If you ever found yourself in a situation where you were standing by a large pool of water while fifteen men were all drowning at the same time, what would you do? You might be able to save one at best, and perhaps two if you were in optimal physical condition and previously trained in water rescue. Maybe if you prayed, God would send some sort of miracle, like parting the waters of the pool in an instant so that everyone was left on dry ground. Or perhaps He would send enough angels to somehow do the job. You have to admit that within all the possible scenarios, that situation would have to top the list as being the most improbable! What if I were to tell you that God can use you and the resources He has blessed you with to help save as many as fifteen men every day from drowning from drug and alcohol addiction and other life-controlling problems?
Every day at the Adult and Teen Challenge Center in Syracuse, NY, a handful of highly trained men, often operating on a shoestring budget, are actually keeping as many as fifteen men metaphorically from drowning spiritually, emotionally, and physically.
When I think of Syracuse, New York, I always think of it as being a home away from home. Not only was it the “big city” that my dad drove “white knuckled” my family through when we were children on our way to vacation in the Thousand Islands region along the Canadian border, but it also ended up being a main hub for ministry travel in my life covering several years. It was there that I preached in its many churches, took my family for weekend winter retreats in the middle of long winters, and found there some of the best friends a man could have ever had. However, by far my most positive memories, starting in the early nineties, was meeting the staff of Adult and Teen Challenge Syracuse and the many men who lived there through different seasons. Once just known as Teen Challenge Syracuse, now their name has changed a bit to New York Adult and Teen Challenge, but their heart has always been to reach men of different ages to enable them to break free of various addictions by finding Jesus Christ as their Savior.
Has anyone but me ever realized that the best financial investment that you could ever make is in that which is eternal? As a matter of fact, the Bible and Jesus Himself taught a lot about Kingdom priorities. An internet search reveals that depending upon how certain scriptures are interpreted, as much as 15 to 25% of Bible instruction has to do with financial matters. Now you have to ask yourself, as I have, if you believe that you cannot take your wealth with you, but you believe in the teachings of Jesus, wouldn’t it make sense to invest your money the wisest way that you could while on earth? Giving into the work of the Kingdom of God with the right motive will always guarantee blessings in one form or another, either here on earth, or one day in Heaven!
Several years ago, one of the former assistant directors at New York Adult and Teen Challenge was sensing the calling of an evangelist. Whenever I was preaching in the city, he would bring the men at the center to the nightly meetings. This went on over a few years, and it was one of the ways I got to know him and the then-acting Director Dave Pilch so well. Therefore, on one of my trips mid-winters through Syracuse, I decided to drive in and visit the center. When I arrived, one of the men said that Dave was out with a few of the guys and that they should be back any time. So, I decided to wait. After a short time passed, in came Dave with his family station wagon filled with guys, laughing and waving at me, as the car had small logs sticking out of almost every window. They had filled that vehicle up with free firewood as full as they could and then some. As the car pulled in, I heard “verrumph” as it bottomed out coming in the driveway so loaded down.
Dave got out and greeted me with his usual Christlike smile, and I said, “Wow, Dave, what is this? Do you have a fireplace?” He said yes, but the wood was for a big old potbelly cast iron woodstove that one of the guy’s grandfathers gave them, which had been put in storage in his barn. I said, “Dave, oh wow! Great! Is your furnace not working?”
Their commercial facility was quite large, originally a large house, and I could only think of how hard it must be to heat a building of that size during Syracuse winters! He said, “No, it’s just that the donations that come in each month are not enough to pay for everything, including the fuel for the furnace. This is a way we have found to be able to make it all happen!” I will never forget that day because hearing his reality had a momentous impact on my own faith and ministry. By that time, I had spent years in a different kind of youth ministry. I had an independent syndicated radio ministry to teens, to try to affect the tide of an epidemic of teen suicide in America in the nineties. I also had been a youth pastor/leader in several different churches through the years and ran a drop-in Youth for Christ youth center. I won’t go into all the details here, but I was constantly having to dip into what the kids called “the Nolan fund” to pay for things that donations just did not cover. The weight of the thousands of personal dollars spent over the years was starting to take its toll. I was growing increasingly discouraged and even at one point strongly considered the possibility that I am doing something wrong and maybe whatever it was had influenced the amount of donations coming into the ministry God had called me to! If the Spirit of God had not intervened and given me this interaction with Dave, I may have dropped out of the ministry completely, just as many others have. As soon as Dave’s words
finished coming out of his mouth, the Spirit of God spoke to my heart. “Nolan, if Dave Pilch, who has spent several years helping men of different ages break free from the chains of various vices like drug addiction and alcoholism with an internationally recognized ministry, struggles to get donations from the public and the churches, then is it surprising that your nonprofit ministry using radio, promoting youth camps, and running a drop-in youth center struggles also?”
I left there that day a changed man, with a new motivation to keep reaching out to teens. This happened because a man like Dave Pilch had carried a greater cross, for a greater time, for a greater cause, for less reward. I am happy to report that as their campus pastor, he is today still a part of the program, spending untold hours helping the new director and his assistant steal even more souls from the devil’s grasp. That was over twenty years ago. Dave Pilch, shown in the picture with some of the active residents with the current program Supervisor, Carlos Ortez. Carlos, a graduate of the program himself, has, like Dave, a Christ-filled heart and passion to see men transformed by God’s power!
The following is a quotation of a paragraph from a letter Dave Pilch has received from just one of the dozens of overwhelmingly appreciative parents whose son was transformed by the ministry of Adult and Teen Challenge in Syracuse, NY.
“For the first time in years, the light is back in my son’s eyes. He is alive and he is happy! You will be delighted to know that he is absolutely flourishing at the Teen Challenge Training Center in Rehrersburg, PA. He is on the worship team and loves the fact that he is back into his music again. He just got a job and from what his counselor told us he is doing very well in his new environment, making new friends, and making God his priority! Michael is actually thinking about the future for the first time since he was in the Navy. He is realizing the rewards of giving back and putting the needs of others before himself. He always was a good person, and I am so grateful to Teen Challenge for bringing that quality back out of him!”
Personally, now, as a faith-based author and journalist, I am currently asking God how I might increase my monthly giving to help Adult and Teen Challenge Syracuse. I would invite you to join me in giving. You can send a tax-deductible donation to the address at the end of this article or go online to www.NYATC.org and use the drop-down menu at the top right to find the donations tab. This ministry is being operated by some of the most committed Christian people you will ever meet. From his very beginning in ministry, Dave Pilch was powerfully influenced by David Wilkerson’s book, founder of Teen Challenge International, called “The Cross and the Switchblade.” After graduating from Onondaga Community College, Dave graduated from Christ for the Nations Institute in Dallas, Texas, in 1976 with an associate degree in ministry, returning to Syracuse to volunteer at what is now Adult and Teen Challenge Syracuse. Within a few months, he was asked to come on full-time as a “live-in staff.” He has literally devoted 48 years of his life to this ministry! Will you team up with me and so many others and make the best donation that you can today?
Recently, I came across an astonishing insight in verses which, although we as believers more than likely read past at least once a year, seem to have little impact on us. In Acts 10:1-4 the story is told of a man named Cornelius who was a Roman Centurion in the Italian regiment. In this passage, the story is told of an angel appearing to him. Do you know why this non-Hebrew Roman Soldier was recognized by God? It says in verse two that he was a devout man who feared God along with all of his household, and that he gave alms generously! I do not know about you, but I have learned in nearly sixty years of my Christian experience that God does not mention anything in the Bible needlessly! Cornelius was a giver! Cornelius was a giver who got God’s attention so much so that he was the key pivot person in all of New Testament theology, which was shown to Peter in Cornelius’s gentile home. It was through Cornelius that the revelation was given that salvation was now available to the whole Gentile world! Wow! When I read that passage, I was blown away. Yes, we realize he was other things as well, but being an alms giver meant that he gave a lot of money to people in need! God saw his giving and rewarded him with the great honor of being able to impart a new revelation to the apostle!
Do you know, as a revivalist, it is plain to me that the Bible teaches that we are all called to tithe? Some have even learned the truth, as the pastor of my church teaches, that God calls us to give both tithes AND offerings, as seen in Malachi 3:10,11. Ironically, I know of some people who, in spite of the fact that they are not church attenders, or are unbelievers, recognize the fact that if they give to help the needy, blessings will come back to them! Wherever you are in your perspective on giving, Adult & Teen Challenge Syracuse, NY needs your help! They need you to be the one who will stand with them beside that pool of sometimes fifteen men who came to them drowning in addictions. They need you to be a man, a woman, or even a teenager who has the heart of Cornelius and will be a “much alms giver” to turn the tide on the staggering statistic that over 96,700 people die every year from drug overdose in the U.S. According to an internet report, 7 out of every 10 overdose deaths are from opioids and since 1999, drug overdoses have killed almost a million people. Right in my home church, a seasoned Vet from Afghanistan recently received a phone call informing him that his oldest son had just passed due to a drug overdose. No doubt this tragedy has hit close to home for you as well.
The awesome news is that Adult Teen Challenge Syracuse is making a difference. A recent visit there convinced me more than ever that God’s hand of blessing is powerful in this ministry. But do you know what? I asked Dave Pilch while I was there if they still had to help heat the facility with firewood. He said yes and showed me the wood-burning insert in their fireplace that will be in one of the photos with this article, an improvement to the old potbellied stove. Friend, what if that was your house? Perhaps it is? Some people still depend on wood fires to heat their homes, but think about it. Really? A 24 hr. a day 7-day-a-week program housing up to fifteen men at a time where one of the staff who has committed 48 years of his life to that ministry still has to heat with wood because not enough donations come in every month to be able to afford to heat it with a gas or oil-fired furnace?
Wow, church, that speaks to us! That speaks to a great need! You say, “I will pray for them,” and that is great. Dave would welcome our prayers combined with dozens of hours of his own each week. However, they need more than our prayers
They need our ongoing support. While I was there, I was told that they are really in need of some right now offerings! So please, send your best check to the address at the end of this article. Or go to the dropdown on their website and put the best donation you can today on your debit or credit card. I know in my heart that God will bless you, and deep down you know He will too! Thank you ahead of time for having a heart like a converted Roman Centurion Soldier named Cornelius who gave so much God used him to help save an entire culture! Isn’t that what Adult and Teen Challenge Syracuse is trying to do? Write or contact them and send them your best donation that you can believe God with today!
Adult & Teen Challenge Syracuse 124 Furman St Syracuse, NY 13205 www.NYATC.org 315-478-4139
