Todd Childers of Charlotte
Charlotte man teaches others using story of his own
Though Todd Childers has become a role model for the men who are in treatment at John 3:16 Ministries in Charlotte, he didn’t come into his job as an instructor for the program easily. John 3:16 Ministries is a spiritual boot camp for men with drug and alcohol addictions.
Childers, 27, is a graduate of the program and knows what his students are going through. He grew up in Weiner and was a student athlete. “At 15 years old, I was playing sports and playing traveling ball and I was introduced to drugs,” he said. “I actually did drugs before I ever did drink.”
While he was in high school, Childers said, he didn’t have much time to devote to drugs, but in the summer, he found the time.
When he graduated from high school, he made his way to Batesville to become a student at Lyon College.
“I didn’t know enough about Lyon before I went,” he said. “It’s an expensive college, but my parents were willing to do whatever it took for me to go to whatever college I wanted to go to.”
Childers said he had trouble finding a place to fit in when he came to Lyon College.
“When I got there, I was out of my element. I wasn’t smart enough, and I wasn’t on any sports teams,” he said. “I did know how to do drugs. By doing drugs, I found a
I didn’t want to be the same old Todd, just not doing dope and drinking. The Bible calls you to be more than just sober.”
Todd Childers
INSTRUCTOR AT JOHN 3:16 MINISTRIES IN CHARLOTTE
way to fit in.”
Trying to balance both school and the drug scene at college proved to be a problem for Childers.
“I tried to do school and drugs, and before too long, it got to where school came second. Then it got to where it didn’t come at all,” he said. “I got feeling pretty down about myself.”
He admitted to his mother that he was doing drugs, and the two thought a change of location would help the situation.
“It was a total shock to her. I really wanted to change,” he said. “My mom paid all of my debts and drug debts to get me out of that situation and sent me to Arkansas State University in Jonesboro.”
An apartment and a new campus didn’t solve Childers’ problems.
“When I got my own place, that’s when it became an addiction,” he said. “I didn’t do anything but drugs. I had no job, no nothing.”
There wasn’t a particular drug that Childers was addicted to — it was the feeling that he got from the drugs that he was addicted to.
“I was addicted to getting messed up,” he said. “When I found pills, that was what got me into trouble.”