About Mission Teens
We seek Jesus as the answer
Help For the Desperate - Those Willing To Seek God For The Answer To Their Problems"Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you" - Matthew 6:33Mission Teens, Inc. is a non-denominational Christian Discipleship ministry dedicated to helping people who struggle with life-controlling problems by ministering the Gospel of Jesus Christ to them. We believe that the Gospel should be free to all.
Our Founder
Reverend James D. Bracken (1934-2012) founded Mission Teens, Inc. in 1969. He opened the first residential center in Norma, NJ after much prayer. He knew there was a need for a more effective ministry for the troubled young people who were attending his home prayer meetings. After two years of little results in the center, God answered his prayer by dictating to him a program which, when put into effect, brought immediate results in people's lives. This same program is still used today in all of the Mission Teens centers and the results are still phenomenal.
A DAY AT THE MISSION
We treat each person in our center as a member of the family. Junior staff members and higher ranking residents teach the "younger" residents. Senior Staff and directors handle the major problems and decisions. Each one is expected to do his or her part to make the "family" run as smoothly as possible. There are 5 1/2 hours of Bible study per day, and the training amounts to approximately 1 year of Bible school. There is a comprehensive study of the New Testament and a general study of the Old Testament. The daily schedule varies slightly at the centers, but fundamentally remains the same.
THE TRAINING PROGRAM
Our purpose is to provide hope to the hopeless. It is our goal to direct the people to the Lord Jesus to find love and a purpose for their lives, and to make disciples of them as the Bible directs. The discipleship training program is divided up into four phases, each lasting 2-4 months. As the person proves that he/she can handle the increasing responsibilities of each phase, their privileges will increase. It is a highly structured program with a rigid daily schedule. Everyone is expected to obey the house rules and follow the schedule.Infractions of the rules or schedule are corrected with writing assignments, loss of privileges or extra work chores. The first phase of the training is a 2-month induction period with very few privileges or responsibilities. Each individual is simply expected to follow the rules and will begin to understand how to seek the Lord.
The next two phases add some general household responsibilities, which will add normal life pressures and cause the person to seek the Lord for help. Privileges in these two phases include phone calls and visits from immediate family (and pastoral or legal counsel) only. No friends are allowed to visit or call any person in the discipleship training. In the final phase, the person is in "counselor training." They will counsel one person each day and make a report to senior staff. They are expected to be a good example in the house and to learn to help others as they were helped.
Upon completion of the program, the person may be offered an additional 10-12 month staff-training program.