Welcome to Freedom House!
Freedom House Mission Bible Training Center, a branch of Mission Teens, Inc. is a non-profit, non-denominational organization with a Christ-centered, discipleship program for people who are 18 years or older, who suffer from drug, alcohol or emotional problems.
Freedom House MBTC does not receive any government or denominational funding. We are totally dependent on God to move upon the hearts of people to supply our needs. If you feel led to donate to this ministry, please hit the button below.
If you or someone you know is wanting to change their life and get into the center call 573-371-2020 and ask to speak to the overseer.
Brad Boyer's Graduation
My name is Gina Fugate, I am 48 years old from St. Louis, MO. I realized that I needed to make a change sitting under a bridge, after a tornado left parts of St. Louis destroyed. A couple of years prior I was laid off from work and faced with a breakup, repossession, and foreclosure which left me homeless and once again addicted. I was at a point in my life where I needed help and quick. I have 4 children, and I was always involved in their lives; it is strange how things can change overnight...
GINA FUGATE - January 2026
My name is Matthew Montgomery. I am from Springfield, Missouri. I was raised by my father and stepmother in a healthy, supportive home. In my early teenage years, I was always seeking attention and looking for acceptance from others. I started experimenting with drugs and alcohol. In the party crowd, I finally felt like I was accepted. I went to college, but eventually got kicked out. Then I had to move back to my parents. I felt very lost, rejected, and confused about my future. I...
SEPTEMBER 2022- Matt Montgomery
My name is Sean Tolbert, and I am from Jonesboro, Arkansas. I have lived there most of my life, which started in 1974. My story is about a long journey of seeking contentment. I
wasn’t unhappy, but I have always felt unsatisfied, and I spent my life trying to fill a void I didn’t understand. I went to college hoping that education and a good job would satisfy me,
this was not the case. I tried traveling or roaming as well, and as it turned out being a...
SEAN TOLBERT- March 2025
My name is Brian Nix. I am 45 years old and was raised in Birmingham,...
JUNE 2021- Brian Nix
My name is Katlyn Juergensmeyer. I’m 27 years old from Troy, Missouri. I grew up with 2 amazing parents and 3 siblings. Growing up life was good. I never needed for anything in my life, or so I thought. I soon realized that I needed Jesus. At age 16 I went on a mission trip and accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I was on fire for God and went to church every time I could. All through High school I struggled to find out who I was. That soon brought on depression,anxiety and...
APRIL 2020- Katlyn Juergensmeyer
Hi, my name is Chrisy Ginn. I am 50 years old and from St. Louis, Missouri. I was very depressed at a young age. I remember crying every day at school and feeling very despondent. This feeling has lasted most of my life – BUT GOD! I began to self-medicate in high school and this continued until the time I came to Freedom House. When I was 42 years old, I added methamphetamines to the “medication” and my life spiraled out of control. I found myself homeless and broke and felt...
AUGUST 2022- Chrisy Ginn
My name is Kayla Kristin Binns. I am 32 years old. I was raised in Jonesboro, Arkansas in a Christian household. My parents loved me unconditionally and took very good care of me. My parents knew that keeping me involved in activities would keep me out of trouble, so I was very active in softball, clogging and church. My younger brother and I are best friends. We were totally inseparable when we were growing up and we both ended up taking a wrong...
DECEMBER 2017- Kayla Binns
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...
MARCH 2023- Brandon Normann
My name is Weston Moon. I’m 30 years old and I’m from Trumann, Arkansas. My mom and dad were great parents, but their marriage got taken over by Satan, drugs and lies and they got divorced when I was just 6 years old. I started playing sports when I was 5 years old and that seemed to keep me busy and out of trouble for a long time. Not knowing at the time that these years would be the best years of my life and not seeing that the road up ahead was paved with...
AUGUST 2017- Weston Moon
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...
JANUARY 2017- Melissa Jones
My name is Marenda Bennett. I am 47 years old, from Gideon, MO. I had a drug/alcohol problem for approximately 25 years; however, I had been mostly sober since 2017 with a few relapses here and there, that is not what brought me to Freedom House. What brought me to Freedom House was a lifetime of darkness, not only with drugs and alcohol, but also with promiscuity, demonic worship, and witchcraft that completely consumed me. I had countless mental and emotional issues, not to mention...
MARENDA BENNETT- January 2025
My name is Katie Pitts. I am 32 years old from Kennett, MO. I had a good childhood never wanting for anything. My mother took me to church every time the doors were open. I was saved at a young age and had relations with Jesus but not a relationship. Growing up, I suffered from depression, anxiety, and rejection issues, In my later teenage years, I discovered alcohol and liked the way it made me feel, In reality, I ended up in bondage and it made the things I was experiencing worse, I used...
FEBRUARY 2022- Katie Pitts
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...
FEBRUARY 2021- Marissa Lesley
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...
JUNE 2017- Morgan Schmidt
My name is Stewart Kerr. I am 24 years old from Muncie, Indiana. I grew up in a good home with good parents, two older sisters, and two younger brothers. We grew up going to a church where my parents were very involved, as I got older, they stopped forcing me to go and I started to stray away. Then I got into sports and got busy, and I stopped going to church completely. When I was 15, I began drinking with my friends and a year later I began to smoke weed. I smoked weed for a few years and...
APRIL 2019- Stewart Kerr
Hello everyone, I am so honored to be sharing my testimony. My name is Carrie Mitchell, and I am 48 years old. I arrived at Freedom House two years ago on December 23 and boy has it been a journey. I didn’t wake up one day and say I was tired of living the life I was living. I woke up one day completely exhausted from years of drug addiction and alcoholism. Then I met Jesus! The road after I met Jesus has been one of tears, laughter, frustrations, joy, peace, anger, jealousy and lots and...
CARRIE MITCHELL- January 2024
Hello there, my name is Jamie Sickal. I’m 47 years old, I was born in Sikeston, MO but lived in Houston, TX for most of my life. My childhood
was good, except for growing up without a dad. I always wanted a father figure in my life. I got married in my early 20s, and filled that void with
my own family, and being the father I never had. After 16 years of marriage, my wife was unfaithful, which led to her having another man’s child,
and our divorce....
JAMIE SICKAL- June 2025
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...
NOVEMBER 2018- Bo Sandefur
My name is Jessi Kamper. I’m 29 years old and I am a current resident of Kennett, MO. I grew up in a very loving household. I have an older sister and 2 older brothers. My parents always showed us lots of love growing up and they are still married. I grew up in church and my parents would have us there every time the doors were open. When I was thirteen years old, I prayed the prayer, walked the aisle at church, and gave my heart to Jesus. But really, nothing about my life...
SEMPTEMBER 2021- Jessi Kamper
My name is Rodney Walker. I’m 42 years old and I am from Mississippi. I had a rough childhood because my parents were always fighting, so I spent a great deal of time with my grandparents. My grandma took me to church where I was exposed to the truth but also a lot of “religion”. I was saved at the age of 11 but wasn’t properly discipled. I used my involvement in sports to be a release of all the negative emotions I was trying to bottle up inside. I listened to so many lies...
AUGUST 2019- Rodney Walker
My name is Whitney Burnette. I am 29 years old from Wynne,...
JANUARY 2022- Whitney Burnette
My name is Tanner McCormick. I’m 22 years old from Kennett, Missouri. I am the oldest of 3 siblings. My mother was addicted to pain pills, but she tried the best she could. She blacked out a lot, so I basically raised my younger brother and sister until I was 11 years old. My mother got a boyfriend and I became very bitter. When I was 13, I went to live with my father who I had only met once before in my life. This turned out to be a bad decision. I started drinking and...
FEBUARY 2019- Tanner Mc.Cormick
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...
DEZIRAE RUSSELL- May 2025
Hello, my name is Derrick Mitchell. I’m 39 years old from Dexter, Missouri. I was raised by my mother, Joan. She worked most of the time to provide me and my sisters with everything we needed and with the things we wanted. I was a really busy kid and I remember thinking that you needed money to get anywhere in life. My grandma used to take me to church, but the only thing I really remember is the play where the Roman soldiers beat up Jesus. I was never taught to rely on...
JANUARY 2018- Derrick Mitchell
My name is Van Blain McCoy. I am 38 years old and the youngest of 3 boys. I’m from the small town of Corinth, MS. I grew up like most country kids, going to school during the week, working with my grandpa after school, and church with grandma on Sundays. I was always driven by money, no matter where I was or what I was doing money was always at the forefront of my mind. After I graduated, I moved to Kansas to work then came back and started a family. I went to church but, never had a...
BLAIN MCCOY-April 2026
My name is Jody Thompson, and I am a 42-year-old mom to 3 amazing kids. I was raised in church and got saved and baptized when I was young. There was
a lot of love in my family, but there was pain as well. My dad was an alcoholic which caused turmoil in our home. As I got older, there were more and more
“excuses” not to go to church. I started experiencing anxiety, depression and tension headaches and was prescribed psych and pain meds as a cure. This was
the beginning...
JODY THOMPSON- April 2024
My is James Curry I am 58 years old from St. Louis, and I want to tell the world what Jesus has done for me. I came to Freedom House May 24th, 2025, because of my addiction to all types of drugs. When I graduated the program, I knew I wasn’t supposed to leave, but I made my own plans and went back to St. Louis. I fell flat on my face, the previous 33 years of addiction was nothing compared to the torment I suffered for 4 months until I made it back to Freedom House. The Lord had His hand on...
JAMES CURRY- September 2026
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...
FEBUARY 2020- Trey Hollins
My name is Cody Ishmael. I am 24 years old and from the Jonesboro, Arkansas area. I have 4 younger sisters and a 4-year-old son. Growing up, I lived with my memaw because both of my parents suffered from addiction. She always took me to church and made sure I read my Bible. I was very sheltered and hated the very thought of drugs and alcohol. When I was a teenager, my dad came home from Federal prison and moved schools. My addiction started off mainly because I was just trying to...
OCTOBER 2019- Cody Ishmael
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...
AUGUST 2016- Jordan Long
My name is Trace Cohn. I’m 30 years old and grew up in Jonesboro, Arkansas. I grew up in church and had a great family and wanted for nothing. I got introduced to drugs and alcohol and my childhood innocence quickly turned to despair. Everything that could go wrong did. I ended up getting kicked out of school in the 8th grade and had to go to jail because of marijuana. You would have thought that jail would have scared me enough to straighten up, but it didn’t. When I got out,...
MARCH 2021- Trace Cohn
My name is William Weaver I’m 53 years old and from the Chicagoland area of Illinois. I was the middle child with two sisters. As far back as I can remember my dad was very withdrawn. He came from an alcoholic lifestyle and because of this we rarely spent any quality time together. He stopped drinking when I was in my 30’s and we were able to spend more time together. My mom and I had a very difficult relationship. We were close when I was young, but her mental illness and depression took...
BILL WEAVER- November 2026
Garrison Bowen, I am 27 years old and from Hinesville, GA. I realized I needed to change my way of living when I just lost my job and had no money because of all the drugs and alcohol. It was consuming my life. Over the past 5 years, I have been in and out of Christian programs and lost many jobs due to my anger or other actions. After the last program, I thought I had it all figured out. However, I was still drinking, smoking weed and trying to help my brother who was also in a mess. Living...
GARRISON BOWEN-February 2026
My name is John Casey Barker. I was born in Jonesboro, AR in 1973. I am an only child and grew up in a family that went to church. Our family had its issues and I was rebellious. After I graduated, I moved out and did everything I wanted. I slowly became wild and was an alcoholic, a drug addict and enjoyed everything that felt good. I fell in love with money and my life got out of control. On February 24th, 2004, I attempted suicide with a shotgun, by a true miracle of God I survived. I was...
CASEY BARKER- May 2026
My name is Treyton Hartle. I am 22 years old from Bloomfield, MO and this is how Jesus turned my life around. On April 1st, 1998 I was born into a great family with loving parents who knew the Lord. Following that was a life in church that was never appreciated like it should have been. At 12 years old I gave my life to the Christ at church camp…then came high school. The work was easy. I wasn’t good enough to play college sports, and I found out I loved having...
APRIL 2021- Treyton Hartle
Hi, My name is Billy Starnes. I’m 43 years old and was born in Tupelo, Mississippi. I was raised by alcoholic parents who would get very angry when they drank. When I was 13 years old, I found marijuana as an escape. This small compromise changed the course of my entire life. By the time I was 17, I had quit school, got a job and was addicted to meth. My job took me all over the United State building mini storage buildings. I was also addicted to the money I was making. The more...
NOVEMBER 2022- Billy Starnes
My name is Bobby Bean. I was born and raised in Southern Illinois by a great mom and dad. When I was 8 years old, my mother led me to the Lord, and I asked Him to come into my heart. It wasn’t long after that when I started drinking and doing drugs. I felt like I had to have just about anything and everything in order to make it through a day. I was hopeless and paralyzed by fear without drugs helping me to numb these feelings of insecurity. I started trying to get help through...
JUNE 2019- Bobby Bean
My name is Dezirae Starcher. I’m 27 years old, I’m from Akron, OH. I...
MARCH 2018- Dezirae Starcher
Hi, I’m Shane Schiller. I was born in 1975, and I am from Missouri. When I was born, my dad left. This was the source
of a lot of pain in my life. I turned to drugs and alcohol at an early age to numb the pain I felt. 1 Peter 5:7 says, “Be
sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”
I wasn’t sober or vigilant for many years. I have been on psych meds for as long as I can remember. I developed a
SHANE SCHILLER- February 2025