother was an addict and so was all of her immediate family.  The earliest memory that I have of my mom is when the police had busted my mom and her, at the time husband, for cooking meth in mine and my little sisters’ room. That is also when we were taken away from her, from there we went into the foster...

My name is Jordan Long and I am 26 years old.  I’m from Trumann, AR.  I was raised by my grandparents since I was 5 months old.My parents were on drugs and didn’t want to raise me and haven’t ever really been a significant part of my life.  I made fairly good grades in school.  When I was 14 my grandpa died from emphazema and throat cancer and it really hurt me and changed my life and my grandmother’s life but I have always hid my emotions.  In 2008 two weeks before I graduated...

        My name is Kimberly Tomlinson.  I was born and raised in Pocahontas, Tennessee.  The Lord blessed me with a great family that taught me about Jesus at a young age.  I received salvation when I was young and even though I took the wrong path for a while, I know that Jesus was with me keeping me safe the entire time.  In high school, I started hanging out with what I thought were the “cool kids”.  I can remember just riding around and getting drunk and high with them. ...

My name is Clair Florence.  I am 58 years old.  I was born and raised on a farm in central Illinois.  I was raised in the church and received Jesus at the age of 9, but as time went on, I didn’t act as if I was saved. I have always had issues with self-esteem, shame, and guilt.  I began drinking in high school and by the time I was in college, I was experimenting with all kinds of drugs.  I got married in 1979 and a  few years later we had two wonderful children, a boy, and a girl. ...

My name is Bradley D. Boyer.  I am 48 years old and was born in St. Louis, MO where I stayed until I was 5 years old and we moved to Bakersfield, CA.  I pray that the Lord gets the glory in this testimony and that it reaches and touches the person it is intended to.  When my family moved to California, it was all a crazy lifestyle.  My father let me drink and smoke pot with him.  One day I mentioned that to his boss and I began to get beat by my father.  My dad also beat my mother and...

Hello!  My name is Marvin Hembree; I am 40 years old and was born and raised in a small town called Clinton, Tennessee.  I am the oldest of 4 boys.  I grew up in an amazing home with two very loving parents who are still together to this day. The 4 of us boys were raised in church our whole lives and came to know God from a very young age.  I always excelled in academics in school, up until my teenage years when I began to experiment with drugs.  I have always been of a very small...