Mushegh was not on a clear-cut path to drug use. Instead, as the son of educated parents, the odds of success seemed to be in his favor. He remembers affectionately a healthy, nurturing home. Even still, he began drug use at the young age of 17. Mushegh, like many addicts, was able to balance work and substance abuse for a window of time, but the progressive pattern of fault and consequence would eventually grip his life.
The first strike occurred in Mushegh’s young adulthood. As a young soldier in the Armenian–Azerbaijani War, he beat an officer to the point of a federal conviction. Two years and a prison sentence later, Mushegh would settle into marriage and pursue an engineering education, aiming to live a quiet life. Unfortunately, he was introduced to morphine at the age of 26 and found the following years riddled with charges of possession, violence, and theft. Mushegh, by age 43, lost his family, life, and reputation. Even with a 23-year string of consecutive sentences behind him, Mushegh became an alcoholic and would find himself imprisoned again.
It was there that Mushegh’s friend visited him and brought him to a church service after his release. Teen Challenge leader, Director Gaugik, was in attendance and became a voice of advocacy for Mushegh to attend the center. One month into Mushegh’s release, the patterns of his former life emerged, and he was charged with theft once more. Trial and procedure in process, friends from Teen Challenge, found Mushegh on the streets in a devastating condition, where they brought him back to the center and encouraged him to pray. Mushegh devoted three months to prayer, declining the aid of a lawyer, and deciding to hope in God for his outcome and future. Director Gaugik attended trials with him, advocating for a system outside of prison for Mushegh, encouraging the local Church to continue in prayer for Mushegh’s freedom. The judges and the system were eager to place Mushegh in prison, but Teen Challenge fought on his behalf. Fortunately, the judge would lean and sentence Mushegh to attendance at Teen Challenge instead of imprisonment, and Mushagh would grow closer to God.
Mushegh was very engaged in outreach, learning to witness and extend the hope of Christ to others. One day, he crossed paths with his former prosecutor who noted, “this man is different. I see it in his eyes.” Today, Mushegh is a chief carpenter who is responsible for building the beds at Teen Challenge. He hopes to continue gaining skills and trade to provide for himself in a way that contributes value to his society. He hopes, after graduation, he can reunite with his family, stating that he “trusts God for what is necessary. I just trust God.” Mushegh, in his own words, is free now. “Teen Challenge has changed my life.” He graduated the program in 6 months at the age of 60, and now works as a staff member cooking in the kitchen and aiming to pass along the trade of carpentry to other young men seeking a new life in Christ. Mushegh is a trophy of the resilience and hope of the Gospel at Teen Challenge!
