Teen Challenge began in Brooklyn, NewYork, when Rev David Wilkerson, a young country preacher pastoring a church in eastern Pennsylvania read an article in LIFE magazine about seven teenagers who were on trial for murder During a gang fight in Manhattan, these teens beat a young man to death Troubled by what he read in the article, and sensing that God wanted him to do something for the teens, Wilkerson made a trip from his hometown in Philipsburg, Pennsylvania to the urban area of New York CitySome time after this, Rev Wilkerson resigned his church in Pennsylvania and moved to the New York City area to work full time with teenage gang members This new work was eventually called Teen Challenge" Soon, Teen Challenge began to also offer help to those addicted to drugs and alcohol
