ABM Ministries Testimonials

Testimonials

The Light at the End Of the Tunnel

testimonials

Fifteen months ago, I would have never thought that I would be joining the military. Of course, people would have laughed at me. They would say things like, “you are a screw-up”, “who wants someone like you?”, “you even dropped out of school.” I’ve been to a few different programs for troubled teens, but there has always been something missing. They’ve all lacked the necessity of applying God’s grace to my struggles. I never thought I would amount to anything in my life. I always fell short of the mark. I have always struggled with addictions and pains that were too much for me to handle. I had lost all hope of a better life. ABM’s approach was different. They understood that God was the only answer and that only through Him could I truly be free. Here is where my relationship with Jesus Christ began.

The world tries to take that which is good and turn it evil, and as a new Christian, I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to strive to grow spiritually while surrounded by all the world’s influence. But here at ABM ministries, growing up is just made easy. There are no distractions, just a straight-line path to success. I’ve grown stronger in the power of Christ everyday that I’ve been here and I learned to listen for the voice of God. I can still remember when the Lord told me that he wanted me to join the Air Force. I kept it to myself for as long as I could, while I tried to come up with a reason why the military wouldn’t be right for me. Then one day Mr. Reed took me on a ride and discussed my future. When he started listing reasons why the Air Force would be the best transition from ABM, I was amazed. How could he have known what the Lord’s Will was for my life? I was in awe of what a powerful God I serve.

Jonathan

By the end of the month, three other people, including my mother had mentioned the Air Force to me. I was convinced, and I quickly grew a passion for the thought of being an Airman. I will never forget how hard I prayed for my success on the ASVAB test. I’ve never scored well on tests, always been slow. However, after I scored a 91% on the test and graduated valedictorian with honors, the Air Force quickly took notice. I begin boot camp the week after Christmas.
By: Jonathan R.

For me it all started on August 2, 2004. That was my first day at ABM as a student. Like all students before me I did not want to be there. I wanted to be back home with my friends and what was important to me at the time. Little did I know that the time I spent at ABM would be for the best.

ABM has turned me into the responsible adult I am today. Before ABM I hated most of my family especially my mother, I despised the ground she walked on. I was heading down a road in which not even I knew where it was heading. Drugs, alcohol, bad relationships, hanging around the wrong people, poor attitude in school… my life was a wreck. Of course, like any other teenager, I was in control. Right? NO! ABM was my reality check. I was put in a loving, family oriented, Christian environment where balance was key. I started with a clean slate and they listened to me and showed me how I could have handled things better in my life. They taught me how to be a successful individual. I was told that I had a choice in my schooling 1. Try to get my GED or 2. Attempt to finish High School. I was even told I could go home to finish school if I wanted. I was now faced with a choice, leave ABM or stay? I chose to stay and finish my schooling. Turns out it was a good choice. I became Salutatorian of my class and even received a trophy for being most popular. Besides graduating High School, ABM made another change in my life. I now have a relationship with my parents, even my mom. We now talk for hours and enjoy spending time with each other. ABM turned my outlook on life around. I wanted to do good and make something of myself.
Dustin

In the year 2007, you could have called me a beautiful mess. I had finally hit rock bottom. I was making decisions of a person who was not stable, and had no clue what I was doing to hurt myself or anyone around me.

I was only 17 years old and you could have labeled me an alcoholic and drug addict. By making these choices that were spinning me out of control, I was hurting my parents, family, and friends. They were losing hope, and I had no hope left. As unhappy and unhealthy as I really was, I still managed to convince myself that I was “happy” and my life was good. Little did I know I would quickly come to realize that it was not; thanks to my parents.

Two people, who I once hated and treated so badly, are now my heroes. My parents helped save my life the day they decided to send me to ABM. When I first arrived at ABM, I was a very stubborn, rebellious, strong-willed child. I just knew I had life figured out. Oh boy was I wrong! Coming to ABM helped me in so many ways. The staff worked with me to help me realize the things I was doing to myself. I became broken and realized I needed more out of life. At that point, God opened my eyes and showed me that I had more to live for.

After the thirteen months I spent at ABM, I left with passion for life, love restored with my family, and the feeling of being worthy of everything life had to offer.
By: Chelsea

As the mother of a child who attended ABM Ministries for 18 months, and yes it was the hardest decision that we ever made to send her there, but it was most definitely the best decision. Jenna has been home for four months now since going through the program, and I can honestly say that we have our little girl back.

Much time and effort went into researching facilities and solutions as well as many hours of prayers and family counseling. This decision was not made very lightly. There was much discouragement and doubts about having to take such drastic measures about having to send your child away. Most of all, we had God in this guiding us throughout this whole process.

Prior to sending her, she was hateful, rebellious, totally out-of-control, and defiant in every aspect to all adult authority. She was so headed down a path of destruction. If we had not sent her to ABM, I have no doubt in my mind, that we would have been paying for rehab for her or worse than that, her funeral.

Since she has been home, she is respectful, mannerly, does not mind doing chores, more loving, we have control over her, she is happy and very well-adjusted, and she is active in our church as well as many school activities. She is doing great in school and her teachers love her, and has made many new friends as she has left her past behind. No, it is not perfect as we still have normal teenage issues but we are very well equipped on how to handle moving forward with all of the knowledge we gained from Brother Larry and staff at ABM Ministries. Many hours of ABM staff went into molding Jenna into who she is today.

We are so very proud of Jenna but we would have never gotten to that point without ABM Ministries. We completely support ABM Ministries and staff.
Cindy and Ryan S.

I love God and how He can change lives, and only Him. It is truly in vain if we don’t allow him in to do it. Well we allowed Him in to do it with our son. March 2008, we knew that Joshua needed more. “Spiritual Discipleship”, he had quite a history…but we know God has a future and a hope for him. Even our middle son came to us and said “Joshua needs to be disciple, it was confirmation. We were fed up, scared and really just want Joshua to succeed and reach his full potential and it just wasn’t happening. So…for the 2-3rd time my husband and I went searching on the internet for help with troubled teens. Steve, my husband called ABM and talked to Larry and he did a brief screening and he took Joshua in, just as he was, like the “acceptance of Christ”.

Joshua has written us recently the most remarkable letter. The letter was like a prodigal son letter, a very sincere and deep letter of apology to the whole family. It was an answer to mine and my husbands prayer from the prodigal son parable in the Bible…”that he would come to his senses.” Joshua has been in 3 different residential treatments. And none of them had Joshua reaching levels of character and discipline, hard work, team work, athletics, scholastics and spiritual training like ABM.

It has been a financial sacrifice and I still wake up or have the thought are we wasting a bunch of money? But when we see him and hear him talk to us and the way he engages with such sincere respect it is worth it. To see his confidence and character change is a HUGE answer to prayer…I knew it was in there!! We miss him terribly, but it is such a huge comfort that Carmen, Larry, Beth and Reed love Joshua, with the love of Christ and family.
Momma Renee C.

A Parent’s Testimony

I am the father of one of the young men at ABM. Austin started at ABM last January 5th. I remember the day well. Austin had just been expelled from his first residential school after 15 months there. Austin came home and spent the next month at home as our family went on a nationwide search for another residential school. We had only searched for Christian schools because we firmly believe that God is the most critical piece of the puzzle and that He must be the central part of any program for troubled teens.

My wife and I discovered a hand full of Christian residential schools. We began to call each school, describe our child’s problems and see what reaction the school would have. My wife and I also made a list of items that were important to us and then ranked them in the order of importance. We found this exercise very helpful in choosing between schools. My wife made the initial contacts with ABM with Mr. Larry. She had long talks with Mr. Larry about their program, his qualifications, the faith component of the program and many other details. I have learned to trust my wife’s instincts. She kept telling me that she feel that ABM was the right choice for Austin. She had the peace that Paul describes in Philippians 4:5-6.

As we reflect back on the last 10 months, I can truthfully say that we have been very pleased with the school, the staff and Austin’s progress. We have made 3 trips to visit Austin so we have started to develop a relationship with the staff and are very impressed with their commitment and dedication.
Jon & Cherie L.

God had given me another chance

It started when I was just a kid. I talked back to my parents, snuck out of the house, took money without asking... but this is all stuff normal kids do anyway, right? But I was different, I had accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior. Yet I still did everything an unsaved person would do. It got really bad in my middle school years when my mom home schooled me. We would argue all the time, and when my dad got home, the arguments would nearly come to blows if they didn't. Finally my mom decided to let me go to the public school for ninth grade.

While the domestic disputes toned down, I struggled with making the right friends and claiming to be a "Christian" in an environment where Christianity is laughed at. Then, the day before my finals began, my world was rocked. My uncle, who had gone in for minor surgery to have a hernia removed, died at the hands of a surgeon who has had many similar outcomes. My uncle was like a father to me. He and his wife never had any children, so they took to spoiling me. I had already lost both of my grandfathers, and this got me thinking about life, death, and how I wanted to live the rest of my time here. That summer was one of the hardest times of my life.

During my sophomore year, I set out to make new friends to have fun with. I fell in with the wrong crowd. I started skipping school, doing drugs, and sleeping nights out on the street because I didn't want to deal with my parents. At the end of June, 2008, my parents decided to take me on a trip to see my sister who had just gotten married. The night we arrived, I awoke with a start. Two men were telling me to get dressed and take my bags. I soon figured out where I was going. I took the transition surprisingly well. I figured there was nothing I could do to change my situation, and I decided to try God again. Around Christmas time, I trusted God with my whole life again. I decided to let Him take me where He wanted and do with me as He wills.

The next eight months came as some of the best and worst times of my stay at ABM. God had given me another chance, and ABM had provided the direction back to God. ABM gave me the instruction and isolation that I needed to stick with God. I say the "best times," because I was privileged to spend much of my time on white chip helping the staff; but the "worst times," because I always found guilt whenever I did something wrong. I felt the Holy Spirit working in me and teaching me to walk in the right path. ABM had pointed me in the right direction, and God took over the rest. I am now finishing my high school and discovering what God has in store for my life. Through the instruction of the staff, I discovered every Christian's calling to full-time ministry, and I plan on attending Moody Bible Institute to become an urban missionary.
Chris

“Who is ABM?” This very question was proposed to four current students…
Brittany, Shelby, Jonathan and Tyler

ABM Ministries is a group of believers, vessels for the Spirit’s use, who display the fruit of the Spirit on a daily basis. “Teaching by example the Christian way of life”, our mission statement, is a reality, not just mere words. The staff lives here with us 24 hours a day, seven days a week, showing us how God expects his children to handle everyday situations. Not only that, but we also see the staff’s reaction to what the world would label “emergencies.” Floods, blackouts, ice storms-these are just a taste of the obstacles we’ve faced so far. We’ve yet to see, however, the staff showing the whites of their eyes in panic. Through it all, they cling to the promises given in God’s Word, offering a hope that we, the students, can do the same.
Answered by: Brittany, Shelby, Jonathan and Tyler

My husband and I have been acquainted with ABM Ministries for about nine years. Our son attended the school nine years ago and our daughter is presently a student at ABM. Our experience with ABM has been a positive one. The way that ABM was originated and the way that it has grown throughout the years is a blessing to all who have benefited from the hard work of the founders of the school and all those who have worked diligently to build a fine Christian boarding school.

We believe that ABM provides a place where its students are able to finish growing mentally, physically and spiritually. There is an emphasis on the whole person with an excellent school, many varied and enjoyable physical activities, and intensive Bible study.

It is our opinion that ABM is a safe haven for troubled teens. The structured environment, clear boundaries and Biblically based way that the students are dealt with provide an alternative for teens that need a safe place to finish maturing and to focus on building a healthy, wholesome, and Godly life.
Rob & June

My name is Nicole and I am a former student of ABM Ministries. Before I was sent to ABM I was always getting into trouble, doing things and going places that I had no business doing nor going. Things all changed on January 22nd, 2006. I was awakened up in the middle of the night by a man I had never seen before and asked to go with him. Puzzled and confused, as well as a little bit asleep, I got out of bed and put my jacket on, then followed them out the door and got into their van. It was not until I had already traveled about ten hours that I realized I was not going to be able to see my parents for a while and that I had finally pushed my last button. I no longer got to eat what I wanted to eat, nor go where I wanted to go. I had to do things I never had to do before, like wear a dress and skirts with dress shoes instead of my blue deans and T-shirts, (which I still think are more comfortable.) I made myself suffer for about five months before I realized that I did not have to suffer like that and that ABM was really not so bad. It was on May 11th, 2006 that I was saved from my past. I was sitting in the class room and found that I could not concentrate on my school, (even less than normal.) I found myself getting tears in my eyes and something telling me that was it, and that it was my time. I put my flag up and got one of the teachers to go with me and pray. Since that day my life has not been the same. Don't get me wrong, there are still times when I find myself falling off the paths that are right for me, like when I finally graduated and went back home. But I could not let that get me down for the Bible tells us is Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me." It also tells us in Luke 1:37 "For with God nothing shall be impossible." With those scriptures in mind I set out to find me a church and in doing so I was blessed with a wonderful, Godly husband, and two beautiful kids. Hopefully I won’t have to send them to ABM now that God is a part of my life.
Nicole M. McCraw