GTI stands for Gateway To Independence. GTI is the former Woodland Hills Youth Development Center in Nashville, TN and the home of one of our weekly youth outreach ministries of High Impact Teens.
In the fall of 2015 we started the first ever All Pro Dad Chapter in a juvenile facility as an outreach to teen fathers. The sad reality is that sometimes fatherless teens become parents themselves before they are even out of their teen years. I wish it weren’t so… but it is.
In the past seven months I have taught 15-20 young men how to be a “real dad” using the All Pro Dad materials as well as other resources and the Bible. It’s amazing to see these guys start to understand “fatherhood” for the first time.
Our weekly outreach to GTI is every Wednesday so keep this in your prayers in the middle of the week!
As much as anything taught in the class, I’ve sensed a unique development among these young men. I find myself interacting with them as a father would with his own sons. At times I have to be a little tougher when they distract or misbehave, and at times I get to just dig deep into heart issues we all face and I also get to enjoy laughing with them and just connecting… kind of like “fathers and sons.” There are days we laugh a lot, there are days I have to be all business and there are some days when tears are shed. It’s like a “laboratory of life” when I’m there.
So keep these guys in your prayers! And their children as well. They need all the support and guidance we can give.
Ken Turner
kenturner@highimpactteens.org
