PROGRAM CURRICULUM
For more than fifty years, Teen Challenge has established centers in our nation’s poorest metropolitan areas. The Teen Challenge residential facilities in Southern California are strategically located to offer substance abuse and prevention services to those individuals who need our help the most. These communities often are areas saturated with rampant drug use, gangs, violence, crime and poverty.
Our residential facilities often care for those who have lost hope that they can ever break out of these deadly and destructive cycles. Our one-year residential substance abuse recovery program has been designed to equip graduates with the skills needed to be active contributors to their family, faith and community.
Our program-specific curriculum guides students through basic life, work and social skills and is designed to transform hearts and lives from the inside out. The Teen Challenge curriculum is one of several reasons why Teen Challenge has been, and continues to be, so successful.
Teen Challenge Curriculum
Teen Challenge uses curriculum as a foundation of the discipleship portion of our residential program. Our curriculum includes group studies for new Christians written by Dave Batty. The courses consist of the following titles:
How Can I Know I’m a Christian?
How to become a Christian. How feelings are involved. Where to look for evidence that you are a Christian. How to develop a personal relationship with Jesus. What to do about doubts.
A Quick Look at the Bible
General introduction to the Bible. How was the Bible written? How can you know the Bible is accurate? How does Christ fit into the whole Bible?
Attitudes
What are attitudes? How do we use them? How do we develop new attitudes? What is the right attitude to have when being criticized or corrected? What is the right attitude to have when correcting someone else?
Temptation
What is temptation? Why do Christians get tempted? How can we respond to temptation? How can we prepare for temptation?
Successful Christian Living
How did God make you? What does God say about how you can be a successful Christian? Who is the Holy Spirit? What does the Holy Spirit do in your life when you are a Christian?
Growing Through Failure
What causes failure? What God does when you fail. Steps to recovery from failure. The role of forgiveness and restitution in recovery. How to deal with boredom.
Christian Practices
A study of six subjects on the church and its practices: the local church, how to give a testimony, how to be a manager for God, communion, water baptism, prayer.
Obedience to God
Why should you obey God? What are God’s greatest laws? How can you develop obedient attitudes? Which laws in the Bible are Christians responsible to obey? What are the results of obeying and disobeying God?
Obedience to Man
Why should you obey your leaders? Introduces guidelines on obeying your leader with love. What are the three levels of obedience? What should you do when your leader tells you to do something wrong?
Anger and Personal Rights
Discusses why we get angry and how we express our anger. We explore how your personal rights affect your anger. What are some practical ways to deal with your anger? How does God want you to use your anger?
How to Study the Bible
Basic teaching on how and why to study the Bible. What are the three basic steps of Bible study? Three simple methods of studying the Bible are presented.
Love and Accepting Myself
What is love? What does the Bible say about love? How can we express love to others? What does it mean to accept yourself? What are the steps to developing a positive self image?
Personal Relationships With Others
Discusses how to be a good friend and how to develop different kinds of friendships. What should you do about non-Christian friends? What should be the Christian’s attitude toward sex? Dating and marriage are also covered.
Spiritual Power and the Supernatural
The issues of faith, spiritual power, and the Christian’s involvement in supernatural events have become quite controversial in many churches today. This course takes a look at what is true spiritual power and how it can have a practical impact on the life of the new Christian.