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.
Jeanette Page
My name is Tori Carter, and I am 32 years old. I was raised between Poplar Bluff, MO and Jonesboro, AR. I grew up in a Christian home, so the love of God was not new to me. I had a good relationship with Jesus, until several years ago when my faith was tested. I lost my brother to suicide. I thought this was the hardest thing that I would ever experience, until I lost my 3-month-old baby boy to SIDS, only two weeks after I buried my brother. I was already using alcohol to
numb the pain and...
TORI CARTER- November 2025
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...
JULY 2017- Skylar Matheney
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 Michael Luttrell. I am a child of God...31 years old from Kennett, Missouri. My father was very abusive, so my mother took us and got away from him. This left me feeling angry and rejected. When I was 10 years old, my family owned a liquor store. I watched everyone drink and thought it looked like fun. I took my first drink at 13 years old, and I was instantly hooked. I watched my family do drugs and again, wanted to try to fit it. It started with marijuana and ended with meth,...
MICHAEL LUTTRELL- June 2024
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...
FEBUARY 2017- Stephanie Ballard
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...
JANUARY 2019- Cameron Collins
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 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...
NOVEMBER 2015- Bradley Wince
My name is Paige Weiss. I am 24 years old from Farmington, MO. Growing up, I had rejection and abandonment issues, this led to depression
and anxiety. After I graduated high school, I started experimenting with drugs, but they soon overtook my life. I got into a serious car accident
and miraculously walked away with only a scratch. After the accident, I realized how deadly the situation could have been. This scared me into
sobriety for 6 months, but it’s not really about...
PAIGE WEISS- November 2024
Hi there! My name is Susan Flanagan. I am a 42 year old mother of 3 boys and I was born in Blytheville, Arkansas. My father left when I was 2 years old, so my mother raised me and my brother and sister by herself. We were very poor. I remember that my mom moved us around a lot because she was an alcoholic and we went through several “stepdads.” Because my mom wasn’t very responsible, I felt the need to become more responsible. I was just a little girl and I was...
DECEMBER 2022- Susan Flanagan
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
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 Michael Steward. I was raised in California by an amazing single mother, Kathy Dixon who is married to an amazing Christian husband, Richard Dixon. I had everything I needed as a child and most of what I wanted. My life was really good until I started smoking pot my senior year of high school. I went off to college and kept smoking pot instead of fulfilling my responsibilities. I soon found myself transporting drugs from California to the school I was “sort of”...
MAY 2016- Michael Steward
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
Hello, I’m Misty Davidson. I’m 46 years old and from Moberly, Missouri. I grew up in a Christian home-Baptist. I was saved at the age of 9 but it seemed like at an early age, fear, torment, and anxiety set in and I doubted my salvation and my self-worth. I grew up in a very prideful and strifeful home. My Christian roots
go deep on my dad’s side. A lot of pastors and deacons of the church, but my momma’s side of the family wanted nothing to do with the Lord. A lot of...
SEPTEMBER 2023- Misty Davidson
My name is Nina Lee Beal. I’m 36 years old. I am a proud mother of one son, Caden. My life has been a tough one to live. My family was torn apart at the age of 14 when I lost my mother who had been sick most of my childhood. Her death triggered a downward spiral that began with partying on the weekends and escalated into being a full blown meth addict. Along with the drugs came a dependency on people and relationships trying to fill a void in my life that I now know, can...
MAY 2017- Nina Lee Beal
My name is Nichole Haywood. I was born in Kennett, Missouri and at the age of 3, my mother moved me and my older brother to Ohio. This move took me away from my father, but I was blessed with a loving stepdad that took me in like his own. He was the father I needed in my life. My brother was older than me and was always getting into trouble. I always felt like my mother loved him more than she did me. He began raping me when we moved to Ohio. This went on until I was 8 years old...
APRIL 2022- Nichole Haywood
My name is Eric Wood. I am 26 years old from Dexter, Missouri. I’ve always had the feeling that I was going to do something “big” in this life, even though I grew up feeling rejected by my father who was very abusive and controlling because he was addicted to pain medication. I always felt like he treated me different than he treated my 2 older brothers. I never felt loved. My father overdosed and we found him dead in our dining room when I was 15 years old. At the time, I...
JANUARY 2021- Eric Wood
My name is Jacob Barnes. I was born in 1997 in Jackson, Tennessee. When I was young, my parents moved us to Kennett, Missouri because my father was from there. My parents were young, and my dad couldn’t handle the pressure, so he drank and used drugs and hung out with the wrong people, often leaving me and my mom and sisters to fend for ourselves. Eventually, my parents split up and my mom ended up moving all of us in with her boyfriend in a nice house. This didn’t last long...
DECEMBER 2020- Jacob Barnes
My name is Whitney Burnette. I am 29 years old from Wynne,...
JANUARY 2022- Whitney Burnette
My name is Brian Nix. I am 45 years old and was raised in Birmingham,...
JUNE 2021- Brian Nix
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
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 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 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 Laura Burroughs. I am 40 years old. I was born and raised in Jonesboro, AR. I enjoyed a happy childhood. Although I never met my biological father, my stepdad adopted me when I was two years old. When I was fifteen, he committed suicide which sent me down a dark path. I started seeking approval and affirmation through men. I never felt like I had any worth and I always tried to fit into the crowd. I knew the way I was living was wrong, so shame and guilt set in. I tried to numb my...
LAURA BURROUGHS-March 2026
My name is Zach Seymour. I am 28 years old from Bay, Arkansas. I had a great childhood with a loving mother and was really into playing sports. When I was 12 years old, I started playing basketball instead of baseball and made new friends. I wanted to fit in with the cool crowd, so I started smoking pot and going to parties and drinking on the weekends. I got into a 4-wheeler accident and broke my arm. This started my addiction to pills and pain medications. I ended up taking...
MAY 2019- Zach Seymour
My name is Hunter Willis. I grew up in Harrison, Arkansas but now I live close to Springfield, Missouri. I’m 27 years old and have fought drug and alcohol abuse since I was 16. Growing up was perfect. My family and I trained horses and rodeoed. We went to church every Sunday and I was active in the youth groups. My family was very close. My dad worked and my mom stayed at home with me and my brothers. She say’s she would ask my brother where I was, and he’d usually say...
SEPTEMBER 2019- Hunter Willis
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...
APRIL 2017- Marvin Hembree
My name is Ian Miller. I am 39 years old from Taft, California. I was born to a very good family and brought up in a very loving and somewhat sheltered environment. My family is a very multi-racial melting pot, so I was raised to love and accept others. I was raised Catholic and had my first Holy communion with people I am still friends with to this day. I knew God from a very young age and walked with Him to the best of my ability and understanding until about the 7th grade, when I...
AUGUST 2020- Ian Miller
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 ...
MIKE SHEPHERD- September 2024
My name is Kent Anderson. I am the youngest of 3 boys from a loving stay at home mother and a hard working father. Wanting to fit in to what the world called popular was my downfall. I wanted to do all the things other kids did who had material things. I was spoiled and didn’t even know it because others had more material things than I had but they didn’t have a father who took them fishing and hunting or a mother who spent time working in the yard or catching butterflies or going...
MARCH 2016- Kent Anderson
My name is Kerry Maurer. I am 41 years old and was raised in South St. Louis, MO. My mother was only 16 when she had me and my father abused her. They partied and they fought all the time. They separated when I was 5 years old. When they separated, my mom drugs me from boyfriend to boyfriend and husband to husband. When it didn’t work out, we would go back to live with relatives. I changed schools more times than I could count and lacked the stability that I needed growing up....
JULY 2022- Kerry Maurer
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
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,...
SEPTEMBER 2018- Krista Bates- Duncan
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
My name is Casey Barker. I’m 45 years old from Jonesboro, Arkansas. I am an only child that grew up in a home where my parents loved me and provided for me. I went to church, I was active in school, sports, fishing and hunting, and I worked with my dad. My dad is a good man, but at times he would speak harshly to me and it affected my self esteem negatively. At the age of 12 my best friend was killed in an accident. I began trying to numb my pain with alcohol, sex, and drugs. I tried...
OCTOBER 2018- Casey Barker
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 Steven Lee Martin. I was born in 1981 in St. Louis, MO. I spent my childhood around severe alcoholics. My parents would argue a lot. When they were at work, my brother and I spent time with my grandparents. They would drink and argue a lot. I can remember all the way back to 5 years old. My grandpa was a security guard. He would come home from work every day with a case of beer and a bottle of alcohol and get drunk and then get mean. I guess I just assumed that was...
OCTOBER 2021- Steve Martin
My name is Dezirae Starcher. I’m 27 years old, I’m from Akron, OH. I...
MARCH 2018- Dezirae Starcher
My name is Christian Robles; I am 33, I was born in California, and raised in Memphis, TN. I started working at 14 years old and was
constantly around adults who spoke about using drugs and alcohol. Eventually, curiosity got the best of me, and I started to take part in
those activities with them. It helped me to deal with the abuse I received at home. I was young, bored, and felt neglected, the enemy had
gotten a hold of me. As the years passed, I dove...
CHRISTIAN ROBLES- August 2025
My name is Claude Essary, and I was born on July 27, 1977, in Bartow, FL. My mother was mentally ill, and my father was an alcoholic and a gambler, this made for a rough childhood. As I grew up, I had a lot of hate and anger from my upbringing that affected every part of my life. I just wanted to love people so much, because I didn’t want anyone to feel the way I felt inside. In November of last year, I was in jail for the fifteenth time; I was at a point in my life that I had never seen...
CLAUDE ESSARY- October 2024
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 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,...
MARCH 2022- Jordon Rogers
Hello everyone, my name is Carrie Mitchell. I am 47 years old. I was born in Memphis, TN but I was raised in New Braunfels, TX. I had a good childhood with good parents that taught me morals and values and the importance of making good grades. I listened and did what they told me to do. When I was 15, I developed a rebellious streak and started drinking. I also seemed to take the partying just a little further and a little further. I had many other drugs involved in my...