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.
CODY AIRHART
Hello, my name is Omar Mitchell, and I am from St. Charles, Missouri. I grew up and in a very loving but strict household. My parents were great to us but volatile to each other. I grew up seeing them argue a lot and it really affected me. I was full of joy on the outside, but anger on the inside. I started stealing things because I wanted attention. It started with candy and escalated to joy rides in stolen cars. By the time I was 20 years old, I had 6 felonies. I spent...
NOVEMBER 2021-Omar Mitchell
My name is Matthew Kittrell. I am 28 years old from Marston, Missouri. I lived in an abusive household until I was nine. My uncle
would beat on me, my mom and my sister every day. He even made me watch as he beat my father to death. My mom took me
and my sister and we got out and got our own house. My mom began selling my sister to support her drug habit, so only a year
later, we were put in foster care. By the age of 10, I was drinking, smoking pot and running the streets. I...
MATTHEW KITTRELL- April 2025
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
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
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 Nina Lee Beal. I’m 36 years old. I am a proud mother of one son, Caden. My life has been a tough one to live. My family was torn apart at the age of 14 when I lost my mother who had been sick most of my childhood. Her death triggered a downward spiral that began with partying on the weekends and escalated into being a full blown meth addict. Along with the drugs came a dependency on people and relationships trying to fill a void in my life that I now know, can...
MAY 2017- Nina Lee Beal
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 Michael Luttrell. I am a child of God...31 years old from Kennett, Missouri. My father was very abusive, so my mother took us and got away from him. This left me feeling angry and rejected. When I was 10 years old, my family owned a liquor store. I watched everyone drink and thought it looked like fun. I took my first drink at 13 years old, and I was instantly hooked. I watched my family do drugs and again, wanted to try to fit it. It started with marijuana and ended with meth,...
MICHAEL LUTTRELL- June 2024
My name is Morgan Schmidt. I’m 25 years old and I was born in Tupelo, MS. I have a beautiful, 4 year old little girl named Khloe Beth. I grew up in a split home due to divorce. I lived with my mom, but she had a problem and seemed to choose her addiction over being a other most of the time. My dad wanted the best for me and felt like he could be a better parent so they ended up fighting over me. I can remember how DHS would come to check on me...
JUNE 2017- Morgan Schmidt
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 Brian Nix. I am 45 years old and was raised in Birmingham,...
JUNE 2021- Brian Nix
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 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 Felisha Thompson. I am 34 years old and from Lagrange, Georgia. I am the youngest of four kids and
had to grow up quickly. My dad was in prison for drugs, so my mom was a single parent, and my brother helped to
raise us. I started smoking weed at twelve years old and I was using meth by time I was sixteen. I have battled with
addiction most of my life, which led to me going to prison when I was 29 for meth. I was released and two days later
went right back to that...
FELISHA THOMPSON- September 2025
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 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
Hi, my name is Nathan Dell. I am 26 years old and I am no longer a methamphetamine addict! I spent the last 4 to 6 years of my life using drugs and hanging out with the wrong groups of people. During that time, I turned away from Jesus and lost sight of who I was. I found myself alone and broken; for the first time in my life, I was afraid that I may not make it to see tomorrow. I realized that I needed help because I no longer even knew who I was. I found freedom in ...
SEPTEMBER 2017- Nathan Dell
Hey my name is James Curry, and I want to tell you what God has done in my life. I’m from St. Louis, MO, and I’m 57 years old. I started using drugs at the age of twenty-four. I was stuck in addiction and kept asking God for a way out, that never seemed to come. I was addicted for 33 years, but I kept praying because I came from a praying family. On May 22, 2025, I had divine intervention in my life, two tornadoes came through St. Louis, I was homeless, and they touched down right where I...
JAMES CURRY- December 2025
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 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 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
My name is Mike Shepherd. I’m 64 years old and from St. Louis, MO. As a kid I knew exactly what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wanted to be a professional
soccer player, and I played a lot. When I got to high school I got hurt and my dream ended. I had difficultly handling this and resented the other guys who got to
play. I felt “less than” because I wasn’t playing, but my grades remained good. I started drinking when I was a junior. This took away any shyness or social ...
MIKE SHEPHERD- September 2024
My name is Weston Moon. I’m 30 years old and I’m from Trumann, Arkansas. My mom and dad were great parents, but their marriage got taken over by Satan, drugs and lies and they got divorced when I was just 6 years old. I started playing sports when I was 5 years old and that seemed to keep me busy and out of trouble for a long time. Not knowing at the time that these years would be the best years of my life and not seeing that the road up ahead was paved with...
AUGUST 2017- Weston Moon
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 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 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 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...
SEAN TOLBERT- March 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
Hi, my name is Michael Skiles, and I am 34 years old. I was born in St. Louis Missouri. I was raised in a good, hard-working family. We went to church every Sunday. When I was 14, at church camp, I started to feel the conviction of sin and got saved. A few weeks later, I believed I wasn’t saved and started going out with friends and experimenting with alcohol. It wasn’t long before partying on the weekends turned into an everyday thing. I went...
OCTOBER 2023- Mike Skiles
My name is Matthew Montgomery. I am from Springfield, Missouri. I was raised by my father and stepmother in a healthy, supportive home. In my early teenage years, I was always seeking attention and looking for acceptance from others. I started experimenting with drugs and alcohol. In the party crowd, I finally felt like I was accepted. I went to college, but eventually got kicked out. Then I had to move back to my parents. I felt very lost, rejected, and confused about my future. I...
SEPTEMBER 2022- Matt Montgomery
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 Katelyn Walker. I am 22 years old. I am from Belden, Mississippi. I had a little bit of a rough start growing up. From the time I was born I was exposed to drugs. My biological mother was an addict and so was all of her immediate family. The earliest memory that I have of my mom is when the police had busted my mom and her, at the time husband, for cooking meth in mine and my little sisters’ room. That is also when we were taken away from her, from there we went into the foster...
AUGUST 2023- Katelyn Walker
My name is Stacy Jane Bannon. I am 45 years old. I am a native Texan. I came from a broken home and an extremely dysfunctional childhood. As difficult as it was, I know my parents did the best they could. I came to know the Lord and Jesus at a very young age, attending vacation Bible school, regular church services, and church youth camps. However, I began at a very young age feeling lonely, empty and confused seeking out anything to change the way I felt. I went to my first...
MARCH 2017- Stacy Jane Bannon
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 Skylar Matheney. I am 35 years old. I am from Piggott, Arkansas. I am a single parent of a 13 year old son, his name is Devon. He is the light of my life and beside’s God, the source of my strength. I started off on drugs at the age of 14, mainly drinking and then that turned into marijuana. I was introduced to meth at the age of 16 and started on my downward spiral. The last few years were terrible. I was terrible in a lot of ways. I was...
JULY 2017- Skylar Matheney
My name is Whitney Burnette. I am 29 years old from Wynne,...
JANUARY 2022- Whitney Burnette
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 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 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 Bradley Wince. I am 35 years old, from Paragould, AR. I had a fair childhood. When I was in the first grade people made fun of me because I had a patch on my eye because a pit bull bit me in the eye and my eye had to be put back in. I was never the same after that. A month before I graduated high school I lost my dad and 4 of my close friends. I was supposed to be with my friends that night, but I got sick and didn’t go out with them. They were partying and drinking and...
NOVEMBER 2015- Bradley Wince
My name is Amy Shook. I’m 41 years old from Booneville, MS. I could go into my testimony and share all of life’s disappointments, rejections and events that led me to where I am today, but I will fast forward past the broken home as a child, being messed with sexually as a young girl, feeling abandoned from split parents and failed marriages. Those are real life issues that the enemy used to lie to me and tell me I would never amount to anything and deserved all of life’s...
SEPTEMBER 2016- Amy Shook
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 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 Casey Barker, I am from Jonesboro, AR. I grew up as an only child. My father was verbally abusive, and my mother was strict, so I rebelled as I got
older. When I graduated high school, I moved out to do it my way. I tried everything I could alcohol, drugs, sex, and music, and loved them all. I had an excellent
job, had a cattle farm, built a big house, had a wife and kids, but I was out of control. It took time, but my lifestyle caught up with me....
CASEY BARKER- October 2025
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 Michael Steward. I was raised in California by an amazing single mother, Kathy Dixon who is married to an amazing Christian husband, Richard Dixon. I had everything I needed as a child and most of what I wanted. My life was really good until I started smoking pot my senior year of high school. I went off to college and kept smoking pot instead of fulfilling my responsibilities. I soon found myself transporting drugs from California to the school I was “sort of”...
MAY 2016- Michael Steward
Hi, my name is Chrisy Ginn. I am 50 years old and from St. Louis, Missouri. I was very depressed at a young age. I remember crying every day at school and feeling very despondent. This feeling has lasted most of my life – BUT GOD! I began to self-medicate in high school and this continued until the time I came to Freedom House. When I was 42 years old, I added methamphetamines to the “medication” and my life spiraled out of control. I found myself homeless and broke and felt...
AUGUST 2022- Chrisy Ginn
My name is Dezirae Starcher. I’m 27 years old, I’m from Akron, OH. I...
MARCH 2018- Dezirae Starcher
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...