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.
STEVEN KUYKUNDALL
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My name is Rodney Walker. I’m 42 years old and I am from Mississippi. I had a rough childhood because my parents were always fighting, so I spent a great deal of time with my grandparents. My grandma took me to church where I was exposed to the truth but also a lot of “religion”. I was saved at the age of 11 but wasn’t properly discipled. I used my involvement in sports to be a release of all the negative emotions I was trying to bottle up inside. I listened to so many lies...
AUGUST 2019- Rodney Walker
My name is Steven Kuykendall, and I am the oldest of 2 children. I was born 6 weeks prematurely and had pneumonia. My parents got divorced when I was
seven, they both quickly remarried. My mother’s husband was abusive to me from the first time I met him, this led to me hating him. I spent weekends back
and forth between my grandparents and my mother’s. As a young child, I wanted to be an MLB player, when I was a freshman in high school, I tried out, and
was on the team...
STEVEN KUYKENDALL- December 2024
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
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
Hi, my name is Robbie Ingram. I’m 31 years old and I’m from Dexter, Missouri. I was born in South St. Louis, but when I was 3 years old, my dad went to prison and my parents got divorced. My mom decided to move me and my 3 sisters and 2 brothers to Dexter and be near my grandparents. My mom worked a lot to support all of us, but her heart was always with us. I can remember going to church as a child. I loved learning about Jesus and singing the kid's songs, but what I liked...
APRIL 2018- Robbie Ingram
My name is Ryan Burhans. I am 40 years old. I was born in Wisconsin. When I was around fifteen my parents got divorced and I was left alone
a lot and I felt rejected. That’s when my drinking started. I moved out when I was sixteen and had my first child. The drinking got worse because
it numbed the pain of rejection that I felt. I have had many jobs and two marriages that ended due to my drinking. All these years of drinking, I
only had one accident. I know it was because...
RYAN BURHANS- February 2024
My name is Katie Pitts. I am 32 years old from Kennett, MO. I had a good childhood never wanting for anything. My mother took me to church every time the doors were open. I was saved at a young age and had relations with Jesus but not a relationship. Growing up, I suffered from depression, anxiety, and rejection issues, In my later teenage years, I discovered alcohol and liked the way it made me feel, In reality, I ended up in bondage and it made the things I was experiencing worse, I used...
FEBRUARY 2022- Katie Pitts
My name is Courtney Shipley. I am 28 years old. I was born in Southern California to loving parents and grew up in church. Since I grew up in a good home and never struggled with drugs, I really didn’t think I had a testimony for a long time. Yes, my life felt lonely and empty, but I had no idea why. I was married to my high school sweetheart, we owned a home, we both drove brand new cars, and we both had respectable jobs that paid well. On the outside, my life lacked nothing. Yet, week...
NOVEMBER 2020- Courtney Shipley
My name is Marissa Lesley. I am 43 years old from Dexter, Missouri. I have been on and off drugs since I was 12 years old. I never really felt like I fit in anywhere and I’ve always struggled with low self-esteem issues. I came from a good family. My parents divorced when I was young, but they were both good and loving parents. Neither one of my parents ever had addiction problems. I started hanging out with the wrong crowd in school and that was my...
FEBRUARY 2021- Marissa Lesley
My name is Angela Holland. I am 61 years old from Kennett, Missouri. My dad was an alcoholic and abusive to me. He would fill my bottles with alcohol before I even learned to crawl. This had a huge effect on my life. I was saved and baptized at an early age but did not really have a relationship with Jesus. By seventh grade I was drinking and smoking pot. The drug use just got worse and led to severe depression. As a result of my drug use, I eventually went to prison. While in prison, I...
ANGIE HOLLAND- March 2024
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
Hi, my name is Justin Finley and I am 33 years old. I was raised by my grandparents, which is a decision my mother made due to her addiction. I was raised in church and taught right from wrong. Whenever I visited my mother, I would get molested by her boyfriend. This led to anger and depression. I was bullied to the point where I had to change schools. I started to hang out with the wrong crowd, they accepted me with open arms. They introduced me to witchcraft at the age of 13 and by the age...
JUSTIN FINLEY- August 2024
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 Tonya Leigott. I am 29 years old, from Trumann, Arkansas. I came from a very dysfunctional home. When I was younger, my parents were in a mess, along with my Aunt and Uncle, it was just kind of a family thing…When I was about 8 years old; my parents let my grandparents adopt me. My grandparents tried to give me everything that my parents couldn’t, which in turn made me spoiled and emotionally unbalanced. My best friend died leaving my 18th birthday party after a night...
DECEMBER 2016- Tonya Leigott
My name is Trey Hollins. I’m 24 years old rom Poplar Bluff, Missouri. I had a good childhood. I was raised by a single parent, my mom. My dad came around from time to time, but he had 8 other kids and I always felt like he just didn’t have time for me, his oldest son. I started working when I was 16 years old. I complained about it until one day my mom told me that there was a time that she had to pick up trash just to provide for me and my sister. Hearing that changed my...
FEBUARY 2020- Trey Hollins
My name is Darline Pehle. I’m 26 years old. I am the oldest of 5 siblings but because of my size, I qualify as the runt. I was very abused as a child. I went to church growing up, but in high school I started to rebel against my family and the Lord. During my rebellion, I denied my belief in Christ. I was doing all sorts of bad things and then I was with my grandma when we got the call that my mom had died in her jail cell. Instead of looking to the Lord for strength, I rebelled even harder...
NOVEMBER 2023- Darline Pehle
My name is Jason Motter. I am 46 years old and I am from Millville, New Jersey. I had a pretty normal childhood. I am the middle child of divorced parents and we were all raised by my father. I played a lot of sports growing up like baseball and football. When I was 13, I got into a fight at school and got hurt. I was prescribed painkillers and that opened a door that would take a very long time to close. I took pain medication and chased that high for years until one day in...
NOVEMBER 2019- Jason Motter
My name is Jody Thompson, and I am a 42-year-old mom to 3 amazing kids. I was raised in church and got saved and baptized when I was young. There was
a lot of love in my family, but there was pain as well. My dad was an alcoholic which caused turmoil in our home. As I got older, there were more and more
“excuses” not to go to church. I started experiencing anxiety, depression and tension headaches and was prescribed psych and pain meds as a cure. This was
the beginning...
JODY THOMPSON- April 2024
My name is Kandy Riggs. I am 49 years old from Sebree, Kentucky. I am the 8th of 10 children. When I was growing up, my father was an abusive alcoholic who shot at and stabbed us kids. I have been married for 30 years and we have 2 children and 2 grandchildren. I didn’t have my last child until I was 35 years old and I had to have several surgeries as a result. The surgeries resulted in pain medications which I became addicted to. I would stop for periods of time, but I...
JULY 2018- Kandy Riggs
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 Courtney Freer. I am 29 years old from Piggott, Arkansas. Growing up, I had a good childhood with 2 siblings, and we were raised by a single mother. My mom tried to make sure that we always had everything we needed. I was raised up going to church, but I just never developed that personal relationship with Jesus that I needed. I started smoking pot in the 6th grade and continued until I was 17 years old. I
used to dream about going to college and making something of my life...
SEPTEMBER 2020- Courtney Freer
Hello I am Kimberly Townsend (Kimmy). I am 54 years old and was born in St. Louis, Missouri. I am a proud mom of 2 very special men, Mathew Alan Trudell age 36 years old and his oldest brother(who is now with the Lord) Mack Andrew Trudell Jr.(1985-2004). Alcoholism and addiction have been a big part of my life since birth. My parents were both alcoholics and although I was never physically abused by either of them, my childhood consisted of watching them constantly verbally and physically...
APRIL 2023- Kimmie Towsend
My name is Kimberly Tomlinson. I was born and raised in Pocahontas, Tennessee. The Lord blessed me with a great family that taught me about Jesus at a young age. I received salvation when I was young and even though I took the wrong path for a while, I know that Jesus was with me keeping me safe the entire time. In high school, I started hanging out with what I thought were the “cool kids”. I can remember just riding around and getting drunk and high with them. ...
JUNE 2022- Kimberly Tomlinson
My name is Melissa Gaydos and I’m 29 years old. My whole life I never felt like I fit in and that I needed to be different somehow. No matter who I was around I felt all alone. From as long as I can remember I struggled with depression. Like what’s the point to life or does it even matter If I’m alive. I was bullied a lot too and walked in a lot of fear. Why doesn’t anyone like me or why can’t I just be normal are questions that haunted me. Pain pills took all those...
JANUARY 2020- Melissa Gaydos
My name is Sean Tolbert, and I am from Jonesboro, Arkansas. I have lived there most of my life, which started in 1974. My story is about a long journey of seeking contentment. I
wasn’t unhappy, but I have always felt unsatisfied, and I spent my life trying to fill a void I didn’t understand. I went to college hoping that education and a good job would satisfy me,
this was not the case. I tried traveling or roaming as well, and as it turned out being a vagabond wasn’t my...
SEAN TOLBERT- March 2025
My name is Nathan Jones. I was born July 10th, 1988, in Cape Girardeau, MO. I was the youngest of 3 boys. I was raised catholic but didn’t have a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. At an early age, I started smoking weed and taking pills. I dropped out of school and started partying full time. My addiction got worse and progressed into harder drugs like meth and heroin. This ruled my life for a long time. I was in and out of jails, mental institutions, and hospitals....
MAY 2023- Nathan Jones
My name is Treyton Hartle. I am 22 years old from Bloomfield, MO and this is how Jesus turned my life around. On April 1st, 1998 I was born into a great family with loving parents who knew the Lord. Following that was a life in church that was never appreciated like it should have been. At 12 years old I gave my life to the Christ at church camp…then came high school. The work was easy. I wasn’t good enough to play college sports, and I found out I loved having...
APRIL 2021- Treyton Hartle
My name is Tim Lacey. I am 63 years old, from a small town in Southeast Missouri. In my late fifties, decades of drinking had taken its toll on me. I found myself
morally and spiritually bankrupt. I was alone and hopeless. I had been in several rehabs over the years, that taught me that I was an alcoholic, and I would always
be an alcoholic. I came to a critical point in my life, after my mom’s passing and I knew something had to change. A close friend told me about Freedom...
TIM LACY- May 2024
My name is Kenna Chenoa Cashion. I am…a child of God. I could tell you about how I was married with kids or how I was teased as a kid, how my family was poor and broken or even how I was abused but all of these things are so small but necessary parts of my life. See I am now a 34-year-old divorced mother of 3 whom after being married and without a husband and home of my own, struggling to become a single parent lost my way, myself, my children and my life. No, I didn’t die physically but...
DECEMBER 2023- Kenna Cashion
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 Stewart Kerr. I am 24 years old from Muncie, Indiana. I grew up in a good home with good parents, two older sisters, and two younger brothers. We grew up going to a church where my parents were very involved, as I got older, they stopped forcing me to go and I started to stray away. Then I got into sports and got busy, and I stopped going to church completely. When I was 15, I began drinking with my friends and a year later I began to smoke weed. I smoked weed for a few years and...
APRIL 2019- Stewart Kerr
My name is Jerrel Gillentine and I was born in 1978. When I was born, my father started seeking after God and made sure that I was going to church. I received Jesus into my heart when I was 7 years old. I now know that even though I was making bad choices, He was with me and He was protecting me. My dad owned a body shop, so, as early as second grade I can remember going there after school to sweep the floors and clean up. Then I would go home to do my chores there. I have 10 siblings....
DECEMBER 2015- Jerrel Gillentine
My name is Whitney Burnette. I am 29 years old from Wynne,...
JANUARY 2022- Whitney Burnette
Hello, my name is Dezirae Russell. I call Missouri home, but I’m originally from Akron, OH. I came to Freedom House when I was 27 years old, I am now 34. I
spent my life looking for something or someone to fill the void I felt inside. I listened to the lies from the enemy that I was depressed, rejected, had PTSD, and
needed psych meds to fix all my problems, this only made things worse. By the time I was 20 I was introduced to opiates, which temporarily eased my pain.
However, in...
DEZIRAE RUSSELL- May 2025
My name is Melissa Jones. I am 46 years old. My life has never been what some call “normal”. My dad was in prison until I was around 12 years old. Then when he came home, he was a drug dealer which was my introduction to cocaine, meth, marijuana and even the needle. By the time I was 15, I was injecting cocaine and meth daily and had dropped out of school. My dad ended up back in prison which left me with my mom who basically could not control me. I ran...
JANUARY 2017- Melissa Jones
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 Terry Lynn Jackson. I am 48 years old and was born on a farm in a small town in Illinois. I was the youngest of 8 siblings, so I always got hand me downs and never had anything of my own that was new, so when I was only 5 years old, I started stealing candy from the store. This behavior grew and by the time I was 14, I was a full- blown alcoholic and breaking into homes. I got in so much trouble by the time I was 17, I got arrested and sent to prison for 4 years. In...
JUNE 2018- Terry Lynn Jackson
My name is Trace Cohn. I’m 30 years old and grew up in Jonesboro, Arkansas. I grew up in church and had a great family and wanted for nothing. I got introduced to drugs and alcohol and my childhood innocence quickly turned to despair. Everything that could go wrong did. I ended up getting kicked out of school in the 8th grade and had to go to jail because of marijuana. You would have thought that jail would have scared me enough to straighten up, but it didn’t. When I got out,...
MARCH 2021- Trace Cohn
My name is Kenna Cashion. I am 32 years old. I was raised by a stay-at-home mom and a truck driver dad. I was always called a “miracle” baby. I was the first child of their marriage and came later in their lives. We always thought our family looked a little like the Brady bunch. My mom had 4 children from a previous marriage and so did my dad. Being a “miracle” baby, they had given me to the Lord in their hearts before I was even born. The enemy has always been out to get me...
JULY 2021- Kenna Cashion
My name is Bo Sandefur and I am 23 years old. I’m from a small town in the hills of Kentucky called Horse Branch. I grew up in a good family. We always went to church, until I was 11 years old. At that time I fell out of a tree stand and I injured my back and was prescribed pain pills. That’s where my addiction began. In a very short time I learned how to synthesize methamphetamine and how to steal the ingredients for it, and I learned how to make moonshine and grow marijuana. I quit...
NOVEMBER 2018- Bo Sandefur
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
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 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 Russell Bishop, I am 54 years old from Highlandville, Missouri. My father was a Baptist preacher and our lives were centered around God. I was saved when I was 18. I attended a Bible college for 4 years and married my high school sweetheart, Sharon. Our intention was to serve the Lord in whatever avenue He would lead us, which we did for a while. Going to church seemed to just become an obligation. Having a drink on the weekend was not uncommon, but at the time I could take...
MARCH 2020- Russell Bishop
My name is Jamie Black. I’m 38 years old. I grew up in a small town, Russellville, Alabama. I had a good life with a very loving mother that was always there for me and worked really hard to provide for me. When I was 4 years old, my father took his own life as a result of drug use, so I never really had a dad in my life. My mother has 3 brothers and they were the ones who really raised me to be a man. Like I said I had a good life, always played sports in school but never...
OCTOBER 2020- Jamie Black
My name is Jason Freeman. I was born In Poplar Bluff, Missouri in 1982 and I was raised in Dexter, Missouri. I have an older sister and an adopted brother and sister. My childhood was what I would consider normal. I went to a Baptist church and I played all sports but was especially good at baseball. When I was 13, I stopped going to church and started experimenting with drugs and alcohol. In no time, I got in trouble for bringing drugs to school. I got put on probation and...
DECEMBER 2019- Jason Freeman
My name is John Van Loan, I am 42 years old and I live in southwest Missouri. I never realized the devastation alcohol would cause in my life when I started drinking at the age of 16. I always just wanted to have fun and party. Little did I know that the alcohol and partying would eventually consume me with sin and shame that was taking me down a road that would kill me, and a road that did destroy my hope in life, along with shattering the hope and dreams of my wife Jana, my daughter...
MAY 2018- John Van Loan
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 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 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 James McNulty. I was born and raised in Longmont, Colorado until I was 17 years old and then I moved to Florida. I started using drugs when I was 13, but I managed to get really good grades and I graduated high school when I was 17. I went to college, but I didn’t finish and get a degree. I was “managing” my drug use until I was 22 and then I really went off the deep end or jumped over the cliff, whichever way you want to say it, I was a mess. ...
JANUARY 2016- James McNulty
My name is Brian Nix. I am 45 years old and was raised in Birmingham,...
JUNE 2021- Brian Nix
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 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 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 Dezirae Starcher. I’m 27 years old, I’m from Akron, OH. I...
MARCH 2018- Dezirae Starcher
My name is Joseph Owens. I’m 27 years old. I was a drug addict most of my life. I was born in Paragould, Arkansas. I can remember times before I tried meth, but I never remember a time when it wasn’t in my life. My parents were both addicts and dealers. In the 2nd grade I woke up early one morning and decided to try coffee, but I didn’t know it had been made with filters from cooking dope. My dad decided to keep me home from school that day. I have always thought drugs...
JULY 2016- Joseph Owens
My name is Brandon Lee Norman. I was born in Missouri in 1994. My mother was an alcoholic and had several abusive boyfriends when I was growing up. She loved me the best she could. I ended up getting put into foster care. My mom passed away when I was 12 years old. I didn’t know how to cope so I began stealing, smoking and drinking. I went to juvenile detention and when I got out, I had the opportunity to go to college for construction engineering technology. I ended up dropping out...
MARCH 2023- Brandon Normann